Bob Kirsh was raised in Philadelphia, PA, and holds a BA from Temple University and an MFA from NYU. He helped to develop such shows as The Next Food Network Star, Worst Cooks In America and Restaurant Divided, all for Food Network. He also ran three seasons of HGTV Design Star as well as Design Star All Stars. As a writer he worked on The Big Gay Sketch Show, and he wrote and produced on Shipmates, How Clean is Your House, Forever Eden, Date Patrol, and the award-winning short film Peep Show. He began his career as a stage actor.