Carla Hall

Chef Carla Hall's ingratiating personality and talent for making delicious comfort food translated into a successful second career as a contestant on the popular "Top Chef" (Bravo 2006- ) and later as co-host on "The Chew" (ABC 2011-18). Though she failed to win either of her stints on "Top Chef," Hall's core belief - that food could be improved if it was made with love - won over viewers, who found her effusive nature a charming alternative to the icy or overly aggressive persona of most television chefs. That fan base helped to propel Hall into the media spotlight through interviews and guest appearances that culminated in her co-hosting duties on "The Chew."

Hall's ascent in the small screen market underscored the undeniable fact that talent was only part of the equation for a successful television career. Born May 12, 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee, Carla Patrice Hall initially pursued a career as an accountant, graduating from Howard University's Business School with a degree in that subject and later obtaining her CPA certificate after two years in the employ of Price Waterhouse.

She left finance behind in 1988 to work as a model in Europe, where she also fell in love with extraordinary tastes and constructs of Continental food. Upon returning to the United States, Hall opened a delivery service called The Lunch Bunch, then honed her cooking skills with L'Academie de Cuisine. Stints as a sous chef and executive chef at various Washington, D.C. hotels and clubs preceded the inception of Alchemy By Carla, a company specializing in artisan cookies, in 2001.

In 2008, Hall was selected as a contestant on the fifth season of "Top Chef," where she quickly became a favorite of both the judges and viewers. Hall's philosophy of "cooking with love," which suggested that food could be improved if prepared in an atmosphere of care and calm, was a particularly endearing element of her on-screen persona, and helped to propel her to runner-up status at the end of the seasons. Hall later returned as part of "Top Chef: All-Stars," which comprised the show's eighth season. Though her sophomore run was less successful than her first go-round, with Hall reaching only fifth place in the competition, she was awarded "Fan Favorite" by the viewers, which in turn would lead to increased exposure on television and in print.

In 2011, Hall was named as one of the five co-hosts for the ABC talk/cooking show "The Chew," where she continued to win over viewers with her personality and talents. She released her first cookbook, Cooking With Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You, in 2012. Hall's first stint at owning her own restaurant was less successful, however; Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen was open in Brooklyn only from June 2016 to August 2017.

During the seven-year run of "The Chew," Hall also appeared on Broadway in a guest dancer role in "The Lion King" (which she performed in a cast, having seriously injured her ankle in rehearsals) and made a guest appearance on the soap opera "General Hospital" (ABC 1963- ) in May 2018.