Food Network’s “Chopped” has added a familiar face from the intersection of cuisine and television. Martha Stewart has signed as a recurring guest judge on the venerable series, whose 38th cycle launches next month.
She first will appear in the June 5 episode of “Chopped,” joining host Ted Allen and series regulars Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Marcus Samuelsson, Chris Santos and Geoffrey Zakarian. They’ll oversee the proceedings as chefs battle it out in each episode over three rounds — appetizer, entrée and dessert — to create dishes utilizing the mystery basket of ingredients with a finite amount of time for a chance to win $10,000.
“As a lifestyle expert and bestselling author with millions of devoted followers and fans, Martha Stewart’s name is synonymous with perfection,” said Courtney White, EVP of programming at Food Network and HGTV. “Having Martha’s expertise within the newest season of ‘Chopped’ further reinforces why the series has long been one of the toughest culinary competitions on television.”
The former host of “Martha Stewart Living” and “The Martha Stewart Show” also has written 90 books and serves as chief creative officer and at Sequential, the company she merged hers with in 2015. She has appeared as herself in a number of films and TV series, including “Bad Moms,” “Pixels,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Men in Black II” and “The Simpsons.”