GUY FIERI IS BACK WITH THE TOUGHEST BRACKET-STYLE CULINARY COMPETITION "TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS II" WITH A NEW WILD CARD PLAY-IN FOR THE FINAL EAST AND WEST COAST SEEDS

Fans Can Build Their Own Bracket on Twitter For A Chance to Win Weekly Prizes Throughout the Tournament

Plus, Don't Miss Extended Episodes and Extras on discovery+

NEW YORK - January 27, 2021 - Guy Fieri is back with the toughest bracket-style culinary competition where 16 of the best chefs from the East and West coasts go head-to-head in sudden-death cooking battles on Tournament of Champions II. The action-packed, sports-like tournament kicks off on Sunday, March 7th at 8pm, and each 90-minute episode is filled with unpredictable action, fierce rivalries, and shocking upsets. The chefs' skills will be pushed to the limit in each round, as they face new ingredients, tougher cooking styles and more interesting equipment options on the randomizer machine that determines the parameters for each cook-off, including the protein, produce, equipment, cooking style, and time. The pressure is intense, and emotions are high as the elite chefs enter this blind competition not knowing who their opponents will be, or what cooking challenges they will face, and will have their dishes judged blindly by a panel of distinguished experts. Hunter Fieri follows all the action backstage during the deliberation, capturing the reactions of the chefs as their dishes are judged, getting the raw emotions of elation and frustration as bracket victors move on while others face elimination. The chefs will only go as far as their dishes take them - win and advance or lose and go home. Fans can also stream extended episodes of the tournament and after show on discovery+ featuring even more nail-biting action and behind-the-scenes conversations with Guy and the competitors.

"Over 12 million viewers devoured the edge-of-your-seat culinary battles on Tournament of Champions last year, with the finale ranking as the #1 cable program in its timeslot and becoming one of Food Network's highest-rated telecasts since 2019," said Courtney White, President, Food Network. "The new season is like a pressure cooker and will captivate audiences with intense rivalries, redemptions, and rematches. There's no way to predict what will happen in this sudden-death competition."

"This year, the stakes are even higher because every time a chef wins a round, we are donating $10,000 in their name to their favorite local restaurant that is in need," said Guy Fieri.

The chefs representing the East Coast are: Madison Cowan, Maneet Chauhan, Darnell Ferguson, Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy, Christian Petroni and Bryan Voltaggio. The chefs showing off their chops from the West Coast are: Cat Cora, Antonia Lofaso, Brian Malarkey, Aaron May, Jet Tila, Michael Voltaggio, and defending champion and last season's winner Brooke Williamson. For the last bracket slots on the East and West Coast, Guy has invited eight chefs to prove their worthiness in the arena and battle in a wild card tournament to earn the coveted 8th seeds. Before the competition begins, fans can relive last season with Guy in a special lookback at season one on March 7th at 7pm as he highlights the biggest victories, the most surprising upsets, the wildest moments, and the most outrageous randomizer combinations.

It's a high-stakes competition unlike any before. Simon Majumdar and Justin Warner deliver real-time play-by-play as all the action unfolds in front of a live audience. Deciding who advances in each round is a rotating panel of expert judges including, Scott Conant, Giada De Laurentiis, Traci Des Jardins, Rocco DiSpirito, Marcus Samuelsson, Nancy Silverton, Ming Tsai, and Jonathan Waxman. Unexpected challenges, major upsets and surprises fill this tournament, which concludes in a supersized two-hour episode on Sunday, April 18th at 8pm. Only one chef will emerge as the champion and will drive off with an all-new SUV! Throughout the competition, join Guy as he sits down with Justin and Simon in the after-show as they break down what went wrong and what went right for each chef, and share never before seen footage from the battles.

For a second year, Food Network is partnering with Twitter to launch a digital-only competition where fans can fill out their own personalized brackets for a chance to win up to $5,000 in prizes. Viewers can head to Food Network's Twitter page from March 14 through March 21 for an individualized bracket experience sponsored by Hyundai featuring exclusive content, including videos with Guy and each of the 16 contestants. Fans will be able to share their brackets on social media and track their standings as the competition unfolds.

Fans can join the conversation on social to participate in weekly live Twitter parties using #TournamentOfChampions. Across Food Network's Facebook and Instagram, find an insider's look at the competition, as well as all-new videos with Guy, the competitors, the commentators and the judges every week. And on FoodNetwork.com/TournamentOfChampions, fans can browse behind-the-scenes photos and binge-watch clips.

###

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment spanning 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

About discovery+

discovery+ is the definitive non-fiction, real life subscription streaming service. discovery+ features a landmark partnership with Verizon that gives their customers with select plans up to 12 months of discovery+ on Verizon. discovery+ has the largest-ever content offering of any new streaming service at launch, featuring a wide range of exclusive, original series across popular, passion verticals in which Discovery brands have a strong leadership position, including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, tech and the environment, and a slate of high-quality documentaries. For more, visit discoveryplus.com or find it on a variety of platforms and devices, including ones from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Samsung.