What happened to Emeril Lagasse? All about the rise and fall of the great American Chef

American Chef Emeril Lagasse recently joined the judges’ panel on MasterChef Season 11 and fans are quite delighted to see the renowned Chef back in action. He worked on a variety of food reality shows in the 1990s and early 2000s but subsequently disappeared from television after a few setbacks. His most famous shows included Emeril Live and Bam, both of which were heavily followed, not just in America, but also in various other countries.

What happened to Emeril Lagasse?

Emeril Lagasse is a legendary Chef who has been a household name in the early 2000s for his multiple projects on global television. He rose to fame through the show Emeril Live, which had 11 seasons between 1997 and 2007. He had also written over 19 cookbooks by 2008, most of which were also bestsellers in America. After his show, Emeril Live was pulled off air, he appeared in projects like Essence of Emeril and Emeril Green, amongst others, but none of them gained as much attention as Emeril Live. He also went on to feature in a bunch of reality shows like On the Menu but it did not click well for him.

According to a report by Nicki Swift, in the year 2008, when his shows were not gaining momentum, Emeril Lagasse sold his brand, which manufactured original sauces, cutlery, etc, to another famous celebrity, Martha Stewart. He reportedly sold the entire line for over $50 million which was a huge business deal at that time. After handing over the venture, Emeril Lagasse was mostly focusing on his restaurants, which eventually saw a drop in business, in the next decade. The Chef also told The Week in 2014 that the industry had become very challenging for an average restaurateur. Emeril Lagasse also had to shut down a few branches of his restaurant which was a further setback for the Chef. In 2017, he closed Tchoup Chop and in 2018, Emeril Lagasse had to shut down Emeril's Restaurant in Orlando. Emeril Lagasse still owns a few restaurants in the country, which are expected to witness a spike in business with his return to television.

IMAGE: EMERIL LAGASSE INSTAGRAM