Valdosta woman to compete on ‘Worst Cooks in America’

VALDOSTA — MaryAnn Rapisarda, a Valdosta resident, will compete against 13 other bad cooks on the Food Network series “Worst Cooks in America,” which premiers on Aug. 12. Rapisarda will join either Chef Robert Irvine or Chef Anne Burrell’s team to improve her skills while cooking her way through the competition for a chance at a $25,000 prize.

Rapisarda said that she knows her dish is done when the smoke detector goes off. She entered the competition to enhance her skills and prove to her children that she can cook. Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., she retired in Valdosta to be closer to her grandchildren. According to Food Network, her go-to ingredient is garlic powder.

“I had an accident at work and I was home mending my broken arm when I started watching ‘Worst Cooks in America.’ I thought, ‘Hey, I’m that bad!’ and decided to audition,” Rapisarda said during a phone interview. “I couldn’t cook except for basic dishes. I’m Italian, and I think jar sauce is delicious!”

Rapisarda said that of all the dishes she hopes to master one day, she wants to try dishes with gravies and white sauces.

Irvine and Burrell previously went head-to-head in the show’s second season in 2011 in the culinary boot camp competition. The season two winner was Joshie Berger from Burrell’s team.

“Anne and Robert are fiercely competitive, and our viewers are sure to enjoy their boot camp reunion,” said Courtney White, general manager and executive vice president for programming with Food Network and HGTV. “These ‘Worst Cooks’ competitors are hilariously inept when they arrive, and their journey toward kitchen excellence is a fun ride.”

In the season premiere, 14 of the country’s worst cooks enter boot camp with dreams of putting their kitchen nightmares behind them. Burrell and Irvine will “see what they’re dealing with,” so they ask the recruits to make their signature dishes. Results are truly disastrous. After being sorted into teams, the recruits will dive right into the deep end of the kitchen by learning to make a surf and turf dish. Then the recruits on each team with the worst dishes are sent home.

Upcoming episodes will feature the return of food trivia game Family Food!, a chicken challenge that forces the recruits to spread their wings and guest appearances by Food Network personalities Gesine Prado and Jason Smith. The season culminates in the finale on Sept. 23 with the two most-improved recruits preparing a restaurant-quality meal for judges David Burtka, Daphne Oz and Melba Wilson, who will sample the dishes in a blind taste test and determine the winner of the $25,000 prize and victory for their mentor.

The season premiere of “Worst Cooks in America” will air at 9 p.m. on Aug. 12.

For more information, visit FoodNetwork.com/WorstCooks for photo highlights, videos and behind-the-scenes moments.

Jason DeCrow