An Irish chef who moved to America four years ago has become a television sensation.

Stuart O’Keeffe, a 28-year-old chef from Nenagh who studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology, has landed a role in Private Chefs of Beverly Hills.

The American reality television show lifts the lid on the bizarre culinary demands of Los Angeles’s rich and famous, from parties for their dogs to serving hors d’oeuvres at a Botox get-together.

Described by The New York Times as “photogenic”, O’Keeffe has good looks and a muted Irish accent, which have helped to make the programme a huge hit with female viewers.

Filming on the first series was completed more than a month ago and the show has just finished being broadcast on the Food Network. The channel, which is distributed to 96m households, helped to boost the American profile of well-known chefs including Jamie Oliver. The network is in talks to show the programme on its stations in Europe.

The reality series follows O’Keeffe and five others from Big City Chefs, the private-chef-placement agency based in Beverly Hills, as they cater to the over-the-top whims of eccentric clientele. Each episode features a confident O’Keeffe and his colleagues tackling assignments such as cooking for humans and canines in a “doggy spa” and pampering young millionaires on a glamorous camping trip, known as “glamping”.

The chefs have to indulge ageing 1980s rockers and, in one edition, become unwitting participants in a medieval murder mystery party held behind the stone walls of the only “Scottish” castle in Los Angeles.

“It’s a really crazy show but gives a good insight into what to expect here in LA,” said O’Keeffe. “I get a laugh out of it. I don’t take anything seriously.”

After graduating from Dublin Institute of Technology with a degree in culinary arts, O’Keeffe worked in Dublin restaurants including the Unicorn. He moved to America in 2006 after becoming frustrated with Irish kitchens. After a stint at an upmarket hotel in Napa Valley, he decided to become a private chef in Los Angeles, hired an agent and began cooking for the city’s showbiz elite.

“I catered for a party where Sharon Stone turned up. I did a lot of parties for reality show stars, such as Clinton Kelly, the host of What Not to Wear, and did a launch party at the Omega store on Rodeo Drive for a James Bond film with Daniel Craig,” said O’Keeffe. “I have to sign confidentiality agreements and never mention what happens at the parties.

“To get celebrity clients, you have to network so hard. You have to give your card to everyone and hype yourself up. Now they love the profile that I have from being on television.”

O’Keeffe held talks last week to be the private chef for Kris Jenner, the matriarch in the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, shown in Ireland on the E! channel. The series follows Jenner, the ex-wife of the late Robert Kardashian, and her children. Kardashian was a defence lawyer in the OJ Simpson murder trial.

“When I met her she said, ‘Let’s get you on the show and get you to come in and do the dinner and have a bit of fun,’ ” said O’Keeffe.

He is a North American spokesman for Tupperware, helping the 64-year-old firm to revamp its image. Chief executive Rick Goings said: “Women want to see sexy guys.”