Rory Schepisi, the CMT “Popularity Contest” runner-up
who is building a restaurant on Route 66 in Vega, Texas, is set to appear on another reality TV series on the Food Network.
Schepisi will appear on the third season of “The Next Food Network Star 3,” which premieres on Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. EST, according to Reality TV World.
In each episode, contestants will be tested in a series of challenges and will be judged on “personality, performance and food knowledge,” with their skills being evaluated by a rotating panel of culinary experts, including Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, Cat Cora, Duff Goldman, Robert Irvine, and season two winner Guy Fieri, among others.
Once the judges narrow the competition to its last two finalists, home viewers — voting online or via text messaging — will get to determine who comes out on top and wins the competition. The Food Network will air the winner’s six-episode television series in Fall 2007.
“We’re upping the ante on this season’s challenges, making them more difficult and demanding, so that we and our viewers can judge who should truly be our newest star,” said Bob Tuschman, The Food Network’s senior vice president of programming and production.
Schepisi was a successful restaurateur and chef in New Jersey before she moved to Texas, so she’s well-qualified for a cooking competition.
Schepisi told me this in an e-mail about the production:
I talked a lot about Route 66 and how people need to stop taking the major highways when they are traveling, ’cause they are missing out on all the greatness of Route 66.
She says she’ll have more information in the next few days about her under-construction Boothill Saloon & Grill in Vega.