When he was a quarterback at Florida, Jesse Palmer had a plan in case his dream of playing pro football didn’t come to fruition. The Toronto native had a double major in marketing and political science (with a certificate in international relations). “If the NFL thing didn’t work out, I was planning on being an ambassador,” says Palmer. “I was hoping I’d get stationed in a country that had great food.”
Palmer credits his mom’s cooking for instilling his foodie ethos, which only got stronger during his five-year NFL career with the Giants and 49ers.
“I got to play and live in probably the two best food cities in America,” Palmer says. He’s also a fan of travel, hitting France at least once a year. It’s where he learned to love his favorite dessert, the classic tarte tatin (a sort of upside-down apple pie).
All of which is why Palmer’s second act didn’t involve diplomacy, but crème diplomate. As one of his many gigs these days—he’s also the host of The Bachelor franchise and a color commentator for ESPN’s college football coverage—Palmer, 47, hosts a variety of baking shows on the Food Network. (His ninth season of Holiday Baking Championship starts on Nov. 3.)
His knowledge allows Palmer to speak intelligently with the judges about the desserts they taste. For instance, he and judge Duff Goldman have commiserated over the fact that no contestant—not even one with classical French training—has ever made a truly great tarte tatin on any show he’s hosted. “It’s the execution of crust generally that is not done very well,” Palmer says. “Also, Duff calls it the goo factor—the goo factor is not right. The apples are sometimes too dry.”
So yes, Palmer can talk all day about a tarte tatin, a sablé or a mille-feuille (and pronounce them all flawlessly, something he attributes to being in a French immersion program growing up in Canada). But he absolutely cannot make any of them.
“I’ve picked up quite a bit,” he says. “I’ve just never actually put it into execution. I have zero time and I’m on the road so often. I live in hotels. So unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to sleep in places that have kitchens very often. But just through osmosis over the last, I don’t know, 10 years almost, hopefully I’ve picked up a thing or two.”
He’s not exaggerating about his schedule. Speaking on a Monday in October (it was Canadian Thanksgiving, but he didn’t have time for a big celebration), Palmer had been up since 4 a.m. watching film of Vanderbilt against Alabama and South Carolina for the Commodores’ game against LSU that he was calling with Joe Tessitore the following Saturday. Then it was on to studying the Tigers’ defense. (He did have time to text Tessitore, a fellow foodie, about where they would eat in Nashville the night before the game. “That’s like our number one priority,” Palmer says. “We’re worried about the game secondly.”) Then it was off to Los Angeles the next day to host The Golden Bachelor: Women Tell All reunion show. Then back home for a day before going to Nashville for the game.
By that time, Holiday Baking Championship had already been filmed. “I think the secret sauce of the show is not even the baking,” Palmer says. “It’s the people’s stories. And I think that’s what draws so many viewers in at home is that you start relating to some of the people. You start rooting for some of the people based on their backgrounds, the more you learn about them.” And getting contestants to open up is a big part of Palmer’s job. “I’m sort of acting as a conduit behind the scenes,” he says.
Among Palmer’s other duties on the show: wear ridiculous outfits (sweaters that light up, for instance) and dole out a hearty serving of dad jokes—something he’s gotten pretty good at now that he’s an actual dad. Palmer married model Emely Fardo in 2020, and they have a daughter, Ella, who is nearly 2.
“As she gets older and older, I hope the kitchen is where we end up spending most of our time,” he says. “Honestly, I know the living room is sort of the social gathering place, but I’d love to spend a lot of time in the kitchen with her.”
Ella has already gotten a start, making muffins with her mom and helping out with breakfast. And unlike her dad, she’s showing a real aptitude for baking. “Ella was cracking eggs—one-handed, might I say,” he says. “Cracking the egg and then actually splitting it into the bowl. I know I was impressed.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jesse Palmer’s Post-Football Life Could Not Be Busier, or Tastier.