Brad Smith has had four different jobs in three years, starting off as the first-ever Canadian Bachelor on The Bachelor Canada in 2012. Now he’s a foodie, of sorts. He’s the new host of Chopped Canada and the Chopped Teen Tournament, which features chefs ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, and he’s having a ball doing it (while gaining weight, naturally).
Smith is joined by rotating judges/professional chefs Lynn Crawford, John Higgins, Antonio Park, Anne Yarymowich, Eden Grinshpan, Massimo Capra, Michael Smith, Susur Lee, and Roger Mooking. This season, celebrity chef, author, and television personality Mark McEwan is also appearing at the judges’ table.
The five-part 60-minute series, which premieres Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The Food Network and follows the standard Chopped formula, features 16 of Canada’s best teen chefs competing against each other, turning baskets of mystery ingredients into extraordinary three-course meals for a chance to win $20,000. We caught up with Brad Smith to see how he’s doing in the foodie TV universe, and to find out what we can expect from Chopped Teen Tournament.
Global News: Working with teen chefs must’ve been quite the challenge.
Brad Smith: We literally start the clock and say “Go!” It’s amazing to me. When I was 13, my parents barely let me touch a knife let alone cook a full meal. When we were growing up, we didn’t have this desire to cook or have this Food Network craze. Nowadays you have families sitting around the TV on Saturday nights watching Chopped and getting excited about cooking. They’re into it. The kids on our show are crazy talented. In the episodes we shot, it was some of the best food I’ve ever had, from these kids.
WATCH: Montrealer wins big on Chopped Canada
Is working with teens a new thing for you?
Actually, no. Growing up, I was a day camp counsellor. I was heavily into dramatic arts in high school too, so we always had a lot of chorus people who were younger.
Are you amazed by them?
We can easily say we found 16 of the most intriguing teenage cooks, all from different backgrounds and different skill sets. We had some people who were into using every machine they could find, and some were more rustic, using old-school methods, and you could tell that they were taught by their Nonna at home. It took me until 27 years old… my first year in the CFL when I actually got paid and didn’t have to work in the off-season, I learned how to cook. From the Food Network, ironically. To see these kids chopping and dicing at 13 years old, it’s nuts.
Have you had a favourite meal so far?
Pretty much all the meals equate to the 27 pounds I’ve gained working on the show.
No, I did! I went from 180 to 207 pounds. [Laughs] I’m down to 195, but I’ll openly say this: it was some of the best food I’ve eaten in my life, and some of the worst food I’ve eaten in my life. But some of the constraints are so tough. For even a professional chef, it’s a challenge. The food was either out of left field or it was behind the bleachers in left field. I always thought it was editing that showed them frantically tossing something on the plate at the last minute, but nope, that’s legit.
Was there any drama among the teens?
No, they loved each other! There were no arguments.
WATCH: Behind-the-scenes of Chef in Your Ear
I don’t think they had time. I think one of our guys really liked one of our girls, and you can kind of see it in one of the goodbyes. It was so cute. It was. It reminded me of when I’d been turned down many times in my life, like you go for the hug but instead you get the handshake. [Laughs]
So why should people be watching Chopped Teen Tournament when it premieres?
It’s the same Chopped that everybody loves, but there’s a different air to it. I think, when they brought me in, they knew what kind of personality they were getting — a little ADD, kind of all over the place, but not in the sense that it’s destructive, it’s constructive. It makes the judges interact better. It’s a lot lighter. There are still tense moments, but right from the get-go in the premiere, there are a lot more jokes happening.
The teens add another element, and audiences will absolutely be enthralled by these kids. There will be a wife watching this on Saturday night who’ll be slapping her husband, being like, “A 13-year-old kid can make a pizza! All you can do is dial!”
Season 3 of Chopped Canada premieres Saturday, Nov. 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with the first-ever Chopped Canada Teen Tournament. Chopped Canada’s third season continues with all-new regular episodes premiering Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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