Photo courtesy of MTV.

MTV has opted to take on the growing trend of cooking shows—with its own Real World-style approach to amping up the drama by having the hopeful chefs live with one another while competing. And joining those budding cooks is 23-year-old Long Beacher Lorena Bolanos.

The Wrigley native graduated from Wilson High and began attending Long Beach City College (LBCC) to pursue her AA in the culinary arts. It was while meandering campus that she discovered MTV was searching for contestants on what was to become House of Food.

“I just happened to see this flier while I was passing by and I thought, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’” said Bolanos.

For her, the best happened: she was one of eight aspiring young chefs—all with no real-life training (or what MTV lovingly described as “sorta chefs”)—to live in a house and use their knives (hopefully not on each other) and palate skills to win a chance to be an apprentice under an executive chef.

Bolanos is no stranger to cooking, where her father and both of her grandmothers—hailing from family in Guadalajara—bestowed on her the values and talents of traditional Mexican cooking.

However, for Bolanos, the cooking wasn’t hard—“I grew up cooking so it’s in my blood”—but rather living with other people. The LBCC student had never lived outside her family’s home until MTV forced her and seven others to live in a decked-out apartment in Los Angeles for the shoot.

The self-described instigator easily admitted she tends to ruffle the drama feathers but ultimately remains humbled about the experience.

“Everything about the show was an eye-opener for me,” Bolanos said. “From living with other people to being under these amazing chefs to just learning more about food… I feel like it’s connected me more with my family and culture.”

House of Food premieres tonight at 10PM on MTV.