Robert Irvine

Robert Paul Irvine (born 24 September 1965) is an English celebrity chef and talk show host who has appeared on and hosted a variety of Food Network programs including Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, Restaurant: Impossible, A Hero's Welcome, Operation Restaurant, All-Star Academy, Guy's Grocery Games, Chopped: Impossible, and Restaurant Express.

Irvine currently operates two restaurants, Robert Irvine's Public House at the Tropicana resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a Fresh Kitchen by Robert Irvine located within The Pentagon.

In 2006, Irvine had announced his intention to open two restaurants in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Irvine also appeared in a December 2007 episode of Iron Chef America with Tyler Florence in a dessert battle (theme ingredient: sugar) against Paula Deen and Cat Cora in which the men lost.

Irvine had impressed a Florida socialite with the claims he was a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, had worked on the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana and had served at the White House as a chef, a claim Irvine also made in the opening segment of his Food Network show, Dinner: Impossible. An article in the 17 February 2008 issue of the St. Petersburg Times quoted sources who disputed some of Irvine's assertions.

As a result, Food Network pulled Irvine's biography from its website.

Network spokesperson Lisa De Colle said they were "taking the necessary steps to ensure the accuracy of all representations of Robert".

In 2008, Irvine posted to his blog to "set the record straight" regarding his past service and point out erroneous reports made by the St. Petersburg Times.

This included letters from those he worked with at the White House, including Rear Admiral Michael H. Miller, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office and F.X. Fuller, Director of Presidential Food Service.

On 29 February 2008, Food Network announced it would honour its contract with Irvine for a fourth season of thirteen episodes of Dinner: Impossible but was also looking for a replacement host for the series.

On 21 April 2008, Food Network executives released a statement announcing they were expanding the Dinner: Impossible series to a one-hour format and replacing Irvine with recent Iron Chef America addition Michael Symon.

The first Symon episode aired on 20 July 2008, but ran for 30 minutes and the season for only 10 episodes.

In March 2008, Irvine's business partner and landlord issued a joint statement announcing the chef had abandoned his plan to open the restaurants.

The reasons cited were "the timing is not exactly right" and Irvine "cannot commit to spending at least four days a week" at the restaurant as he had planned.

In the spring of 2008, Food Network restored Irvine's biography to its website.

It reflected his service in the UK's Royal Navy and service on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

He also appeared in an episode of The Next Food Network Star on 8 June 2008.

On 20 November 2008, Food Network announced that they had rehired Irvine to host six episodes of Dinner: Impossible with a scheduled air date in March 2009.

Irvine returned to Dinner: Impossible in 2009.

A Food Network spokesman stated "Our audience has continued to demonstrate its interest in and support for Robert. He has taken responsibility and made a conscious effort to clear the air, rebuild the relationship with Food Network and apologize for the earlier inaccuracies."

The first episode of Irvine's new season aired on 8 April 2009, and was one hour in length.

Irvine continued as host of Dinner: Impossible until it ceased production in 2010, following its eighth season.

On 11 March 2021, Dinner: Impossible returned to Food Network after an 11 year hiatus with 4 new episodes.

“We are so excited to bring ‘Dinner: Impossible’ to a new generation of fans, upping the ante with new missions that blend edge-of-your-seat action and compelling emotion that teeter on the impossible, as Robert is pushed to the limit and beyond,” said Courtney White, president of Food Network.

Following the end of Dinner: Impossible (which relaunched in 2021), Irvine embarked on two new projects with Food Network.

In late 2010, the Food Network began advertising the second season of Worst Cooks in America featuring Irvine (replacing Chef Beau MacMillan) training a cadre of would-be cooks in competition with Chef Anne Burrell.

The show premiered on 3 January 2011.

In advance of the show's premiere, Irvine teamed with Cat Cora to battle Burrell and Michael Symon in the special "Battle Deep Freeze" on Iron Chef America.

Irvine also appears in the restaurant make-over show, Restaurant: Impossible, which premiered on 19 January 2011.

Described as a spin-off from Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible challenges Irvine to make over a restaurant in two days with a budget of $10,000.

Irvine competed in Season 4 of The Next Iron Chef, which premiered on 30 October 2011.

He was the second chef eliminated from the competition after losing a peanut secret-ingredient showdown against Chef Michael Chiarello.

Starting on 3 November 2013, Irvine hosted a new Food network series called Restaurant Express.

In this series, Irvine challenged nine chefs to a series of tests for a chance to open a restaurant in a Las Vegas, Nevada, spa and casino.

Irvine launched The Robert Irvine Show, a daytime talk show which aired weekdays on The CW between 12 September 2016 and 25 May 2018.

Irvine was born in England and raised in Wiltshire, United Kingdom.

He began his cooking career upon enlisting in the UK's Royal Navy at the age of fifteen.

Having completed culinary training, Irvine served aboard Her Majesty's Royal Yacht Britannia.

Upon completion of his 10-year tour of duty, Irvine performed consultant work in Bali, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City before becoming Executive Chef aboard numerous cruise ships and establishments such as Trump's Taj Mahal, culminating with the five-star MS Crystal Harmony.

Irvine started his television career on Food Network on a show called Fit for a King, which was later re-titled before broadcast to Dinner: Impossible, where he would be given countless challenges over the course of the life of the show.