While watching a good cooking show can give us plenty of ideas on tasty new dishes to
create, sometimes those shows lack a bit of much needed excitement.
Luckily a food show came along that not only showed us great food but cranked up the excitement
level to maximum.
Here are our Top 10 Untold Truths Of Man v Food.
The Audition
While Man v Food is a food show, one of the main things about it is the challenges.
A man, Adam Richman or later Casey Webb, try to eat some of the biggest and hottest food
dishes in the country.
Because the challenge part of the show is so important you may well think that when
Man v Food are looking for a host for the show, they look for someone who can handle
a lot of food, or at the very least have someone with a bit of experience with competitive
food eating.
However, according to the first host, Adam Richman, this is not the case.
The producers are actually more interested in a host that has a good camera presence
and can talk about food.
The audition for the gig didn't have any eating challenges nor did they test their auditionees
on how much they could eat or how far they were willing to go with food.
This surprises us, as the over eating element to Man v Food is such a big and important
part, that surely the producers should have tested this out with their future hosts.
Luckily both Adam Richman and Casey Webb proved themselves to be more than a match for those
giant plates of food.
A Challenge Too Far
Over the course of the show, Man v Food has had some truly monumental challenges.
Whether it’s sandwiches that could feed an entire family or steaks the size of a cow,
the Man v Food challenges have become the stuff of legend as one man strives to eat
as much as possible.
However, there have been a few challenges in which the hosts have struggled to complete
and even failed all together.
It must be said that it’s not always the size of the food that is too much, it is quite
often the heat and spice that gets the better of the hosts.
One of the seemingly smallest challenges to happen on the show came from Sarasota, Florida.
Dubbed `Fire in the hole,`; the challenge was to eat 10 chicken wings in 20 minutes.
That in itself sounds pretty easy and straightforward but the wings were coated in a mouth-scalding
concoction extremely hot ingredients.
But the thing most people don't know about this challenge is that Adam was sabotaged
by this restaurant!
Wanting to prove that their challenge was going to be too much for Adam, they used way
more spice than usual.
They were mic'ed up for the show and when they were adding the ghost chilli extract,
they were heard saying "just add the whole bottle" "just blow him out".
This made the challenge impossible, and exactly dangerous for Adam.
Had this been a fair challenge, it would have probably been a Win for Adam, instead of a
loss.
Making Food Challenges Popular
Man Vs Food brought the idea of the food challenge right into our homes.
Each week we got to see a man tackle the greatest food challenges out there.
While the show made such feats popular, they in no way invented them.
Eating competitions have been a staple of US culture for generations; whether it's hot
dog eating contests, devouring the biggest steak or eating the most pizza in the shortest
time.
Whatever the food or challenge is, the country is full of competitive eaters.
While these kinds of contests have been going on for years, there is no escaping the fact
that Man v Food made them a lot more popular.
Rather than most people just watching or hearing about these types of competitions, Man v Food
suddenly made people think ' I can do that.'
With plenty of websites out there that devote themselves to competitive eating, they can't
deny the explosion and increase in competitions and participants since the show started.
Since Man v Food has become a worldwide hit, many countries have been joining in the fun
and getting into the spirit of competitive eating.
The New Host
In 2012 the popular food show was pulled off the air and looked set to be finished for
ever.
However, in 2017 the Travel Channel decided to bring this fan favorite back into our lives.
The show would follow the same format but with one big difference: no Adam Richman.
The internet went crazy as many people couldn't see the show working without Richman and they
even started a petition to get Richman back.
However, Richman wasn't interested in coming back and was in fact working on another Travel
Channel show, so the show had to find some new blood.
In came Jersey born Casey Webb to take charge of the new era of the show.
Casey himself has some pretty good food credentials, as he has been working in the food industry
since he was 15 years old and has worked in pretty much all aspects of the industry.
That's some pretty impressive food history.
While Webb seemed to have all the credentials needed to front the new Man v Food, fans were
still not happy and planned to boycott the show when it came back on.
Luckily when the show came back, Webb managed to win fans over and lead the show into new
territory.
He had some pretty big shoes to fill, but many people think he filled them quite nicely
and may even surpass his predecessor with time.
We certainly look forward to the show’s new direction and host, giving us more Man
v food in a whole new way.
By Doctors Orders
Once Man v Food started to go into production and the premise of the show was mapped out
in all it's eating glory, doctors where actually consulted to make sure the hosts would be
safe.
As the show puts its hosts through so much, consultants were brought in to check the health
and wellbeing of the hosts before they started out on their food adventures.
Because of the nature of the show and how much food they will eat during the course
of a season, it's critical that the producers make sure their hosts have a good baseline
health before they put on the inevitable weight gain from eating all that food.
Also, throughout his time on the show Adam Richman actually skipped meals leading up
to a challenge and would go the whole day without eating in order to increase his eating
capacity.
There is a lot that goes into making Man v food, more than just eating some great tasting
grub.
Why The Show Really Ended
When Man v Food first hit our screens in 2008, it became a huge ratings winner for the Travel
Channel network.
While we all loved to watch Adam Richman working his way through the country, eating everything
that came across his path, the show was unexpectedly pulled off the air in 2012.
The moment the show stopped, fans went into a frenzy, and speculation and rumors ran wild
as to what actually happened.
Many people thought that original host Adam Richman was forced into retirement due to
bad health and years of over eating.
There were also other rumors that Richman fell out with the production staff on the
show, and there was also a rumor circulating that Richman`s mental health was at stake.
However, according to Richman himself, the reason the show ended was quite a simple one.
The decision was all his.
The simple fact is that Richman just thought that after 4 years, the show had run its course
and he had done everything he could have done with the format.
While this reason may not be as exciting as many of the rumors, it actually makes sense
for a host to leave a show before it becomes boring or drops in ratings and the show just
fades away.
It's always better to go out on top and that's exactly what Adam Richman did.
Not Everyone Is A Fan
Man v Food was always an amazing show to watch, Everyone loved to watch a man take on some
of the biggest and best food the country had to offer.
Well, maybe not everyone.
During those early years of the show, Man v Food had some pretty harsh critics.
Food critics and experts piled on the hate for this show as they saw it as unnaturally
glutinous and over indulgent.
While food and our view of eating has shifted to a more refined and healthier approach over
the years, many people in the food business felt that Man v Food encouraged people to
eat too much and slide back into the unhealthy side of dining.
One of the biggest critics of the show was the late, and very popular chef, Anthony Bourdain.
While he also agreed with the over glutinous aspect of the show, he also couldn't work
out why people watched it.
The show didn't teach you anything about food, is what he thought.
The only reason he could come up with for Man v Food's popularity was that the audience
watched hoping that the host would eat too much in one challenge and die.
It must be said that then host Adam Richman jumped to his show`s defence on several occasions
as he thought that the show highlighted regional food that a lot of people wouldn’t be aware
of if it wasn’t for Man v Food.
Don't Ask 'That' Question
Man v Food was a true game changing TV show.
Not only did it show viewers great food, as well as giving us a look at some hidden regional
restaurant gems, the show also gave us a look at some seriously big food portions.
We enjoy seeing the hosts battle against the mountains of food put in front of them and
see if they are up to the challenge, while also getting to see just what effects a lot
of food has on the human body.
The amount of food that gets eaten over the course of a season is staggering, but just
how do our hosts cope with all that greasy food?
Well, they are actually happy to tell you.
In many interviews they have been open and honest about their weight and any health problems
they might have due to the show.
However, there is one question that will not be answered and is a strict no-no and that's
any questions about the bathroom.
It seems to happen quite a lot as the audience is weirdly interested in the amount of food
and if that causes frequent trips to the bathroom.
But the hosts aren't very forthcoming with this information and don't see the answer
as relevant to anyone.
This we'll have to agree with, as none of us want to picture that side of the show.
We'd rather all just sit back and enjoy the hosts tackling the biggest and best food around.
It's As Fun To Make As It Looks
We all love nothing better than to get lost in our favorite TV show.
Whether we like to binge watch the latest drama or get lost in a fantasy world, we truly
are living in a golden age of entertainment.
While we may enjoy watching a certain show, do we actually know what goes into making
it?
When it comes to big budget shows, we have no doubt that there are many complicated and
expensive aspects that go into making it.
But what about something like Man v Food?
It seems simple to make doesn't it?
Well, according to the production staff, as well as the restaurant staff of the locations
they film at, it's actually a very long day.
A typical filming session can last up to 12 hours with the actual challenge part of the
show only taking up 3 hours of the shoot.
That may sound like a long and grueling day but according to sources, the shoot flies
by as everyone involved is there to have fun and the star is always the food.
It's nice to know that the fun that comes across on screen is genuine and everyone is
there to enjoy the grub, as well as to see the hosts battle those infamous challenges.
Man v Food: The Return
There is no denying that Man v Food became a pop culture phenomenon as we tuned in each
week to see host Adam Richman wrestle with a burger twice the size of his head.
However, when the show got cancelled we were all left with a food shaped hole in our hearts.
But a few years later that hole was filled as Man v Food smashed its way back into our
lives in 2017.
While there were many people out there that were not happy with the fact that Man v Food
would be getting a new host, as we have already mentioned on our list, a lot of people were
pleased to see this show back and the new version of Man v Food is now into its fourth
season with Webb as the host, eight seasons over all, and the future is looking very bright
for everyone's favorite food-eating TV show.
While we all miss Richman, it's nice to know that the show is in good hands and we look
forward to seeing more food adventures in the future.
Find more food adventures right here and tap that screen!
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