"Nicest people turn evil" — Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out host Brian Malarkey on the evil side of the competition
Food Network has released another food reality competition, Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, on May 13 at 9 pm ET. Brian Malarkey has been a Food Network regular and hosts this cooking competition. Each chef receives $25,000 in each challenge. The contestant who kept the most money at the end of the competition would win, taking home their remaining balance.
In an interview with Tampa Bay's Morning Blend on May 13, Brian mentioned that he found it interesting to see how contestants reacted to the competition's format. Some Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out contestants even tried to sabotage others to win.
"So you get to see how the nicest people turn evil in these circumstances because they're trying to sabotage and trying to win that money," stated Brian Malarkey.
The various judges who would give their feedback are Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli, Aarti Sequeira, and Jet Tila.
Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out Host Brian reveals his favorite cooking competition and various challenges
In the same interview, Brian praised the show's production and set design, which included an LED screen. The Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out host revealed that he saw different sides of cheftestants' personalities emerge. Throughout the competition, contestants had to make strategic decisions about how to proceed.
According to Brian Malarkey, this made the nature of the competition exciting, with unexpected outcomes in each episode. In another interview with the TV Insider on May 11, Brian was asked about a hypothetical situation where he would be competing on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out and had to choose his opponent.
He chose Carlos Anthony, a rising chef on Food Network, and Kevin Lee, known for his skills and mischievous nature on 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing. Brian also considered Maneet, who has won many Food Network shows previously.
"Evil fun people who really want to go all in on it. Maneet as well, is as cutthroat as they come. I would want to play against hardball, cutthroat people," mentioned Brian Malarkey.
Brian also revealed his personal strategy which would be to spend his money to gain advantages and sabotage his opponents. He believed that maneuvering sabotages effectively would be key to winning. In the end, Brian was confident in his cooking abilities and strategic thinking. He saw himself as a strong competitor if he ever had to compete in the reality show.
Brian also chimed in on his previous appearances on cooking reality competitions. He revealed that his favorite show to compete on was Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions. The host of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out mentioned that he liked the blind tasting format. This format was adapted in his own show, where judges wouldn't know who made each dish.
"All the judges... do not know whose dish they’re judging. The only way to get a true assessment of someone’s talent is not to know whose talent you’re assessing," said Brian.
Brian also discussed how the cooking competitions have been evolving. He noted that even in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, challenges such as cooking without power or in difficult weather conditions were present. According to Brian, these scenarios were designed to feel like real-life cooking problems. This would help the viewers who want to learn useful skills and techniques from cooking shows.
Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out premiered on May 13 at 9 pm ET on Food Network and streams the next day on Max and Discovery+.
