FIRST KID CONTESTANT ON NBC'S "FOOD FIGHTERS" GOES UP AGAINST CHEF ROCCO DISPIRITO JULY 16 FOR A CULINARY SHOWDOWN WITH A CAN'T-MISS ENDING

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - July 13, 2015 - Fourteen-year-old home chef Troy Glass will put his signature dishes to the test against five pro chefs, including Rocco DiSpirito, in the first "kid edition" of NBC's culinary cooking competition series "Food Fighters" airing Thursday, July 16 (8-9 p.m. ET).

Previously a semi-finalist on "Master Chef Junior," Glass is an accomplished home chef from Thousand Oaks, CA who hopes to attend NY's famed Culinary Institute of America after high school so he can pursue a career as a professional chef. In the July 16 episode, he shows off his incredible culinary skills while racing against the clock to try and beat some of the top chefs in the country, including Rocco DiSpirito, a James Beard award-winning chef, health advocate, author of New York Times bestseller Cook Your Butt Off! - and the creator of The Pound A Day Diet meal delivery service.

Glass will also square off against four other pro chefs who will be familiar to viewers from their appearances in shows ranging from "Top Chef" and "Chopped" to "Hell's Kitchen" and "Next Food Network Star." The featured chefs are food stall and food truck chef and owner Hop Phan (Santa Ana, CA), whose culinary specialty is Latin/Asian fusion, Chef Lovely (Los Angeles, CA), a celebrity private chef and culinary specialist for Bloomingdale's known for glamming up the kitchen, chef and culinary consultant Chris Nirschel (New York), whose in-demand cuisine is inspired by Argentinean, Italian and French flavors, and chef/catering company owner Keriann Von Raesfeld (San Jose, CA), who has won cooking competitions all over the world as a representative of the USA.

With each round, Glass will climb a money ladder with increasing cash prizes for every professional chef he knocks out, with the chance to win as much as $100,000. The episode is also full of surprises, as DiSpirito brings a special gift for the teen chef, who later gets the surprise of his life in an emotional, must-see ending that viewers won't want to miss.

Tim Puntillo, Ben Silverman, Chris Grant and Laura Caraccioli are the executive producers of the series from Electus and Universal Television.

Please visit the official show site at: http://www.nbc.com/food-fighters

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