Next week, fans will watch Anne Burrell’s final appearance as a Worst Cooks in America mentor.
Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible will premiere on Monday, July 28, and PEOPLE has a first look at the late celebrity chef’s final season. Burrell, who had helmed the amateur-focused series since it began in 2010, died at 55 on June 17. The season will air just days after the New York City medical examiner’s office confirmed that she died by suicide on Thursday, July 24.
In the clip, Burrell and co-host Gabe Bertaccini watch in awe as GloZell Green cooks. The co-hosts giggle as they see the YouTuber dump her entire ramekin of salt, pepper and shredded cheddar cheese in a pot of (theoretically) pasta sauce.
“I grew up with Cheddar cheese in water,” Bertaccini, who grew up in Italy, jokes, making Burrell crack up.
“I’m just kind of mesmerized by GloZell. I kind of can’t stop watching. What is she going to do next?” Burrell says in a confessional.
When asked what “exactly” she is making, GloZell exclaims, while pointing to the contestants’ pantry, “There’s no sauce already made!” The hosts burst into laughter as she plops a whole chicken breast into the concoction.
Food Network
Hosts Anne Burrell and Gabe Bertaccini with ‘Worst Cooks in America’ season 29 contestants
“It just keeps getting better,” Burrell says.
The contestant explains to the camera that she is making “Flying Spaghetti.” “I never learned how to cook because my mother doesn’t know how to cook and her mother didn’t know how to cook,” GloZell says in a confessional. “But I am determined to end this generational non-cooking curse.
“GloZell, are you sure you have enough ingredients in there?” Bertaccini asks, the camera zooming into the nearly overflowing pot. “This is, like, $200 pot of spaghetti.”
“Oh! Thank you!” she replies happily, but Bertaccini quips, “That was not a compliment.”
When asked if there were tributes to Burrell during the season, Food Network told PEOPLE, “The series will pay tribute to Anne each week.”
In the competition series, the mentors 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. The premise of this season is that the recruits are all professional performers, according to a press release. It is also Gabe Bertaccini’s first season as a mentor.
Food Network
Host Anne Burrell with season 29 recruit Kyle Torrence
PEOPLE spoke to the Ciao House star in the days following Burrell’s death. He said Burrell “was so invested in it.” “It was her baby. She wasn’t there for the paycheck,” the 39-year-old said.
“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.
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.
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