Eric Adjepong Trusts Alex Guarnaschelli ‘1000%’ in His Quest to Find Love

The Food Network family looks out for each other.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Alex Guarnaschelli asked her Instagram followers “How is my friend Eric Adjepong single?” and the Internet flooded the post with answers.

“The people have spoken, I would say,” the Iron Chef told PEOPLE and the Ghana to the World cookbook author responded, “The people are speaking, that’s for sure.”

The post was a screenshot of the celebrity chefs’ sweet text exchange in which Guarnaschelli, 56, and Adjepong, 38, talked about their dating lives (or lack thereof). When Adjepong said that he was working and spending time with his 7-year-old daughter Lennox, who he shares with ex-wife Janell Mack, she texted, “That’s it? I need to find you a GF.” 

After getting Adjepong’s approval, Guaranaschelli posted the lighthearted messages on her social media—and it immediately blew up.

Thousands and thousands of messages poured in with fans commenting their love for Adjepong. Even more significant to the Alex vs. America co-stars were all the Food Network stars’ support.

Stars like Aarti Sequeira, Michael Symon and Tiffany Derry commented that they want to watch the romantic journey, literally! Symon proposed a double-date-type dating show for the single friends–Guarnaschelli’s last public relationship was with ex-fiancé Michael Castellon, which ended in February 2022, and Adjepong and Mack split in October 2021.

“The wildest part to me, it’s not all the people that want to date Eric, that’s not a surprise to me. What’s a surprise to me is the response from the Food Network community of chefs,” the mother of one said. Adjepong adamantly agreed, saying that he loves the network-wide support. “I feel like it’s the worst kept secret right now in Food Network lore.”

Adjepong declared, “I am so ready for love, and I’ve got to say, my daughter is ready for me as well.”

But Adjepong trusts his love life in Guarnaschelli’s hands more than anyone else, he said: “I trust her 1000% out of anybody in the world.” And Guarnaschelli, who sees her and the “magnificent” Adjepong as having a “brother-sister bond,” is more than up for the task.

Adjepong does “reference checking” with Guarnaschelli, who claimed that her matchmaker career started in the 4th grade. He said, “I’ll ask Alex, ‘Hey, what do you think of so-and-so?’ Or, ‘Have you heard such-and-such about somebody?’ And her opinion absolutely matters to me, and when she’s giving me the green light, I know it’s genuine.”

Guarnaschelli wants Adjepong to turn off his Instagram DMs and wait for her to create “a far more curated forum.” “So the conversation starts with food and ends with establishing trust,” she said.