Sunny Anderson
Born (1975-04-09) April 9, 1975 (age 50)
Lawton, Oklahoma, US
Culinary career
Television shows
Websitehttp://www.sunnyanderson.com

Sunny Anderson (born April 9, 1975) is a Food Network personality.[1] She began hosting How'd That Get On My Plate? in July 2008. She also hosts the Food Network program Cooking for Real (beginning in April 2008), and served as co-host with Marc Istook of the Food Network program Gotta Get It (beginning in April 2007).

Early life

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Sunny Anderson was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, and grew up as an Army brat, which allowed her to travel the world (living in Germany and other places) and sample many local cuisines with her parents, who were food enthusiasts.[2] She attended Madison High School in San Antonio, Texas, and upon her graduation, she joined the United States Air Force in June 1993, where she earned the rank of Senior Airman and worked as a military radio host in Seoul, South Korea. She then worked for Air Force News Agency radio and television in San Antonio from 1993 to 1997. Anderson was honorably discharged from the Air Force in June 1997. She went to school in New Orleans at Loyola University. At age 19, Anderson was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.[3] in 2014, she teamed up with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America to raise awareness of this disease.[4]

Career

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Between 1995 and 2001, Anderson worked as a radio personality at KCJZ and KONO-FM in San Antonio, WYLD-FM and KUMX in Fort Polk, Louisiana, WJWZ in Montgomery, Alabama, and WDTJ in Detroit, Michigan.

Anderson settled in New York City in 2001 at the age of 26, and worked as a radio personality for HOT 97 (WQHT) in New York City from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2005, she was the owner of Sunny's Delicious Dishes, a catering company based in Jersey City, New Jersey.

She first appeared on the Food Network in October 2005 (as a guest on the Emeril Live program) and began hosting How'd That Get On My Plate? in July 2008. She also hosts the Food Network program Cooking for Real (beginning in April 2008), and served as co-host with Marc Istook of the Food Network program Gotta Get It, beginning in April 2007.

In 2006 and 2007, she served as Food and Lifestyle Editor for Hip Hop Weekly magazine.

In January 2014, Anderson became a co-host on the Food Network's series The Kitchen along with Jeff Mauro, Katie Lee, Marcela Valladolid, and Geoffrey Zakarian.[5]

Anderson was a contender for the 44th Daytime Emmy Awards for the Outstanding Talk Show/Informative award with the cast of The Kitchen, but lost.[6]

Anderson has been a guest chef on several talk shows and morning news programs including The Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View, The Talk, and The Wendy Williams Show.

In 2022, Anderson hosted NFL Tailgate Takedown along with New England Patriots Hall-of-Famer Vince Wilfork.[7]

In October 2022 she hosted Season 3 of Outrageous Pumpkins on Food Network.[8]

Filmography

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as Host
Year Title Notes
2007 Gotta Get It: Grilling Host
2008-2011 Cooking For Real Host, 113 episodes
2014-2025 The Kitchen Cohost, 345 episodes
2015-2016 Top 5 Restaurants Co-host, 34 episodes
2019 Thanksgiving Pie Fight Host
2021 Chocolate Meltdown: Hershey's After Dark Host, 4 episodes
Easter Basket Challenge Host, 5 episodes
Outrageous Pumpkins Host, 4 episodes
2022 Spring Baking Championship: Easter Host, 6 episodes
2023 NFL Tailgate Takedown Host, 6 episodes
as Guest
Year Title Notes
2008 How'd That Get On My Plate
Dear Food Network 3 episodes
2008, 2014 The Wendy Williams Show 2 episodes
2008-2018 Rachael Ray Cohost/guest, 68 episodes
2009-2018 Food Network Star Guest Judge, 5 episodes
2010 Food Network Challenge Competitor, 1 episode
2010-2011 The Best Thing I Ever Ate 14 episodes
2010, 2014 The View 2 episodes
2011 The Nate Berkus Show
Paula's Best Dishes
Thanksgiving Live! TV Special
2011-2012 The Best Thing I Ever Made 9 episodes
The Perfect 3 3 episodes
2011-2022 Good Morning America Guest, 8 episodes
2012 Thanksgiving Live! TV Special
Iron Chef America Countdown 6 episodes
Iron Chef America: The Series Judge, 2 episodes
Katie 1 episode
Home Made In America 6 episodes
2012-2025 Today Cohost/guest, 36 episodes
2013 The Chew 1 episode
David's Food Court
The Queen Latifah Show
2013, 2014 Bethenny 2 episodes
Melissa Harris-Perry
2013-2017 The Talk Cohost/guest, 11 episodes
2013-2023 Chopped Judge, 10 episodes
2014 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off Judge, 1 episode
Rewrapped
The Doctors Co-host, 1 episode
2014-2025 Beat Bobby Flay Judge & Mentor, 48 episodes
2015 Fox and Friends 1 episode
Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off Judge, 1 episode
Thanksgiving at Bobby's 1 episode
Christmas as Bobby's
2015-2018 Weekend Today Guest, 3 episodes
Home & Family 6 episodes
2016 Brunch at Bobby's 1 episode
2016-2017 The Kitchen Sink Cohost, 9 episodes
Cooks vs. Cons Judge, 4 episodes
2017 Chopped Junior Judge, 1 episode
Pickler & Ben 2 episodes
Steve 5 episodes
2017, 2018 Bakers vs. Fakers Judge, 2 episodes
2020 GMA3: What You Need To Know 1 episode
All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate 4 episodes
Turkey Day Sunny's Way
2021 Live with Kelly and Mark Guest, 1 episode
2023 Sesame Street: Oscar's Handmade Halloween
Tamron Hall 1 episode
2024 Name That Tune 1 episode
GMA3 Guest, 1 episode
2023-2024 BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Simon Captain, 12 episodes
2024-2025 The Drew Barrymore Show Guest, News Contributor, 40 episodes

Awards and nominations

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Year Organization Award Nominated work Result
2017 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host The Kitchen (shared with Katie Lee, Jeff Mauro, Marcela Valladolid, and Geoffrey Zakarian Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sunny Anderson Recipes". Food Network.
  2. ^ "At the start of Pride Month, Sunny Anderson shares powerful message on solidarity". TODAY.com. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  3. ^ "Food Network Star Sunny Anderson Opens Up About Ulcerative Colitis - ABC News". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  4. ^ "Food Network Star Sunny Anderson Opens Up About Ulcerative Colitis". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  5. ^ "Food Network Gossip: Food Network's 'The Kitchen' - More Information About The Show". foodnetworkgossip.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  6. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards (2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  7. ^ Maas, Jennifer (2022-11-28). "NFL, Food Network Team for Tailgate Competition Series Hosted by Sunny Anderson and Vince Wilfork (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  8. ^ Sharma, Muskan (October 2022). "What time will Outrageous Pumpkins season 3 episode 1 air on Food Network? Release date, plot, and more details explored". www.sportskeeda.com.
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