The Reason Tom Colicchio Thought His First TV Appearance Would Be His Last
Respected chef Tom Colicchio was never a stranger to food. According to PBS, he was also involved in cooking as a kid, observing his mom and grandmother in the kitchen. His dad encouraged him to follow his passion as he delved deeper into the world of food, teaching himself to cook. By the time he was a 17-years-old, he'd already earned his first gig in the restaurant industry at Evelyn's Seafood Restaurant in New Jersey.
He followed this up with jobs at several popular eateries in New York including Rakel, Mondrian, The Quilted Giraffe, and Gotham Bar & Grill. Over the years, the chef has managed to make himself stand out in the industry with several restaurants, cookbooks, and TV appearances that can all be attributed to his name. However, it's worth nothing that things weren't always this peachy for the chef. In fact, the first time he was on television, Colicchio was so overwhelmed that he thought he'd never do a show again. This is why.
Being on television was a stressful experience for Tom Colicchio
Tom Colicchio is now perhaps best known for being a judge on the popular show, Top Chef, but it took him awhile to get to where he is today in terms of TV. The first time he was asked to be a part of a television show, he wasn't sure whether he felt ready for it. In the 1990s, he appeared on Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, intimidated by the filming process. In fact, he missed rehearsals because he didn't know he was supposed to attend. This managed to annoy a producer who, Bon Appetit reports, told him, "You're going to mess this up, I can't believe this, I should just cut you right now."
While things weren't too bad during the actual filming process, Tom Colicchio couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Plus, when things didn't go exactly as planned on the show, Regis commented, "Well, that's what happens when you miss rehearsal." While Colicchio assumed he was joking about him, Regis was, in fact, referring to himself because he didn't manage to attend the rehearsal either. Later, Colicchio was praised by staff members and although he was encouraged to come back, he was pretty convinced TV would not be a path he'd ever be pursuing again. Thankfully, as we've seen, his bumpy first experience didn't actually end up stopping him from becoming a small screen star.