Cat Cora Made 'Friends For Life' On The Real Dirty Dancing

If you know who Cat Cora is, chances are you're familiar with her work as a chef, not as a dancer. Cora was the first female "Iron Chef," the first woman inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame, has opened more than 18 restaurants, was mentored by Julia Child, and has been seen on countless Food Network show episodes. But Cora put down her knife and put on her dancing shoes when she recently became a cast member on the reality show "The Real Dirty Dancing."

"Dirty Dancing," a movie that came out in 1987 and starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, is about a young girl who went to a resort over the summer and fell in love with a dance instructor as they learned a show-stopping routine together to perform at the end of the season (via Rotten Tomatoes). In the show "The Real Dirty Dancing," celebrities from all fields, like Corbin Bleu from "High School Musical," comedian Loni Love, and pro-wrestler Brie Bella, were paired up and competed to learn the iconic dance numbers from the film over four episodes. In the end, Cora and partner Corbin Bleu won the series (via TV Line), and the chef recently took to Instagram to talk about her experience.

Cora and Bleu may have outdanced the competition –  even beating former Backstreet Boys member Howie Dorough — but it appears that everyone walked away from the show as friends. Cora posted a group picture of the entire cast to her Instagram account, where she poured her heart out in the caption. "I love each and every one of these amazing people right here," Cora said. "Who knew that we'd come to camp to dance and compete and end up making friends for life!"

Cora's competitor and new friend Brie Bella responded to her post, saying "Love you Cat!!!!" Fans of the show had lots of positive things to say in the comments, both about Cora and about how much they enjoyed the show in general. As for what's in store next for the groundbreaking chef? According to Instagram, she's gearing up to enjoy some time off-screen watching "season 3 of "Tournament of Champions."