Food

Part I: Alton Brown’s New-ish Persona on Next Food Network Star

Last updated on May 29, 2012 by Liza Hawkins

Have you been watching this season’s “Food Network Star“?
I admit, I thought this season was going to be a bust, what with the new format and all. But so far I’m liking it, especially how each team really has its own personality.
A very distinct personality. Especially the quirky, lovebly geeky, slyly cool #TeamAlton.

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Source: foodnetwork.com via Food Network on Pinterest

I wonder though.

Has Alton Brown changed? I mean, he’s always had a snarky side to him, even in the G-rated “Good Eats,” which had a home on the Food Network for a decade. And as the host (if you could call it that) on “Iron Chef America” his quick wit keeps the battle interesting and entertaining throughout the hour.

But on “Food Network Star,” he’s downright — I don’t know — a bit of a curmudgeon at times.

I appreciate Alton’s preciseness, and his ability to read people and to tell it like it is.

But WOW. He’s really turned it on this season.

My neighbors and I were chatting about just this the other day. We were wondering if perhaps the Alton we’re seeing on “Food Network Star” is the true Alton Brown. His genuine personality.

Honestly? I think the more weight he’s lost, the more bitter and less approachable he’s become. Maybe he needs to put back on 10 pounds and go back to his younger, snarky-er, witty self.

Maybe he’s hungry. But that’s just me.

What do you think? Does Alton Brown seem like a caricature of himself on “Next Food Network Star”?

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Source: juangronjovi.blogspot.com via Liza on Pinterest

Hi, I'm Liza — a self-proclaimed word-nerd who loves getting lost in whimsical stories and epic movies. I have laid-back, practical attitude towards life and am always on the hunt for good eats, easy recipes, binge-worthy shows, relaxing road trip destinations, the perfect fizzy gin cocktail, and time to finish my novel!

9 Comments on “Part I: Alton Brown’s New-ish Persona on Next Food Network Star

  1. I vote ‘he’s hungry’! 🙂 You’re right, he seems a bit uptight. His whole demeanor is not like what he has been in the past. He needs a little fat to lighten up that personality. Ha.

  2. Someone just reminded me on the Facebook page that his persona actually started last season, which I had forgotten. But it’s true – this isn’t new…. Hm.

  3. I use to adore Alton until a few weeks ago, he blocked me on Twitter for no reason. I hadn’t even tweeted him for days and all of a sudden I was blocked.

    He has been very mean and nasty on Twitter for the past year. I have a friend who also adores him and has met him, she tells me in person he is a good guy. But he has blocked her on twitter and she has a fan website that he will not even look at or tell he if he likes it or not. He’s a real jerk in my opinion.

    Another friend told me about a woman she knew who lost about 50 pounds and turned into an epic bitch, I think that’s Mr Brown’s problem too.

  4. I saw something about him once on Food Network and was surprised to hear that he’s actually a very serious person and not as easy going as what we were seeing on Good Eats ‘back when.’

    From what I’ve read also, he’s incredibly driven and intelligent (way intelligent), which brings along its own level of quirkiness.

    I haven’t seen him at all on this new show so I don’t know how he’s acting (or how he even is when he’s not in front of the camera). I pretty much gave up on Food Network when it stopped being a cooking channel that had chef teaching us about how they cooked and started being a show where someone like me gets plopped in front of a camera and makes food. 🙂

  5. @Writer Chick – Blocked you? I know he’s extra snarky on Twitter, but I wonder why he’s blocking people. This is the first I’ve heard of that! :-O

    @The Mom Chef – I miss the good ole days when Food Network used to be a cooking channel too. Like on prime time TV. Now if you want to see any of those shows, you either have to be home during the day, or catch the channel early on the weekends (my kids have reign of the TV then). And? My cable provider doesn’t offer the Cooking Channel. :-/

  6. I’ve met the man 4 times, and I can tell you he can appear mean. He’s got this almost constant scowl on his face. However, he is always gracious and will listen to what you have to say. I believe that Alton is being edited horribly. I would think of Bobby as more of a dick, yet he seems perfectly nice on FNS. I think this is because FN doesn’t want to lose money, which they will if people think Bobby is a dick. Of course, I’m not saying that Alton didn’t say those things to Martie, and that was mean, but it almost seemed like he was scolding a child and I think Martie needs to be told in no uncertain terms to STFU or she never will. The problem with the new format is that we have no idea what the mentoring is like the rest of the week. We have no idea with Alton and the others are going through. Alton had probably told her 100 times to keep it short and it never worked. He finally snapped. And, I have to mention that on Sunday nights when he is tweeting live with the show, he can be quite snarky and bitchy. Probably because FN is forcing him to relive this and he doesn’t want to. He puts on a brave front like “yeah I’m mean so what?” The rest of the week he seems perfectly normal. Happy, quirky, weird. But Sunday nights…

  7. I’ve been a HUGE Alton fan forever and I’ve followed him on twitter for months now, apparently in the past week or so he BLOCKED me. I have NO idea why. I’m actually really saddened by this and it kinda pissed me off. I never said a bad word about the dude. He’s ALWAYS been my favorite guy. 🙁

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