Joel McHale to Host New Summer Baking Competition ‘Crime Scene Kitchen’ at Fox

Joel McHale has made a career out of being handsome and charming, and it seems like that track is showing no sign of stopping. The former host of The Soup has signed on to host a show of a much different kind: Crime Scene Kitchen. Deadline reports that the new high-stakes baking show is set to premiere on Fox on May 26. McHale will host as Chef Curtis Stone and cake artist Yolanda Gampp judge some extremely unorthodox baking challenges.

The official synopsis reveals that the contestants will have to recreate recipes based on a few crumbs left behind. “Each episode begins at the scene of the crime – a kitchen that was just used to make an amazing mouth-watering dessert that has since disappeared,” the logline reads. “The chef teams of two are challenged to scour the kitchen for clues and ingredients to figure out what was baked. Next, each team must duplicate the recipe based on their guess. To take the $100,000 prize, the competing dessert makers will need to prove they have the technical know-how, imagination, and problem-solving skills needed to decode and re-create incredible desserts and cakes from across the world.”

Fox is certainly thrilled to have McHale aboard the project, expressing their delight in a statement from Rob Wade, the President of Alternative Entertainment and Specials at Fox Entertainment. “Crime Scene Kitchen is unlike any cooking show out there,” Wade said. “It’s a truly original format with amazing baking creations, a brilliant play-along guessing game for the whole family, and Joel at the center of it all bringing hilarity at every turn. Just don’t watch it if you’re feeling hungry!”

McHale is sure to bring his signature quips to the world of baking, and some recent projects have left him a bit more qualified. While pizza may be a bit more savory than the creations the contestants will be making, McHale recently partnered with Casey’s for their new cheesy breadsticks and revealed that he was a firm believer in getting creative with your pie.

“A lot of people treat this as some sort of — if you put pineapple on a pizza that you don’t deserve to be on this planet,” McHale explained on a phone call with PopCulture on March 24. “My thing is if you look at pizza in Italy and the way they’re putting fried eggs on it and lamb’s brains and all sorts of crazy stuff because it’s like a blank canvas, so if you really want it on there […] knock yourself out.”