Two of the Food Networks most popular celebrity TV chefs will be tag-teaming in a new six-episode reality cooking show, "Celebrity Cook-Off." Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri will each be coaching and mentoring a team of B-list celebrities in a culinary showdown for bragging rights on the Food Network. The show will begin with eight celebrity contestants -- all with some sort of affinity for cooking.
Divided into "Team Rachael" and "Team Guy," the episodes will feature culinary challenges ranging from running a NYC food truck to launching a restaurant. If previous culinary reality TV shows are an indicator, you can probably expect a certain amount of comic culinary disasters and even a little bit of name calling. (One of the judges exclaimed that "Coolio is a crime against food." Ouch.)
At the end of each episode, the two weakest contestants from the losing team will have to compete in a head-to-head blind taste test. The show ends with the winner being crowned King or Queen of the "Celebrity Cook-Off" and will be awarded $50,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.
The contestants include:
- Summer Sanders (Two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer and national sportscaster)
- Lou Diamond Phillips (Golden Globe-nominated actor, Stand and Deliver)
- Aaron Carter (Multi-platinum-selling recording artist and actor, Popstar and Supercross)
- Joey Fatone (Singer, actor, television personality and founding member of top-selling supergroup 'N Sync)
- Taylor Dayne (Chart-topping recording star and actress, Broadway's "Aida" and Television's "Nightman")
- Coolio (Grammy-winning hip-hop artist)
- Cheech Marin (Grammy-winning comedian, screenwriter and actor)
- Alyssa Campanella (Winner, Miss USA 2011 and Runner-Up, Miss Teen USA 2007)
The show will premiere January 1st at 9 p.m.