SUNSHINE on a plate

RUSTIE LEE on showcasing the culinary wonders of Jamaica

- REBECCA FLETCHER, STEVEN PERKINS

Rustie Lee can barely contain her excitement when she joins TV Times for a chat about her new miniseries celebrating Caribbean cuisine starting this Thursday on ITV1’s This Morning.

‘TV Times! I can’t believe it! Do you know, I was on the front cover of your magazine almost 40 years ago when I became a presenter of the hit ITV series Game for a Laugh,’ recalls the chef. ‘I was the first Black woman presenter of a prime-time show, with the lovely Lee Peck, Martin Daniels and the late Jeremy Beadle. For the photo shoot, we all laid down on the floor with our heads together – it was such a hoot! So it’s lovely to be talking to you now, it really is.

‘We always had TV Times in our house when I was growing up, so this is so special.’

And special is exactly how we view Rustie, who’s been delighting us with her infectious laugh and vibrant personality since she first appeared on our screens, on breakfast television station TV-am, in the early 1980s.

‘Over 40 years on TV! Isn’t that incredible? Oh, but I don’t feel my age,’ smiles Rustie, as she tells us about returning to her Jamaican homeland for This Morning, her most-requested recipe and her secret to eternal youth…