Chef Jamie Oliver, Ryan Seacrest cook up ABC reality series

By April MacIntyre May 11, 2009, 14:43 GMT

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. The naked chef and Ryan Seacrest will collaborate on an ABC reality show meant to deliver health makeovers city by city. EPA/Federico Gambarini

The naked chef and Ryan Seacrest will collaborate on an ABC reality show meant to deliver health makeovers city by city.

Seacrest, who has battled weight issues and admitted he was a husky kid in elementary school, is teaming with the popular British chef Jamie Oliver for a new unscripted series that will travel to the unhealthiest cities in America and find ways to improve locals' cuisine and food resources.

The Hollywood Reporter claims that ABC ordered six hours of the project from Ryan Seacrest Productions, and that it will air sometime next year. 

According to ABC, the series will parallel the famous school lunch project in the U.K., where Oliver fought to makeover Brit kids' unhealthy lunches.

Seacrest spoke about his own regimen.

"I couldn't do what I do in terms of my schedule if I didn't eat right and exercise right," Seacrest told THR. "As a kid I was chubby, and I'm a firm believer that the fuel we put into our body results in a healthy lifestyle. Jamie's going to come over here, roll up his sleeves and use the resources of each town to help condition living habits to make it a better and healthier place."

Oliver's past performances on smallscreen impressed ABC's co-head of alternative series Vicki Dumme.

"Jamie has been through this mission before," she said to THR. "He will be an advocate for change, but not act like, 'I'm from Britain and you Americans are fat.' I think he's really equipped to make a change and knock on the right doors."

So where will they shoot? Below are the most recent "fattest city" lists from the CDC and Men's Health magazine:

Men's Health's Top Fattest Cities

1. Miami, FL
2. Oklahoma City, OK
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. New York, NY
6. Houston, TX
7. El Paso, TX
8. Jacksonville, FL
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Louisville-Jefferson, KY
11. Memphis, TN
12. Detroit, MI
13. Chicago, IL
14. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
15. San Jose, CA
16. Tulsa, OK
17. Baltimore, MD
18. Columbus, OH
19. Raleigh, NC
20. Philadelphia, PA
21. L.A.-Long Beach, CA
22. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
23. Indianapolis, IN
24. San Diego, CA
25. Kansas City, MO

According to the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, here is their fat 10:

1. Huntington, West Virginia/Ashland, Kentucky                                                2.  Yuma, Arizona
3. Jackson, Mississippi
4.  San Antonio, Texas
5.  Augusta, Georgia
6. El Paso, Texas                                                                         7. Scottsbluff, Nebraska
8. Yakima, Washington
9.  Fayetteville, North Carolina
10. Little Rock, Arkansas