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Season 13 Spoilers and Spoilery Speculation

Bella

By Bella
in Top Chef

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RemoteControlFreak

RemoteControlFreak

Why is Grayson back?  There has been no explanation.

 

Did something go awry during her elimination in Season 9 and they had to bring her back for legal reasons?  Then what explains her complete bitchiness this season?  Did she ask for money from Top Chef in exchange for the Season 9 problem and Top Chef responded with an offer to try again in Season 13?

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cooksdelight

cooksdelight

I don't know if you can find anything in what she says in this interview, but Grayson was eliminated and sent to LCK against Bev, who came walking back in the door the next week.... with Ed, Sarah, Paul and the blonde girl who's name I never remember. Ed got bounced next. So Grayson came in 6th place. If something DID happen, we may never know because there is probably a non-disclosure contract that is extra thick where Grayson's return is concerned.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/top-chef-grayson-1042748/

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Wings

Wings

In that article Tom mentioned that she should not have been eliminated for her chicken dish.  Maybe that is why she is back.  Apparently he was not a judge in that challenge.  ???

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Bella

Bella

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It is definitely odd that they have one random player back with no explanation. 

 

The randomness, along with the lack of explanation, makes me think that something happened behind the scenes in her season so that the show brought her back to right a wrong. Or an almost wrong, or to make something up to her, etc. I'm hoping something will slip out, but I'm not optimistic.

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Wings

Wings

(edited)

The randomness, along with the lack of explanation, makes me think that something happened behind the scenes in her season so that the show brought her back to right a wrong. Or an almost wrong, or to make something up to her, etc. I'm hoping something will slip out, but I'm not optimistic.

 

I agree.  Tom almost said as much in that link above.  There may have been something shady that is not fit for public consumption and could even be the root of her bad attitude.  Does she feel she was robbed of a shot at the finale last time?  Is she bitter, thinking  asking her back to start over from the beginning again is too little, too late?   

 

Was Renee's beet dish really that bad? Did they feel they had to keep Grayson?  I rarely don a tin foil hat but I am wearing one now!  LOL!  

Edited by wings707
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Julia

Julia

Interesting that Jose Andres is back as a judge because a few years ago he stopped allowing his chefs to be contestants.

The time commitment is pretty different, though. I thought he did that because he couldn't afford to hold their jobs for months.

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biakbiak

biakbiak

(edited)

The time commitment is pretty different, though. I thought he did that because he couldn't afford to hold their jobs for months.

I wasn't referencing time commitment as a judge which is tiny, I was wondering about the TC powers that be because he actually said it wasn't just the month which the show takes it was the increased profile of his chefs that starting from Marcel and other lower level chefs I am forgetting but to chefs who were running his restaurants like Michael Voltaggio and Mike Isabella getting outside investors and leaving that made it not worth it.

He and a few other chefs started them having to cast outside the box because after Vegas many kitchens said no.

Edited by biakbiak
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Julia

Julia

(edited)

He may feel that way - I couldn't say - but the only source I've ever seen for it was Mike Isabella bragging to the NY Post about what a loss he was, in an article Andrés wouldn't comment for (I assumed because what Andrés was unhappy about was being linked to Isabella's douchey behavior).

Mike V. was working for a hotel in CA when he competed, and Marcel was working for Joel Robuchon.

Edited by Julia
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Julia

Julia

I think the rumors may have stemmed from this article, which largely dealt with the writer's feelings about the quality of the cheftestants last season based on their web bios, but got a number of its few facts wrong (notably the Mike V information and the fact that Mike I appeared on All Stars with Andrés' permission two years after he supposedly instituted the ban). I think it may have grown in the telling somewhat over time. 

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ProudMary

ProudMary

https://www.frontiersmedia.com/frontiers-blog/2015/12/28/top-chef-caters-for-25-gay-weddings-in-palm-springs/

 

 

The January 7th episode, titled ‘Big Gay Wedding’, will see the chefs cater for a joint wedding of 25 gay couples in Palm Springs for their Elimination Challenge. The ceremony was even officiated by host Padma Lakshmi, who was ordained specially for the occasion.

Among the couples married will even be two Top Chef alumni. Rich Sweeney was a contestant during season 5 of the show, while Sandee Birdsong competed during season 3 and has served as a culinary producer for the series since season 7.

 

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Vermicious Knid

Vermicious Knid

So there's one comment under the Eater article above on the Jeremy rumors, that I sincerely hope is wrong.

 

Hard to believe considering he seems like a complete twit, but some chefs friends in Los Angeles said Phillip makes it to the top five just making dishes he serves at his restaurant. I don’t believe it, but supposedly that’s what he has told people. Though seeing that thus far he is just making dishes from his restaurant, there may be some truth to this rumor. Wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t know how to cook anything else.

 

But we are down to 8 now and he's still hanging on.

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Christina

Christina

Back around Christmas, my cousin dropped off some Christmas cookies his wife's family makes every year. He asked if I watched MasterChef Junior and I told him no. He had placed bets on the finalists, and each week bet on who was going home that week. One of the kids had given an interview to a homeschooling newspaper discussing his experience, and Kurt thought it made it sound like he was the winner, but his wife said there way no way he wins and she was surprised he was even still in the competition. I told him that I thought they stayed the whole time even when they were out of the competition, so I didn't think his statements gave anything away. I don't remember that kid's name.

 

He then said that he wanted to adjust his bet before they closed the option like they did with Top Chef, after there were several bets placed on the same final three. I told him that was Great British Baking, so he showed me on his phone the statement from the gambling site. I tried to pull it up to link it here, but both my firewall and spam filter gave me warnings, so the rest is from memory.

 

Someone recognized Kwame out somewhere when she was visiting friends or on vacation away from home. I think she knew Kwame as a chef from his local pop-ups. He was with a woman with pink hair and two other men, along with camera crews. After they season began airing, she learned he was on Top Chef and that they were filming in California. She said she wasn't in California when the photo was taken and someone decided it was the final four and posted the info somewhere. After all the bets were coming in, the gambling site suspended the bets on the final 3 pending review, in which they determined that the photo definitely showed professional crews and what appeared to be Kwame, Karen, Jeremy, and Amar, with Amar being shown later by himself. 

 

I tried to find the original photo mentioned, but googling only took me to Kwame's Instagram page, where he has a photo of himself with Karen and Chad in Boston. Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BApmfrxmaxN/I'm not really familiar with Instagram, but it looks like that was posted 2 weeks ago so it can't be the photo, but I do wonder if they were together for something unrelated to Top Chef that was caught by the original woman above and mis-interpreted. 

 

Kurt won $1200 dollars off a $100 bet several years ago betting on the Bachelor or Bachelorette. If you bet after the first week and win, the payout is much better than betting on the final 2. He now thinks he has a system and bets on all the reality tv along with sports. The website he uses ends in .eu and has always paid out his wins. It seems like it's legitimate, but my spam protectors don't like it, so I don't want to link it. 

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AriAu

AriAu

Someone recognized Kwame out somewhere when she was visiting friends or on vacation away from home. I think she knew Kwame as a chef from his local pop-ups. He was with a woman with pink hair and two other men, along with camera crews. After they season began airing, she learned he was on Top Chef and that they were filming in California. She said she wasn't in California when the photo was taken and someone decided it was the final four and posted the info somewhere. After all the bets were coming in, the gambling site suspended the bets on the final 3 pending review, in which they determined that the photo definitely showed professional crews and what appeared to be Kwame, Karen, Jeremy, and Amar, with Amar being shown later by himself.

 

I LOVE the betting angle part!

One thing to remember is that for the finale, they often bring back the eliminated cheftestants to serve as sous chefs and staff for the finalists-while Karen (incredibly recognizable with that hair)  could easily make the finale, she could just as easily be on the crew for another cheftestant.

In addition, they often make eliminated cheftestants be part of challenges that happen in public to prevent exactly the kind of spoilers you described above-when they were in Chicago, they had a tailgating challenge and I heard that the eliminated chefs had to cook there as well.

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Lamb18

Lamb18

Last night they ran a Last Chance Kitchen promo with a lot of clips of contestants - there was one person who I thought was Marjorie. Her face wasn't shown, but the body looked like hers.

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chiaros

chiaros

Last night they ran a Last Chance Kitchen promo with a lot of clips of contestants - there was one person who I thought was Marjorie. Her face wasn't shown, but the body looked like hers.

 

I watched that clip - which was within the first 15 minutes of the episode - with several rewinds (on my DVR) and yes, I believe it was Marjorie (correct body shape, height, long black hair pulled back, big pigtail).  I also saw, I think, Jeremy (a right forearm with tattoos almost down to the wrist with a pattern that was Jeremy's and not Phillip's; also larger arm and apparent taller and larger body frame than Phillip's) as well as who I think was Carl (a brief, slightly blurry full-body sideways-profile shot on the run, but the body shape and the profile, nose, hair, looked a lot like Carl's).

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Bastet

Bastet

Oh, bummer that Marjorie may not be in the finals.  I kind of like everyone who's left at this point (well, I can't exactly say I like Philip, and I think he's the weak link at this point, but I don't hate him), but I'm pulling for Marjorie, Kwame, and Karen.

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Christina

Christina

I LOVE the betting angle part!

One thing to remember is that for the finale, they often bring back the eliminated cheftestants to serve as sous chefs and staff for the finalists-while Karen (incredibly recognizable with that hair)  could easily make the finale, she could just as easily be on the crew for another cheftestant.

In addition, they often make eliminated cheftestants be part of challenges that happen in public to prevent exactly the kind of spoilers you described above-when they were in Chicago, they had a tailgating challenge and I heard that the eliminated chefs had to cook there as well.

 

It seemed improbable that someone could photograph at least one scene where the final four were together, and even moreso, that it would take place somewhere different then they were filming the season. But, I guess they have taken the final 3 to a different location to film in the past. I don't want to hope that these are all eliminated, because I like Kwame and Jeremy, but do hope it's true because it is a little funny to bet on something you don't watch and lose in such a way. I don't care how people spend their money, but I think that shows a problem.

 

That was a pop-up event that Kwami did with Karen and some others in Boston, I think. Nothing to do with the show.

 

I was guessing that he wouldn't post something about the final three while the episodes were airing, but also don't see him and Karen hanging out together. It would be nice to see these types of friendships. I was thinking that someone saw something like this and mis-interpreted it, but now wonder if it's not like AriAru posted above.

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biakbiak

biakbiak

I am curious how much cleaning was required for Fleur de Lys. The restaurant would have been closed for a year when they filmed and the entire dining room is literally swaddled in heavy fabrics and tapestries but from the brief clips it looked like it did when it closed in 2014.

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California Girl

California Girl

(edited)

Did the story at the bottom of the page give away that Amar makes the finals?

http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/gail-simmons-hits-the-catwalk-new-york-fashion-week?cid=soc_dg_fb_TopChef

Shows him in a theater, which looks like it could only be Vegas, which we now know is where Finale takes place.

Yes, I believe that it does.  If you watch LCK online, you see that Carl and Amar are the two finalists vying for that last chance to reenter the competition out of LCK (I was sorry to see Jason go after making it so far in LCK).  Since the clip above appears to show Amar cooking in Las Vegas, I suspect that he will be the one to make it out of LCK.  If so, I will be sorry to see Carl go.  Not only is he a very talented, hard working chef, who has always had to earn things for himself, but he is also from a great family (mom, older brother).  And though he does not discuss it on the show, Carl sadly lost his father to illness when he was still a young boy. 

 

As an aside, I recently had the pleasure of a weekend dinner at Marjorie's restaurant in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC, Ripple, and both the food and service were outstanding.   

Edited by California Girl
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Wings

Wings

After watching LCK last night and learning that the winner came down to a few grains of salt I guessed that it would be Carl who lacked salt given the nature of the 2 dishes.  Amar used mirin (salt in it) and capers (very salty) and pan roasted his fish so that salt would distribute.  Carl grilled his and had an apricot chutney with it.  I believe it will be Amar though I want Carl there and I want him to win! 

 

If they were crafty they used that pic of Amar being a sous chef on purpose.  I just don't think they go to those lengths.  

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Totale

Totale

If they were crafty they used that pic of Amar being a sous chef on purpose.  I just don't think they go to those lengths.  

 

Sure they do.  At the end of last night's episode there was like a one-second shot of four people running across the kitchen.  It took several tries with the freeze frame before i hit it clear enough to see the first person is definitely Kwame, who has to be there in sous capacity. 

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Bastet

Bastet

At the end of last night's episode there was like a one-second shot of four people running across the kitchen.  It took several tries with the freeze frame

 

I figured someone would do this; thank you.  I saw that blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of four people and thought, "Wait, so if I'd recorded this, I could go frame by frame and know who emerges from LCK as the fourth finalist?" and then realized there could be former contestants as sous chefs in the mix, too, so it wouldn't necessarily mean anything.

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California Girl

California Girl

Sure they do.  At the end of last night's episode there was like a one-second shot of four people running across the kitchen.  It took several tries with the freeze frame before i hit it clear enough to see the first person is definitely Kwame, who has to be there in sous capacity. 

Yes, but since the preview shot of Amar in the clip above actually shows him standing behind the presentation of dishes in Las Vegas, and includes a shot of him discussing the pressure, I am certain that means he is there not in a sous capacity, but rather as the LCK winner who returns as one of the finalists.  I am so disappointed that Carl did not make any other dish in his repertoire, he could have made the finals with a good - if not adventurous - attempt.

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chiaros

chiaros

Jeremy's sous chefs are Carl and Angelina, Amar's are Kwame but I couldn't make at the third. It is someone with dark hair pulled back based on height I em guessing Giselle.

 

Not Giselle. It's Marjorie. The trailer on Bravo's Top Chef website shows in full the two finalists selecting their sous chefs.

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Bastet

Bastet

Oh, then I am definitely rooting for Amar.  I already was, but if he has Kwame and Marjorie working with him, all the better.  (Not that I dislike Carl or Angelina, but I don't actively like them the way I do Kwame and Marjorie.)

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California Girl

California Girl

(edited)

Read the following Exit Interview the Washington City Paper did with Kwame after his elimination. 

 

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2016/03/03/top-chef-exit-interview-shaw-bijous-kwame-onwuachi/

 

When I first read it, I thought that Amar and Jeremy would probably be the finalists.  Why? Because he singles out Karen, Jeremy, and Amar for special distinction as people very different from him whom he really got to like (in the case of Karen and Jeremy), or someone he can rely on (in the case of Amar). 

 

Kwame is exceptionally likable, and he strikes me as one of those successful people who is also very good at networking.  I already knew at the point I read this article that Karen had been eliminated, but the fact that he additionally singled out Jeremy and Amar for special note, I thought, was telling. 

 

That could be, of course, because he and Jeremy were roommates, but I also think that it is because a rising talent like Kwame is adept at the art of staying close to his mentors and successful peers (a good trait to have).  So, based on the fact that Kwame says "I can call Amar [santana] at any time with a question about BTUs [for a stove], and he’s opened a bunch of restaurants so he can give me advice. I think those relationships and that boost of confidence are definitely helping," I am going with Amar for the finale's win! 

 

Though I see that he is Amar's sous chef for the finale, so perhaps that is where the special Santana Love comes from.

Edited by California Girl
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pennben

pennben

It's almost impossible for me to believe that this can be a spoiler so many years later......and yet it always is!  Unless, for some strange reason they decide to make it an anti-spoiler, eh, I can only try so hard.....

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NewDigs

NewDigs

(edited)

On the preview for finale, to me Padma looked to her right as she announced the winner. Amar and Jeremy were standing facing Padma (& judges) and Jeremy was on her right. :(

It didn't seem quite as obvious to me this time but she didn't need to pause after saying, Jeremy..., her smile said it all.

Has there ever been a, You are not Top Chef, finale?

They're all kind of a blur.

Edited by NewDigs
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Special K

Special K

I posted on another thread about watching Top Chef Mexico recently.  The way they announce the losers is to say, in Spanish, "It is you....."  and then there is a long searching pause while they show various people's facial expressions, and then they say the name.  Better construction for the drahma.

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