Behind the Scenes with Guy Fieri, Jonah Hill and Jennifer Aniston
NEW GUY FIERI SHOW IN THE WORKS: The Food Network and celebrity chef Guy Fieri are teaming up on the five-episode Tournament of Champions, which will feature 16 chefs competing in cook challenges using a variety of ingredients and special cooking tools. The new series will begin production this December and launch in March. Fieri actually issued a call to action from his fans on social media, and the RFP has already snagged more than 1 million views. “Cooking and sports are two of my greatest passions,” said Fieri, in a statement. “What people don’t realize is that the competitive fire that drives professional athletes also drives the best chefs in the world. So, with Tournament of Champions, I’m having the greatest culinary athletes in the world go head-to-head in a knock-down, drag-out bracket style competition that’s going to be off the hook. Let the games begin!”
BET UNVEILS FIRST UNSCRIPTED ORIGINAL: BET Plus is debuting its first new original unscripted series, American Gangster: Trap Queens, a look at female gangsters. “BET is excited to bring American Gangster: Trap Queens to BET+,” said BET‘s head of unscripted programming Marisa Levy. “We’ve reimagined this long running series by letting women take center stage. Each episode features one of America’s most successful and notorious female criminal masterminds recounting her cautionary tale. Given the success of the original long running American Gangster television series, we hope Trap Queens will become a fresh fan favorite in the true crime genre as well.”
JONAH HILL PASSES ON THE BATMAN: Jonah Hill has turned down a role in the upcoming The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. He was reportedly under consideration for roles including the Penguin and the Riddler. Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz are starring. No word on why he passed.
JENNIFER ANISTON TALKS INSTAGRAM DEBUT: Jennifer Aniston has had a busy week making her Instagram debut and breaking the Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to reach 1 million followers: 5 hours, 16 minutes. Now, she tells Jimmy Kimmel, she’s “baking content” for 11 million followers. She appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday, and also discussed her new Apple+ series, The Morning Show. She says she had dinner with Diane Sawyer, who dished on what really happens behind the scenes on morning news show.