Rachel Khoo is a celebrity cook, cookbook author, and television personality. Not only does she have several cooking series, but she has also appeared as a guest on many other cooking series and competitions. She began her career in 2010 and has continued to increase her public profile ever since. If you are a fan of this celebrity cook and cookbook author, here are some Rachel Khoo facts that you might not know.
Rachel Khoo Facts: Childhood and Family Life
- She Was Born in London
Rachel Khoo was born in Croydon, London, on 28 August 1980, and she has one younger brother. She attended a primary school in Bromley.
2. She Has Asian and European Heritage
Although Rachel Khoo was born in the UK, her mother is Austrian, and her father is Malaysian Chinese. Her father emigrated to the UK from Ipoh, Perak, when he was 16.
3. Khoo Lived in Bavaria in Her Teens
At the age of 12, Khoo and her family moved to Bavaria due to her father’s job in IT. The family lived in a rural area just outside Munich and returned to the UK four years later.
4. She Studied Art and Design
Khoo has a degree in art and design, which she obtained from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.
5. Who Is Rachel Khoo’s Husband?
Rachel Khoo’s husband is Robert Wiktorin, a Swedish chef. The couple became engaged in 2014 and married a year later.
6. Does Rachel Khoo Have Children?
Rachel Khoo and her husband have two sons. Their first son was born in 2016, and her second son followed in 2019. The couple has chosen not to reveal too many details about their sons and to keep them out of the limelight.
Facts About Rachel Khoo’s Career
7. She Studied at Le Cordon Bleu
Rachel Khoo began her career in the food industry after moving to Paris and studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She undertook a three-month patisserie course at the world-famous cookery school.
8. Khoo Taught Baking Workshops
After studying at Le Cordon Bleu, Rachel Khoo worked at a Parisian cookbook store and café called La Cocotte. Not only did she serve as the pastry chef for the store, but she also ran baking workshops.
9. She Worked for Volkswagen
While living in Paris, Rachel Khoo also worked briefly in Germany. In a freelance capacity, she organized food events for the car manufacturer Volkswagen.
10. Her First Two Cookbooks Were French
Khoo’s career in the food industry took off when she landed a two-book cookbook deal in 2010. Her first two cookbooks were French language and were later translated to English.
11. She Had a Small Restaurant in Paris
After landing a cookbook deal with a UK publisher, Rachel Khoo opened a small restaurant in Paris to test out her recipes for ‘The Little Paris Kitchen’. However, she chose not to serve food from the restaurant. Instead, she used her flat in the Belleville neighbourhood of Paris to serve just two diners at a time.
12. Her First UK Cookbook was a Bestseller
Khoo’s first English cookbook ‘The Little Paris Kitchen’ was published in 2012. It received great critical acclaim, became a bestseller, and sold more than 120,000 copies. It has since been translated into several other languages.
13. She Founded Khoollect
Rachel Khoo is the founder of Khoollect, an online lifestyle and food magazine that became defunct in 2020. She used her flat in Kensal Green, London, as the headquarters.
14. Khoo Has Published Six Cookbooks
In addition to the two French-language cookbooks and ‘The Little Paris Kitchen, Rachel Khoo has published three further books. Therefore, she has published six cookbooks in total. Her other three books are ‘My Little French Kitchen’, ‘Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook’, and ‘The Little Swedish Kitchen’.
Rachel Khoo’s Television Career
15. She First Appeared on Television in 2012
Rachel Khoo was picked up by the BBC in 2012 to host a cooking series based on her cookbook called ‘The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo’. She no longer had her restaurant, so the BBC filmed the six-part series in Khoo’s Parisian apartment. Over 1.5 million people watched each episode.
16. She Filmed Two Television Series in 2014
2014 was a busy year for Rachel Khoo, as she filmed two television series in one year. The first was ‘Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: London’. The second was ‘Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook’, for which she travelled around various European cities.
17. She Travelled to Malaysia For One of Her Programs
Khoo has Malaysian heritage on her father’s side of the family. In 2015, she filmed ‘A Cook Abroad: Rachel Khoo’s Malaysia’, in which she explored Malaysia’s cuisine.
18. Khoo Was a Judge on ‘My Kitchen Rules’
Rachel Khoo became a judge on a cooking competition for the first time in 2016. She was a judge for the seventh series of the Australian version of the cooking competition ‘My Kitchen Rules’ alongside Manu Fieldel and Pete Evans. Khoo filmed the series during a period she spent travelling around Australia.
19. Rachel Khoo Was Also a Judge on ‘Zumbo’s Just Desserts’
Khoo was also a co-host and judge for another Australian cooking competition called ‘Zumbo’s Just Desserts’. Her co-host for this series was Adriano Zumbo. Khoo appeared in 12 episodes of the series in 2016.
20. She Is a Judge on ‘Great British Menu’ for 2021
Rachel Khoo is now a judge on ‘Great British Menu’, which is a competition for professional chefs. She is replacing Andi Oliver, who is now presenting the series. Andi Oliver previously replaced Prue Leith. The other judges alongside Khoo are Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton. As of 2022, Rachel Khoo is no longer part of the series, and the new judging panel is Ed Gambon, Nisha Katona, and Tom Kerridge.
Other Rachel Koo Facts
21. She Used to Live in Paris
One of the locations in which Rachel Khoo has lived is Paris. She moved there in 2006 and lived there for eight years before returning to London in 2014. While in Paris, she originally worked as an au pair and then selling perfume in an upscale department store. When she first moved to Paris, Khoo did not speak any French.
22. Where Does Rachel Khoo Live Now?
Rachel Khoo lives with her husband and two sons in Stockholm. She moved to Sweden in 2016, and marrying a Swedish man was not the only reason for her decision. Khoo also likes the lifestyle in Stockholm.
23. She Is Multilingual
Due to her heritage, living in international locations, and marrying a Swedish man, Rachel Khoo is multilingual. It is one of the Rachel Khoo facts that many people do not know. The languages she can speak are English, French, German, and Swedish.
24. Once Worked in PR
After graduating from university and before she began her career in food, Rachel Khoo worked in public relations for Thomas Pink, a shirt maker. She worked in that job for two years before quitting to have a new adventure in life in Paris.
If you enjoyed reading our Rachel Khoo facts, then you might also like to read our facts about other celebrity chefs and famous people in the food industry. Some of these include: