Bobby Flay Talks 'The Next Food Network Star'
By: Rosemina Nazarali
Published: May 12, 2012

The eighth season of The Next Food Network Star is about to begin and Bobby Flay is dishing on what we can expect from his new role as a coach (instead of a judge). 
"I think that they may have taken a cue from the way I was judging these last seven years. I always felt like I was mentoring from the judging table as best I could," Flay said. "I always felt like I wanted to jump over the judging table and actually take these people under my wing, because you really get connected to them -- especially the people who kind of hang around for a while."
Flay also said that it's the three judges' very different personalities that make for an entertaining competition. 
"The three of us coaches look at this very, very differently: My feeling is that if you can cook, I can teach you how to do television; Giada's feeling is if you have a personality, then I can teach you how to cook on TV; and Alton's philosophy is if you're quirky, I want to work with you," he said. "It really is our personalities -- I picked people that had some really good cooking chops. As long as they're comfortable with food, then I can get them to be comfortable in front of a camera. Obviously the other two coaches don't agree with that, but that's what makes this really fantastic." 
The eighth season of The Next Food Network Star begins tomorrow at 9 pm on the Food Network.