Jade Catta-Preta Of Hotties On Hulu Shares Her Tips For Cooking On A First Date — Exclusive

Standard first dates often have a few things in common: two people, food, and if you're a little lucky, maybe some heat at the end. The new cooking-slash-dating show "Hotties" on Hulu has all of the above. Couples (who have never met previously) go head-to-head in cooking competitions that just so happen to take place in the desert and just so happen to include a lot of spicy recipes. To crank up the heat even further, the competition requires them to stop their cooking every so often to choke down some incredibly spicy foods.

Comedian Jade Catta-Preta hosts the new show, but while contestants are battling it out in food trucks that lack any sort of air conditioning, she sits behind the scenes in a very chill, climate-controlled trailer, watching all the drama unfold. While most of her observations are used to pick a winner of each episode, she's also picked up a few tips for couples who want to cook together on a first date, even if they're not quite keen on the idea of a heat-inspired competition.

Communication and Comfort Zones

"Communicate," Jade Catta-Preta told Mashed in an exclusive interview when asked what she's learned about first-date cooking after watching 20 couples pass through the show's 10 episodes. "If you're somebody who takes the lead usually, see what happens when you let the other person take the lead," she added. "Try to offset the traits that you're really used to in yourself. Listen, share stuff about yourself, find things that you have in common, touch. It's good to touch and taste things together. Use all your senses on the date. That can make it more exciting than sitting there and talking about your favorite places to travel. If I have to sit and listen to that again ... That's mostly where people go: 'So, where have you traveled to?'"

Of course, there are plenty of other things that can make or break a first date — like asking your heat-averse date to chow down on one of the spiciest peppers on the planet. But to see where things go wrong (or right) when challenges like that pop up, you'll need to catch Season 1 of "Hotties."

Season 1 of "Hotties" is now available for streaming on Hulu.