Edward Reese Allen is an American author and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo network's television program Queer Eye, and has been the host of the TV cooking competition series Chopped since its launch in 2009, as well as Chopped Junior, which began in mid-2015. On April 13, 2014, he became the host of another Food Network show, originally called America's Best Cook; a retooled version of that show, retitled All-Star Academy, debuted on March 1, 2015. In early 2015, he also hosted a four-part special, Best. Ever. which scoured America for its best burgers, pizza, breakfast, and barbecue. He is a longtime contributing writer to Esquire magazine and is the author of two cookbooks, and regularly appears on the Food Network show Beat Bobby Flay and other television cooking shows.
Kyle Egan Richards Umansky is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. Since 2010, she has appeared as a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and as of 2024, is the last remaining original cast member on the show.
Tracie Thoms is an American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in Rent, Cold Case, The Devil Wears Prada, Death Proof, and the Fox television series Wonderfalls.
Rebecca Lynn Cardon is a film and television actress, personal trainer, and product spokesperson.
Jean-Christophe Novelli is a French chef, restauranteur and television personality.
Rick Sloane is an American cult filmmaker. He is credited as writer, director, producer, Film editor and cinematographer of much of his own work. He directed the B-movie film Hobgoblins, which was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Top Chef is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry, with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode. The show is produced by Magical Elves Productions, the company that created Project Runway.
Hell's Kitchen is a British cookery reality show, aired on ITV, which featured prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize. Four series aired between 2004 and 2009, three presented by Angus Deayton and the fourth and final series presented by Claudia Winkleman.
Top Chef: San Francisco, originally broadcast simply as Top Chef, is the first season of the American reality television series Top Chef. It was first filmed in San Francisco, California, before concluding in Las Vegas, Nevada. The season premiered on March 8, 2006, and ended on May 24, 2006. The show featured chefs from around the United States living together in one house and competing in a series of culinary challenges. The prizes for the winner of the competition included a feature in Food & Wine Magazine, a showcase at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado, a Kenmore Elite kitchen set, and US$100,000. The series was hosted by Katie Lee Joel, in her only season as host, and judged by chef Tom Colicchio and food writer Gail Simmons. In the season finale, Harold Dieterle was declared the winner over runner-up Tiffani Faison.
Chris Cosentino is an American celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a competitor on The Next Iron Chef and for his appearances on Iron Chef America. He is known for his haute cuisine offal dishes, and was chef-partner at Incanto in San Francisco. Forbes Traveler called Incanto "perhaps America's most adventurous nose-to-tail restaurant … On offer are lamb's necks, pig trotters and a five-course nose-to-tail tasting menu perhaps including venison kidneys and chocolate-blood panna cotta." Incanto closed on March 24, 2014. In December 2014, he opened Cockscomb, a restaurant centered around his updated interpretations of classic San Francisco dishes.
The Real Housewives is an American reality television franchise that began on March 21, 2006, with The Real Housewives of Orange County. Each installment of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives of a group of affluent women residing in a certain city or geographic region. Eleven different series have been produced in the United States, and there are 21 international adaptations in addition. The American series is broadcast on Bravo; previously the Miami installment aired for a time on Peacock.
Jean Val Jean is an actor, model and adult film performer who has also worked as a personal trainer and professional chef. Delcour has made several relatively high-profile appearances on mainstream television, including Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Chopped. In November 2009 he appeared on Chef Academy, where he was described as being a graphic designer and having studied graphic design for five years in Bordeaux, France. Over the course of the show, his identity as an adult performer was discerned by his fellow competitors, which the network then capitalized on. Originally a France-based model, Delcour came to the U.S. to pursue a career in acting and cooking. He has made several appearances, including on The Last Ship, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, CSI: Las Vegas and Jane the Virgin. He's currently a professional private chef and personal trainer.
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019, when they were replaced by Series 4 winner and chef Andy Allen, food critic Melissa Leong, and restaurateur and chef Jock Zonfrillo.
The sixth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen was filmed in January 2009, and premiered on Fox on July 21, 2009, and concluded on October 13, 2009. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, while season two winner Heather West joined to serve as red team sous-chef, Scott Leibfried returned to serve as blue team sous-chef, and Jean-Philippe Susilovic returned to serve as maître d'hôtel. For the first time, the winner of this season received a position as a head chef at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia.
Top Chef: Just Desserts is an American reality competition show, spun off from Top Chef. It premiered on the cable television network Bravo on September 15, 2010. Top Chef: Just Desserts features pastry chefs competing in a series of culinary challenges, focusing on pastries and desserts. The show is produced by Magical Elves Productions, the same company that created Top Chef and Project Runway, and distributed by Bravo and Tiger Aspect USA. It is hosted by Gail Simmons, with head judge Johnny Iuzzini, head pastry chef at Jean-Georges. Other judges include Hubert Keller, owner of restaurant Fleur de Lys and a Top Chef Masters finalist, and Dannielle Kyrillos, "an entertaining expert and editor-at-large of DailyCandy".
Kristen Kish is a Korean-born American chef known for winning the tenth season of Top Chef. She was formerly chef de cuisine at Menton in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston. She became the host of Top Chef starting with season 21, Top Chef: Wisconsin. She is also the host of 36 Hours on Travel Channel, a co-host of Fast Foodies on TruTV, a co-host of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and host of National Geographic’s Restaurants at the End of the World.
Below Deck is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on July 1, 2013. The show chronicles the lives of the crew members who work and reside aboard a superyacht during charter season.
The third season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, an American reality television series, aired on Bravo from November 5, 2012 to April 8, 2013, and is primarily filmed in Beverly Hills, California.
Antonia Marie Lofaso is an American celebrity chef and restaurateur. She has appeared on the reality television shows Top Chef, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen and Restaurant Startup, among others. Lofaso owns the restaurants Black Market Liquor Bar, Scopa Italian Roots, and DAMA in Los Angeles, California.
Fatima Ali was a Pakistani-American executive chef, restaurateur and television personality. She was known for her successful appearances on reality cooking shows Chopped and Top Chef, and for posthumously winning two James Beard Foundation Awards for her writing.
