One of nine children, he was born in the small seaside town of Alba Adriatica in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, and moved to England at the age of 20.

He has also written for many publications including The Sun, and currently writes a weekly column for the Daily Express Saturday magazine and presents a bi-weekly show on Soho Radio.

He has appeared on television in One Man and His Hob, Good Food Live as well as in the third series of Celebrity Fit Club in 2005, in which he lost 15.5 kilos (2 stone 6 pounds), and impressed the panel so much they made him team captain replacing Julie Goodyear.

In summer 2010, Zilli appeared on "Lorraine Kelly's Big Fat Challenge", helping the Chawner family to lose weight through healthy eating.

Aldo and fellow chef Enzo Oliveri embarked on a culinary journey across Sicily for the Good Food Channel.

[citation needed] His consultancy work includes that with Italian takeaway chain Firezza in 2015–2016, and Italian restaurant chain Prezzo, where his award-winning VIPizza proved extremely successful and led him to collaborate with M Kitchen at Morrisons supermarket nationwide where he now has eight products in their range, including DIVO cheese.