Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America” will return for Season 30 on Jan. 4, TheWrap has exclusively learned — and the “Reality Check” installment of the show has a whole new batch of chefs in need of some culinary training.
This season’s crop of amateur cooks includes Lisa Barlow (“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City”), Downtown Julie Brown (MTV VJ), Val Chmerkovskiy (“Dancing With the Stars”), Reza Farahan (“Shahs of Sunset”), Amara La Negra (“Love & Hip Hop: Miami”), Ryan Lochte (Olympic swimmer), Manila Luzon (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Romeo Miller (rapper and actor), Beverley Mitchell (“7th Heaven”) and CT Tamburello (“The Challenge”).
This season, Chefs Jeff Mauro and Tiffany Derry will be the ones who transform this cast of reality stars and athletes from cooking disasters to kitchen masters by putting them through a culinary boot camp. Mauro and Derry will divide contestants into two teams, coaching them through themed challenges. The last chef standing will win $25,000 for the charity of their choice and bragging rights for their mentor.
“The kitchen is not where this season’s celebrity recruits shine – but Jeff and Tiffany are determined to change that,” said Betsy Ayala, head of content and food at Warner Bros. Discovery. “‘Worst Cooks’ is where comedy and cooking chaos collide, but in the end there are some impressive culinary transformations that will blow our audience away.”
The season will start with a baseline challenge where contestants are asked to make a red carpet-worthy dish to show off (or expose) their kitchen skills. That will be followed by a main dish challenge where chefs will teach their teams how to make spicy Piri Piri chicken. The least successful celeb contestants will have to face off in a blind elimination cook-off with only one chef surviving to cook another day.
Some of the upcoming challenges will include Blockbuster Bites, a movie genre-inspired game that tests palates, culinary knowledge and dramatic instincts; The Worst Lotus, a head-to-head relay race through a faux-luxury resort to create poolside platters; and Agents of Flavor, a scavenger hunt to uncover ingredients and piece together a mystery dish. The finale will take place on Feb. 1 and will challenge contestants to create a three-course restaurant quality meal for a panel of guest judges.
“Worst Cooks in America” is produced by Objective Media Group America, an All3 Media America company.
A Food Network staple, “Worst Cooks in America” first premiered in 2010. Chef Anne Burrell served as a mentor on the series for 28 of its 29 previous seasons. The celebrated chef died by suicide in June.
