After years of watching all-too-slickly produced 'drama' on reality TV, it seems all shows are met with an eye-roll: Suuuure, you didn't know what the ingredients were before cooking, and yet you made that perfectly plated, four-star-review-worthy dish. Yeah, okay, you were awake for two days straight during the BBQ challenge. But Top Chef's finalists want to set the record straight. All of those things really did happen. "It's one of the truest, real-time reality shows, and [that's why] so many professional chefs really respect it," said Shirley Chung, who faces off against Brooke Williamson in tonight's finale on Bravo.
Hours before the episode aired, the two got candid about what it's really like to compete — and what you don't notice as you watch chefs go head-to-head.
1. Producers Check Their Luggage More Intensely Than A Disgruntled TSA Employee.
The entire time chefs are filming, they can't have contact with the outside world, and they can't bring in anything that'd help them research recipes. That means no cell phones, laptops, internet access — even cookbooks are off-limits — and producers go through every piece of luggage the contestants bring with them.
"They took my Apple watch too," Williamson said. She couldn't get it back until filming had wrapped.
2. The Best Way to Prep For the Show Involves Dumbbells, Not Cookbooks.
Contestants really aren't told what the challenges are ahead of time, and there's a very short window from when the chefs are told where the season will take place and when they're shipped off to start production, so no cookbook cram session can truly prepare them. They have to rely on their experience, Williamson said, but there is one critical way you can prepare: Get in shape, fast.
"It's very physical, because the hours are really long, and especially this season — oh my god! — it's unbelievable," Chung said.
She upped her gym routine, going from three workouts a week to six, and focused on a mix of weights, interval training, and ellipticals. Williamson got hooked on SoulCycle, taking spinning classes to strengthen her heart and boost her stamina, and ran regularly, mostly to clear her mind as she went into filming.
3. They Live on Cup of Noodles and Bananas.
Williamson doesn't mince words when she talks about her diet while filming. "We ate like sh*t for seven weeks," she laughed. "I lived on Cup of Noodles. I had a Cup of Noodles a day for about a month."
Chung tried Doritos for the first time during the season, and got a reputation for being a banana addict, since she always had one in her bag and ate them daily. "I had to, because I knew that if I didn't and got hungry, our choices would be Cheetos, and baked Sun Chips, Doritos, and fruit snacks."
After cooking all day for the competitions, the chefs wouldn't want to fire up the oven when they got home, so they often relied on steamed rice, kimchi, and eggs most days.
"We ate carbs literally all the time," Williamson said. "I look at myself on TV, and I'm like, 'yup, you had Cup of Noodles every day, didn't you?'"
4. They Always Swear They'll Never Do It Again.
After weeks of intense competition — including their fair set of tears shed on camera — both contestants swore they wouldn't do it again. And yet, they came back this season, making it all the way to the end. "In the beginning, I definitely didn't want to come back. I had a lot of commitments, and my restaurant was short-staffed, and I worried, 'what if I don't do as well as last time?'" Chung said. "After I thought it over, I mean, Top Chef changed my life. It's such a great platform. I shouldn't let fear rule my life."
For Williamson, the show's been an outlet for her competitive spirit, and while she's down to take on future challenges, she's planning on focusing on ones with a shorter time commitment — and less intensity.
"I will compete for fun, but not in situations that make me cry. There's enough of me crying on TV," she said.
5. The Show Changes You.
Yes, being on a national TV show can bring in new job opportunities (um, who wouldn't want to poach a winning chef to oversee their restaurant?) and cause strangers to ask you for a selfie when you're in stretchy pants at Starbucks, but the biggest way the show changes your life is how it forces you to get all introspective.
"This season really helped me find who I am," Chung explained. "For years, I worked for restaurants and executed their vision — I called myself a 'shadow chef' — and it wasn't until Top Chef that I developed my own dishes that represent me."
It's inspired her to open a fast-casual seafood bar with her husband and focus on creating Chinese American meals that reflect her heritage. For Williamson, it's been more of a mental shift, changing the way she approaches work.
"I've learned to slow down a little; that more is not always better," she explained. "Maintenance and quality is what it takes to survive."
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