For the second time this year, a reality show personality has helped a person having a medical crisis. Last night at the Academy of Magical Arts Awards (what?), Survivor host Jeff Probst caught and helped a camera operator who had a seizure while filming him. “She fell into my arms, basically. She had a seizure… continue reading
Top Chef 5
Fabio Viviani wins fan favorite on boring Top Chef 5 reunion
Fabio Viviani won $10,000 thanks to voting viewers, who selected him as their favorite Top Chef 5 contestant. That was announced at the end of an extremely long reunion that made The Bachelor 13‘s second reunion seem like a Michael Bay movie. All of the content must have gotten lost in host Andy Cohen’s chest… continue reading
Tom defends Hosea; ratings up for Top Chef 5
The conclusion of Top Chef 5 helped make this season of the Bravo competition the highest-rated one yet, even if the winner was lackluster. On Wednesday, 3.74 million viewers watched, a slight increase from the 3.508 million who watched last June’s season four finale, and making the finale “the most watched cable telecast of the… continue reading
Hosea takes Top Chef 5 title from Stefan, Carla
Top Chef‘s fifth season is over, and Stefan Richter did not win the $100,000 prize. That seems to be the headline, because Stefan was ridiculously strong all season and seemed like the inevitable winner. Based upon the season’s arc–Stefan’s consistency, Carla’s ascension–the actual winner, Hosea Rosenberg, is kind of confusing, at best. Hosea wasn’t weak,… continue reading
Top Chef gives eliminated chefs a chance to return
For its penultimate episode, Top Chef 5 threw the final four a curve ball by allowing one of the three previously eliminated chefs–Jamie Lauren, Leah Cohen, and Jeff McInnis–to re-enter the competition by competing in a quickfire challenge. Fabio said it best: “These guys got kicked out, all of them. Now, they’re going to be… continue reading
Top Chef judges never considered sending Leah home
Top Chef 5‘s judges really had their heads rammed far up their crock pots last night, sending home Jamie Lauren and keeping Leah Cohen. Leah is the chef who quit midway through the quickfire, and is also the chef who maybe kind of made out with another chef, even though they’re both in relationships, and… continue reading
Tom Colicchio’s $175/person restaurant sells out; he plays guitar for charity
Part of CBS Sunday Morning’s food-themed episode Sunday featured a profile of Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio that explored his career and philosophy about food–and actually ends with the famously cranky judge actually smiling and laughing. Perhaps more surprisingly, it includes photographs and video from the days when he had hair. The profile introduces us… continue reading
Top Chef 5 has record debut but fewer viewers than Project Runway
Top Chef 5‘s debut Wednesday night was the show’s highest-rated debut ever, but the show still attracted fewer people than watched the season premiere of Project Runway 5 this summer. Overall, 2.695 million total viewers tuned in to watch the 17 chefs get narrowed to 16 after the first Quickfire challenge and then one of… continue reading
Top Chef 5 heads to New York, loses Ted Allen
Top Chef 5 arrives at 10 p.m. ET tonight, just in time to drag the network out of its post-Project Runway, filler-filled (First Class All the Way is a joke, right?) doldrums. The first episode is 75 minutes long, and introduces us to the 17 new contestants who will compete in New York City. Besides… continue reading
Top Chef made $37.75 million from advertisers last year, signs new sponsors
Top Chef earned $37.75 million in advertising last year, and another $16.1 million this year, and thus we know that more product sponsorships and sponsor-focused challenges are on their way. Advertising Age reports that product placement works: Top Chef 4 “posted high brand recall for sponsors such as Toyota (67% vs. the cable average of… continue reading
Toby Young replaces Ted Allen as judge for Top Chef New York, which will have 17 contestants
When Top Chef 5 debuts in November, it will have a new fourth judge: Toby Young, who replaces Ted Allen on the panel, which still includes Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and host Padma Lakshmi. British journalist and food critic Young is the author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which Bravo’s press release… continue reading
Top Chef 5 currently filming in New York
The fifth season of Top Chef has made itself at home in Brooklyn, and is currently in production. That means that there have been chef sightings in the New York City area, although perhaps the biggest news is how few of them there are, especially in a city like New York. Last week, Eater published… continue reading
Top Chef 5 may film in Brooklyn this summer
If reports are correct, Bravo’s soon-to-be-marquee series and MTV’s formerly signature show will both be filming in Brooklyn this summer. That’s because Top Chef 5 will reportedly be filmed in Williamsburg, not far away from the downtown Brooklyn location that’s hosting The Real World Brooklyn. Eater reports that “inside sources” say “that the Season 5… continue reading