NEED TO KNOW
Anne Burrell’s final season of Worst Cooks in America airs July 28 on Food Network, which she co-hosted with Gabe Bertaccini
Bertaccini told PEOPLE about Burrell’s passion for the show and contestants, calling her a “unicorn” for her unique enthusiasm
Food Network will honor Burrell with tribute episodes airing Wednesday, June 25, showcasing her legacy as a celebrity chef on the network
Anne Burrell’s final season of Worst Cooks in America will air just six weeks after she died at 55 on Tuesday, June 17.
The Food Network star took co-host Gabe Bertaccini under her wing for what would be her last season of the competition show, airing on Monday, July 28, on Food Network. In the series, the two celebrity chefs each manage their team of amateur chefs called “recruits.” One person from both teams is eliminated during each episode until one champion remains, who receives $25,000 and (hopefully) cooking skills that bump them from being considered one of the Worst Cooks in America.
Burrell, who had helmed the amateur-focused series since it began in 2010, “was so invested in it,” the Ciao House star recalled to PEOPLE. “It was her baby. She wasn’t there for the paycheck,” the 39-year-old said.
The pair met for the first time just before filming the 29th season, the Italian chef explained. The day before shooting, Burrell invited Bertaccini for dinner at an Italian restaurant. “We really bonded over food, about my journey, my story. I remember she was so engaged in who I was, where I was from. And I really saw a side of Anne that, because until then I just saw her on TV, so I saw a side of Anne that was so human and so interested and so inquisitive, and just smart and quick and fun and witty,” he said. “She was exactly who you see on TV.”
He continued, “It doesn’t matter if you met her right now or 10 years ago, she was equally generous with her knowledge, her time.”
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Anne Burrell in 2017
He continued to feel her passion as they were on set together. Despite “shaking” the first day on set, Bertaccini explained that her love for teaching put him at ease.
“It wasn’t a co-hosting job, it was mostly like you are on a ride with Anne. And it was fun,” he said, calling the experience “inspirational.”
“One thing that I have to say, the love, the authentic love that she had for the contestants, for the cooks, the love that she had to really teach them. She was there to teach them how to cook, it wasn’t just a show,” he said.
Burrell’s care for the show was evident in how she treated people after shooting wrapped, Bertaccini explained. A month after filming, she “kept texting me about the contestants in her team. She was like, ‘Oh my God, I talked to this person and I thought you would want to see the picture that she sent me. And here in New York, why don’t we all go to have a little drink or a bite?’ So she was always in touch with the people that were in her team, or even the contestants,” he said.
Her connection to contestants and the Food Network “family” is what made her a “unicorn,” as Bertaccini put it. “I learned a different way of hosting a show that goes beyond the entertainment level, but actually goes into connecting with the people on the show on a human level,” he described. “There was the little special thing that Anne had that nobody else has. And that was it. It was really the care that she put into connecting and knowing and getting to know these chefs, and also me.”
Bertaccini knows that releasing the final Worst Cooks season will be painful, explaining that shooting the series had “very intimate moments.” He said, “I’m going to watch the season, a lot of memories will come back.”
Food Network/Warner Bros. Discovery
Anne Burrell on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games’
“This is not going to be about me whatsoever. This is about Anne, and this is going to be about Anne,” he said.
The network will honor the longtime star on Wednesday, June 25, with a selection of episodes that “highlight [Anne’s] extraordinary talent as a chef, competitor and teacher,” per a press release. This week’s tribute episodes come from Guy’s Grocery Games and special clips from Worst Cooks in America.
Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible premieres on Monday, July 28, at 9 pm ET on Food Network. It will be available to stream on HBO Max the following day.
Read the original article on People
