Alton Brown hosts “Cutthroat Kitchen: Evilicious”

It takes a truly diabolical mind to succeed in "Cutthroat Kitchen."

Alright, so versatility, the ability to keep a cool head under pressure and, of course, cooking ability are all important, too. But a good level of evil is definitely the main ingredient for success in this Food Network cooking competition.

Well, the gloves are really coming off now. On Sunday, April 19, "Cutthroat Kitchen" is bringing back some of its most insidiously diabolical contestants from the past to face off against each other in a five-episode tournament called, appropriately enough, "Cutthroat Kitchen: Evilicious."

All 16 contestants have battled it out before under the steely-eyed gaze of Alton Brown, who opens each episode by handing out a whopping sum of money to each chef (typically $25,000). The competition continues in typical Food Network style, with judges tasting the dishes at the end of each round and kicking out the chef who prepared the worst dish.

The wild card in each round, though, is Brown. At various times, he'll present some sort of item or game-changing twist that, typically, will hurt a chef's chances of success. It's here that things get cutthroat: the chefs bid from their pool of cash in an auction, with the winner getting to unleash the disadvantage on an opponent.

Of course, the winning chef only gets to keep the cash that he or she has left over after all the bidding. It's a fine tightrope to walk: bid too much to win and the spoils of victory will be only a few measly bucks. Bid too little, though, and the chances of winning plummet.

For the 16 chefs competing in "Evilicious," this is all yesterday's news. While not all of them won the episodes in which they originally appeared, they all made an impression for being willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

"Nice guys finish last" may not be the most friendly of adages, but in this kitchen, they're certainly words to live by. With 16 of the least-nice people to ever have set foot in the "Cutthroat" kitchen all coming together, the judges may want to double-check their meals for any remnants of brimstone.

"Cutthroat Kitchen: Evilicious" premieres Sunday, April 19, on Food Network.