Who is John Henson? Meet the host of Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship

Comedian John Henson is all set to host Season 8 of Halloween Baking Championship. The show premieres on Monday, September 12 at 9/8c on Food Network.

The upcoming season will see 12 bakers compete to survive their thrilling stay at Hotel Henson and win $25,000. The synopsis of the show reads:

“This season pays tribute to 1980s classic slasher movies, kicking off with host John Henson welcoming the competitors to Camp Devil's Food Lake where only their baking skills will help them survive.”

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Halloween Baking Championship host John Henson started his career as a comedian at the age of 20

Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship host John Henson is a comedian. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years as an actor, host, producer, and writer.

Born in 1967 in Stamford, Connecticut, Henson studied acting at Boston University, Circle in the Square, Playwrights Horizons and Three of Us Studios in New York City.

The television personality started acting at the age of eight and also tried his hand at singing and dancing. Due to the white birthmark on the right side of his head, he was nicknamed Skunk Boy and Johnny boy.

It was during his time at Boston University that he began performing improvisational comedy. He quit university at the age of 20 to start his career as a full-time stand-up comedian.

He began touring the country before gaining audience attention and critical acclaim as a host, writer and co-executive producer of E! Entertainment’s Talk Soup. John gained a cult following, and won three Emmy Award nominations, according to his official bio on the Network.

Henson started doing films in the mid to late 1990s. He has even co-hosted and produced Spike TV’s The John Henson Project, ABC’s Wipeout, and TV Guide Network’s Watch This.

He has also starred in FX’s Anger Management and NBC’s My Name is Earl, and hosted truTV’s Funniest Commercials specials. He has also guest-hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

The actor has appeared in various theatre productions such as Conduct Unbecoming, Heinous Crimes and Other Delights, The Greenhouse Effect, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Remote Evolution.

Henson was a celebrity guest on Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity in October 2016. He made it to the semi-finals and won a donation for a children’s charity that he and his wife, Jill, support.

Currently, Henson resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids, a son and a daughter. Henson lost his mother to a prolonged illness five weeks before his marriage to Jill.

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About Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship

The Halloween Baking Championship will air on Monday, and each week the bakers will “create killer cakes, creepy cupcakes, and more, to showcase their skills in challenges that pay homage to quintessential horror films.”

Judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell, and Zac Young will “determine whose devilishly delicious desserts earn $25,000 and the title of Halloween Baking Champion!”

The 12 bakers who will stay in the haunted hotel for eight weeks and compete in a number of different baking challenges are:

1. Marcus Brackett — Rockville, MD
2. Jill Davis — Owosso, MI
3. AJ DeDiego — Atlanta
4. Kristi Descher — Valencia, CA
5. Justin Dominguez — San Antonio
6. Lola Forbes — Mesa, AZ
7. Margarita Garcia — Miami
8. Alexey Ivanov — Brooklyn
9. Zac Mercer — Denver
10. Lauren Rogers — Olympia, WA
11. Maricsa Trejo — Richardson, TX
12. Blayre Wright — Lancaster, PA

The winner of the show will receive a trip to the 10 most haunted hotels in America.

Tune in on Monday on Food Network to watch Henson hosting season 8 of Halloween Baking Championship. The show can also be streamed on Disney+.