Kelli Kirkland is known for winning season 3 of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks In America,” but she’s also got an opinion on former “Worst Cooks” teacher/competitor and current team coach on The Next Food Network Star” Bobby Flay.
Kirkland said that even though Flay wasn’t her mentor on “Worst Cooks” (that honor belonged to Flay’s fellow chef colleague Anne Burrell), she became friends with Flay through conversations on set. “There was this connection with Bobby when talking about our children,” she said.
What stuck with Kirkland was how he said he treats his young daughter when it comes to feeding her. When it came to meal time, Flay didn’t treat his daughter any different just because she was a child. Instead, she said, he stated he treated her like he would treat any other person. Therefore, Flay told her, “when [he] ate salmon, [she] ate salmon” instead of foods that are considered kid-friendly, like pizza.
“We [in America] have kids who are stuck on sugar and pizza,” said Kirkland. “Recently, I made gorgonzola gnocchi, and my son–he’s two–ate it and loved it,” she said. She loves the fact that she is helping her son try new foods in order to educate his palatte.
If she was on Flay’s “Next Food Network Star” team, Kirkland stated her passion for teaching parents how to teach their children about food would be at the center of her hypothetical show’s message. “My show would be called ‘Your Kids Will Eat It,” she said. “You can give your child delicious, exotic, tasty food. They may not like all of it, but they will like some of it.”
She might not have a Food Network show at the moment, but she is taking what she learned on “Worst Cooks” to heart; she’s currently writing a cookbook. Kirkland, who also has appeared in films like “All About Steve” with Sandra Bullock, wants people to go for their dreams.
“Just be fearless,” she said. “On ‘Worst Cooks,’ I was in the bottom two twice, but I didn’t give up. If I had a defeatist attitude, I would never have won.”
(Photo credit: Bobby Quillard)