America's Test Kitchen: Inside Bridget Lancaster's Relationship With Julia Collin Davison

If you're into "America's Test Kitchen," you probably think of Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison as practically part of your family. These two talented chefs have been bringing joy — and great cooking advice — to our screens for years, showing us how to perfect everything from pancakes to pot roast. But what's the story behind their on-screen chemistry? Are they really great pals like they seem or is it all just for the cameras?

We wanted to get to the bottom of this culinary friendship, so we dug deep into the vaults to uncover the truth. Bridget and Julia's relationship goes way back — further than you might think, as they've been working together at "America's Test Kitchen" since way before they became the faces of the show.

But what's the 411? Are they friends off-camera or do they breathe a sigh of relief when they can go their separate ways after filming? Do they finish each other's sentences because they're that in sync or are they just TV professionals who are great at their jobs?

We hope you're hungry, because we're about to dish up the truth about Bridget Lancaster's relationship with Julia Collin Davison. We're going to follow their journey from young food professionals to the household names they are today. It's time to find out if this kitchen friendship is as sweet as it seems or if there's a dash of vinegar in the mix.

First, let's start with a bit of lore about these two chefs. There's lots to know about Bridget Lancaster, including the fact that she began her career as a pastry chef. After she graduated from Ohio State University, she started out as a pastry chef in restaurants in West Virginia. She then moved to Boston, where she was both a pastry chef in the Theater District and a store assistant at Williams Sonoma (because pastry chefs are often woefully underpaid).

Fun fact: when Lancaster worked for Williams Sonoma, her store was in charge of procuring and delivering the kitchen equipment used by chef Julia Child in her shows. She would even drive it out to Child's house and help set it up. So, not only did Lancaster get a head start in her culinary career from her pastry chef job, but she also gained valuable insight into how cooking shows work, long before she was on "America's Test Kitchen."

Julia Collin Davison, on the other hand, didn't initially pursue a culinary career. She went to school at the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York system, where she studied philosophy and psychology. Then she got a job at a culinary market and felt that she might have found her calling in the food world. She subsequently decided to enroll at The Culinary Institute of America, and the rest is history.

Both Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison met as test cooks for the magazine Cook's Illustrated, the precursor to "America's Test Kitchen." It was founded by Christopher Kimball and aimed to help home cooks create high-quality dishes, much like the show would come to. Naturally, it needed test cooks to perfect thev same recipes. With their culinary backgrounds, Lancaster and Davison were perfect fits.

Lancaster joined the Cook's Illustrated test kitchen in 1998, while Davison followed shortly after in 1999. The test kitchen was very different back then. There were only two residential ranges, the ovens didn't work very well, and only some of the burners on the cooktops worked. It was a far cry from the huge professional setup in the test kitchen today.

We'll admit that we don't know much about their relationship back then, but it is confirmed that they were once two of just three test cooks in the kitchen. So, it stands to reason that they must have worked closely together. What's more, Davison and Lancaster have teamed up consistently since then, meaning they've been in close quarters for more than two decades. Even though we don't know exactly how well they got on back then, this early time together clearly laid the foundation for their future relationship.

"America's Test Kitchen" started as an offshoot of the print magazine Cook's Illustrated. The magazine already had cooks working in the test kitchen to test and refine recipes, and show developers wanted to try out this recipe testing format as a TV show. Since Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster were both test cooks for the publication at that time, they were asked to be on the series. In fact, they didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.

Back then, their role was to cook food featured on the show, but not just behind the scenes. They also appeared on camera cooking and explaining the recipes and how they got to their results. When they started, they had no idea what a phenomenon it would become. They went into it thinking it was no big deal because nobody would probably see it.

Of course, times have changed. What you might not know about "America's Test Kitchen" is that it moved from its original home in an old broom factory in the Brookline neighborhood of Boston to a shiny new studio complex in Boston Seaport. Today, the operation is so big that some staff members use scooters to get around it more quickly.

Christopher Kimball was the original host of "America's Test Kitchen", but contract disputes meant that he left suddenly in 2016. In the aftermath, rumors began to swirl as to who might take over in the now-vacant hosting spot. Not long after, Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison were announced as the show's new co-hosts. And who better to take the helm? After all, the pair had been with the show since the very beginning and were already beloved by viewers.

Kimball had already filmed the 2016 season but from 2017, Davison and Lancaster were running the show. While Kimball was known for his snarky style on the show, Davison and Lancaster injected much fun and laughter into proceedings. Love or hate the difference, "America's Test Kitchen" had a new direction.

If you've ever wondered what happens to the food on "America's Test Kitchen" that's cooked by Davison, Lancaster, and their coworkers, they all try to avoid food waste. When food is cooked but isn't eaten on screen, it goes into a fridge all employees can access. Any ingredients that are opened but aren't used in full are stored carefully and used again where possible.

Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster are the hosts of "America's Test Kitchen," but that's not the only place they work together. The pair are also co-hosts of "Cook's Country," another show made by the same company, but a bit more rustic approach than "America's Test Kitchen." This sister series often features regional dishes from across the United States and delves into the personal stories and history behind these recipes.

Like he did for "America's Test Kitchen," Christopher Kimball also used to present this show. He was its face for the first nine seasons of the series, but when he abruptly left "America's Test Kitchen" over a contract dispute in 2016, he also left "Cook's Country." This let Lancaster and Davison move out of the test kitchen and bring their signature chummy repartee to leading this show at the same time they began to host "America's Test Kitchen."

If you're wondering what happened to the cast of "Cook's Country," they've gone on to do a range of things. Kimball has since created his own show, "Milk Street," while other popular cast members have gone behind the scenes in contrast to Davison and Lancaster.

If there's one thing that viewers love about Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster, it's their incredible on-screen chemistry. Christopher Kimball had a serious, non-nonsense approach with a dry wit that some people found a little abrasive. Davison and Lancaster are quite the opposite. While they're serious about cooking and provide useful information for home cooks, they also have tons of fun with it.

As such, their chemistry on "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" is palpable and includes a great back-and-forth that feels like you're watching a couple of friends having fun in the kitchen. Essentially, you are, even if it's also their day job. The feeling on the show is warm and co-operative, with no air of competition between hosts or the test cooks. To many, it appears that they just love food and want to figure out how to perfect recipes.

According to sources on the show, nothing is scripted. There are talking points for the hosts to cover, but no script or teleprompter, meaning what you see is fairly natural.

You might assume that Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison got the job as the new hosts of "America's Test Kitchen" simply by virtue of having been on the show a long time. But this isn't exactly the case, as the pair had to undergo screen tests before they got the job.

These screen tests were subsequently shown to focus groups who gave their opinions on Lancaster and Davison's performance together. Participants in the focus group commented on how much fun it looked like the pair were having on screen, as if the pair were enjoying themselves.

Audiences in New York City, Chicago, and Boston were shown a series of screen tests with different would-be hosts. They watched versions with single hosts and duos, and various concepts. The focus groups were clear that they liked the format of the show and wanted it to stay the way it was. But, they were ready for the hosts to start looking like they were having more fun — and that's where Davison and Lancaster came into their own.

You've probably noticed Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster's banter on "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country". It's part of what makes these shows so watchable with them as hosts. They have some laughs on-screen, too, but these tend to be fairly tame, well-controlled ones, so you might assume it's part of their schtick.

It turns out their on-screen laughter is about as real as it gets. Moreover, it gets more intense than anything that makes the cut. There are bloopers all over the internet showing these two completely losing it during filming. They get on a roll, making jokes with one another and, before you know it, they're in fits of giggles.

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that they've known each other forever, having worked together since the '90s. That's a lot of time to build up inside jokes and the kind of rapport that leads to spontaneous laughter. In an interview with WTTW, Lancaster said "Sometimes we forget the camera is rolling. We have to remember, 'Right, this is not Thelma and Louise.'"

There are plenty of "America's Test Kitchen" cookbooks, which naturally tend to feature recipes that have appeared on the show. Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison have gone even further by co-writing a recipe book together containing some of their favorite dishes from "America's Test Kitchen." 

The book "Cooking at Home With Bridget & Julia" features 150 recipes, focusing on the types of foods the duo likes to cook at home for their families and friends. It includes personal anecdotes from the pair, allowing you to learn about how their favorite dishes relate to their travels and home lives.

Although Lancaster and Davison likely wrote their respective parts separately, there still would have been plenty of collaboration on the project that indicates the two are still happy to work together and have a good relationship. After all, you probably wouldn't embark on this kind of project if you weren't fond of your co-writer.

Since you're reading this article, you're probably wondering if Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison spend time together outside of work. We have good news for anyone who's invested in the pair's friendship — they absolutely do.

In an interview with the pair in Boston magazine, Davison spilled the beans on their relationship outside of work. "I'm afraid to say I do hang out with this one a lot," she admitted. "We travel together a lot, too. We're together more often than we're not." So, if you've been imagining a world where Lancaster and Davison are always at each other's houses, going on vacation, and having fun together, then evidence indicates that you're probably on the right track.

You might think that after spending the working week with your colleague, you'd be more than ready to see the back of them when it's time to sign off. But that simply doesn't seem to be the case with these two. They appear to be firm friends who want to spend their down time together, too.

It seems as though things can turn a little rowdy when Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster get together. More specifically, they've not that wine can enter into the mix and liven things up a bit. The pair's on-screen personas certainly make them seem fun-loving, so we can't say that we're totally surprised.

In the same Boston magazine interview in which the two revealed that they're friends outside of work, they were asked if wine ever entered the picture. Davison answered in the affirmative. "Oh, yeah. I could show you videos," she said. "I have this particular one of Bridget from when we were on a plane heading out to the Emmys. The flight attendant recognized us and just kept slipping us glasses of wine." Lots of us enjoy having a drink with friends and it seems like these two are no exception.

Now we know more about Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison, it's clear that they're friends inside and outside of work who aren't afraid to throw around compliments and kind words.

In an "America's Test Kitchen" interview with Lancaster, she remarked that Davison is nothing less than an amazing chef and that she found it was humbling to be able to work with her so closely. "Even though I've known her for almost 20 years, to be able to stand next to her and share the same company — I mean, pinch me. It's really incredible," Lancaster gushed. We think it's safe to say that those aren't the words of a casual friend or coworker. Lancaster further talked about how amazing it was to get to work with a friend and mentioned how they spend time together outside of the test kitchen.

As for Davison, she also spoke out about their relationship to "America's Test Kitchen," announcing that it was awesome to get to share more screen time with Lancaster. "We've been friends for so long," she said. "I feel like our lives have been pretty close and intertwined throughout the years. It felt so natural. It's easy between the two of us."