Inside 'Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out' With Brian Malarkey

Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out hosted by Brian Malarkey is full of unexpected twists, backstabbing and clever leg-ups. As a seasoned Food Network judge and competitor himself, Brian is bringing a wealth of knowledge (and a whole lot of energy) to the new series.

He’ll oversee competitors as they bid for sabotages and advantages with their $25,000 allotments (while testing out some of the tricky challenges himself). Food Network sat down with Brian to talk about what we can expect from Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out and how he thinks he’d fare in the competition.

In Conversation With Brian

FOOD NETWORK: What can fans look forward to with Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out?

BRIAN: I’ve been a judge or competitor on almost every single Food Network competition show. They’re all fun, but we want to make Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out different. Each person gets $25,000 to buy sabotages and advantages, but there’s a level of practicality that comes into the competition. Chefs will have to navigate situations that could happen in real life, like cooking only with frozen foods in a building that lost all of its power or cooking only with a campfire in the woods.

FOOD NETWORK: How interesting! So viewers will be able to learn a lot of real-life skills.

BRIAN: There’s a blend of entertainment and education. That’s our big thing. We wanted the education to come naturally, so you’ll see me talking to the camera a lot. As a seasoned veteran, I know all of the ins and outs of cooking competitions and I'm a chef, so I know the practical side of things as well. You get my personal opinions on what’s a great purchase or whether a competitor should’ve done something another way instead. Of course, I’m not always right.

FOOD NETWORK: What will you be bringing to the show as host?

BRIAN: I recently gave up caffeine because I already have so much energy. I’m loud. I’m over the top. I have fun, and I make fun of myself. I’m really there for the contestants. Antonia Lofaso once told me to remember every competition is someone’s first, so I always try to think back to the first time I competed. I want to give them the greatest experience they can have. It’s their stage to shine.

FOOD NETWORK: What are you most excited for viewers to see?

BRIAN: We have an LED wall that can transport us anywhere. If the theme of a competition is the Old West, then the LED wall turns into the Old West. Or if a challenge involves cooking with a campfire, then it turns into the woods. It’s like you’re really traveling to the destination.

FOOD NETWORK: There are so many aspects at play in the Cutthroat Kitchen — chefs not only need to have culinary skills, but they also need to be creative and, like the show’s namesake, be cutthroat when sabotaging their opponents. What aspect of the competition do you think is the most challenging? What are the most important skills for chefs to come in with?

BRIAN: We see so many good-natured, nice chefs coming in and they’re not cutthroat enough. To win, you can’t go in here thinking you'll survive on your cooking talents alone. You have to know when to spend some money. You have to realize that this is the game. It’s also essential to have adaptable cooking skills. A sabotage might have you start with this dish, then you have to do this dish over here. People who are set in their ways won’t survive.

FOOD NETWORK: What can we expect from the sabotages and advantages? How do they change the outcome of the challenges?

BRIAN: You’re cooking in a shack, you’re cooking on the edge of a bay. It’s more of a practical situation, but you have to use tools like a blowtorch or a Bunsen burner or a candle. In one episode, we're up in the mountains and the heater breaks, so everything is frozen. We’ve all been at home thinking we need time to thaw something, but this challenge shows you that, hey, you actually can cook from frozen. It’s fun to watch the adaptability of the chefs in those situations.

FOOD NETWORK: What do you think counts most during the judging process?

BRIAN: The wild thing about the judging process is the judges come in and have no idea who spent money. They know the basics of the game, but not who has been sabotaged or any of the twists. Chefs who have been on competition shows before know that if a dish requires rice, chicken and a spicy element, then it better have that. Some of the younger chefs who haven’t competed before forget the only thing a judge gets is the dish card, so you have to make sure you highlight those elements and plate that. Through all of these competitions, I always did too much. Sometimes it’s just about simplicity and flavor.

FOOD NETWORK: It’s been teased that you test out some of the sabotages. How do you fare? What would your strategy be if you were a competitor?

BRIAN: I’m pretty vain. I’ve never been in a cooking competition that I lost in my mind. I get the opportunity to watch everyone compete and go through all of this and then I get to share what I would have done. It’s fun to watch because I show you the perfect dish you could do but wouldn’t really be able to pull off during the heat of the competition.

FOOD NETWORK: Did you have to practice your auctioneer voice for when chefs bid on the sabotages and advantages?

BRIAN: I’m a cowboy, so I knew what I was doing. I grew up on a ranch in Oregon. I used to go to the auction once a month to buy cattle for our ranch.

FOOD NETWORK: What’s your biggest takeaway from being the host of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out?

BRIAN: It's fun, fast, brightly lit — we have great competitors. The most unexpected thing is you’re going to learn. It's entertainment and education. You’ll be watching the show going, "Oh my gosh, I just learned some stuff." There’s wild challenges, incredibly talented chefs and to see them go through these obstacles is incredible.

How to Watch Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out

Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out premieres on Food Network Tuesday, May 13 at 9|8c and streams the next day on Max and discovery+. Follow host Brian Malarkey on Instagram @brianmalarkey.