Eight Julia Child superfans compete for the ultimate grand prize: A three-month, all-expenses-paid trip to the cooking school in Paris

Premiere Monday, March 14^and on Food Network and discovery+

NEW YORK – February 16, 2022 – Julia Child is a true icon who has inspired generations of amateur cooks with his talent, his enthusiasm and his humor, and in The Julia Child ChallengeEight top-notch home cooks compete in high-stakes cooking challenges to find out who has the fire, skills and passion to win the First time prime-time competition series devoted to all things Julia. The contestants, all superfans of Julia Child, share personal stories about their hero, cook in a kitchen recreated in the likeness of where Julia herself cooked, using the same ingredients Julia used and are even guided by Julia herself, through a larger than life television screen right in the middle of the action. Chief Judge Antonia Lofaso and a rotating panel of guest judges including Molly Baz, Cliff Crooks and Brooke Williamson will ultimately decide who will win the grand prize that will change their life and literally follow in Julia’s footsteps: a three-month all-expenses-paid cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu. The series premieres Monday, March 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network and premieres the same day on Discovery+.

“Julia Child is a culinary hero for all cooks – her love of food and sense of humor set the tone for this one-of-a-kind competition. From the kitchen to Julia’s own words, the level of detail in every episode can be described as breathtaking,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network and Streaming Food Content, Discovery Inc. “At the same time, the series is also very intimate, with contestants sharing their personal food journeys and how Julia Child has changed their lives, we can’t wait for viewers to experience this show.”

The competitors are: Bill Borman (Hudson, NY); Christine Fiorentino (Hoboken, New Jersey); Dustin Hogue (Chicago, Ill.); Jaine Mackievitz (Worcester, MA); Brit Moore (New York, New York); Dustin Rennell (Charlestown, MA); Elena Ross Salonga (Cambria, California) and Fabrizio Villalpando (Los Angeles, California).

Work in collaboration with The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and Culinary Arts To ensure this series reflects Julia’s incredible talent and heart, each episode features two rounds of competitive cooking: round one masters the basics and challenges contestants to recreate one of the dishes Julia’s signature, with guidance from Julia herself, as seen on a giant TV screen in the middle of the action. The second round is an ode to Julia, where contestants must take inspiration from Julia to create a unique dish reflecting their own culinary point of view. Round two dishes are served family style, with contestants and judges tasting each course and sharing stories about their food and their personal connection to Julia. Based on performance, judges name a winner and send home a contestant each week, until the last cook standing receives the ultimate grand prize.

In the series premiere, eight contestants enter the kitchen in awe and are greeted by Julia herself on the giant screen. To kick things off, CJ Antonia Lofaso and guest judges Michael Voltage and FRancid Lam challenge the contestants to use their skills and imagination to prepare one of the French dishes that changed Julia’s life: sole meunière. In the second-round ode to Julia, contestants must share their own culinary journey by recreating the meal that changed their own culinary lives. After sharing these dishes and the stories behind them, the judges name an episode winner and the first contestant is sent home. Upcoming guest judges include: Molly Baz, Stephanie Boswell, Alvin Cailan, Cliff Crooks, Susan Feniger, Dorie Greenspan, Melissa King, Nilou Motamed, Jacques Pépin, Sherry Yard and Brooke Williamson.

Meet the home cooks and take a look behind the scenes at FoodNetwork.com/TheJuliaChildChallenge and each week on the digital companion series Inspired By: The Julia Child Challenge, Chief Judge Antonia Lofaso serves dishes that are her view of the competition. Join the conversation and get exclusive content with the judges on social media using #TheJuliaChildChallenge.

The Julia Child Challenge is produced by Purveyors of Pop, 3 Arts Entertainment and eOne.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend when it comes to food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed in nearly 100 million US homes and attracts more than 46 million unique Internet users each month. Since its launch in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13-fold and is the top-selling monthly magazine on newsstands, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real-life entertainment serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world and spanning more than 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes direct-to-consumer streaming services such as discovery+ and Food Network Kitchen, as well as premium brands Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network , as well as the multi-platform joint venture with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Network, in the United States, Discovery Kids in Latin America and Eurosport.

discovery+ is the quintessential non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service. discovery+ offers the largest content offering of any new streaming service at launch, with a wide range of exclusive and original series in popular and passionate verticals where Discovery brands hold strong leadership positions, including style life and relationships; house and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, technology and the environment, and a list of high-quality documentaries. To learn more, visit discoveryplus.com or find it on a variety of platforms and devices, including those from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku, and Samsung.

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