Gabriel Coronel, one of the celebrities who is going to be featured in the upcoming season of "Top Chef Estrellas," recently opened up about the competition.

Coronel spoke to People En Español about Season 2, which premieres on Jan. 11, 2015, on Telemundo at 9 p.m., and said he learned about cooking through the women in his family.

"My mother and my nona, who is my grandma, cook all day," he said. "My grandma is Italian. My mom was born in Italy, and for us, the kitchen is something that's very important. That's what I saw in my childhood."

The Venezuelan actor added that his grandmother would make pizza on Sundays in "her way" and that the show reconnected him to things from his past.

According to Coronel, becoming a better cook has helped him in the dating department. He calls cooking his "secret weapon" but pointed out he doesn't have anyone to cook for now.

There are 10 contestants on "Top Chef Estrellas." Coronel will be shown facing off against Kimberly Dos Ramos, Sissi Fleitas, Judith Grace, Fabian Rios, Maripily Rivera, Pedro Rivera (Jenni Rivera's father), Henry Santos, Fernando Vargas and Gabriela Vergara.

"It's 10 artists trying to make food in a kitchen that we don't know," Cornel explained. "There were moments of happiness, sadness, tantrums. What you experience in that kitchen is intense."

Coronel said he didn't know the competition was going to be so difficult, explaining that he felt mentally exhausted.

Still, Coronel doesn't expect cooking to become more than just a hobby. Soon he will be working on a new telenovela.

"In March, I will start working on a novela," he said. "It's been a year and a half now that I haven't done a novela because I dedicated 100 percent of my time to music, and I think that it's time to take up acting again, to give life to a new character."

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