'Holiday Wars' Host Jeff Mauro's Biggest Food Network Mishap Nearly Cost Him a Finger

Transcript

00:00 You know, going back to Mishaps, out of all the years that you've been doing this, all the shows that you've been on,

00:04 when I say, like, Mishap on a show, what's like kind of the first thing that pops into your mind?

00:09 Oh man, it was probably the first season of Sandwich King, first episode,

00:14 and this was the show I won after Boo Network Star Season 7, which was like 13 years ago.

00:19 Very green, very young. It was the first take.

00:24 Brand new knives. The then head of programming flew in to watch my first episode, Chicago, where you're filming,

00:33 and I was chopping cilantro with the brand new, super sharp, beautiful knife,

00:38 and I went to go swipe the cilantro, like we tend to do, off the knife, and I just misjudged it,

00:44 and when I swiped it, so did, the cilantro came off with some of my thumb.

00:48 Oh no!

00:49 And we had to shut down production. Someone's like, "Find the thumb!" You know, not the whole thumb.

00:54 Right, yeah.

00:55 Like, cauterize it, like get it on it, but like we had to seriously shut it down for hours to kind of wait for the bleeding to stop,

01:03 and then for continuity, you couldn't have like, you need a band-aid, it's a whole thing that I learned about, like,

01:08 well, if you are going to cut yourself, make sure it's the first take of the day, not the last one.

01:12 That's true, that is true.

01:13 But then, you know, had a program, Big Shot at the network at that point, came downstairs, was like, you know,

01:19 Rachel Ray cut her finger for her first day, on her first take, on the first episode of her show, so you're in good...

01:26 Well, that's good, that makes you feel a little better, right?

01:28 Consider it lucky, I was like, I'm throbbing!

01:30 Right, you're like, I lost part of my thumb.

01:32 Yeah, no, we got it back, it's, look at this, nothing, you can't even tell.

01:35 Perfect, you can't even tell.

01:37 Well, that is quite the story, and so many years later...

01:40 And I'm trying to think if I've cut myself since, and I don't think so, but I don't see any wood.

01:44 Yeah, that's wood.

01:46 Oh, that's...

01:47 Yeah, it's wood, it's composite.

01:49 No, I'm very superstitious, this is wood.

01:52 There you go.

01:53 I have to do that, I'm sorry.

01:54 No, I totally get it.

01:55 Screw up the shot.