Is The Money In The 'Cutthroat Kitchen' Suitcase Real?

The cooking show "Cutthroat Kitchen" has what it takes to be a popular program. It features reputed names from the food industry, intense competition, drama, good food, and more. According to TV Over Mind, the show is particularly worth tuning into if you're the kind of viewer who likes extreme games. The reason? "Cutthroat Kitchen" features plenty of sabotages for its contestants, who try to churn out delicious dishes when confronted with a number of obstacles. 

Additionally, the show's producers are fairly insightful and try to prepare competitors as well as they can. The pantry always has all kinds of ingredients so that no one runs out of the stuff they may need to cook a good meal. This means that you'll find different kinds of alcohol, vegetables, fruits, spices, and more on hand for use.

And of course, participants on "Cutthroat Kitchen" have the chance to win a hefty amount of cash if they manage to play their cards correctly. How does that play out? Well, every "Cutthroat Kitchen" episode begins with the host, Alton Brown, handing out $25,000 to the participants.

Contestants on "Cutthroat Kitchen" work with the money they're given in the beginning to bid as wisely as they can while trying to beat their competitors. But while the money is, no doubt, attractive to look at, it's not real cash. Sigh. It does make sense, though. The team behind "Cutthroat Kitchen" doesn't want to take risks, so they use prop cash to ensure that no one tries to misuse it.

Brown revealed in an interview that it's useful to play strategically on "Cutthroat Kitchen" (via Yahoo! Entertainment.) He shared that some contestants know that it's wiser to not lose cash in the early rounds while others go all out too quickly. And yes, people do get to take the cash home but it really depends on how well they've played. "The lowest anybody's walked out of 'Cutthroat Kitchen' with is 300 dollars," he explained. Uh-oh. However, all hope isn't lost. According to PR Web, there was a participant in 2014, Chef Huda, who managed to go home with a large lump sum: $23,900.