Rory, Josh, Adrien and Nikki, The Next Food Network Star
If you're a kitchen whiz looking to be the next Rachael Ray or Guy Fieri... then The Next Food Network Star is actually not for you. As celeb judge Bobby Flay explains, the biggest mistake that contestants in the competition, which just kicked off Season 3 and airs Sundays at 9 pm/ET, make is "trying to be somebody else, trying to be the next Emeril, the next Giada. We have those people," Flay tells TVGuide.com. "We want you. Be the person you are." Giada De Laurentiis herself, another guest judge, echoes that advice, saying that too often the wannabes "don't allow their true selves to come out, and we know it."
That said, look for "many surprises, and twists and turns"
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• Army Wives debuted to 3.5 million total viewers on Sunday, making it the most-watched series premiere in Lifetime's 23-year history.• The penultimate episode of The Sopranos drew eight million, a 300,000 week-to-week bump and the series' second-most-watched episode of the year.• The MTV Movie Awards (3.6 mil) were up 13 percent versus last year.• Some 4.7 million feasted on the Season 3 premiere of The Next Food Network Star, making it the cabler's best-performing premiere ever.• The Riches' season finale audience (1.8 mil) represented a 54 percent drop from the series opener.• CBS Evening News averaged 5.5 mil last week, its lowest draw since at least 1987.
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Question: I just saw you on The Next Food Network Star and I was bummed that Nathan got the boot, but your backwash joke more than made up for it.
Answer: Would you believe me if I told you the backwash joke was even funnier the second time around? 'Cause it was.
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Question: You claim to be a vegetarian, yet you're eating shrimp puffs on The Next Food Network Star!? For shame! Last time I checked, shrimp were living, breathing animals.
Answer: You got me: I eat seafood. Is there a word for a vegetarian who eats seafood (aside from "hypocrite")?
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Food Network has announced premiere dates for Two for the Road (Bobby and Jaime Deen's cross-country trek to family-run restaurants), July 11; Throwdown with Bobby Flay (a weekly cuisine-specific cook-off), July 13; and the June 25 debut outing of the show from the winner of this season's The Next Food Network Star — the series featuring my national television debut this Sunday at 9 pm/ET. Just watch, that Ausiello guy will probably steal every scene I'm in.
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Question: Has your life finally gotten back to normal after the craziness that ensued following your Veronica Mars appearance?
Answer: Would you believe things are just now starting to calm down? Who knew two seconds of screen time would cause such mass hysteria? (Truth be told, I had my suspicions.) Meanwhile, with my episode of Next Food Network Star just four days away, my handlers are warning me to brace for another wave of insanity. Lemme tell you, this fame thing is exhausting.
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Question: I am pretty sure it's you I saw in the preview for the next episode of Next Food Network Star. Am I right? Who was your favorite?
Answer: Yep, me and fellow TV Guiders Lisa Chambers, Matt Webb Mitovich and Carol Dittbrenner can be seen guest-grilling the final four contestants on this Sunday's show. We taped it back in November, so the only thing I remember is being blinded by Nathan's teeth and devouring about 16 of Carissa's shrimp puffs. I also recall thinking, "That Guy guy has this thing sewn up."
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Question: I was watching an episode of Emeril Live the other day and could swear that I spotted you in the audience. Am I right?
Answer: Yes, that was me. My Aunt Joan is a huge fan and I brought her to a taping as an early birthday present. Big mistake. We had the misfortune of being seated outside of the coveted "feeding zone" and in an area that can best be described as studio steerage. As a result, we spent the entire three-hour taping watching the lucky bastards in first class binge on Emeril's fine cuisine while we sat back and starved. And if that wasn't humiliating enough, at intermission the stagehands tried to appease us by passing out stale bags of potato chips. I felt like a chicken in one of KFC's much-maligned-by-PETA factory farms. I only hope someone from the Red Cross is reading this, because after they're done in New Orleans, they need to focus their attention on the ongoing humanitarian crisis inside Food Netw
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