Guy Fieri’sTournament of ChampionsIs Back with the Largest Cash Prize Yet — Get a First Look (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Guy Fieriis upping the ante for season 5 ofTournament of Champions.

The new season of Fieri’s competition series returns on Feb. 18, and PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at the star-studded season.

“This is the most difficult competition in the culinary world,” hostFierisays at the start of the teaser. “Not every chef wants to come back toTOC, not every chef wants to come toTOCin the first place.”

The minute-long trailer shows familiar Food Network faces chop, sauté (and stress out!) in the high-stakes cooking challenges.ChoppedalumAntonia Lofasoreiterates Fieri’s opening sentiment and adds, “Winning this is everything. I’ve competed on a lot of culinary competitions but this is the mega one.”

Guy Fieri spins the Randomizer during an episode of ‘Tournament of Champions’.Courtesy of Food Network

Courtesy of Food Network

“To be a champion here, you have to beat a champion,” saysTop ChefwinnerMichael Voltaggio.

The chefs representing the East Coast include Eric Adjepong, Karen Akunowicz, Kelsey Barnard Clark, Jose Garces, Stephanie Izard, Marc Murphy, Britt Rescigno, Jonathon Sawyer, Tobias Dorzon, Amanda Freitag and Dale Talde. Plus, the East Coast team has the help of season 2 champion Maneet Chauhan and season 3 champion Tiffani Faison.

After the eight-week competition and 31 head-to-head battles, one chef will be crowned the season 5 champ. Whoever ends up on top earns a $150,000 cash prize (the biggest in the show’s history!) and aTOCbelt.

There is more than oneFierion the set ofTournament of Champions.Fieri’s own son, Hunter, will document all the backstage drama, including a look at the chefs' reactions as they watch culinary greats blindly judge their dishes.

Guy Fieri’s ‘Tournament of Champions’ is back.Courtesy of Food Network

Cat Cora, Rocco DiSpirito, Carla Hall, Marcus Samuelsson, Geoffrey Zakarian and Andrew Zimmern are just a few of the judges deciding the fate of the season 5 participants.

Fans who can’t wait until Feb. 18 can watchTournament of Champions: The Qualifiers, on Feb. 7 and 14. In this preliminary mini-series, 16 chefs compete for four spots in the season 5 competition. Also on Feb. 14, viewers can refresh their memory on what happened last year with the hour-long specialRoad to Tournament of Champions V.

Tournament of Championsseason 5 premieres Sunday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/ PT on Food Network and discovery+.

source: people.com