Juan-Carlos Cruz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Juan-Carlos Cruz
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| Born | 1962 (age 62–63) |
| Nationality | Dominican American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | California Culinary Academy 1993 |
| Occupation | Chef |
| Years active | 1994–2010 |
| Criminal charge(s) | Solicitation of murder |
| Criminal penalty | No contest |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Spouse(s) | Jennifer Campbell |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Low calorie |
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Television show(s)
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Juan-Carlos Cruz (born ca. 1962) is a Dominican American chef and the former host of Calorie Commando and Weighing In on the Food Network. Cruz lost 43 pounds on the Discovery Health Channel show Discovery Health Body Challenge, which encouraged him to change directions from being a pastry chef to do low-calorie cooking. In 2010, Cruz was sentenced to prison for nine years in California for soliciting homeless people to murder his wife, Jennifer Campbell.
Early life and education
Juan-Carlos Cruz was born around 1962 in the Dominican Republic. He has two older brothers. He moved to the United States with his family when he was three, settling in California. He learned how to cook watching Graham Kerr, Jeff Smith, and Julia Child on television.
Cruz graduated in 1993 from the California Culinary Academy with a focus on pastry and found work in Los Angeles.
Career
After graduation from the Culinary Academy in 1993, Cruz joined Hotel Bel Air as a pastry sous-chef. While at the Bel Air he created pastries for celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts.
Cruz struggled with weight gain due to his work with pastries. In 2000, he appeared on the Discovery Health Channel program "Discovery Health Body Challenge" and lost 43 pounds. He called himself the "Calorie Commando" and began focusing on low calorie cooking. In 2004, he began starring in the Food Network show named after his nickname, "Calorie Commando." The following year, 2005, he began hosting Food Network's "Weighing In." As a result, he published a cookbook, "The Juan-Carlos Cruz Calorie Countdown Cookbook," in 2006.
Personal life
Cruz was married to Jennifer Campbell, who he met in high school.
Works by Juan-Carlos Cruz
- with Martha Rose Shulman. The Juan-Carlos Cruz Calorie Countdown Cookbook: A 5-Week Eating Strategy for Sustainable Weight. New York: Gotham Publishing (2006). ISBN: 1592402585
