The Food Network Host That Nearly Starred In The Bachelor

Many Food Network stars have risen to stardom in ways other than the competition shows they host or the cookbooks they write. That's right, your favorite celebrity chefs might have a hidden past, like Giada DeLaurentiis, who was a former food stylist for Food & Wine, and Gordon Ramsay, who was on the path to becoming a professional soccer player.

Though these careers might seem to have little relevance to what these celebrities are doing now, some might argue that these first gigs might have been exactly what primed them for looking good and confident in the spotlight. And that is possibly what happened to this one particular star, who is known for his appearances on "Worst Cooks in America," among other accomplishments. Before taking a massive leap into the food industry, one television host almost was "The Bachelor." In the most recent episode of his podcast that he co-hosts, Tyler Florence tells all about how he turned down the offer.

Tyler Florence spilled in a recent episode of "Two Dudes in a Kitchen," which he hosts with Wells Adams, that he was actually offered a spot as "The Bachelor" in the competition show of the same name, but turned it down. Adams was a former Bachelor himself, but didn't seem too offended when Florence told him that he didn't want to be "making out with chicks in a hot tub."

According to Florence, he was asked somewhere between 2003 and 2005. This was the time period right before his career in the food industry took off, with him opening a kitchen retail shop called, "The Tyler Florence Shop" in 2008 and later going on to open restaurants in 2010 (via Food Network). Who knows if Florence had appeared on the wildly popular dating show, if his trajectory as a celebrity chef would have been altered. 

While his co-host, Adams, has been pivoting into the food space as a "fake bartender" on "Bachelor in Paradise," being a restauranter and cookware innovator has always been Florence's primary focus.