Johannesburg, 16 April 2026: Stanley Tucci is heading back to the motherland to dig deeper into the soil of Italian identity. The Emmy-winning TUCCI IN ITALY returns for a second five-part season this May, bypassing the tourist traps to explore forgotten regions and settle the scores on food’s most contested origins. Catch the premiere across Africa via National Geographic (DStv 181, StarTimes 220) every Wednesday at 18:50 (CAT) starting 13 May 2026. For those who prefer to stream their culinary rebellion, the series will also be dropping on Disney+ in South Africa.

Revealing a deeper, more personal journey, the Academy Award^® nominee, Emmy^®- and Golden Globe^®-winning actor Stanley Tucci returns to his beloved Italy, visiting five new regions - Naples and Campania, Sicily, Le Marche, Sardinia, and Veneto - to trace the link between Italy’s historical landscape and its culinary traditions, where the ritual of the shared meal remains the ultimate expression of its people.

^{Three different dishes are prepared al fresco with some of the island's extraordinary produce. (credit: National Geographic/Matt Holyoak)}

“In Italy, food is never just food. It’s memory, identity and, sometimes, a full-blown argument,” said Tucci. “This season, we explore how the past continues to shape the present, one region and one extraordinary meal at a time. I’m so pleased to share these captivating stories and these wonderful people with you.”

In Season 2, Tucci visits new regions, including Le Marche, a lesser-known destination he’s never featured before. Located in central Italy along the Adriatic coast, the region's rich culinary delights have largely escaped the attention of international tourists. In Campania and its famed capital, Naples, he celebrates a once-forgotten vine grape, and in Veneto, he deliciously wades into the passionate culinary debate over the origins of tiramisu.

Stanley also explores two very different Islands: Sardinia, where he looks into the relationship between food and longevity, and Sicily, where multicultural history has left a delicious mark on its food. 

TUCCI IN ITALY is produced by SALT Productions and BBC Studios. For SALT Productions, Stanley Tucci and Lottie Birmingham are executive producers. For BBC Studios, Amanda Lyon is executive producer, Ben Jessop is co-executive producer, and Alan Holland is head of Specialist Factual Productions. For National Geographic, Yari Lorenzo is executive producer, Bengt Anderson is senior vice president of production, Charlie Parsons is senior vice president of Global Development, and Tom McDonald is executive vice president, National Geographic Content.

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