Aarti Sequeira

A mainstay on Food Network after winning season six of Food Network Star, Aarti Sequeira is a television host, cookbook author, influencer, commentator, and judge. In addition to hosting her own cooking show, "Aarti Party," she also serves as judge on hit shows like "Holiday Wars," "Halloween Wars," "Candy Land" (hosted by Kristen Chenoweth), "Luda Can’t Cook" (featuring Ludacris), "Guy’s Grocery Games," "Supermarket Stakeout" and "Christmas Cookie Challenge." She’s cooked in competition and emerged victorious on "Chopped," "Cutthroat Kitchen" & “GGG.” She cooks alongside the country’s best chefs on "Guy’s Ranch Kitchen."

Off-network appearances include teaching Ms. Gomez how to cook on "Selena + Chef" (HBO Max) and voicing Chef Shobha in Disney Jr.’s "Mira, Royal Detective." Sequeira currently has kitchen and lifestyle products distributed by QVC and Dayspring.

A gifted writer, Sequeira published her first cookbook, "Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul" in 2014 (Grand Central). She has also penned a nationally syndicated column for the Associated Press entitled “World’s Fare” teaching readers how to use ingredients from the international aisle in simple, weeknight dishes, and most recently for Dayspring’s "Incourage," blending faith and food into inspirational essays. Her current book, "Unwind: A Devotional Cookbook For The Harried and Hungry" invites readers back into the kitchen and encourages the intentionality of dinnertime spent at the table.

Born in India, raised in Dubai, and educated in a British school, Sequeira grew up amidst a varied tapestry of food cultures. After graduating from Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism, she began a career at CNN, covering everything from economic reports to the plight of firefighters after 9/11. She produced documentaries for television, including Sand and Sorrow (HBO), about the genocide in Darfur, narrated by George Clooney and directed by Peabody Award winner Paul Freedman. After the success of her YouTube cooking/variety show, she soon made her way to Food Network.