A professional chef is hoping lockdown will serve up a new career in television.
Before the pandemic hit, Johan Sikkema prepared dishes for international clients in their private residences.
As that work swiftly dried-up as coronavirus took hold, he made the most of his time at home in Inverness by teaching his children cookery skills.
But he has also found himself asked to appear in television shows and hopes the sideline could turn into more permanent work.
The former Culloden House chef signed up to a casting agency after he appeared in the BBC 1 health and wellbeing show Laid Bare last year.
And just before lockdown, he played the part of a bank manager in an advert for a High Street bank.
Now he has been chosen to appear in a new Channel 4 DIY series and also a programme on CBeebies, the BBC’s children’s network, called Mr Very First.
Channel 4’s Dick & Angel’s Make Do & Mend is a four-part DIY and homecraft series from Dick and Angel Strawbridge.
Under the Lockdown Academy banner, the programmes will see the Strawbridges offering tips and tricks for families looking for imaginative ways to solve their DIY dilemmas using what they have to hand.
Viewers have followed the couple as they turn their dream of owning a chateau in France into a reality, using their own handiwork and design skills on the property.
They now aim to help people solve their own home problems in the new series, which has already began filming.
Father-of-six Mr Sikkema, 35, said he has been preparing for the show with a series of Skype calls to Dick and Angel in the lead up to the show being broadcast next month.
He said: “It is fantastic to have all this work in lockdown. It’s great to be keeping busy and have different projects on the go.
“For the Channel 4 show I will be building a dog house for my three dogs and Dick and Angel will be helping with that, including the planning and preparations.
“I think my story will help people with their DIY problems as I’m very much still learning and Dick and Angel have a library of knowledge.
“The CBeebies programme, which starts filming next month, is all about my young family welcoming a new baby – our youngest Theo was born in February – and they will follow us for a few days.”
Mr Sikkema said he became interested in doing more television work after appearing in Laid Bare last year.
“I applied to different shows and I’ve been fortunate that most have got back to say they are interested in working with me.
“I’m very interested in keeping involved with television and will see how much work I can get.
“If it works out well, I will pursue a television career, but it is still in the early stages of that.”
