‘Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out’ Host Brian Malarkey on Sabotages & Breaking Fourth Wall

The deliciously diabolical culinary competition Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out is back May 13 on Food Network. This iteration follows the original cooking show which ran for 15 seasons through 2017. Alum Brian Malarkey steps in for Alton Brown as host with the concept’s winning recipe intact, welcoming four chefs each episode to embrace their ruthlessness by dishing out sabotages on their opponents. 

They’ll have $25,000 in their starting bank where the competitors can spend the money on advantages for themselves or invest it into taking their adversaries down a notch. The first round Malarkey sets the table with challenges and sabotages while auctioning off advantages with each doing whatever it takes to advance. Adding to the pressure cooker atmosphere is the fact the chefs only have a minute to pick up ingredients before tackling the challenges. The three left standing bid on sabotages in this ultimate game of chess, only with food. 

Judges will stop by to decide the winner of each round, tasting and evaluating each finished product before they know what challenges and sabotages the chefs worked through. Among the names making those tough decisions are Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli, Aarti Sequeira and Jet Tila. In the end, the competitor with the best dish in the final round wins the game and the remaining money in their bank.

Before the knives are drawn over these nine episodes, here Malarkey breaks down what’s to come. 

Host Brian Malarkey checks in on chef Arnold Myint as he cooks, as seen on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, Season 1. (Food Network)

What would you say makes the show stand out and different in your eyes? 

 Brian Malarkey: What I believe makes this show different and what I’m so excited about is that we set out to make this show more unique than the other competitive cooking shows out there right now. And we decided what if I talked to the camera? I have years of experience in the competitive cooking field – what if I started giving my insight, be it good, bad, or indifferent? So the idea of looking at the camera and giving that insight gives the Food Network viewers and Cutthroat what it’s always wanted, and that’s to have entertainment with a side of education. 

And so you’re going to be able to look inside my crazy mind and figure out why I think somebody has the advantage, or why they’re messing up. Sometimes I’m proved wrong, which is also humorous and fun, because it’s not the quickest, easiest way sometimes. Other people solve the problems of the matrix better than others. So it’s breaking that fourth wall and being able to talk to the camera. And then, of course, it’s just revamped and modern. It’s got the LED screen. The games are fun, and they’re not over the top. So, it allows these very, very talented chefs to cook phenomenal food.

What can you tease about some of the most vicious sabotages and challenges to come?

You know what’s amazing about this show is that you will think you’ve purchased the right opportunities to succeed here, but you never know when there’s just one more sabotage coming. And the amount of times that people spent a lot of money early and then realized they should have saved some money for later. It’s always that aspect where maybe you don’t buy the first thing that comes at you sometimes. Also, people were losing all of their ingredients halfway through a challenge after they spent a bunch of money to get those ingredients. So that’s what’s vicious about the sabotages and challenges. You never know what’s in my pocket and what the next sabotage is. It’s not necessarily losing your knives, or having no seasoning , or a scenario that has you in the middle of the woods. It’s, “What’s the next sabotage going to be?” And when things are looking really, really good for people, that’s when I throw one more at them.

Host Brian Malarkey checks in on chef Leslie Raney Garetto while cooking on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, Season 1. (Food Network)

Who are you most excited for in terms of the judges this season?

You know, I’m just a huge fan of all the people that I was fortunate enough to have on this season, but I just absolutely love Maneet Chauhan and Aarti Sequeira. They’re just two of the nicest people in the world. They have such huge food flavors in their repertoire, so it’s just so much fun to really get those entirely different perspectives. And they just make me laugh.

What do you make of the brave chefs who come on this season? How heated do things get?

They are all great competitors and all seasoned competitors, but what’s so fun is they don’t know what they’re getting into, because they don’t know what Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out is. They don’t know what the reboot is all about, so everyone is going in blind on season one.  You can’t look at previous seasons to see what people did and how they maneuvered- e.g. did they spend all their money? Did they hold all their money? So in Season 1, they are all very brave to go and do this. Sometimes you get four chefs that get along pretty nicely and then sometimes you have four chefs who literally want to pull the knives out on each other, so you never know what you’re going to get, but it’s so much fun to watch the dynamics unfold.

If you were to compete, who would you recruit to face off against. How do you think you’d do, and what would be your strategy? 

I would bring in some of my dear friends. Of course, there’s Carlos Anthony, who is one of the rising stars on Food Network. I’d have to take out Carlos. And Kevin Lee, who’s having a great run on 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing. He’s very mischievous and very skilled. I want to compete with people who really want to sabotage each other. Evil fun people who really want to go all in on it. Maneet as well, is as cutthroat as they come. I would want to play against hardball, cutthroat people, and my strategy? I would spend every single dime I had just to win for bragging rights. And I would definitely win. I’m not just the ringmaster. This is my arena, this is my area. I believe I can cook any different way, any different style, but it’s all about how you maneuver these sabotages. So I’m the King of Cutthroat, and I would be the king of our episode. 

What has been your favorite show or shows to compete on so far? 

For me, Tournament of Champions is the best in the fact that it is a blind tasting, and that’s something that we wanted to bring to this show also.  All the judges on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out do not know whose dish they’re judging. The only way to get a true assessment of someone’s talent is not to know whose talent you’re assessing.

What are your thoughts on the evolution of cooking competitions, and where it’s going in the future?

This show is really fun, because we put things in practical scenarios – e.g. you have no power, it’s raining, everything’s frozen, it’s things that could actually happen. While they’re pretty outlandish, I would say they all have a ‘practical’ outlandishness to them and I think that’s important. I think the home viewers really want to learn something that they might be able to use in their everyday life, and there will be plenty of that on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out. I like the games that give you an opportunity to cook something successful, be it you have to overcome lots of obstacles.

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What was your initial reaction when you found out the show was coming back?

I competed on Cutthroat Kitchen back in the day with Alton Brown, and I remember I lost to Justin Warner making pancakes without a bowl. I was whisking them in my hand. It was ruthless. It’s such an iconic show and to be able to have the opportunity to audition for the position that the legendary Alton Brown was in, I was over the moon. I was so excited about it, and now we’re going to watch it all unfold.

Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out premiere, May 13, 9/8c, Food Network