Alessandra Maria Luigia Anna Polizzi di SorrentinoBurke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003, vol. 1, p. 1472 (born 28 August 1971), better known as Alex Polizzi, is an English

hotelier A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to: management of hotel staff, b ...

, businesswoman, and television personality. Since 2008, she has appeared on ''

The Hotel Inspector ''The Hotel Inspector'' is an observational documentary television series which is broadcast on the British terrestrial television station, Channel 5, and other networks around the world. In each episode, celebrated hotelier and businesswoma ...

'' on Channel 5.

Early life

Polizzi was born on 28 August 1971 in

Poplar, London Poplar is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross and lies on the western bank of the River Lea. Poplar is identified as a major district centre in the London Plan, with its ...

, England. Polizzi is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent. Polizzi comes from a family of hoteliers. Her mother is the Hon.

Olga Polizzi Olga Polizzi, Lady Shawcross (; born February 1946) is a British hotelier and interior designer. She is a former Westminster City Council councillor, representing Lancaster Gate ward for the Conservative Party. Family Polizzi is the mother of ...

, a hotel designer who is a daughter of

Lord Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Ca ...

and the sister of

Sir Rocco Forte Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (born 18 January 1945) is an English hotelier and the chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels. Early life Born in Bournemouth, the son of Charles Forte, Baron Forte, and his wife Irene, he was educated at St Peter's Catholi ...

. Her father was an Italian nobleman, the

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

Alessandro Polizzi di Sorrentino,Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003, vol. 1, p. 1472 who died in a car accident in 1980. Polizzi studied English at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

. She trained at the

Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is a five-star hotel on Connaught Road Central in Central, Hong Kong, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. History Construction of the hotel on the site of the colonial Queen's Building o ...

, and worked for

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. In 1995 he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsa ...

Career

In 1997, Polizzi and her then-boyfriend Marcus Miller started a wholesale bakery, Millers Bespoke Bakery. The company supplied bread to

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...

, and

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

. She then managed the Hotel Endsleigh in

Milton Abbot Milton Abbot is a village, parish, and former Manorialism, manor in Devon, north-west of Tavistock, Devon, and south-east of Launceston, Cornwall. History The manor of Middeltone was donated at some time before the Norman Conquest of 1066 (acco ...

, near

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, which is owned by her mother Olga. In 2021, Polizzi and her mother renovated and opened The Star in

Alfriston Alfriston is a village and civil parish in the East Sussex district of Wealden, England. The village lies in the valley of the River Cuckmere, about four miles (6 km) north-east of Seaford and south of the main A27 trunk road and part ...

, in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, in their first joint venture.

Television career

Since 2008, Polizzi has presented the Channel 5 series ''

'', replacing

Ruth Watson Ruth Watson is an English hotelier, restaurateur, broadcaster and food writer. Early life and career Born in London, Ruth Watson was educated in London and at Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire. After taking up a career in graphic design, sh ...

. The show sees Polizzi visiting struggling British hotels to try to turn their fortunes around by giving advice and suggestions to the owners/managers, and often undertaking renovation projects on their behalf. She also presented the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

series, '' Alex Polizzi: The Fixer'', which focuses on her turning around family businesses, not just hotels. The first series aired in 2012; the second in 2013; a third in 2014 and a fourth in 2015. Polizzi also presented a revisited series called ''The Fixer Returns'' in 2013, as well as a Christmas special, which aired in December 2013. In October 2014, Polizzi launched a new Channel 5 series, ''Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy'', where she visits either lesser-known places within Italy or well-known towns and cities and, using local connections, shows areas that tourists would not ordinarily experience. In October 2014, it was announced that Polizzi would host a new

series, '' Alex Polizzi: Chefs on Trial'', where she visits various food outlets. The series began airing on 20 April 2015. In March 2017, Polizzi released ''Spectacular Spain with Alex Polizzi'' and then ''Our Dream Hotel'' on 6 June. From February 2018, she invited her Irish brother-in-law, the restaurateur

Oliver Peyton Oliver Peter Patrick Peyton, (born 26 September 1961), is an Irish businessman, restaurateur and television personality. Early life Peyton was born in Sligo and raised in Killasser near Swinford, County Mayo, his mother was the owner of a knit ...

, to join her in a new Channel 5 series ''Peyton And Polizzi's Restaurant Rescue'', where they pool their experience to play firefighters and turn around failing restaurants. In August 2021, ''Alex Polizzi: My Hotel Nightmare'' aired on Channel 5, which chronicled the renovation of The Star during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

prior to its opening.

Personal life

Polizzi lives in London. Her former husband is Marcus Miller, whom she married in 2007 (divorced 2024). They have 2 children together, a daughter Olga and son Rocco. Polizzi is bilingual, being fluent in English and Italian. Her sister Charlotte is married to

, an Irish restaurateur and a former judge on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series ''

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, where ...

''.

is her uncle. She had a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

upbringing, and spent "every Sunday of her childhood" at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Farm Street, London. Polizzi backed the

Leave campaign Campaigning in the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum began unofficially on 20 February 2016 when Prime Minister David Cameron formally announced under the terms of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 that a referendum wou ...

during the 2016 British referendum on membership of the EU, but has spoken subsequently of her concern that

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

could threaten the supply of labour into the hospitality and hotel industry.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Representation at Curtis Brown Talent Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polizzi, Alex 1971 births Living people English people of Italian descent Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford British hoteliers English television presenters Businesspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Poplar, London Forte family Television personalities from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets