Reality TV chef and alleged spy arrested over plan to sabotage Paris Olympics in 'special mission'

Kirill Gryaznov, aged 40, was arrested at his flat in Paris on Sunday (July 21) after multiple European intelligence agencies had been monitoring his movements for months, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.

Gryaznov is said to have boasted about turning the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which takes place later today (Friday July 26), into "an opening ceremony like no other".

The opening ceremony will see 80 barges full of athletes and other competitors sailing down the River Seine in front of thousands of guests including global stars.

French police said they found “diplomatic material” linking the Russian TV personality to Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), when they then searched the chef’s apartment at the French Interior Ministry’s request.

Agents found evidence of a “large-scale project” that suggested Gryaznov was “preparing pro-Russian operations to destabilise France” during the Olympics, which take place between from today (July 26) until Sunday August 11, according to French media.

Gryaznov was charged with “intelligence with a foreign power with a view to incite hostilities in France” on Tuesday (July 23), and is facing up to 30 years in prison, according to a local publication.

Authoriries began monitoring Gryaznov back in May then the alleged spy was traveling from Istanbul, Turkey, back to Paris. He was barred from boarding his flight because he had too much to drink. He then had to take another flight from Bulgaria, but while he was waiting for a flight that he stopped at a restaurant and supposedly called his intelligence handlers in Moscow.

Gryaznov, who got married last November according to a post on his Instagram page @kirillgryaznoff, drunkenly boasted on the phone to his handler that “the French are going to have an opening ceremony like no other”, according to documents seen by local media.

Witnesses also claimed he had showed off his FSB identification and even told people he had a special mission to disrupt the Olympic Games. This led European security agencies to invesigate him and links with Russian intelligence services.

Griaznov had reportedly been living in France for 14 years at the time of his arrest. Before moving to the French capital, he graduated with a law degree from Russia’s Perm State University and then starred in “The Bachelor” style reality dating show “Choose Me,” where he described himself as a “successful businessman and restaurateur.” This led to the him becoming something of a local celebrity in Russia.

In 2010, he trained as a chef at Paris’s Le Cordon Bleu, one of the world’s most prestigious culinary schools, and also appeared on a reality cooking show, according to Le Monde.