Help me out here: Brian Boitano, South Park, and Food Network

I always thought it was very funny that in the South Park movie they would come up with an obscure past celebrity, Brian Boitano, to be subject of a song "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" It seemed so totally random and wonderful.

But now I see that Food Network has a show called "What Would Brian Boitano Cook?"

So, when South Park did their song, was there already some "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" meme out in the world? Had Brian somehow come back into the mainstream?

Has Boitano been in the public eye so much in the last decade or few years that he's now celebrity enough to warrant a cooking show?

I don't get it.

Why him?

(I have nothing against - brilliant skater - I'm just curious what the scoop is behind all this stuff).