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NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Network icon Rachael Ray and best-selling cookbook author and successful restaurateur Guy Fieri, return to coach and mentor eight new celebrity contestants for the second season of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, premiering Sunday, January 6^th at 9pm ET/PT.  The eight celebrities are divided into Team Guy and Team Rachael, as they head out to the west coast to compete over the course of six episodes in intense weekly challenges that are sure to have them working, fighting and laughing along the way. The losing team must send its two bottom-rated contestants to face off against each other, with one member sent home each week in a blind tasting elimination challenge. The last celebrity standing will join the ranks of season one winner, Lou Diamond Phillips, and win $50,000 for the charity which they are playing for.

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"I am thrilled to be returning with Guy for a new season of Rachael vs. Guy," said Rachael Ray. "We are upping the ante this season, with eight new celebrity contestants, thrilling challenges and great humor. Viewers will be amazed at the contestants' skills in the kitchen as they battle it out for their charity.  And it is always great to compete for ultimate bragging rights against Guy." 

"Rachael's like family, and when we go into the show, our sibling rivalry comes out. It's fierce, but we have a blast," said Guy Fieri. "The great part of Rachael vs. Guy, outside of Rachael and I spending 14 hours a day together, is that our celebrity guests can actually cook.  The reason they're on the show is because they truly want to become better cooks while raising money for charity."

The eight celebrity contestants competing for the title of Cook-Off champion and a cash prize include Chilli (member of pop/R&B group TLC), Gilbert Gottfried (actor, comedian), Cornelia Guest (designer, author, philanthropist), Dean McDermott (actor, reality television star), Kathy Najimy (actress, Sister Act), Hines Ward (former NFL player; Super Bowl Champion and MVP), Carnie Wilson (singer, Wilson Phillips) and Johnny Weir (two-time Olympic Figure Skater, three-time U.S. National Champion).

In the season premiere, Rachael and Guy meet the eight celebrity contestants as they pick their teams, with Chilli, Cornelia Guest, Dean McDermott and Johnny Weir joining Team Guy; and Gilbert Gottfried, Kathy Najimy, Hines Ward and Carnie Wilson for Team Rachael. The competition begins as the teams must cook a prix-fixe tasting menu at a Los Angeles dinner theater, as well as perform a three-minute skit for one hundred theatergoers, including Rachael and Guy, and special guest judges from the editorial staff at Entertainment Weekly. The judges and dinner guests will vote on the team's dishes, leaving the bottom two celebrities to compete in a sudden death challenge. At the end of the day, one celebrity is eliminated from the competition.  Throughout the season the celebrities find themselves in unfamiliar and grueling challenges, guaranteed to test their culinary prowess, including gathering and creating farm-to-table dishes served in the middle of a farm and revamping the dinner menu at the legendary Mel's Diner on Sunset Boulevard, as they cook and serve their dishes to customers in old-school, diner fashion, as they dress the part with outfits. And for the finale, the two remaining celebrities must host an elite Hollywood dinner party, as they plan, cook and serve a three-course meal for the dinner guests, which include surprise guests Kathy Griffin, Chef Nancy Silverton, Chef Suzanne Goin and other notable chefs, along with their charity executives. These dinner guests help determine which celebrity will earn a $50,000 grand prize for their charity and bragging rights as winner of Celebrity Cook-Off.

Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off is produced by Jane Street Entertainment.

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 and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.45 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com),  is the manager and general partner.

SOURCE Food Network