BOBBY FLAY JOINS THE JUDGES' TABLE TO CHALLENGE TALENTED CHEFS IN "CHOPPED: BEAT BOBBY FLAY"

Five-Part Tournament Premieres Sunday, August 9th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network

NEW YORK - July 9, 2020 - Sixteen fearless champions are back in the Chopped kitchen with their sights set on defeating the ultimate culinary heavy hitter, Bobby Flay, in the five-part tournament Chopped: Beat Bobby Flay, premiering Sunday, August 9th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. Through four preliminary heats, the returning chefs are tasked with making unforgettable meals each episode from a basket of mystery ingredients with a limited amount of time over three rounds - appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Hosted by Ted Allen, each heat features Bobby Flay joining a rotating panel at the Chopped judges' table, including Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Tiffani Faison, Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy, Christian Petroni, Marcus Samuelsson, Chris Santos and Geoffrey Zakarian, to determine which competitors earn the right to move on to the grand finale to take on one last trio of mystery baskets, with the ultimate winner facing off against the culinary icon and host of Beat Bobby Flay for a chance at the $50,000 grand prize.

"Viewers are in for a treat with two great Food Network forces colliding in one epic event," said Courtney White, President, Food Network. "Having Bobby Flay join the judges' table is the perfect combination of non-stop, edge of your seat action of Chopped with the fun and heart racing competition of Beat Bobby Flay to see if one talented competitor can take down the culinary master for ultimate bragging rights."

During the tournament the talented chefs must showcase their culinary chops utilizing the mystery basket ingredients to impress Bobby Flay and the Chopped judges, including an unusual beef jerky product and a twist on hummus in the entrée round, and a do-or-die dessert round where both chefs must cook their hearts out using a special banana pudding and some fancy bacon. Other episodes feature the chefs cooking up appetizers using pizza bites and caviar, and the chefs challenged by an American classic in frozen form in the entrée basket. In the finale, the final four chefs must use a pork product that doesn't look great going through a grinder in the appetizer basket. A canned surprise in the entrée round is not exactly what the remaining three competitors hoped to find, then as the tournament approaches its dramatic conclusion, a twist or two are in store to determine Bobby Flay's bold opponent. The last champ standing gets to cook their signature dish against Bobby with a blind panel of judges determining who will reign supreme.

Fans can get to know the competing chefs and get a behind-the-scenes look at the competition at FoodNetwork.com/Chopped. Follow along with the competition and tell us who you're rooting for on social media using #Chopped.