Food Network will fire up TV screens in June with the return of its top-rated reality series, The Next Food Network Star. This season the stakes are higher, the challenges are tougher, the feedback is rougher and contestants will have to pull out all the stops in order to emerge as the last chef standing and winner of his or her own Food Network show. The sizzling primetime series kicks-off its third season on Sunday, June 3rd at 9 p.m. ET/PT with a special two-hour, back-to-back premiere.
"We're looking for a combination of culinary chops, star power, and the ability to handle the pressures of intense television production, and that's difficult to find in any one person," said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production. "This season, the finalists are exceptionally talented. Frankly, we put them through the ringer to find out who really deserved to join our pantheon of stars."
The 11 finalists include: Vivien Cunha (Hermosa Beach, CA), Amy Finley (San Diego, CA), Josh Garcia (Havelock, NC), Tommy Grella (Methuen, MA), Colombe Jacobsen (New York, NY), Paul McCullough (Los Angeles, CA), Patrick Rolfe (Lake Forest Park, WA), Michael Salmon (Brooklyn, NY), Rory Schepisi (Vega, TX), Adrien Sharp (Jackson, MI) and Nikki Shaw (Manhattan Beach, CA).
This season, the finalists venture outside of the Food Network studios and are tested in a series of challenges that determine not only their culinary prowess, but also their mental strength and on-air potential. Challenges include creating new stadium food for an NBA team, preparing food in an Army barracks, finding their inner Iron Chef or holding their own with a variety of top media outlets. Over the course of the show's first seven weeks, the selection committee, aided by a rotating cast of Food Network chefs including Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, Cat Cora, Duff Goldman, Robert Irvine and Season Two winner Guy Fieri, will narrow the field down to two contestants. Starting Sunday, July 15th, viewers will select the ultimate winner of The Next Food Network Star by submitting their votes to FoodNetwork.com and via text messaging. The winner will be revealed during the series' finale on Sunday, July 22nd at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will receive a six- episode show that will premiere in fall 2007. The Next Food Network Star is produced by CBS EYE too Productions.
