What is it about Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America that has made it such a popular part of the channel’s programming? Do foodies really enjoy watching a bunch of helpless home cooks who have zero clue what they are doing make a mess and try to improve their paltry cooking skills?
Considering the show has been running for over 20 seasons with no end in sight, the answer is apparently a big yes.
According to a press release from Food Network, for Season 22, Worst Cooks in America is trying something new by bringing back some the most memorable and inept cooks for a second chance. The winner will win $25,000 and their coach will get the all important bragging rights that likely mean everything at the channel’s Christmas party.
While Anne Burrell has been the leader of the Red Team since Season 1 way back in 2010, the role of the leader of the Blue Team has changed from season to season. Everyone from Rachael Ray to Robert Irvine to Bobby Flay has stepped in to try to mentor the cooks with the blue aprons, with some of the most hysterical moments provided by Alton Brown in Season 18.
Michael Symon joins Worst Cooks in America for Season 22.
For Best of the Worst, instead of bringing back a former mentor the show is bringing in new blood in the form of Michael Symon. The Iron Chef joins Burrell for what is sure to be a season unlike any before.
The returning home cooks include Jonathan Beyer, Lulu Boykin, Jefferson Goldie, Domaine Javier, Stephanie James, Joey Kinsley, Sadie Manda, and Eric Smart. The challenges sound like it will result in the kind of hilarity you don’t normally see on cooking competitions. They include cooking over an open flame, butchering a whole duck and to open the season, cooking the dish that got them sent home in the first place.
Of course, if you ask any fan of the show, they will tell you some of the best moments are from the first episode whenever a new chef takes over the Blue Team. The absolute horror and shock they experience when they see the contestants attempt to cook is just too funny for words. We can only hope Chef Symon realizes what he is in for.
The six-episode Worst Cooks in America: Best of the Worst arrives on Sunday, April 25 at 9 PM on Food Network and streams the same day on Discovery Plus. And if that’s not enough, a digital companion show titled Extra Helping will also be available that includes behind the scenes material and cooking tips.
What do you think Guilty Eats Nation? Does Worst Cooks in America: Best of the Worst sound like must see television for you with the addition of Michael Symon? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter page.