There have been so many dodges one could use to put together a resume it is surprising more folks have not used them.
You need a degree, well, there were places, and maybe still are, you could almost buy them. They made you write a paper or something and send a copy of your resume and the select faculy would send you a degree - just make sure the registration fee was paid.
Ok, you have a gap in your resume. What to do, what to do? Do not panic. Find a company that had gone out of business. Claim to have been employed there. Can it be traced that you did not work there? Very doubtful, trying to find the records of an out of business company is almost impossible, and most companies do not dig very deeply.
Then, of course, most companies are scared to death about being sued if they give a bad reference to anyone. So the company tries to protect itself by merely verifing the employment dates of a person.
They will ignore the fact that the employee almost never showed up, was drunk half the time, and used to discuss ways to make anthrax.
As the company will not divulge those facts will they state that the person did not run the loading dock rather than do the loading? Or that rather than being an entry data enterer the person was not in charge of information services?
Of course not.
The trick to getting away with these schemes, and there are many more, is not having your previous employment geographically too close to the job one is seeking.
The hiring boss knows the guys across the city who will gladly talk to their pal. But if the company you worked for, or claimed to work for, is 1000 miles away or so, the hiring guy is most likely at a total loss.
I am not a charlatan, am a responsible person. But have seen all of these used.
The system in my opinion is broken, and employers have to be very sharp and if they have any doubts go with their guts.
As far as food network goes, I rarely watch it but have caught the guy a few times and he is clearly talented both as a chef and as a personality.
To me it was a venial sin. But FN must decide its own policies.