Memphis restaurant owner to compete on Jay Leno’s game show

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Alcenia’s restaurant owner BJ Chester-Tamayo is appearing on TV again, but this time it’s not for her famous Southern cooking.

Chester-Tamayo is competing on Jay Leno’s comedy game show “You Bet Your Life.” The show featuring this Memphis restaurateur airs at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 on ABC. It was filmed in Los Angeles in August.

Chester-Tamayo can’t say if she won or lost, but she did say she had a lot of fun doing the show.

“Jay Leno was really nice and friendly,” she said.

The premise of the show is that two strangers partner to answer a series of questions within a category. A team can win up to $5,500 by answering all five questions correctly. Kevin Eubanks, who had been Leno’s bandleader on “The Tonight Show,” is Leno’s co-host.

The current show is a reboot of the 1950s original that was hosted by Groucho Marx.

“It was scary,” said Chester-Tamayo of the experience. “You don’t have any idea of what the categories are. And you don’t want to seem like a dummy on TV.”

To prepare, Chester-Tamayo said she watched old shows from the 1950s.

“I am lucky I had a smart partner,” she said, adding that the two didn’t meet until minutes before the show was filmed. “He is an attorney and pilot from California.”