‘Chef Grudge Match’: Jet Tila Talks ‘Juicy’ Battles to Come & Judging His Former Competition

Step into the ring with Chef Grudge Match. In Food Network‘s new head-to-head winner-takes-all showdown, hosted by boxing champ Laila Ali, elite chefs put their ego and their most prized knife on the line to settle fights, rivalries, and long-standing disputes once and for all. And these chefs did not come to play.

Chef Grudge Match debuted on Food Network on Tuesday, August 12, at 9/8c. TV Insider connected with head judge Jet Tila to get a preview of what’s coming next in this new and exciting competition series.

There’s so many great cooking competition shows these days. What makes Chef Grudge Match stand out from the rest of them?

Jet Tila: It’s a few layers. Number one, you actually get to see grudges settled in the kitchen. And beyond that, these are real grudges. Imagine a husband and wife settling a grudge. Imagine a mentor/mentee. Longtime friends who started businesses together settling who has the best dish. And I also think that we have a show that is authentic in that people don’t come happy, and you get that kind of energy that translates into a very dynamic competition.

On top of that, you’ve got a legendary host, Laila Ali, who’s a champ herself, whose father is one of the most famous champs in the history of the world. And you have a pretty decent head judge who brings in some of his friends who are very, very famous chefs. If you watch me in anything, I am who I am no matter what. So, I’m not going to allow pretense and I’m not going to allow any punches to be pulled, no pun intended. All those things are what really makes this a fantastic show.  

What was it like working with Laila Ali?

She’s a media pro. She’s obviously very comfortable in commanding any situation she’s in. I was quite nervous, I’m not going to lie. I’ve met a lot of “celebs” and well-known persons, princes, I’ve cooked for just about everyone in the world but the gravity of her accomplishments — not even her family, but her own accomplishments made me a little nervous. But she is one of the nicest folks. And beyond that as a host, she commands the show. She runs it. But she’s also rooting for everybody. She also has empathy for some of these grudges and the people who might have to go home and lose. She’s such a warm individual. It’s hard to find that balance between, “I’ve got to do my job as a host” and “I also can be a human being and joke around and have fun.” It was a blast, man. It was really really a blast. And I got over my nerves after one or two episodes.

You’ve judged many different shows, including my personal favorite Cutthroat Kitchen. How would you describe your judging technique and how it’s evolved over the years, and what’s most important to you when you’re judging?

Wow, that’s a smart question. And I say that to you because you watched me when I was the most green judge ever. Fourteen years ago, I walked into Cutthroat Kitchen. I met another idol, Alton Brown, and was like, “What am I doing here?” So, whenever I find myself in a novel life situation, I think I always default to: be honest, number one, and be kind. Honesty can go both ways because in the eyes of the judged, honesty could be a little tough for them. Some folks haven’t had firm boundaries put upon them or very honest feedback. So, I think honest and kind are my pillars. So, I will always tell you, “Elizabeth, I feel you did this really well. I feel this needed a little help and here’s why.” But it’s never to hurt people. It’s never to get a cheap joke or anything like that.

These two people have come in with grudges, and they’re real grudges. And they need me to bring in the other celebrity judge and have us give them the feeling that they’re there to be judged fairly, because someone’s gonna go home unhappy because these grudges existed for many years. So, as long as I’m honest and fair, the next layer is to create a safe environment. I think it all works out. And because I’ve been a judge for so long, I’ve had rapport with most of my other judges. So, I’m just there to be like, “You guys cook. Pour your hearts into these dishes. We’re here to support you. We don’t want anyone to fail. It’s not going to be easy, so whatever I can do as a judge to put you at ease to know you’re going to be judged fairly.” I think that’s a big deal to them.

There’s a lot of familiar faces among the competitors, including chefs you’ve judged with before. One of the guest judges, Chris Oh, goes on to compete in a later episode. Is it hard to judge people you know? Were you more particular about their dishes? 

You’ll also see Maneet [Chauhan] judge and compete, so we have heavy hitters, man. It’s not difficult when I am consistent all the way through, right? If I say, “I hate spicy food,” and then in another episode, “I love spicy food,” right? The more honest, the more safe everyone feels that I will judge them fairly. They might not agree with my decisions, but as long as they know that it came from an honest place, then it’s easy to judge you and then judge with you on the next episode. That’s the core value of any judge on TV. We have to be honest, but we’re also there to have fun. I’m also trying to disarm these grudges because sometimes they can be so angry that they forget, “Guys, let’s cook.” I think they’d rather duke it out in another form, but let’s keep it in the kitchen. I’ll let you know you’ve got one of the best champs who’s competed her whole life, hosting the show, it all ends up coming together so nicely.

What are some of the most interesting matches?

Watching a husband and wife settle a grudge is a really big deal. Watching a Tournament of Champions champion on the Grudge floor, that was pretty incredible. It’s someone who’s beat me handily, so it’s hard to judge when this person beat the crap out of me. There’s honestly a little piece of me that would be like, “Hmmm, it’d be fun to get them back,” but I just can’t do it. I just couldn’t do it. There are some very juicy grudges. And on top of that, watching losing a grudge and losing one of your favorite knives to a person you’ve had this grudge against, forever, that was spicy, I’m not going to lie. Not everybody leaves feeling satisfied, it’s juicy. It’s a little spicy on both sides, so it’s going to be fun to watch.

One of the episodes is in a slightly different format because it is two reality TV stars, Johnny Bananas and Mark Long, facing off against each other with the help of Maneet Chauhan and Stephanie Izard. Was it more chaotic having more people in the kitchen? Did you change your judging expectations since the two contestants aren’t professional chefs? 

It was just awesome to watch because I had watched Mark forever on the show he was on, and I think it was a pretty iconic show. I will change my expectations for our reality stars, but I do expect our Food Network masters to really be there and help, and they did. That was probably one of my favorite episodes because my co-judge, I had to convince them to stop fanning out and focus on this competition because they definitely, maybe had a crush at one point — you know, when they were younger. And that was really fun to navigate, and I think we do address that. So, if a person’s not a professional chef, I’m going to judge them accordingly, but I was really tough on our pro chefs. 

You’ve been on both sides of the judging table on some of your other shows. Would you ever consider competing on Chef Grudge Match someday?

I would love to. And in fact, I can imagine a scenario where we bring someone in thinking they have this grudge, but I really have the grudge. How cool would that be? Yes, I will always put my money where my mouth is, and I’ve lost more than I’ve won in the world of Food Network, so it would be pretty fun to compete on Chef Grudge Match. Let’s get a pickup on Season 2, and then I’ll get out there. How fun would it be to see Laila cooking? I mean how cool would that be? Seriously.  

That would be pretty cool. 

Right? 

Well, the million-dollar question is, which of your prized knives is going to be on the chopping block? 

That is so good, and as you know I love my knives. If I compete, I will put up a handmade custom knife from a Japanese master. How’s that? It is an impressive knife. It is limited. It’s numbered. It is crazy. Master Doi from Japan, he’s not with us anymore so while he was around, 15 years ago, he offered me one of his limited last runs. So that’s the one. How’s that? 

That’s… wow.  

Yeah. I would do that. Because it’d have to be a really good grudge.  

What advice do you have for future contestants? 

Oh, man. That’s a good one. How about don’t be scared to bring us some wicked grudges. Right? Because we are the place to settle all of your culinary grudges. And make sure you practice, because you don’t want to lose on national TV in front of myself, a judge, and Laila Ali.

Chef Grudge Match, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Food Network