Although Taniya Nayak and Robert Irvine from Restaurant: Impossible have had their fair share of stand-offs, the designer has never actually been fired from the show.
Restaurant: Impossible has always been one of the most popular series in the reality television business-rescue genre, and for good reason.
This show follows the accomplished restaurateur and chef, Robert Irvine, and his highly-skilled and efficient team as they completely transform small businesses for the better.
If you have ever tuned in to watch an episode of the show, you will already know that while Irvine and the business’s owners usually take center stage in the episodes, the Restaurant: Impossible designers and builders are always hard at work behind the scenes.
And one of the members who have been by Robert’s side since almost the very beginning of the show – is designer, Taniya Nayak.
Taniya Nayak and Robert Irvine’s bickering
Taniya is an incredibly talented designer, who has assisted Irvine with the transformation of dozens of different restaurants through the years, but they do not always get along.
Taniya shared in a 2020 interview with Robert Irvine Magazine that she was afraid of the show’s host at first. She said, “In the beginning, he used to scream and shout a lot and it would be intimidating and a little scary”.
But even though Irvine apparently came close to firing Cheryl (one of the show’s other designers), Taniya remained a loyal member of the Restaurant: Impossible cast throughout its 22 seasons (except for the hiatuses, of course).
And while the show’s long hours and the immense pressure to get it right in each new project was undoubtedly incredibly overwhelming, Taniya has always maintained that she loves the job, and that coming to set is like being with her family.
Restaurant: Impossible’s incredible 22-season run
Irvine recently confirmed that Food Network chose not to renew Restaurant: Impossible for a 23rd season. This means that the show’s entire history can be condensed into three separate periods, as follows:
| Category | Years | Season |
| Before the hiatus | 2011 to 2016 | Season 1 to season 13 |
| The hiatus | 2016 to 2018 | – |
| After the hiatus | 2019 to 2023 | Season 14 to season 22 |
Filming for Restaurant: Impossible takes up a lot of time
The re-designs that the Restaurant: Impossible team somehow manages to pull off week after week may never be the focus of the episodes, but they certainly do take up the most of the show’s production time.
And while good old television magic may make it seem like the designers only jump in once Irvine gets the owners to come around, Tom Bury (who fans will recognize as the Restaurant: Impossible contractor) confirmed that some members of the crew actually show up to these businesses a day before Irvine does.
And if you take into account that Taniya has her own business to run between all of this flying around and the long hours on set, it is difficult to imagine how she managed to balance it all for over two decades.
There is a lot of pressure involved in renovating someone else’s business
Jumping in to save a failing business at the last minute is certainly a tall order and Taniya explained in the Robert Irvine Magazine interview that the team truly tries to outdo themselves with every new project, saying:
“We never want to leave a restaurant in a way that any of us would ever want to be left if someone else came in and redesigned our homes or our businesses. So, we always make sure that what we’re doing is being done correctly and for longevity.”
And even though Irvine’s exacting standards are bound to take their toll over time, Taniya seemingly still has more than enough fighting spirit and creativity to go around after all these years.
She even recently purchased and renovated her very own bar, called Lower Mills Tavern.
What it is really like working for Robert Irvine on Restaurant: Impossible
Although most reality television shows typically try to keep their behind-the-scenes details as tightly under wraps as possible, Restaurant: Impossible did give fans a bit of a glimpse of how things work between the crew when the cameras are not rolling in the “Meet the Impossible” episode from season eight.
In this episode, all of the Restaurant: Impossible designers (including Lynn, Taniya and Cheryl) all admit that the show’s host is a force to be reckoned with.
However, Taniya later clarified in her Robert Irvine Magazine interview that Irvine had calmed down somewhat over the years, adding “I feel like he’s made me a better business person, a better leader, a better manager of these projects”.
