MUMABI: Hip-hop mogul, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Reville's Ben Silverman will bring to NBC a five-night reality mini-series, Celebrity Cooking Showdown, taking elements from the Food Network's Iron Chef America and ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

The series will air 17 to 21 April. Celebrity Cooking Showdown is produced by Reveille in association with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment.

It will match three celebrity chefs to train side-by-side with nine celebrities. After one-on-one coaching, the competition will play out in real time in front of a live studio audience as the stars race against the clock to complete their meal.

NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said, "Celebrity Cooking Showdown is going to be a unique, high-energy take on the time-tested cooking genre that works consistently across the television landscape. It's about great food, terrific personalities and big-time pressure."

Executive producer and Reveille CEO Silverman added, "Cooking shows have commanded huge ratings around the world, and we can't wait to bring this exciting new competitive format to primetime network TV."

The celebrity chefs include Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora (Food Network's Iron Chef America) and Govind Armstrong (Table 8, Los Angeles). Names of several celebrities signing on will be announced later this week.

"The hottest trend right now is the art of cooking. Celebrities competing in the high-pressure arena of the world's top chefs will make great television," said Combs.