Exclusive: Alton Previews the Premiere Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage Tournament

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Alton Brown

Photo by: Jeremiah Alley ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Jeremiah Alley, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

For the first time ever, 16 of your favorite all-star chefs are coming together in the name of eviliciousness to face off in the first-ever  Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage tournament, premiering Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 9|8c. During the course of five weeks, kitchen masters like Alex Guarnaschelli, Justin Warner, Anne Burrell and Nadia G will battle in four heats plus a finale, but ultimately only one contestant can earn Cutthroat glory and a $75,000 prize for charity. Before this unprecedented series of cook-offs begins, FN Dish wanted to learn a little bit more about what host Alton Brown has in store for these A-list rivals. Will he be soft on the sabotages on account of the contestants' vast culinary experience? It turns out, Alton says, "It's not difficult for me at all" to be hard on the chefs. Read on below to hear more from Alton in an exclusive interview.

Do you think these chefs have any idea what they’ve signed up for? After all, Cutthroat Kitchen isn’t like any other culinary competition.

Alton Brown: I think that everybody that is in the competition has watched the show — or maybe two — but that still doesn't really prepare you because this is one of those shows where being a spectator just doesn't set you up for the realities of what to expect, especially during the shopping.

The chefs competing in this tournament are used to working with only the finest ingredients in the best-stocked kitchens and with unlimited time. We know there’s no way for them to prepare for sabotage, but if you could give them a single piece of advice, what would it be?

AB: Just cook your food. Don't get sidetracked by the sabotages. It's still just cooking. And they know how to cook. They're good cooks. Cook the food.

You have worked with some of these chefs before. Will it be difficult for you to saddle them with sabotages?

AB: Oh, absolutely not. No. It's not difficult for me at all. Besides, it's an auction. I'm just enabling; I'm not telling them whether or not they should do it or not.

How should chefs’ strategies change seeing as though this is a tournament and they need to survive two contests to win it all?

AB: I don't think you can do that. I think you've got to fight the fight that's right in front of you. You can't be thinking about strategizing across because it doesn't work that way. It's not like the score you get here is going to make that much difference there. You just have to survive every round. That's the main thing: Survive every round. Not necessarily win. You win by surviving every round.

Do you anticipate the sabotaging and bidding to be cleaner or dirtier than usual because many of these chefs knew each other?

AB: I think that because they know each other, they're going to know their strengths and weaknesses, so they can be more strategic in who they give sabotages to. Intelligence is always intelligence. If you've got information, then you can use it.

More on the Tournament:

Don't miss Heat One of Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage  on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 9|8c.

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