TYLER, Texas — A local chef is preparing to make his debut on the Food Network's "Chopped."
"I'm excited for everyone to see it because everyone has their own idea of what happened and who won," Lance McWhorter, chef and owner of Culture ETX, said.
McWhorter, 47, shot the episode two years ago at the Dallas restaurant, FT33.
"I haven't been able to say anything about and I still can't," he said. "It's been kind of fun stringing people along for that long, but I'm kind of excited for it to be over."
McWhorter admits filming the show was intense, but thinks people watching will be surprised.
"It was just round after round after round and a bunch of the little fill-in shots you have to do," he said.
He says, there are some big differences between being a viewer versus a contestant on the reality show.
"You don't understand how much time goes into making these things and what it takes to get that 20-minute round and two 30-minute round afterwards," he said. "There's a lot of hours that go into making those brief moments of cooking intensity a reality."
ETX Brewery in Tyler will be hosting a watch party on the show's air date, Feb. 4.
For information on the watch party, click here.
For more information on the series and your local showtimes, click here.