‘The young offenders system worked for me’ the ex convict turned chef

حوالي سنة فى The guardian

Jon Watts was sentenced to six years in prison, where he learned to cook. Now, at 35, he has legions of loyal fans, more than a million followers on social media and is about to publish his second cookbook A year or two ago, he isn’t quite sure which, Jon Watts’s father came to him with a well-intentioned suggestion. Watts, a social media star and private chef – with a popular debut cookbook already under his belt – had settled into a sustained period of professional success. “Dad said to me: maybe it’s now time to stop chatting about all that stuff from your youth; to leave it in the past.” Watts junior found the prospect tempting. “It’s really not easy to talk about it all,” he says, with a deep exhale. “And I’m in two minds about a shameful history being part of my identity for ever.”Today, Watts is 35. The experiences he’s about to share – of a violent conviction, years in a young offenders’ prison, learning to cook and coming out the other side – take us back to his late teenage years. Watts could quite easily draw a line and move on: focus on his regular catering work, his second recipe book, published later this month, and his sprawling online following. He has more than 800,000 Instagram followers to tend and 600,000-plus on TikTok, too. His uploads clock up views in the millions. Continue reading...

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