Latest news with #GabeBertaccini
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Anne Burrell's heartbreaking gesture to Worst Cooks in America co-star before shock death at 55
Anne Burrell made a poignant gesture to her Worst Cooks in America co-star before her shock death aged 55. Last month Burrell, who hosted Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co-hosted Worst Cooks, was found dead inside her Brooklyn apartment and 'surrounded by pills'. Her cause of death was confirmed as suicide this week. Ahead of the airing of her final TV appearance on Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible on July 28, her co-host Gabe Bertaccini opened up about her final gift to him when filming wrapped. He told TV Insider of his final meet with Burrell: 'It was the finale. Everyone is tired. Weeks and weeks have gone by. We are celebrating the end of the shoot, and I get really sick. I had this cold. I felt like crap. We go through the production meeting and Anne hands me this card. It said, 'I hope you feel better.' 'In the card, there is this cute little heart that she crocheted. She loved to knit. She would do that while waiting for shooting time. This was relaxing to her. The night before she got the car. I still have it. It was such a beautiful gesture and completely unnecessary. That's exactly who Anne was. There was no ego or competition. 'Someone to take a little bit of her time to do something like that for her cohost, it's special. It's a great memory that I'll be taking with me.' He added of the 'generous' star: 'Anne was just Anne throughout the show, after the show, at dinner, texting, or whatever. There was an authenticity that came with Anne. There are hundreds of people who work on this. They will tell you she was just authentically her. I loved her. ' According to the New York City medical examiner's office, Burrell's cause of death was listed as 'acute intoxication due to the combined effects of diphenhydramine, ethanol, cetirizine, and amphetamine.' Diphenhydramine and cetirizine are both antihistamines, ethanol is a type of alcohol, and amphetamine is a stimulant often prescribed for ADHD. Burrell's family declined the publication's request for comment. The Food Network star was found 'in the shower unconscious and unresponsive surrounded by approximately (100) assorted pills', according to NYPD documents seen by The New York Times. Emergency medical teams responded to the home that she shared with her husband Stuart Claxton but she was pronounced dead at the scene. On June 20, a spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner's office confirmed that Burrell's autopsy had been completed but findings on the exact cause of her death was still pending. Claxton reportedly last saw his wife alive at about 1AM the night prior before discovering her unconscious between six to seven hours later in their bathroom. He told TV Insider of his final meet with Burrell: 'It was the finale. Everyone is tired. Weeks and weeks have gone by. We are celebrating the end of the shoot, and I get really sick. Anne hands me this card. It said, 'I hope you feel better.' It was reported earlier this week that EMS crews had attempted CPR on Burrell but could not resuscitate her. Her family said in a statement: 'Anne was a beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother, and friend — her smile lit up every room she entered. 'Anne's light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world. Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit, and boundless love remain eternal.' A Food Network spokesperson added, 'Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent – teaching, competing and always sharing the importance of food in her life and the joy that a delicious meal can bring. 'Our thoughts are with Anne's family, friends and fans during this time of tremendous loss.' Just hours before her passing Burrell had performed a improv show at a comedy club in Brooklyn, after having taken classes at the venue's training center. In a podcast earlier this year she spoke with Tori Spelling on taking the classes and how she planned to expand her horizons. She said: 'I just started taking acting classes. I started yesterday, actually... It's like an improv for actors' class. 'I got there and it's like eight people in the class. I'm the oldest one. Every other person has like, 'Oh, I have a master's in fine arts in theater.'' Burrell showed off her self-awareness and sense of humor that her fans were familiar with as she joked about the age gap between she and her fellow students. She said: 'I'm like, 'okay, I've never taken an acting class. I don't know, this is new to me.' 'I wonder if these delightful and super talented kids look at me and they're like, 'What's this old lady doing here?'' The television personality had taken a break from her show Worst Cooks In America for season 28 which baffled many fans and Spelling, 52, asked at the time what led her to that decision. Burrell answered: 'I can cook, yes, I can do TV, but also, what else? I've got more to do in my life, I feel like.' She also admitted that she was just 'dipping my toe' when it came to the pivot to acting. Burrell explained: 'I feel very excited about it. I've got a few other things that I'm working on as well, which I'm not quite ready to share yet. Hopefully, exciting [are] things coming.' Gigi Hadid, who famously appeared on the cooking competition series Beat Bobby Flay with Burrell, led the celebrities expressing their heartbreak over Burrell's death. 'I am heartbroken to hear of the loss of the Great Anne Burrell,' the supermodel, 30, began. Hadid included a photo of herself and Burrell from their time filming Beat Bobby Flay back in 2023. 'As a longtime fan, getting to share this day with her was a dream come true. Beat Bobby. Hang. Eat,' she recalled. 'I wish we could have done it again. She was awesome. Rest in Peace Legend.' Chef Carla Hall, who previously appeared on Food Network's Top Chef, called Burrell an 'incredible cook and teacher.' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson Kressley, who was a close friend of Burrell's, revealed that he spoke to her just days before her death. He also shared a post to his own Instagram page which included a photo of him and Burrell. 'Rest easy, Chef Anne. I'm so blessed I was able to work with you, learn from you, laugh with you. 'So many memories - on screen and off - I cherish this photo of us living our best lives, as the kids say,' Kressley wrote. The TV chef - who became synonymous with her trademark spiky platinum hair - is survived by husband, whom she wed in October 2021 in an autumn-themed ceremony and reception in her hometown of Cazenovia, New York. She is also survived by her mother Marlene and sister Jane and her children Isabella, Amelia and Nicolas, and her brother Ben. Burrell developed a passion for cooking at a young age, inspired by her mother's home-cooked meals and by watching food icon Julia Child on television. After earning a degree in English and Communications from Canisius College in Buffalo in 1991, she followed her culinary dreams and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, graduating in 1996. She worked at a whole host of New York City hotspots including Felidia and Savoy in Soho, where she honed her craft in Mediterranean cuisine. She was later thrust into the spotlight and became best known as the longtime host of Worst Cooks in America. The show, which ran for 28 seasons, saw celebrated chefs mentor amateur cooks in an attempt to transform them from rookies to kitchen experts. Elsewhere, she appeared on Chef Wanted, Chopped, Food Network Star, and most recently, competition series House of Knives - which premiered in March this year. She also penned two of her own cookbooks - Cook Like a Rock Star and Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire & Empower.
Forbes
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Worst Cooks Returns—and So Does Anne Burrell's Impact
From kitchen flops to life lessons, Anne Burrell showed us in Worst Cooks In America why failure is ... More just the first ingredient in success. Food TV has long profited from humiliation. Burrell built something else—a space where failure could be funny, but getting better was the point. When Worst Cooks in America returns to Food Network on July 28, it won't feel like just another stunt season. A month will have passed since Anne Burrell—chef, host, and the show's driving force—died unexpectedly at age 55. She had filmed this upcoming season, Talented and Terrible, alongside new mentor Gabe Bertaccini before her death. It now serves, unofficially, as her farewell. The premise is familiar: a group of self-proclaimed disasters try to survive culinary boot camp. This time, they're professional performers—people who are polished on stage but lost in the kitchen. It's built for irony, but the real tension sits somewhere else. This is the last season with Burrell. And the last one that carries the very specific tone she created: not perfectionism, not cruelty, but encouragement. What the Show Represents For many adults, cooking can come with a quiet sense of disappointment, especially when it doesn't match what we imagine it should be. Not just about how much we rely on takeout or how often we burn rice, but a deeper anxiety: that somehow, everyone else learned how to feed themselves the 'right' way—and we missed the memo. Food television, even when it claims to be approachable, often reinforces that divide. Too glossy, too fast, too perfect. But Worst Cooks in America, especially under Anne Burrell's lead, offered something else. The show wasn't just funny—it was freeing. Burrell didn't treat incompetence as failure; she treated it as a starting point. In a media landscape that often drags the amateur for laughs, she reminded us that learning to cook is still allowed to be clumsy. That getting better is still allowed to take time. The show never mocked people for what they didn't know. It offered them space to try again and a coach who actually believed they could pull it off. That ethos—of meeting people where they are and helping them improve—isn't just good television. It reflects what psychologist Carol Dweck defines as a growth mindset: the belief that a person's abilities can be developed through their own effort, feedback, and persistence. As the Association for Psychological Science explains, this kind of mindset reframes failure as a necessary part of learning, not a sign of weakness. Dweck's research has shown that people with a growth mindset not only perform better under pressure but are more likely to view mistakes as part of the process—an idea reinforced by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which links these beliefs to long-term performance and resilience. Worst Cooks in America made that theory tangible. Under Anne Burrell, it modeled a kind of mistake-embracing culture that helped viewers—many of whom had written themselves off in the kitchen—see improvement as possible, and even joyful. The Advice That Lingers A month after her passing, that belief still resonates. In one widely shared Reddit thread, fans reflected on the phrases that had etched themselves into memory, not because they were trendy, but because they were true. 'Brown food tastes good.' 'Slices, sticks, dices.' 'BTB, RTS.' (Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.) Sure, these punchy catchphrases were good for a laugh. For these fans of Burrell and of the show, they are little anchors. A way for someone who'd never held a knife correctly to hear Burrell's voice in their head and adjust their grip. A way for someone overwhelmed in their own kitchen to remember: brown food is good food. You're not messing it up. You're doing it right. 'She lives on,' one commenter wrote, describing how they still say her phrases out loud while cooking. Another shared, 'I think of Anne Burrell every time I cut something with a knife.' Burrell's legacy the impact of Worst Cooks in America in isn't just about visibility or representation. It's about emotional permission. She gave people who felt behind—people who had been dismissed in other kitchens, or dismissed themselves—a reason to believe they could still learn how to cook. And, maybe, how to be seen doing it. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) When does the new season of Worst Cooks in America premiere? Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible premieres Monday, July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on HBO Max. Who are the mentors this season? This season features the final on-screen appearance of longtime host Anne Burrell, joined by new mentor Chef Gabe Bertaccini. Together, they guide a group of celebrity performers through culinary boot camp. What's different about this season? In addition to marking Anne Burrell's final season, Talented and Terrible brings a twist: all the recruits are professional entertainers—people used to commanding a stage, but completely lost in the kitchen. Challenges include recreating the mentors' 'winner winner chicken dinner,' mastering restaurant classics, and taking on the fan-favorite Remote Control Chef test.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Food Network Announces Anne Burrell Tribute Programming
Food Network Announces Anne Burrell Tribute Programming originally appeared on Parade. The Food Network has announced several tributes to the late . Chef Burrell died on June 17 at her Brooklyn home at the age of 55. Now the Food Network, on which she starred for many years across many programs, has announced several Burrell tributes to air over the next few months. On Wednesday, June 25, the network will air a two-hour block of programming that highlights Burrell's appearances. Then on July 28, the final season of Worst Cooks in America that featured Burrell as a mentor, will air in its entirety on Monday upcoming season is titled Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible, and it features Burrell and new mentor Chef Gabe Bertaccini. 'Anne Burrell was a one-of-a-kind talent whose loss is being deeply felt by family, friends and fans,' said Betsy Ayala, Head of Content, Food, Warner Bros. Discovery. 'With these special programming events, we hope to honor Anne and celebrate her impact on Food Network and beyond, and to offer fans a way to remember her passion and culinary prowess that ran through everything she did.' The episodes for the June 25 Burrell tribute block include: 10 p.m. ET/PT – – 'All-Stars and A-Lister Dinners' Culinary titans Anne Burrell, Eric Greenspan, Jet Tila and Marcel Vigneron aren't spared Guy Fieri's twists when a bowling game selects some strikingly bizarre ingredients for a hearty lunch. Next, the chefs have to think outside the boxed foods and make their best dish using processed items from the middle aisles of the store. Then, the chefs experience real highs and lows when the feared Food Wheel determines the high-end and low-end ingredients in their A-list dinner. One All-Star chef goes on a shopping spree for charity worth up to $20,000.11 p.m. ET/PT – Count down the top 15 worst dishes ever from Worst Cooks in America. Terrible cooks from across the land present their worst-ever creations, from inedible spicy dishes to crazy flavor combinations that chefs didn't dare taste. There's even a winning dish in which the recruit might have lost a fake nail. 11:30 p.m. ET/PT – Take a deep dive into the boot camp training on Worst Cooks in America. The colorful cast of terrible cooks display their "skills" — from crazy knife techniques to struggles with mysterious vegetables — and almost burn down the camp with grease fires. Chef mentors will teach, but there's only so much that Worst Cooks can learn. The description for Burrell's final season of Worst Cooks in America reads, "In the premiere episode, chefs Anne Burrell and Gabe Bertaccini have their work cut out for them as they attempt to turn a bunch of culinary train wrecks into kitchen stars, but first, they need to know what they are up against. The recruits kick things off with their signature showstopper dish, and in the main dish challenge, they tackle the ultimate test: recreating the chefs' 'winner winner chicken dinner.' "Those with promise move on while the rest face elimination. Across the season, with guidance from Anne and Gabe, the recruits will tackle restaurant classics, try to master global cuisines, and compete in the fan-favorite Remote Control Chef challenge, in their bid to be the best of the worst." Burrell's final season of Worst Cooks in America premieres Monday, July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network and streams the next day on HBO Max. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Food Network Announces Anne Burrell Tribute Programming first appeared on Parade on Jun 23, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Anne Burrell's on-air television tributes revealed following her shock death aged 55
Anne Burrell will be remembered by the Food Network with two special programming events in the coming weeks following her shock death. Burrell, who hosted Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co-hosted Worst Cooks in America, was found dead inside her Brooklyn apartment on June 17 at the age of 55. Following her death, it has been confirmed that the Food Network will first air a selection of encore episodes featuring Burrell that highlight her extraordinary talent as a chef, competitor and teacher on Wednesday, June 25 at 10pm. Monday, July 28 will mark the premiere of a new season of Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible featuring and will feature Burrell in her final appearance as mentor. The new season 'showcases recruits who are professional performers and used to stealing the spotlight, but in the kitchen, they are dishing out disasters.' For the show, which will premiere on Food Network at 9pm ET/PT July 28 before streaming on Max the following day, Burrell teamed up with Chef Gabe Bertaccini. 'Anne Burrell was a one-of-a-kind talent whose loss is being deeply felt by family, friends and fans,' said Betsy Ayala, Head of Content, Food, Warner Bros. Discovery. 'With these special programming events, we hope to honor Anne and celebrate her impact on Food Network and beyond, and to offer fans a way to remember her passion and culinary prowess that ran through everything she did.' Burrell's death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose after she was discovered on the floor of her bathroom surrounded by 100 pills. The Food Network star was found 'in the shower unconscious and unresponsive surrounded by approximately (100) assorted pills', according to NYPD documents seen by The New York Times. Emergency medical teams responded to the home that she shared with her husband Stuart Claxton, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. A spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner's office confirmed that Burrell's autopsy had been completed but findings on the exact cause of her death are still pending. Claxton reportedly last saw his wife alive at about 1am the night prior before discovering her unconscious between six to seven hours later in their bathroom. It was reported earlier this week that EMS crews had attempted CPR on Burrell but could not resuscitate her. Her family said in a statement: 'Anne was a beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother, and friend — her smile lit up every room she entered. 'Anne's light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world. Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit, and boundless love remain eternal.' Just hours before her passing Burrell had performed an improv show at a comedy club in Brooklyn, after having taken classes at the venue's training center. In a podcast earlier this year she spoke with Tori Spelling on taking the classes and how she planned to expand her horizons. She said: 'I just started taking acting classes. I started yesterday, actually... It's like an improv for actors' class. 'I got there and it's like eight people in the class. I'm the oldest one. Every other person has like, "Oh, I have a master's in fine arts in theater."' Burrell showed off her self-awareness and sense of humor that her fans were familiar with as she joked about the age gap between she and her fellow students. She said: 'I'm like, "okay, I've never taken an acting class. I don't know, this is new to me." 'I wonder if these delightful and super talented kids look at me and they're like, "What's this old lady doing here?"' The television personality had taken a break from her show Worst Cooks In America for season 28 which baffled many fans and Spelling, 52, asked at the time what led her to that decision. Burrell answered: 'I can cook, yes, I can do TV, but also, what else? I've got more to do in my life, I feel like.' She also admitted that she was just 'dipping my toe' when it came to the pivot to acting. Burrell explained: 'I feel very excited about it. I've got a few other things that I'm working on as well, which I'm not quite ready to share yet. Hopefully, exciting [are] things coming.' In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail in April, she talked animatedly about how much she was enjoying married life, claiming it was so easy that she felt they were still in the honeymoon phase, and also joked about plans to star on Meghan Markle's Netflix show. 'October will be four years,' she said at the City Harvest gala. 'It seems like it's been four minutes. I don't know if it's a honeymoon [phase], but I feel like it's settled into married life days which I really enjoy.' She also revealed how she would make scones for her husband as she discussed Markle's show. 'Sure, of course. I'd go to the opening of an envelope. Why not cook with Meghan?' she laughed after being asked if she would want to be a guest. Burrell is survived by her husband, her mother Marlene, her sister Jane, her brother Ben and her children Isabella, Amelia and Nicolas.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
R.I.P., Anne Burrell: Late Chef's Final Worst Cooks in America Season Lands Premiere Date at Food Network
The final season of Worst Cooks in America that chef Anne Burrell shot before her death will get underway this July on Food Network. Worst Cooks in America: Talented and Terrible will premiere on Monday, July 28, at 9/8c, the cable channel announced Monday. Over the course of the season, Burrell and co-host Gabe Bertaccini will oversee a group of culinary recruits who are professional performers but awful in the kitchen. More from TVLine Outlander: Blood of My Blood Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere MobLand Renewed for Season 2 at Paramount+ In Survival Mode, Everyday People Revisit Extraordinary Disasters - Get NBC Premiere Date, First Teaser TV Stars We Lost in 2025 View Gallery41 Images In addition, on Wednesday, June 25, starting at 10 pm, Food Network will pay tribute to Burrell with by airing a selection of encore episodes that, per a release, will 'highlight her extraordinary talent as a chef, competitor and teacher.' Burrell died June 17 in her home in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was 55; no cause of death has been announced. 'Anne was a beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother and friend — her smile lit up every room she entered,' her family said via statement. 'Anne's light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world. Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit and boundless love remain eternal.' As word of Burrell's passing spread, her friends and colleagues at Food Network and beyond — including Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Robert Irvine, Aarón Sanchez and Michael Voltaggio — shared memories of her via social media. 'I can't quite believe it — such a strong, vibrant, fearless woman, so full of life and love, could be gone so soon,' wrote Ray, who co-hosted Worst Cooks in America with Burrell for four seasons. 'Despite being surrounded by incredible chefs, she never once made me feel self-conscious about not being one — she always treated me as one of the gang. When we hosted Worst Cooks together, we had the most incredible laughs.' Best of TVLine 'Missing' Shows, Found! Get the Latest on Ahsoka, Monarch, P-Valley, Sugar, Anansi Boys and 25+ Others Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More
