Ahead of Thanksgiving, Hollywood’s go-to-girl Kym Whitley will bring the laughs on OWN’s first holiday competition series, “The Big Holiday Food Fight.” Similar to her hilarious roles in “The Parkers,” “Next Friday,” and most recently on BET’s “Twenties,” the comedian and actress will support a panel of esteemed chefs on OWN’s new series, “The Big Holiday Food Fight.”
Whitley recently spoke with Atlanta Black Star about hosting the food series and how she brings laughter to others during the holiday season.
“I was born to be a light to the world because I always want to see people happy no matter what they’re going through,” she said. “I always felt like there’s a silver lining somewhere.”
Despite touring as a stand-up comedian, Whitley describes herself as the least funny person in her family. She looks forward to the time of the year where they can reminisce on the past and share family stories.
Considering her “very funny family,” Whitley explained that “during the holidays, I’m not the one making people laugh. It’s my brothers.”
Whitley shared that she has joined a new TV family of “judges I really like” and that “can really cook” through filming of “The Big Holiday Food Fight.”
Each episode, three home chefs will whip up appetizers, side dishes and desserts from their favorite family recipes for judges, Gina Neely and Darnell ‘SuperChef’ Ferguson of Food Network and TV personality James Wright Chanel. The winner of the multi-stage cook-off will win a holiday stocking stuffed with $5,000 in cash.
Kym Whitley and the judges agreed if they had to attend at any celebrity’s holiday dinner, they would visit the home of legendary singer Patti LaBelle, who earned over $1 million in sales after Chanel’s viral “Patti Pie” review in 2015.
“We know, its going to be awesome food, great singing,” said Neely, anticipating a bountiful celebration at Patti’s home. “We want to go somewhere we can let our hair down, take off our shoes, get to dance and have a good time.”
Chanel said his experience on “The Big Holiday Food Fight” brought up nostalgic memories of his grandmother cooking in the kitchen with “no recipe. She just went in there and did what she did.”
Ferguson, who won Food Network’s “Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge” series in 2018, said, “It’s always exciting being on the judges’ side of the field.”
He continued, “I felt like I was going through it with them. But it was also really fun to see foods that I grew up eating and cooked a lot in different ways.”
He added, “I wasn’t just judging the food. I’m judging the whole experience of how I would take it if I was sitting during the holidays at my house watching everybody cook.”
“The Big Holiday Food Fight” airs Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. EST on OWN.
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