December 3rd, 2008 | Sterling

Food Network Looks Beyond Chef Irvine’s Resume Fraud & Rehires

We reported last March that Chef Robert Irvine had been unceremoniously terminated from his Food Network show Dinner Impossible for embellishing his resume.  Irvine claimed that he made the cake for Princess Diana’s royal wedding and that he was given a castle by his friend, Queen Elizabeth.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Irvine was only benched for a year and will be returning to the show in it’s upcoming season. See below.

When Michael Symon was offered the gig to host popular cable television series “Dinner: Impossible,” viewers knew that the winner of “Food Network’s Next Iron Chef” was taking over for a disgraced chef.

What they didn’t know was that Symon would be a temporary replacement. Food Network officials announced that former series host Robert Irvine will be returning to “Dinner Impossible.” Irvine has been rehired to film six new episodes for the series, to be aired sometime
in March 2009.

A resume apparently laced with a variety of exaggerations and false assertions led to Irvine’s removal by the network as series host. In an article published last February in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, reporter Ben Montgomery refuted various Irvine claims – among them, that he helped bake the cake for the fairytale wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, held the title of Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and that his friend, Queen Elizabeth II, had given him a castle.

In a statement to the media, a Food Network spokeswoman explained what led to Irvine’s return to the show.

“Our audience has continued to demonstrate its interest in and support for Robert,” said network spokeswoman Carrie Welch. “He has taken responsibility and made a conscious effort to clear the air, rebuild the relationship with Food Network and apologize for the earlier inaccuracies.”

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Now, we’re big Michael Symon fans here in Cleveland, so we are sorry to see him go, but the truth is that Irvine was better suited for the role.

I have no concerns about Irvine being brought back, but strongly applaud Food Network’s fitting punishment for the resume fraud.  This is a rampant problem in today’s workplace and it is important that people see that there are ramifications for the decisions they make. We continue to find a nearly 60% discrepancy rate when conducting verifications between what an applicant represents and what an employer or academic institution reports.

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