She Began as a Headhunter, Ended Up as a Top Chef

TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of Worst Cooks in America, died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55. The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on Iron Chef America and went on to other shows, confirmed her death. The cause wasn't immediately clear, and medical examiners were set to conduct an autopsy, reports the AP. Police were called to her address before 8am on Tuesday and found an unresponsive woman who was soon pronounced dead. The police department didn't release the woman's name, but records show it was Burrell's address.

Burrell was on TV screens as recently as April, in one of her many appearances on NBC's Today show. She faced off against other top chefs on the Food Network's House of Knives earlier in the spring. Known for her bold and flavorful (but not overly fancy) dishes, and for her spiky platinum-blonde hair, Burrell and various co-hosts on Worst Cooks in America led teams of kitchen-challenged people through a crash course in savory self-improvement. Burrell persisted through 27 seasons, with her last appearance in 2024. "If people want to learn, I absolutely love to teach them," she said on Good Morning America in 2020. "It's just them breaking bad habits and getting out of their own way."

Burrell started her career as a headhunter but hated it, she told the Syracuse Post-Standard in 2008. Having always loved cooking, she soon enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, for which she later taught. She graduated in 1996, spent a year at an Italian culinary school, and then worked in upscale New York City restaurants. By 2008, Burrell was hosting her own Food Network show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.

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Over the years Burrell also wrote two cookbooks and was involved with food pantries, juvenile diabetes awareness campaigns, and other charities. Her own tastes, she said, ran simple. She told the Post-Standard that her favorite food was bacon and her favorite meal was her mother's tuna fish sandwich. "Cooking is fun," she said. "It doesn't have to be scary. It's creating something nurturing." "Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent—teaching, competing, and always sharing ... the joy that a delicious meal can bring," the Food Network said in a statement.

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