‘Worst Cooks in America’: Jeff Mauro Talks ‘Reality Check’ & Life After Anne Burrell

Jeff Mauro and his new fellow mentor Tiffany Derry really have their work cut out for them on Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check. Food Network added another layer of intrigue for Season 30 by welcoming kitchen-challenged celebrities as contestants. They’ll learn under the masterful eye of Mauro and Derry with only one standing as the winner of $25,000 for their chosen charity. Of course, the mentors have skin in the game for bragging rights to have their team member be the champ. 

The eclectic mix of famous faces include: Lisa Barlow (Real Housewives of Salt Lake City), Downtown Julie Brown (MTV VJ), Val Chmerkovskiy (Dancing with the Stars), Reza Farahan (Shahs of Sunset), Amara La Negra (Love & Hip Hop: Miami), Ryan Lochte (Olympic swimmer), Manila Luzon (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Romeo Miller (rapper/actor), Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven) and CT Tamburello (The Challenge). These recruits face a pressure cooker of entertainment-themed challenges like “Blockbuster Bites,” “The Worst Lotus,” and “Agents of Flavor.”  

The supersized season premiere on January 4 with the baseline challenge, where the stars will be tasked to create “red carpet-worthy dishes” Chefs then teach their teams how to make Piri Piri chicken in the first main dish challenge. Those less successful face off in a blind elimination cook-off to see who stays and who goes home. Here the “Sandwich King” tells us what makes this season stand out. 

Food Network

What were your initial thoughts on the Reality Check concept? 

Jeff Mauro: The celebrity seasons of Worst Cooks are my favorite to be chef mentors for because reality television stars come with a certain energy that is unmatched and unparalleled. Plus, they make a lot of TV, so they know how to hit their marks. But they are super competitive. Most of these recruits have spent their professional life competing on reality shows. Nobody is there not to win, so the competition is fierce. I’ll tell you that. 

How is it having Tiffany a part of it? 

She is my new fav. She is so experienced and so accomplished. She is great at diving in and instructing. For these recruits, it takes a certain skillset. You have to speak the language, not only culinary stars but reality star personalities. She is really good at it. We just had a great time backstage. 

Worst Cooks reaching Season 30 is bittersweet after Anne Burrell’s passing. How is it for you to continue on this show, which she was such a big part of? 

I had the honor of co-hosting several seasons with Anne, as well as being close personal friends with her. I know we worked well together and loved working together. Her legend lives on, and I’m more than honored to carry that torch into the future. I know she would approve. 

Recruit Downtown Julie Brown and C.T. Tamburello, as seen on Worst Cooks in America, Season 30. (Food Network)

When it comes to the lineup, it’s an interesting mix. You have Ryan Lochte, an Olympic swimmer who is an athlete. I don’t know how that translates into the kitchen. Anyone you were surprised by? 

I would say CT Tamburello, who I’ve known from years of Road Rules. He is one of the OGs. He has competed on so many shows. Pound for pound, for someone who is as competitive as they are a terrible cook, he is unmatched. We have to eat their food, too. This is not smoke and mirrors. We want them to do well and learn because ultimately they are competitors, but we have to ingest what they put on a plate. It could be dangerous for our GI systems. 

There are folks on here no stranger to drama. Do we see any drama unfold? 

There are lots of tears, lots of cuts, lots of burning. I mean Lisa Barlow alone, who has become a close personal friend since. We’ve watched Salt Lake City. My wife and I are fans. You just see the intensity and dedication to getting better. Sometimes it could be a wardrobe malfunction or burning chicken breast. There would be what seemed like insurmountable hurdles that they faced in each challenge. You have to watch to see who overcomes it the best, but yeah, a lot of heightened emotions and personalities sometimes clash in the kitchen. That’s all I’ll say. 

Who comes with the bare bottom of skill level? Like to the point where they couldn’t really boil water. 

Lisa Barlow for sure. You watch her on her first cook. They all come to culinary boot camp. Those first challenges and cooks, it’s abysmal. You can’t believe these people are functioning adults, let alone celebrities and TV stars. You can tell none of them have worked the line at a restaurant ever or even waited tables. 

I love the themed challenges, especially ‘The Worst Lotus.’ Tell us what we’ll see. 

You have to tune into that one because the challenges we put them through to get the advantage for the actual skill drill and main cook challenge. They are such great sports. We decked out the whole set in a tropical motif. They are crawling around, popping balloons, and getting messy. I’m sitting there thinking, “They’re never going to want to do this. They are celebrities. That they are never going to commit to these goofy skill drill challenges.” They are fierce competitors though, and it shows. It’s so entertaining. 

Manila Luzon and Lisa Barlow, as seen on Worst Cooks in America, Season 30. (Food Network)

Even Manilla isn’t afraid to get dirty? 

No! Manilla was shot out of a cannon. I’ll tell you that much. Sometimes emotions get the best of the competitors. There are some moments where you are like, “We don’t want to push these recruits to the edge. We want them to learn and evolve as cooks in the kitchen.” We’re not making it easy for them unfortunately. There are some moments where it’s shocking how high those emotions can get in culinary boot camp. 

You have been hosting and judging for so many years, but started as a competitor yourself by winning Food Network Star. How would you say these shows have evolved? 

I got my start on Food Network Star in 2011, and that was very competitive. It had hard challenges and everything. But these recruits or anybody who is competing these days on any Food Network competition show has been raised on competitive cooking on TV. Not much at that age. It was really Chopped and that was about it. That was only a couple of years before I won a Food Network Star. They have a game plan. Nobody has not seen many episodes of cooking competitions on TV. It almost gives you an advantage that we didn’t have back in the day with me as an old fart. You get to look for what the judges look for and how they judge. There is more of a familiarity with this genre. 

Alex Guarnaschelli, Katie Lee Biegel, Sunny Anderson, Geoffrey Zakarian and Jeff Mauro pose for a group photo, as seen on ‘The Kitchen’ Season 40. (Food Network)

The Kitchen just aired its last episode. What will you remember about your time on the show? 

We all grew doing this together for the last 12 years. It’s bittersweet the run is over, but we accomplished so much. I got to go and do what I was actually absolutely born to do, which was be the funny man in a group setting and literally get paid to be the class clown while cooking and eating. Find me a job better than that and do it with my best friends. We got to know each other the first couple of seasons. Then we became family. That’s the most bittersweet, that I don’t get to play in the sandbox with them anymore. But people love the show and I’m reminded of that every day. It still resonates with people. There are so many things to do that we can all do that creates that same kind of vibe for people and the same energy. Listen, hey, it was 12 years and 40 seasons. I mean who can do that? Not many, I’m ultimately super proud of the run more than anything 

You’re a public figure and have used your platform to draw awareness for early detection, particularly cancer. Something that has impacted your family so much. 

Listen, you can use a big voice like mine that has a decent fan base. You can use it, monetize it, make television, make funny things on the internet. But for me,  it’s as long as you leave some space to draw attention to something that could save their life. Like getting a colonoscopy at 40 years old, depending on your history and whatever your doctor recommends. It’s rampant in my family. Pancreatic cancer took my father very quickly this year. My brother is in Stage 4 colorectal cancer that he battles every day. Plus, everybody else. I want to use my platform to be an entertainer but also this has affected my life so much. You have to mitigate the risk and early detection is a very noble and appropriate way to use my platform. 

Related

'Worst Cooks In America' Sets Season 30 Cast After Anne Burrell's Death

What is your New Year’s resolution? 

I wrote and produced my one-man show Jeff Mauro Live “From Clown to King.” We premiere at City Winery in Chicago, which is already sold out, on January 22. We just announced three dates at City Winery in February for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. This is kind of my dream. I was raised on the stage as much as kitchens. This combines both those worlds with my band on stage the whole time. It’s music, comedy, it’s cooking, and it’s my life story. It’s about 90 minutes. Nothing has been put out like this from someone in my position. There are a lot of great storytellers and people in my position, but I’m really swinging for the fences. So, my New Year’s resolution is to nail this and then expand it because I love being on stage and entertaining people and creating almost a new show every night. 

That could be a television special. 

Hey, you know, why not? A little special on the air to pay me back having to fund this whole operation. I don’t know. It’s crazy. But sure, I’ll do a  live show if that opportunity came about. 

Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check premiere, January 4, 8/7c, Food Network