Food Network Star: One-on-One with the Latest Finalist to Go Home

Contestants Trace Barnett, Rusty Hamlin and Addie Gundy react to Trace Barnett's elimination from the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Contestants Trace Barnett, Rusty Hamlin and Addie Gundy react to Trace Barnett's elimination from the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

The nature of the Food Network Star beast is such that no matter how much mentors Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis have to teach the finalists, their time is limited, which means they're forced to make quick decisions about who has the greatest potential for success. Week after week finalists will fall in a series of eliminations, and following each gut-wrenching exit, we here at Star Talk will bring you insider interviews with the fallen hopefuls.

While some finalists knew just what to make when they saw their lot of camping fixings, Trace Barnett wasn't one of them. He struggled to land on a plan to make tomato-vegetable soup and serve it inside bell peppers, and even once he did, the issues only continued. He wasn't thrilled with the taste or texture of the soup, and while he attempted to remedy the dish, it was too little too late, and the judges were ultimately not keen on what he served. Though Trace did make slight improvements in his presentation this week, his repeated struggles in the kitchen couldn't be overlooked, and ultimately he was sent home. We caught up with him on set — read on below to hear what he had to say.

What three words describe what was going through your mind when you ultimately learned you were going home?

Trace Barnett: Surprised. Very surprised.

Guest Judges Andrew Zimmerman, Melissa d'Arabian and Host Giada de Laurentiis check in with Contestant Trace Barnett preparing his dish, Rustic Vegetable Soup served in a Grilled Pepper, for the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Guest Judges Andrew Zimmerman, Melissa d'Arabian and Host Giada de Laurentiis check in with Contestant Trace Barnett preparing his dish, Rustic Vegetable Soup served in a Grilled Pepper, for the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

Talk me through that. Why the surprise? You obviously did not anticipate that ending.

TB: The challenge was difficult. We were working with a limited number of ingredients and cooking over an open flame in a tar pit, so the circumstances were a little adverse. I wasn’t 100 percent confident in my dish, but working with what we had, which was a large amount of canned goods ... I felt like the presentation went really well, and I also thought my – you know we had to do the camping trick, and I really thought that the peppers was a cool camping trick. I was surprised, and I thought our team had done well, so I was surprised that we were in the bottom.

How would you explain to fans at home what this is really like? What’s this whole experience really like?

TB: It’s really difficult. It’s a lot going on, and it’s hard to think. You’re not only in a time limit, but also a specific theme and random locations. I’ve never cooked over a direct open flame before, so that was interesting. But it’s also a lot of fun. It’s very challenging but fun at the same time.

What piece of mentor feedback will you remember going forward and take to heart?

TB: The feedback’s been really good. There’s a lot of feedback camera-wise and presentation-wise that I’ll definitely keep in mind doing TV stuff in the future. One [note] that I really liked was the descriptive words when describing dishes, all the empty things we use, so I thought that was really helpful.

What element of this competition were you least expecting?

TB: I was expecting to come into the competition and have finalists that were at the top of their game, but I really think that this season, every finalist has such a strong point of view and is really talented and is full of personality, so I think the cast this season is amazing. That definitely was above my expectations. And ... whether it be 30 minutes or 60 minutes, within that time you have to develop your dish, grab all the ingredients, all of the cookware. And you’re in an unfamiliar kitchen, so I guess the whole kitchen experience is definitely a little more difficult than I thought coming into the competition.

What’s the best advice the mentors gave you?

TB: Just have personality, have fun with it. You’ve got to really stand behind what you’re presenting, both idea-wise and recipe-wise. I think that’s the best advice they gave.

Contestants Rusty Hamlin, Addie Gundy and Trace Barnett sorting through their ingredients for the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Contestants Rusty Hamlin, Addie Gundy and Trace Barnett sorting through their ingredients for the Star Challenge Camping to Glamping, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

Fill in the blanks with your fellow finalists' names. 

_____ is the class clown? Me.

_____ is the quietest? Jason.

_____ is the most daring? Cory.

_____ has the best recipes? Addie.

_____ is going to win this whole thing? I think Addie and Cory have a really good chance to win.

How did you handle the nerves of working with Bobby, Giada and even just the nerves of being here?

TB: I think the nerves were a lot more intense at the very first start, and then you just realize that everyone’s here to help you move along and you get into the swing of things. It happens so fast that you don’t even have a whole lot of time to think about being nervous, honestly. There’s no time for that. You’ve got to get in there, do your thing and just hope for the best.

Teammates Contestants Cory Bahr, Amy Pottinger, Trace Barnett and Addie Gundy giving their introductions to the guests at the Star Challenge Be Our Guest!, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Teammates Contestants Cory Bahr, Amy Pottinger, Trace Barnett and Addie Gundy giving their introductions to the guests at the Star Challenge Be Our Guest!, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

What were your most favorite and least favorite challenges?

TB: By far my favorite was the Beauty and the Beast [challenge]. I thought that was amazing. I loved the whole decor, the table setting and the themed dishes and serving everyone. My least favorite — we might as well just go ahead and say the camp. It was probably my least favorite because of the circumstances. We cooked over an open flame in a tar pit. They’ve all been really fun though. Every challenge is so different and super fun.

What was the most-rewarding part of this competition for you?

TB: Actually making it here and being a part of it. I felt really honored to even make it this far and actually be on the cast. I think just being here has been the most-rewarding thing.

When you do have time to have out behind the scenes between takes, how would you guys hang out together? What would you do?

TB: When you spend hours with people there’s a lot of weird things. We tell a lot of jokes. We talk about random stuff in each of our lives. I entertain people with multiple personalities. We put ourselves in scenarios that probably will never happen.

What special guest or mentor did you learn the most from?

TB: I’m going to say Sandra Lee. I loved her feedback. I love her whole concept of her show. She was decor, parties, entertaining. So, it was nice to hear her feedback on the presentation challenge with Beauty and the Beast. It was nice to see her feedback on the table we had created and her thoughts and what she would have done.

Contestant Trace Barnett prepares his dish Wild Mushroom Truffle Penne w/ Grilled Asparagus & Bacon for the Star Challenge Experiential Restaurant, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Contestant Trace Barnett prepares his dish Wild Mushroom Truffle Penne w/ Grilled Asparagus & Bacon for the Star Challenge Experiential Restaurant, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

What do you want fans to remember most about you?

TB: I want them to take home that even though you’re on a budget or time conscious that you can still entertain or decorate or have fabulous parties with fabulous food. And just to think outside the box and be creative every day and not take yourself too seriously in the kitchen. I think that’s important.

What’s next for you? What’re you going home to?

TB: I’m going to go back home and get back on my blog and my website, and get ready to generate some cool content. We’re entering the fun summer months, so there’s a lot of entertaining and hosting that goes on. I’ll pick back up on all my regular segments that I do. You can catch me on my regular TV shows and hopefully have a show of my own one day.

Contestants (left) Addie Gundy, Cory Bahr, Suzanne Lossia, Rusty Hamlin and Amy Pottinger (right) behind contestant Trace Barnett introducing himself for the Mentor Challenge, Ready, Set...Rehearse!, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Contestants (left) Addie Gundy, Cory Bahr, Suzanne Lossia, Rusty Hamlin and Amy Pottinger (right) behind contestant Trace Barnett introducing himself for the Mentor Challenge, Ready, Set...Rehearse!, as seen on Food Network Star, Season 13.

Photo by: Eddy Chen

Eddy Chen

Who’re you rooting for?

TB: That’s really hard. I’m rooting for everyone, because I think everyone brings something really cool and unique to the table, and I think from Day 1 I felt like everyone could go ahead and assume that position of Food network Star, so I’m rooting for everyone. I think whoever wins will definitely have a good thing going.

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