Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off Season 3, Highlights from Episode 1

Catch up on the Season 3 premiere episode of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.

The Court of Celebrity

The celebrities begin arriving at a large arena. After meeting one another, they throw around guesses as to what the first challenge might be. Florence holds court as they wait for the final two celebrities to arrive.

Meeting the Mentors

A fanfare of trumpets announces the arrival of Rachael and Guy, who the celebrities are anxious to finally meet. "I'm extremely nervous to meet Rachael and Guy because they're like the Heisman Trophy winners of food," says Herschel.

New Season, New Challenges

Rachael and Guy welcome the celebrities and explain what's new this season. Each challenge will be guest judged and an MVP from the winning team will be awarded an immediate charitable donation. At the end of the competition, the winning celebrity will leave with a check for $50,000 for charity.

Entering Medieval Times

If it wasn't obvious from the coats of arms and flags, these knights in shining armor on horseback reveal a clue about the first challenge. The celebrities will be cooking a Medieval feast for an arena full of spectators, and they will also provide the entertainment.

Teaming with Recipe Ideas

The celebrities are shown where they'll be cooking, which isn't what anyone expected. The outdoor kitchen is a bit of a twist, but the biggest challenge might be the time constraint — 90 minutes to cook and plate. The celebrities are split into teams and meet with their coaches for a 45-minute menu planning session.

Chopping Block Trauma

No sooner than Judy gets started on her charred eggplant spread, she cuts herself: "As I'm chopping up garlic, something got in the way — it's called my finger." As a former competitor on Chopped, Judy's determined not to let anything get in her way, but things don't always go as planned.

Helpful Hand in the Kitchen

While Judy is being treated by a medic, her teammate Jake jumps in to check on her eggplants, which are charring away on the grill. Meanwhile Jake has the barley already cooking for his fruity, sweet and salty grain salad.

New Skills to Show Off

"When you think of Medieval times you think of a Las Vegas steakhouse," jokes Penn, who gets ahead on cooking his rib-eye steaks. Rachael jumps in to warn him about overcooking them. But Penn isn't concerned because he learned the recipe from a Vegas chef.

Thinking Off the Cuff

Running back to finish her dish, Judy accidentally adds chipotle instead of cumin to her eggplant spread. She hopes adding lemon juice will correct it and gets going on cutting up the bread. Rachael jumps in to help Jake finish his barley salad.

Clever Determination

Coming into the competition with a broken foot was a worry for Florence, but in choosing to make a lentil stew, she's able to reduce her movements by staying in one place, stirring away at the pot. She tells Rachael it won't prevent her from putting out good food.

Exercise in Building Trust

Herschel had planned to make a simple baked apple dessert, but Guy convinced him to turn it into a pastry, which means Herschel has a lot of prep to do. "Guy's pushing me to the limit, but one thing in football I do is believe in my coach, so I'm going to go with it," says Herschel.

Manic in the Kitchen

Chris goes to town chopping up potatoes and carrots for his roasted vegetable dish. Guy recommended he cut everything in uniform sizes so it cooks evenly, but Chris gets a bit carried away and doesn't pay attention to what he's doing.

Funky Factors

At first, Ice starts off a bit scatterbrained and caught up in the performance factor, forgetting about the cooking, but Guy steps in to supervise as the farro for the grain salad cooks. Ice decides to add arugula to wilt into the salad for an extra punch of flavor.

Pork Paranoia

Tiffany's making skewered pork with red wine glaze, but her meat still hasn't cooked through. She decides to pull the skewers from the grill and stick them in the oven, hoping the pork cooks completely through before time runs out.

Panicking at Play

It's down to the wire for Team Guy. Tiffany races to get her pork skewers cooked. Chris has the same issue with his vegetables, so he lets them roast up until the last second before plating them as the timer counts down.

Performance Planning

Team Rachael takes a break to sample Penn's Vegas rib-eye steak. They use the opportunity to start planning their presentation, and Penn's got some great ideas that include some authentic circus sideshow tricks.

Fairy Tale Farce

With almost no time to come up with an act, Team Guy puts it all on Chris — after all, the SNL alumnus does specialize in improv. Chris narrates a tale about a princess, a knight and a king. But things don't go so well: "After our performance, I'm really relying on the food at this point to be our saving grace," says Tiffany.

Firing Up the Crowd

Penn steals the show with his fire juggling and fire-eating act. With Judy as his assistant and Florence and Jake as the announcers, Team Rachael succeeds in putting on a showstopping presentation.

Judging the Winners and Losers

Guy introduces guest judge Lee Anne Wong. Along with the feedback from the audience, she will determine which team wins and who will be the MVP from that team. That also means that there will be a losing team with someone going home.

Comments, Opinions and Results

Lee Anne congratulates the celebrities for their efforts, but not everyone is a winner. The audience's favorite dishes were Herschel's apple tart and Penn's steak. The least favorites were Chris' roasted vegetables and Judy's eggplant. But in Lee Anne's personal opinion, she loved Tiffany's pork skewers and Florence's lentil stew.

Surprise: Everyone's Safe!

Team Guy wins the challenge and Lee Anne announces Tiffany is the MVP, calling her the "Queen of Pork." Her charity gets $2,500. But in an unforeseen twist, Lee Anne decides no one should be sent home. She tells Rachael and Guy: "I think you need at least one more challenge to explore their full potential."