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Here they rule: Australia's top-rated cooking show comes to America

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Author: 
Andrew Warren / TV Media
Curtis Stone and Cat Cora as seen in "My Kitchen Rules"

Curtis Stone and Cat Cora as seen in "My Kitchen Rules"

As if there wasn't already enough to love about the home of kangaroos and didgeridoos, it turns out that the top-rated show in Australia just happens to be a cooking show. It's almost enough to forgive our Australian friends for coming up with Vegemite, a food spread made of yeast extract that is definitely an acquired taste for us non-Australians.

With the sort of success that "My Kitchen Rules" has garnered down under, it was really only a matter of time until the format was picked up by an American network. Well, that time is now: an all-American version of the No. 1 show in Australia, "My Kitchen Rules," premieres Thursday, Jan. 12, on Fox.

Over the show's eight episodes, pairs of famous celebrities take turns hosting dinner parties for their fellow competitors and the judging duo. Right in their own Hollywood mansions, the celebrities have to prepare and host sumptuous meals for the group, with recipes that need to impress not only the judges, but also their fellow competitors.

Celebrity chefs Curtis Stone ("Top Chef Masters") and Cat Cora ("Iron Chef America") are on hand as the resident expert judges, ready to critique even the smallest of flaws in these glitzy dinner parties. At the end of each round, after all of the teams have had a chance to cook and to host, the one with the lowest score is eliminated from the competition.

So just who are these celebrities? Pop star Lance Bass and his mother, Diane; sibling singers Brandy and Ray J; comedian Andrew Dice Clay and his wife, Valerie Silverstein; and reality star Brandi Glanville and her friend, cookbook author Dean Sheremet are just four of the celebrity duos who face off in the dinner party battles.

For Stone, "My Kitchen Rules" is a bit of a homecoming. The Australian chef served in a similar position for the first season of his home country's version, which features ordinary people cooking in their own kitchens rather than the celebrities that our American version has.

It may feature celebrities instead of average Joes, but otherwise our American "My Kitchen Rules" is unchanged from the incredibly popular Australian version. The dinner party action gets underway Thursday, Jan. 12, on Fox.