Let’s get cooking! Former WLWT-TV (Channel 5) sports reporter and current Sports Illustrated Bengals reporter Elise Jesse took a break from the sidelines to “dabble in cooking” alongside famed chef Gordon Ramsay.
Jesse announced in a Dec. 18 Instagram post that she competed on season 5 of “Next Level Chef,” which premiered Jan. 29. Jesse, a graduate of Oak Hills High School and Mount St. Joseph University, worked for WLWT from 2013 to 2020 before joining Sports Illustrated to cover the Bengals.
Ahead of her first episode, which debuts Feb. 12, Jesse joined the “That’s So Cincinnati” podcast to dish about how she got her start in cooking, her favorite dishes to make, what it was like to work with the famed chef and more.
Jesse told “That’s So Cincinnati” her cooking journey began as a hobby. She recalled one of her friends asking her to film a video on how to make chicken. At that time, she started sending her long, unedited videos before her friend eventually asked her to cut them down to necessary parts.
From there, the reporter used her editing skills and began posting the videos to her cooking Instagram account, Elise Jesse’s Cookin’ (@ejscookin). It then didn’t take long for the account to blow up. Sitting at over 82,000 followers before her “Next Level Chef” debut, Jesse still can’t believe her cooking has gotten this much attention.
Although Jesse couldn’t reveal much about her experince filming with Ramsay in Ireland, her time with the famous chef and on the show was something she’ll never forget.
Listen to our conversation with Jesse at the top of the page.
“That’s So Cincinnati,” The Enquirer’s weekly podcast on what’s making news in our community, features a who’s who of special guests. Find it at Audioboom, Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elise Jesse dishes about Gordon Ramsay, ‘Next Level Chef’ | That’s So Cincinnati
Reporting by Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
