'Foodtastic' premieres on Dec. 15, only on Disney+.
Keke Palmer is getting into the holiday spirit with a fantastic new venture, hosting Disney+'s Foodtastic!
The Emmy winner spoke with ET about the new global competition series that features artists creating extravagant scene work and larger-than-life sculptures entirely out of food. Each episode is inspired by an iconic Disney feature, with Palmer serving as the host alongside Flour Shop founder Amirah Kassem and NYC's City Cakes founder Chef Benny Rivera as reigning food art experts.
With an "average" skill in the kitchen and a longtime desire to go to culinary school, Palmer admits that watching the artists at work is inspiring to her.
"I am really great when it comes to breakfast, you know, always a lot of love in it and sometimes it tastes good, sometimes it doesn't. But it’s funny because I wanted to go to culinary school at some point -- and I am sure I will eventually go because I really do love food and want to be able to create great stuff for myself, especially when it pertains to health -- but I am nothing like any of these artists," she shared. "The great thing about this show is it's not about the food tasting good. I mean, we are seeing them actually transform the food, you know, taking vegetables and making it look like a cell phone."
The near-magical quality of the competition entries is a large part of why Palmer was excited to land the job of hosting.
"It was all of the different avenues they were going to allow me to explore. Not only was I going to get an opportunity to host and be a part of a very new type of food competition show, but, on top of that, I was also getting the opportunity to play different characters that would string these competitions along as it pertained to each individual Disney IP," she revealed, explaining that she gets to play familiar faces from each Disney story that the episode pertains to.
The actress marveled at the ability of the artists to create "art pieces" from foods like vegetables, sweets and more. She shared how some contestants were construction workers who used gingerbread the same way they did the actual materials they used for construction work.
"They would use different aspects like chocolate and syrup and cementing pieces [together]," she raved. "It's just stuff that you never would have thought about but kids are going to be like, 'I thought about this all the time. My mama just didn’t let me mess up the kitchen and do it.' But they are literally activated from such an imaginary space. It was very, very cool to watch."
A new project isn't the only thing Palmer's excited about. The Insecure guest actress shared her plans for the holidays, which includes quality time with her family and her new beau, Darius Daulton Jackson.
"I work literally most of every year so when it comes to the holidays, that's my time to just really be with my family," she said. "That is literally the tradition, just hang out, watch TV, eat, laugh, talk and be thankful for one another. Life can be so difficult and we just want to share those moments of gratitude. They really refuel me for the next year coming up."
Speaking of the next year, when asked about how she pitched herself to Whoopi Goldberg during a recent appearance on The View for a role in the upcoming Sister Act 3, Palmer admitted that she was just thankful to hear that Goldberg was already thinking of her.
"I was just so thankful that she would be thinking of me because these are things that we all grew up on, franchise pieces that people such as myself have worked many years to get the opportunity to be a part of," she said. "And to be able to work with Whoopi herself, I mean, Whoopi is a blueprint of so much of who I am today, so to get the opportunity to work with her -- especially on something that I remember watching and loving and studying in my church before I even became an entertainer -- is very special. So, I know they're working on the script right now and I haven't heard anything just yet, but I'm hoping that I do. And if I don't, it was still just awesome that she thought of me."
Until then, Foodtastic premieres on Disney+ Dec. 15.
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