Emeril Lagasse Has No Interest In This Popular Type Of Food Network Show

For much of the late '90s and the early 2000s, Emeril Lagasse was one of the defining faces of the Food Network, thanks largely to the success of his cooking show "Emeril Live." The series, which premiered in 1997, instantly made him a household name, as did his high-energy delivery and signature catchphrases like "Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!"  However, the show was canceled in 2007, when the network's programming landscape leaned more into high-stakes cooking competitions. Today, Lagasse is one of the Food Network stars we rarely hear about anymore. But that doesn't mean you'll see him hosting a food competition show for the channel any time in the near future.

Lagasse has made it clear that he had no interest in moving away from the instructional, personality-driven culinary programming he made almost two decades ago. "I enjoy the television aspect because I like to teach," he told People. "I'm not interested in competition. I'm interested in getting your attention, taking the intimidation out of that and teaching you how to cook, about ingredients, how to shop, how to pair it with win." However, that's not to say that Lagasse has avoided the competition show circuit altogether.

While Emeril Lagasse has made it clear that he prefers educational cooking over competitive cooking, he is not one to entirely avoid competitions. In fact, he invited active-duty armed forces chefs to his show "Emeril Live" for a special episode in 2007, where they held a military-only cooking contest. He also appeared on high-stakes shows and events through the years, including guest judge on "Top Chef" for five seasons and on "Top Chef Jr" for two seasons. In 2009, Lagasse competed on "Iron Chef America," alongside Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, who is very competitive on his show "Beat Bobby Flay." Five years later, Lagasse was back on the small screen as the "Menu Master" for TNT's first cooking competition series, the short-lived "On the Menu."

Even outside his television career, Lagasse has embraced the competitive side of the culinary industry, most notably when he served as the Honorary President of the Americas Selection for Bocuse D'Or, the biennial world culinary competition, in 2024. But it's clear that the revered chef still favors the traditional cooking show format, as evidenced by the small-screen projects he's taken on since parting ways with the Food Network. These have included Planet Green's "Emeril Green," "Emeril's Florida," "Fresh Food Fast with Emeril," and the Daytime Emmy-winning "Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse." He's continued use shows like these to impart his culinary expertise to viewers, teaching them hacks like a simple way to elevate chicken noodle soup.