There's a new season of Worst Cooks in America, and a Houston cook has made the cut. Ann Odogwu is one of 16 chefs who will appear on the latest season of this Food Network prime-time show, hosted by chef-personalities Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray.
The series, which airs on Sunday nights at 8 pm Central time, debuts on January 1. Over the course of 10 episodes, kitchen nightmares are transformed into skilled cooks, with Burrell and Ray each leading a team in a kitchen boot camp designed to whip them into culinary shape. The contestant who makes the most impressive transformation is awarded a $25,000 grand prize.
In a release, Food Network VP Didi O’Hearn says that the season will be filled with "comical mishaps and transformations."
Competitors hail from around the country, with three from Texas: In addition to Odogwu, Laura Docker is from Fort Worth, and Cedrick Miller hails from El Paso.
Odogwu is a hospitality professional who attended the Hilton College for Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. "Odogwu is a native of Nigeria, where cooking is a big part of the culture, so she’s ready to improve her culinary skills. Ann is the only one in her family that can't cook an edible meal and she knows she needs to develop her independence in the kitchen. She also wants to make her family proud, especially her dad, in the process," the release explains.
Docker is a graduate of Texas Christian University and an attorney whose turf includes personal injury and will disputes. Miller is a young athlete and a cook.
In the premiere, Burrell and Ray welcome the recruits to boot camp with photos of their most disastrous dishes, which they must re-create so the mentors can assess their skills. Teams are chosen and given their first challenge: cooking shrimp and live lobster.
The recruits with the least successful dishes on each team are sent home, while the rest move ahead. Upcoming episodes focus on breakfast, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, a tasting contest, and a food trivia challenge.
The season culminates on March 5 with a showdown between two recruits who prepare a three-course, restaurant-quality meal.
Rachael Ray and Anne Burrell school the Worst Cooks in America.
