What The Cameras Don't Show You On Top Chef

Since 2006, reality competition series "Top Chef" has graced televisions far and wide, and there is no doubt that some pretty interesting things have happened both on and off-screen over the years. Of course, we've seen some shocking eliminations, shocking wins, and shocking antics on the actual show. But did you know, for one thing, that contestants apparently are not allowed to have a basic household appliance in their rooms? Were you aware that there is someone who tries dishes but does not appear in front of the cameras, like some sort of phantom of the judges' table? And do you know what happens to all of the food that the cheftestants do not utilize during challenges?

Those questions only scratch the surface. If you're a "Top Chef" fan, or just someone who appreciates quality food related competition shows, keep on scrolling to learn what goes on behind the scenes of "Top Chef."

You might think that being a judge on "Top Chef" means you get to try all sorts of delicious sweet and savory dishes that no one else on earth (besides a select one or two) gets to try. And you're correct in that belief. But you can't have the simply decadent and tasty without also having absolutely horrific gastronomic catastrophes. As EW reported, Padma Lakshmi shared at a New York Times panel that it doesn't matter how horribly unappetizing a dish is — the judges still have to dig in.

But can these dishes really be that bad? Yes. Yes, they can. Take, for example, the culinary disaster from Season 2 that was chocolate ganache with a chicken liver stuck in the middle of it. This monstrosity was both conceived and concocted by Chef Ilan Hall, who actually went on to win the title of "Top Chef," and apparently, it was not exactly a culinary hit. "The worst thing I've ever eaten was the chocolate ganache with a morsel of liver in it," Padma Lakshmi said in the East Bay Times in 2008. Clearly, it stuck with her: Years later, she mentioned the dish again to Bravo's The Daily Dish, noting, "It was terrible!"

When the "Top Chef" judges are split 50/50, and it's 4 o'clock in the morning, and everyone is exhausted (and no one wants to even consider altering their opinion of the dish in question), it's time to call on the only other reputable source for unbiased food opinions. As executive producer Shauna Minoprio shared with the Daily News in 2007, they also run the dishes by a technical coordinator and set photographer who goes by T-Bone. "So he's sort of the inside mole, and if you want to get a sense of whose food tasted the best and who he thinks might do well at the judges' table, go ask T-Bone," Minoprio said. 

So technically, you could say that "Top Chef" has three main judges, one or two guest judges, and an officially unofficial judge who gets to try the food without being required to share his takes on national TV. 

As previously mentioned, a good television show is just a series of camera shots that have been seamlessly edited together to create a storyline that engages viewers. That being said, it doesn't mean that each sequence was filmed in that exact order (or that one person's filmed reaction actually fits with what was said to them). That, friends, is the power of editing — and the power of suggestion, because editors can also use their revision prowess as a way to subliminally suggest to spectators that the "characters" they're watching aren't actually the way they are in real life.

In an interview with Parade, "Top Chef" judge Gail Simmons explains that everything you see at the judges' table is just a condensed (i.e., super edited) version of how the four judges came to their final decision. Editors have taken four hours (sometimes more) of footage and maxed it out at 12 minutes or less. Former producer Shannon Wilkinson told SeattleMet.com that filming can last anywhere from six to eight weeks, with a lag time of around two or so months between regular filming and filming the finale of the show. That's a lot of footage to condense into less than 60 minutes.

"Pack your knives and go," is the phrase that you really just don't want to hear, and when you watch chefs get eliminated, most of them are, in fact, devastated. But just because they get the chop doesn't mean that they're allowed to go home. On the contrary. In an excerpt from the book "Notes from a Young Black Chef" (via RadarOnline), Season 13 cheftestant Kwame Onwuachi shares that the gap between the actual filming and the date the show is aired is so long that all the eliminated chefs are kept in a house until the season finale is filmed. In an interview with The Washington City Paper, "Top Chef" Season 6 contestant Mike Isabella noted that "rangers" kept tabs on the eliminated contestants while they're staying in said house. "If you go out, they go with you," he told the outlet.

A fairly common practice for reality TV competition programs, keeping all of the axed contestants cooped out throughout production is a way to try to thwart spoilers.

According to SeattleMet.com, the culinary producers of "Top Chef" spend roughly $5,000 on food for the chefs to use during competition. This includes the quickfire rounds, which usually have an almost altar-esque table filled with artisanal cheeses, obscure meats, and brightly colored fruits and veggies as the competition's focal point. And if you've watched at least one episode of "Top Chef," you know that this elaborate culinary setup usually remains untouched by chefy hands.

So what happens to this table overflowing with that looks like a homage to the foodie gods? Shannon Wilkinson, the former culinary producer for "Top Chef," told SeattleMet.com, "Since these challenges were often weeks apart, we would take any leftover product that would have spoiled back to the hotel and have dinner parties." Even so, Wilkinson noted that there was always some food that did not get eaten before expiration date, and so, it went in the trash because, ya know, it's not exactly safe to consume spoiled food. "We always made sure the caviar was saved," he added.

When it comes to the very end of the very last episode of each "Top Chef" season, there are two things that are very clear: Someone just got really rich really quick, and unfortunately, that same person isn't going to be keeping the entire amount of massive moolah. It's sad, but true, because whoever wins the massive payout will also have to pay out some massive cash to Big Brother — and no, we don't mean the reality show.

According to TopChefStats.com, over the course of 18 seasons, over $3.4 million has been awarded. In the first five seasons, the "Top Chef" champion won $100,000. However, this amount increased substantially over the next few seasons, and as of Season 18, the prize money had jumped to $250,000. However, as pointed out in Forbes, all game show winnings are taxed by the federal government as normal income (bummer), and that the IRS can tax up to 37%. It's amazing how that $250,000 score could shrink to $157,000 — and that's not even factoring in the amount owed to the state.