Fabio Esposito gets emotional when he talks about Diego Armando Maradona. Like all Neapolitans, but perhaps a little more so: “He was a friend of my dad and my uncle,” he tells us in our interview, “we lived in the same neighbourhood and I remember when he used to come to our house. I’ve never seen that joy in my father’s eyes in anyone else since.” Write Maradona, read history: “Diego was the revolution that bridged the gap between North and South, a divide that thankfully no longer exists today.” A presenter and familiar face on the Food Network, Esposito hosts several programmes, including ‘Pazzi di pizza’ with the winner of Sanremo 2026, Sal Da Vinci, and ‘Pazzi di Roma’ with Barbara Foria; he also has a television podcast and a radio show on Radio Marte. Amidst all this work, however, there’s always time for a bit of football: “My first time at the stadium was for a Napoli v Milan match in the 1993–94 season: we were struggling, and in the dying minutes Di Canio scored after a double feint past Baresi and Maldini. I was in the stands with my dad. The last time was this year against Fiorentina, but in the grandstand.”
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Fabio Esposito, from TV to football: "Maradona at home with Dad, holidays with Cannavaro and Sal Da Vinci at the stadium"
What sort of fan are you?
"I really get into the match; let’s just say that, having played football myself, I try to analyse the game a bit from a tactical point of view. But when the adrenaline kicks in, I’m one of those who ‘lives’ through the full 90 minutes."
