Brooke Burns’s career, from Baywatch to game-show hosting
A source-linked guide to Brooke Burns’s acting roles and hosting credits, including Baywatch, Gourmet Detective, The Chase, Master Minds and Tic Tac Dough.
By Celeb Pages · Updated November 1, 2026
Brooke Burns is an actress and television host whose credits span Baywatch, Hallmark’s Gourmet Detective movies and trivia shows including The Chase, Master Minds and Tic Tac Dough. Her acting and hosting work are overlapping parts of her career—not simply an acting career followed by a permanent switch to presenting. Game Show Network’s biography documents both.
Acting: Baywatch, film and television movies
Burns played Jessica “Jessie” Owens on the original Baywatch television series. An archival photograph reproduced by Chron identifies her as the aspiring lifeguard during the 1998–1999 season. The credit discussed here is for the television series, not the later feature film. See the photograph and caption.
Her other scripted television work includes starring roles in North Shore and Pepper Dennis, a recurring role in the Melrose Place revival, and appearances on Just Shoot Me, Drop Dead Diva and CSI: Miami, according to GSN’s career biography.
Several useful starting points for her film and television-movie work are:
- Shallow Hal (2001): a feature-film acting credit confirmed in Hallmark’s biography.
- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Burns plays Jennifer Cullen, a single working mother whose Christmas changes when her uncle arrives with an unexpected guest. The film also stars Henry Winkler and Warren Christie. Hallmark’s movie page identifies the cast and character.
- Gourmet Detective: she stars as Maggie, opposite Dylan Neal, in the mystery-movie franchise. Hallmark’s descriptions identify Maggie Price as a San Francisco homicide detective and Henry Ross as a former chef. These are scripted mysteries, not cooking competitions. See her cast biography and the movie descriptions.
Hosting: the key milestones
Burns made her game-show hosting debut on NBC’s Dog Eat Dog in 2002. She later hosted ABC’s You Deserve It with Chris Harrison and TruTV’s Motor City Masters, an automotive-design competition. GSN and Hallmark confirm those credits.
Her major trivia-show credits are:
| Show | Career milestone |
|---|---|
| The Chase | Began hosting GSN’s American adaptation in 2013. |
| Master Minds | Began hosting in 2020, overseeing contestants’ competition against trivia experts. |
| Tic Tac Dough | Hosted GSN’s updated version, announced to premiere on April 14, 2025. |
The first two dates appear in GSN’s host biography; the Tic Tac Dough announced premiere date comes from the network’s March 2025 press release.
Burns received a 2016 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host for The Chase. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ nominations announcement, hosted by Deadline, records her nomination; it is not a record of an Emmy win.
Which version of The Chase features Brooke Burns?
Look for GSN’s version that began in 2013. Do not assume that every listing for The Chase features Burns: the later 2021 version is hosted by Sara Haines. As of November 1, 2026, GSN also lists that version in its upcoming schedule.
For Burns’s more recent hosting work, GSN’s Tic Tac Dough page identifies her as host and provides viewing links and schedule information. Check the version and episode details when choosing what to watch; the channel name alone does not identify the host.