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The Food Network's latest reality show, Big Bad Budget Battle, will pit home cooks against each other in the kitchen to create inexpensive crafty dishes on a budget.
The show will be hosted by the author of Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, and will have a rotating panel of judges. Most of these judges have previously appeared on the Food Network.
The Big Bad Budget Battle will air on the Food Network on August 9, 2022 at 10 pm ET. In case viewers miss the episode, they can stream it on the same day on Discovery+.
Everything about the Big Bad Budget Battle
Big Bad Budget Battle, how will the pot be stirred
As mentioned earlier, the Big Bad Budget Battle will have home cooks competing against each other to create delicious food using affordable ingredients. The contestants will be given a strict budget that they cannot go over and will only be able to shop at the "ultimate grocery store" Flavortown Market.
In the Food Network's press release, Ree Drummond said:
“I can’t wait for viewers to see these awesome home cooks in action, both with their creativity in the kitchen and their budget-shopping skills – they are truly something to behold! As a home cook myself, I’m impressed by their resourcefulness and ingenuity as they plan, shop, and prepare their incredible dishes.”
Each episode of the Big Bad Budget Battle will be an hour long and will have three home cooks who will need to save money and time while creating dishes over two rounds.
In one round, the contestants will need to make a delicious brunch and in the other, they will be required to make an elevated one-pot dinner party meal. They will be expected to make the dishes using leftovers and pantry items.
According to Jane Latman, the president of Home and Food Content streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, the show will be action-packed and full of tips and takeaways for the viewers.
Latman added that Ree Drummond's warm and down-to-earth style as well as her easy reliability and sense of humor make her the perfect person to host the show. She also notes that Drummond would be great as a host of the Big Bad Budget Battle that involves having a budget and grocery shopping to make incredible meals.
To make sure that the contestants don't overspend, for each dollar that they save, they would be able to take away an additional $1000. The cook who will win the Big Bad Budget Battle will take home a trophy and a year's worth of groceries.
Meet the team
Other than being the host of the show, Ree Drummond will also be a judge on the Big Bad Budget Battle. She will be joined by a rotating panel of judges including Darnell Ferguson, Eddie Jackson, Beau MacMillan, Catherine McCord, Damaris Phillips, and Justin Warner.
Ree Drummond
Anne Marie "Ree" Drummond is an American blogger, author, food writer, photographer and TV personality. The writer of Pioneer Woman was listed under Forbes' Top 25 Web Celebrities in 2010.
She has a degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and also studied journalism while in college. Drummond also had plans of becoming a lawyer, but she met her husband soon after college and decided to put her plans on hold.
She currently lives on a ranch in Oklahoma with her family, snippets of which are often incorporated into her books.
Ree started her blog Confessions of a Pioneer Woman in 2006 which was later changed to just Pioneer Woman. However, the confessions segment on her blog remains one of the more successful ones.
In 2011, the 53-year-old chef started her own show, also named The Pioneer Woman, which is still running on the Food Network.
Darnell Ferguson
Darnell Ferguson is a celebrity chef who makes regular appearances on the Food Network. He was a chef for the American team of athletes when they competed in the Olympics in 2022.
He found fame through Food Network's Tournament of Champions, which transformed his life. The chef overcame a life of adversity to owning an apartment and even restaurants of his own.
Darnell was born in Philadelphia and while he attended high school, due to financial limitations, he couldn't get a college degree. However, he did manage to get vocational training in cooking.
Later, Ferguson acquired a culinary degree from Sullivan University but struggled to find employment. This led to him resorting to selling illegal substances in order to survive.
However, the 35-year-old chef managed to turn his life around after he started working with a friend in a restaurant.
Eddie Jackson
Eddie Jackson is an American chef and former football quarterback. He played in the NFL as a member of the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and the Washington Redskins.
After retiring from football, he became a personal trainer and also followed his passion for cooking. Jackson opened a food truck called Caribbean Grill in Houston. That was also when he decided to pursue his life-long passion full-time and appeared on the fourth season of Masterchef in 2013. In 2015, the chef also competed in the Food Network Star in 2015.
As a winner of the Food Network Star, Eddie started his own cooking competition series BBQ Blitz where the contestants had to create the best barbeque dishes. In 2016, he co-hosted a kids barbeque competition series called Kids BBQ Championship.
Since then, Jackson has appeared on multiple Food Network shows.
Beau MacMillan
Beau McMillan is the executive chef of Pheonix's Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain. He was invited to Food Network's Kitchen Stadium in 2006 to compete against Iron Chef Bobby Flay in Battle American Kobe Beef.
In early 2010, Beau co-hosed Food Network's Worst Cooks in America with Anne Burell and in 2012, he joined the team of Beat the Chefs. He was also a part of Guy's Grocery Games as a judge and chef and won $16,000 for the St. Mary's Food Truck charity.
Catherine McCord
Catherine McCord is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education and a former model. The chef first started showcasing her family-friendly recipes on her blog, Weelicious.com.
This judge of the Big Bad Budget Battle is someone who dons several hats.
McCord grew up in Louisville wanting to be an athlete, but she was diagnosed with cysts in both her hips which made her change her mind. When she was 14, Catherine entered a modeling contest with a friend and thus began her modeling career.
She was signed by Elite Model Management's Look of the Year Contest in Japan. McCord has modeled for Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Calvin Klein and has walked the runway for Donna Karan. Though her modeling career thrived in the 90s, by the end of the decade, she had branched out to television and was one of the female hosts of MTV's Loveline.
Following 9/11, McCord's perspective on life changed and she decided to follow her passion for cooking. She started working for different restaurants as she slowly shifted her focus completely from modeling.
However, it was only after she became a parent that she started her blog.
Damaris Phillips
Damaris Phillips is a celebrity chef who graduated from Jefferson Community and Technical College with a degree in culinary arts.
She is also the author of Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy, which was published in 2017 by Abrams Books. Damaris is often seen on the Food Network as a co-host of Southern and Hungry as well as the Bobby and Damaris Show. She also won season 9 of Food Network Star. Her victory led her to host her own show Southern at Heart.
Justin Warner
The last judge of the Big Bad Budget Battle is self-taught chef Justin Warner is a self-taught chef who won the eighth season of the Food Network Star. He is also the author of The Laws of Cooking and How to Break them. Warner worked as a waiter at Danny Meyer's restaurant, The Modern, before he launched himself as a chef.
Justin was also the chef and co-owner of a Brooklyn-based Michelin-rated restaurant named Do or Dine.
Warner hosts Foodi Call, a webseries on FoodNetwork.com
The executive producer of Big Bad Budget Battle is Guy Fieri, and it is produced by Knuckle Sandwich and Lando Entertainment.
Viewers can stream the Big Bad Budget Battle as the episodes air on Discovery+ on August 9, 2022
