Utahn booted from Food Network show weighing options

Kelsey Nixon isn't "The Next Food Network Star," but viewers are likely to see her somewhere on the small screen in the future.

Aaron McCargo Jr., a Philadelphia hospital chef, won the reality series July 26, and his six-episode series, "Big Daddy's House," began airing Sunday on the Food Network. However, Nixon was among the last four finalists, and could still win the Fan Favorite poll on www.foodnetwork.com, which would give her a set of kitchen appliances. The winner will be announced Friday.

Nixon got married July 11 to Robby Egan and is living in Provo for the next six months while Robby finishes his last two semesters at Brigham Young University. Then the couple will head to New York, where she will pursue her quest to cook on camera and he will pursue a career in advertising.

Meanwhile, she's working as a private chef, and teaching classes at Thanksgiving Point and Sur La Table. You can also see her on in-house TV screens at Zupa's restaurants, highlighting specials of the week. She's also fielding the many offers that have come in since she made it to the show's top four finalists.

"I've been advised by everyone not to take the first opportunity thrown at you," she said. "I want to take advantage of the next six months and weigh all my options, whether it's being a spokesman for a restaurant group or food company, or working with a television production company, or food writing. There's no reason why it can't be all of these things, but it's a matter or choosing those things in the right order."

She has an agent and a manager, "which really helps, because I'm inexperienced in making these kinds of decisions."

Other finalists have already parlayed their turn on the reality show into opportunities. Although he lost out in the final episode, runner-up Adam Gertler will star in a Food Network series, "Will Work For Food," beginning Sept. 30. And Kevin McRoberts, who was ousted the second week, is now a spokesman for Frank's RedHot pepper sauce.

Nixon said that at the finale, which was filmed in March, the majority of finalists thought McCargo would win. Many comments posted on the Food Network's Web site disagreed with the choice. But, Nixon points out, viewers see only a fraction of what goes on in the edited episodes.

"There's so much you don't see, it's unbelievable," she said. "But when all is said and done, I felt I was portrayed in a good light. One reason I agreed to do this show is because it's not a catty show, so you don't see a lot of language or fighting."

However, the finalists were often surprised by what was emphasized on-screen. "We would go in thinking we knew exactly who would get sent home, but the person we thought had done the best was the person who got sent home."

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