We can’t lie – we love a brunch. It’s the most versatile meal there is, because food-wise, pretty much anything goes. Eggs! Salad! Fish! Cakes! Wine! And besides, it’s a meal you really only eat when you’ve not got much on, and the whole relaxing, free-and-easy day is stretching out ahead of you. Best enjoyed with friends who bring that brunch attitude too.

Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy evidently agrees, because he’s created an entire cooking show based around this lovely meal, which he calls “the ultimate connector – the perfect convergence of food, comfort and friendship”. The Big Brunch, which Levy also hosts, starts on U&W (CH 125) at 8pm on Wednesday 14 August. As well as honouring this underrated dining experience, it celebrates inspiring and undiscovered culinary voices making a difference in their communities.

The Big Brunch brings 10 talented chefs the opportunity to share their stories and business dreams while vying for a life altering $300,000 cash prize. It’s competitive, sure, but it’s all more than winning. It’s about the uplifting stories of these chefs, all of whom are doing what they can to improve the lives of those around them through food.

It all adds up to a warm-hearted cooking competition, like The Great British Bake Off but with less dough – and Levy is as delightful a host as you’d expect, having already presented The Great Canadian Baking Show, the Canadian version of Bake Off. Alongside the show’s pair of expert judges, chef Sohla El-Waylly and restaurateur Will Guidara, he’s a kind, witty and encouraging presence who makes this show as wonderful and satisfying as, well, a really good brunch.

Levy’s just one of those people who makes us feel happier whenever we see him – and the good news is there’s more to come from him. Expected next year is Standing By, an adult animation about disgruntled guardian angels which he’s co-created and stars in alongside Glenn Close, David Tennant and Samira Wiley. Also in 2025 we can expect to enjoy his work in the films Animal Friends with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Momoa and At The Sea alongside Amy Adams and Brett Goldstein. But if you can’t wait, here’s where to get your Levy fix now.

Schitt’s Creek

Find season 1-6 in Apps > Netflix

Levy’s breakout role in this much-loved Canadian sitcom – which he co-created with his father, American Pie star and comedy legend Eugene –  earned him four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and seven Canadian Screen Awards, among others. He’s alternately hilarious and heartbreaking as David, scion of the suddenly impoverished Rose family who find themselves living in the titular backwater, a sophisticated urbanite forced to cope with small-town life. There are 80 episodes of this wonderful show to revel in.

Good Grief

Find it in Apps > Netflix

Levy proved his multi-hyphenate credentials again by writing, producing, directing and starring in this thoughtful and emotional movie about a man coming to terms with the death of his husband. It’s sensitive and intimate, with a script that avoids sentimentality. Levy’s terrific in the lead and since the film was shot mostly in London, it’s got a great supporting cast of British and Irish actors including Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel and Celia Imrie.    

Unfrosted

Find it in Apps > Netflix

Jerry Seinfeld’s bizarrely entertaining movie about the commercial battle between Kellogg’s and Pop-Tarts in the 1960s was enlivened by Levy’s bewigged appearance as convention-busting artist Andy Warhol, brandishing a gun and screaming about Pop-Tarts versus Pop Art. Essential for Levy fans.

Sex Education

Find season 4 in Apps > Netflix

Levy showed his range by playing an aloof professor at the US college Maeve (Emma Mackey) attends, whose own insecurities were exposed by the negative feedback he gave his students. His impressively chilly, reserved performance couldn’t have been further removed from David Rose.

Degrassi

Find it in Apps > Prime Video

You know you’ve made it in Canada when you get a guest-star spot in a special one-off movie teen drama Degrassi. At the end of season 8, former Degrassi student Paige (Lauren Collins) is working in TV in Los Angeles when she unexpectedly wins the lead role in a movie. As the kid-hearted producer who hires her, Levy is the antithesis to the cynical, exploitative nature of the Hollywood movie industry. How Canadian of him!

“Behind These Hazel Eyes”

Blink and you’ll miss Levy’s appearance in this Kelly Clarkson video from 2005. Levy and Clarkson have both ended up being emblems of goodness and virtue in the sometimes unpleasant world of factual TV, so there’s a pleasing harmony to this.

Where can I watch The Big Brunch on Virgin TV?

The Big Brunch starts at 8pm on Wednesday 14 August on U&W HD (CH 125), when all episodes will also be available to watch in Apps > U.