LSU alum competing to become next ‘Food Network Star’

If you checked out Food Network’s Food Network Star last Sunday, you might have recognized a few faces. The show, now in its tenth season, features New Orleans’ Chris Lynch and LSU alum/New Jersey personal chef Nicole Gaffney.

She has been a fan of the show since it premiered and decided to participate last year.

“I never thought I wanted to be on a reality TV show,” she says. “Last year, I was in the last year of my 20s, and I thought, ‘Why not just end this decade with a bang?’ I like shaking up life a little bit. This is the perfect way to do it.”

Gaffney is one of 12 contestants vying for the attention of judges Alton Brown, Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay. The winner will get his or her own show on the network.

In Baton Rouge, Gaffney worked as a server for Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Tigre’s, which became Vic’s Chophouse. After graduating LSU in 2007 in communications, she headed back home to Atlantic City, New Jersey, then enrolled at The Academy of the Culinary Arts in Mays Landing, New Jersey. She quickly combined her love of food with her communications background to host local television shows. She also filmed a series of cooking videos in 2012. As a chef, she cooks a variety of foods, preparing seasonal three-to-six course menus for small in-home dinner parties.

“I dabble in everything,” she says. “I specialize in cooking food for people based on what where they live. It’s about suiting the needs of each individual client.”

On Food Network Star, she learned fast that her self-confidence would only get her so far.

“I knew that I would have to have confidence,” she says. “If you don’t, you can read that on a person’s face. When you’re on the Hollywood set with three chefs, directors, producers, cameras, lights … it’s completely nerve-wracking. It’s a lot to take on.”

Her first task was to give producers a 30-second pitch about herself. That wasn’t tough for Gaffney. In addition to talking about themselves and providing short stories as if they were already hosting their own show, competitors are cooking themed dishes each week, and those plates of food need to be enjoyable.

Gaffney can’t reveal how she did on the show, but she says she learned a lot about herself during the process.

“The amount of growth was massive,” she says. “The big thing that stuck with me is learning to lighten up a little bit and not be so serious and trust that people are going to like my personality. In the business world, I tend to be more reserved. But I’m a Jersey Girl. I’m extremely sarcastic. I like to poke fun. That’s not something I want to advertise, but you have to find that balance. You don’t want to come off as fake.”

Food Network Star airs Sundays at 8 p.m.

See episode one below.