‘Italy is a Mitch!’ is The Unconventional, Unscripted Travel Show Taking On Europe

By Rob Stott - News

Updated: 29 September, 2026

Readtime: 5 min

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The Italian travel show has become a familiar ritual: glowing sunsets, clinking spritz glasses, slow-motion pasta pulls, and a sophisticated, linen-clad host nodding sagely at ancient ruins. It’s stunning, sure. But in 2026, with no shortage of glossy imagery competing for our attention, is that enough to keep us hooked?

Enter Italy is a Mitch! – a chaotic, hilarious, and visually breathtaking love letter to the Bel Paese that pairs cinematic production value with something far less polished: real people, unscripted chaos, and a host who is spectacularly unqualified for the job.

A Collision of Beauty and Chaos

Created by director Nicolò Novek – an Italian-American raised in Italy – alongside Man of Many’s own cinematographer and producer Jordan Yankov, the show’s visual DNA hinges on a stark contrast: high-end cinematic portraits of Italian landscapes and craftsmanship constantly interrupted by the irreverent Australian wandering through them.

“As a director, I wanted to experiment with a new formula for delivering the best of Italy to audiences,” says Novek. “The series lives in the collision between Mitch’s chaotic perspective and a cinematic portrait of Italy. The camera doesn’t stop when the planned sequence does. It stays for the awkward silence after a bad joke. Italy is never the punchline; Mitch’s attempt to navigate it often is.”

Mitch isn’t an art historian, a sommelier, or a Michelin-starred chef, nor is he an Italian showing off his backyard. He’s a total outsider experiencing the country through the exact same lens as the curious viewer at home. He arrives with boundless enthusiasm, terrible jokes, very little filter, and zero pretence of having all the answers. He asks the questions a regular tourist would ask, makes the mistakes a tourist would make, and throws himself into whatever the locals put in front of him.

Italy is a mitch 1 1 — Image: 9K Films / Wandrian

Rather than lecturing from a position of authority, Mitch discovers the country alongside the audience – one regional obsession, misunderstood tradition, and butchered Italian word at a time.

His primary travel companion doesn’t offer much help either. A high-tech drone becomes a central character in its own right, tailing Mitch across the country and capturing sweeping cinematic vistas one second, and its host getting thoroughly lost the next.

The result is equal parts travelogue, buddy comedy, and unscripted adventure.

Italy is a mitch scenery — Image: 9K Films / Wandrian

A Fresh Spin on Italian Travel

Rather than dragging viewers through a predictable checklist of tourist traps, Italy is a Mitch! explores the country region by region through three core pillars: the land, the craft, and the table.

The land takes Mitch into the environment to introduce the geographic forces that shape each area. The craft places him alongside local artisans preserving centuries-old traditions. Finally, the table brings him into the kitchens, trattorias, and family homes where regional identity is expressed most fiercely.

From trekking through alpine passes with a local guide to attempting delicate leatherwork under the concerned eye of a master artisan, or climbing aboard a fishing boat at dawn, the structural framework remains consistent – but what happens within it depends entirely on the locals Mitch encounters.

That fluidity gives the series room to continually reinvent itself. Starting in Abruzzo, Mitch’s journey spans across the country, where the same three core elements yield completely different results in every province.

Italy is a mitch 1 2 — Image: 9K Films / Wandrian

“That distinction matters because there isn’t just one single Italy,” Novek explains. “Abroad, we identify broadly as Italian; at home, regional identities come sharply into focus. A Piedmontese, an Abruzzese, and a Sicilian have vastly different ideas about food, dialect, and culture – differences that drive deep pride and a healthy sense of rivalry. Moving from Abruzzo to Sicily, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, or Liguria isn’t simply changing scenery; it’s stepping into an entirely different world.”

Crucially, Mitch isn’t there to lecture those communities on who they are. The locals are the experts, Italy is the authority, and Mitch is merely the surrogate traveller taking it all in.

It’s in those unscripted moments – sharing wine with locals, attempting ancient crafts, misunderstanding directions, and getting sidetracked – that the true spirit of Italian hospitality emerges. It feels less like watching a formal documentary and more like tagging along on a chaotic road trip with a mate who somehow convinced a network to give him his own show.

Co-produced by 9K Films and Wandrian, the series was captured by a nimble crew that prioritized movement, spontaneity, and visual flair over stiff broadcast conventions. The visuals are grand, bright, and sweeping, but the core of the show remains pure, unfiltered fun.

If you’re tired of over-sanitised travel shows and want something that captures the sun-drenched, unpredictable reality of discovering Italy firsthand, keep this series firmly on your radar.