Cat Cora Turns Up the Heat

Shortly before her debut on Iron Chef, Cora told the San Francisco Chronicle that she was looking forward to proving that "women can cook alongside men just as hard and just as well. You don't see that a lot on television. The shows are more how-to — 'OK, we're going to crack an egg and make a meringue.'"

Her appearance on Iron Chef was so successful that the Food Network asked her to stay on as a regular chef on the show, and the rest is culinary television history.

While Cora's status as the sole female Iron Chef has brought her praise, and her quiet openness about her sexual orientation has generated little controversy, the same cannot be said about her decision to pose in a rather risqué photo shoot for FHM in September 2006.

While the increased visibility outside food circles did earn Cat some new fans — particularly of the male gender — she was criticized by some chefs and viewers for pandering for ratings and contributing to the objectification of women.

"I had been approached by Playboy, Playgirl, and I said, There’s no way I’m going to do that," she explained to 7x7 magazine when asked about the FHM photos in a February 2007 interview. "But Rachael [Ray] had done FHM over three years before, and her agent and my agent are at the same agency, and hey, it didn’t hurt her career, so I said, Let’s do it once. I think it was cool. I’m an older woman and a mom, and it was fun for me to do one thing to show my femininity."

She also showed her more feminine side when she attended a party hosted by the William Morris Agency on Feb. 23, 2007, in Miami Beach, Fla.