Why Alex Guarnaschelli Almost Turned Down 'Chopped'

A remarkably versatile chef well-known to audiences for her almost 15 years as a celebrity chef on a variety of Food Network shows, including Iron Chef America, Chopped, The Kitchen, Fix Me a Plate and as host of Supermarket Stakeout, Alex Guarnaschelli has become American cooking royalty.

She is the author of five cookbooks, including two New York Times bestsellers, Cook It Up: Bold Moves for Family Foods, co-authored with her daughter Ava Clark, and Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook. In addition, Alex is the executive chef at Butter in New York City's Midtown and someone who seems capable of doing and having it all.

A native New Yorker and the daughter of esteemed cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli, you could say Alex grew up a foodie.

"I've never done anything but cook my whole adult life," she tells Food Network Obsessed podcast host Jaymee Sire.

Alex's Early Days at Food Network and Iron Chef

The way Alex tells it, her TV cooking evolution was a series of misadventures. But her copious talent and charm always turned things around for her.

"I don't know who or why, but someone asked me to be on Food Network Challenge," says Alex. "It was a Thanksgiving challenge where contestants had to create a complete holiday dinner in just five hours."

The catch? The contest took place in Denver, Colorado. "And I just didn't know about altitude cooking," says Alex.

The potatoes she boiled to make mashed potatoes never cooked. "I just couldn't make the mashed potatoes work," she remembers.

She successfully made a turkey and a pie. "But I bombed the mash," says Alex. "I remember going back to the hotel and thinking, 'I'm never going to be asked to be on a Food Network show.'"

Alex's saving grace was when she took the mic after and spoke about her failures to the Challenge studio audience. The producer liked her vibe and her engagement with the audience. Despite feeling like she'd tanked, Alex managed to charm all in attendance.

A star was born.

Alex's next Food Network stint was as Chef Cat Cora's challenger on Iron Chef America. "But that day I found out I was pregnant with my daughter Ava," says Alex of taking on that particular challenge with some new-mama trepidation.

"I wanted to be on Iron Chef so bad. That was my life goal forever."

But once again, Alex thought she'd blown it. "My stomach was swirling."

And yet, the opportunities kept coming. Next was a screen test with Sunny Anderson where Alex cooked and chatted while making minestrone. But she had forgotten the beans in the minestrone. Again, Alex thought she was a goner.

History tells a different story.

"I know people talk about this cumulative build to something," Alex shares with Jaymee, but her experience was less linear as she focused her attention on raising Ava.

Alex was eventually asked to be a judge on a number of episodes of Iron Chef. She remembers the truly "eclectic" cast of characters she met on the show: rapper Bone Crusher, Ted Allen and Batista the wrestler.

"And I met Bobby…" she says of the man she describes as so intimidating, he looked like a fire-breathing dragon, but who would become an important mentor in her cooking career.

Before and After the Fire-Breathing Bobby Flay

Over time, Alex and Bobby Flay's professional relationship blossomed into a friendship. Bobby went on to be the executive producer for her show Alex's Day Off.

"That was a really big day for me," remembers Alex of the time Bobby showed up on set.

"He lived nearby," she says. "He came in, I'll never forget, he came in in old-school mirrored sunglasses like a cop and he was wearing a leather jacket, really low-key."

Alex was in hair and makeup, but when the cameras started to roll, she says nerves got the better of her. "I just started hysterically crying," she says. "The whole set's thinking, 'Did we screw up here?' I was a disaster. I'm not going to lie to you."

But Bobby kept showing up. "He would come and he would watch," she remembers, even though she knew he was busy and "probably had bigger fish to fry."

Bobby turned out to be a big influence and gave Alex the confidence she needed to make it as a top chef in the public eye. He told her early on that it was important for her to be comfortable in order to do her best work.

On the issue of being herself or glamming it up to appeal to a TV audience, Flay was plainspoken.

"Wear what you want to wear when you're on your set," he told Alex. "You don't like your shirt? It's going to show in your performance."

"I remember he said it to me, and I thought, 'I don't know if I believe that, because I think we need to look a certain way. We're on television, people are looking at us, so I better wear that super-tight sweater and that really uncomfortable pair of heels.'" But Bobby persuaded her otherwise.

The Chopped Appearance That Almost Wasn't

Though Alex tends to underestimate her talents, plenty of people were taking notice. One of them was a behind-the-scenes producer at Food Network named Brian Lando. Alex said he kept calling her, asking her to be on this new show called Chopped.

"I don't want to do it," Alex told Brian when he first suggested she come on board.

But Brian was insistent that she join the show as a judge; Alex admitted to not feeling like enough of an established chef to already be a Food Network judge. "Who was I?" Alex says of how insecurity almost caused her to miss this golden opportunity.

She finally relented and said, begrudgingly, that she would do one episode of Chopped.

Then, the team asked her what she wanted to join the show going forward.

Alex told them she wanted to be placed in the middle of the three judges like on Hollywood Squares.

Her Favorite Chopped Memory

"You have to take a chance on yourself," says Alex of what Chopped has done for contestants. "We always talk about transforming the ingredients in the basket, but I always joke that the true transformation is the contestants and what happens to them when they take a chance on themselves."

Take the time Alex was on Chopped when two talented young chefs, Madison Cowan and Jason Zukas, went head-to-head.

"Madison ended up winning, and I remember crying so much when I had to chop Jason. Because it was like both of them won.

"Geoffrey Zakarian turned to me and said, 'You know, this is a show that showcases up-and-coming chefs. That's what this show is.' I remember just absorbing that and thinking: You're right, it's not about us.

"We're the wall in a handball court," says Alex of the essential function of the judges on Chopped, "and the contestants are just playing handball. And we're just the wall. They have to do all the hitting and strategizing.

"That's a great memory for me — feeling like that's what a judge is supposed to do here, and I'm going to do that."