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-Delaina Dixon

It may be hard to believe there’s anything spicy going on behind the scenes of The Next Food Network Star, currently airing its sixth season on Food Network, besides the food. But Betty has learned this season’s contestants were a nervous wreck whenever the cameras were rolling!

“That camera, it’s a whole other ball game,” spills Darrell “Das” Smith, the American cuisine chef from Los Angeles, Calif. “We were definitely ourselves outside of it and comfortable being around people, but that camera was a tough part for all of us. None of us really ever got comfortable in front of the camera.”

 Read Food Network Chef Michael Smith

Das started cooking in college. “I used to cook tacos and chicken wings and just bring people together,” he says.  He eventually switched his major from business to the culinary arts. “I knew I wanted to change the way young guys think about food, how they can’t cook. All that stops here.”

Das then worked as a chef and consultant in Beverly Hills, dealing with a steady diet of celebrity clientele. “I once had to make a dish that was so low fat, and those are the dishes that are hardest to work with. Chefs normally like to use a lot of fat and seasoning and salt,” he spills. ”I do a good Ceaser salad with braised fish – it’s with low fat yogurt and no sodium.”