Food Network and celebrity chef Guy Fieri are teaming up again, this time on a culinary competition program.
The five-episode “Tournament of Champions” will feature 16 chefs going head-to-head in a series of challenges using ingredients and special cooking tools and equipment while racing against the clock. The difficulty of the challenges increases with each round of the tournament, until only two chefs are left to vie in the final round.
The Discovery-owned cable network says a call for challenger nominations issued last week to fans by Fieri and the network on social has already racked up more than 1 million views . Fans will also have the chance to influence the bracket lineups once the final competitors are announced by voting on social for which chef they think should be ranked number one.
The new series will begin production this December and launch in March.
“Guy’s call to action for fans to nominate the chefs that they think are the best of the best and should earn one of the coveted tournament spots instantly became the most viewed videos on Food Network’s social platforms within the past 90 days, with over a million views and counting,” said Courtney White, president of Food Network, in a statement.
“Cooking and sports are two of my greatest passions,” said Fieri, in a statement. “What people don’t realize is that the competitive fire that drives professional athletes also drives the best chefs in the world. So, with Tournament of Champions, I’m having the greatest culinary athletes in the world go head-to-head in a knock-down, drag-out bracket style competition that’s going to be off the hook. Let the games begin!”