The new host of “Top Chef” dishes on the “unanimous” finale decision, the experience of stepping into Padma Lakshmi’s shoes, and unbuttoning her pants to eat.
So naturally, when I got Kish on the phone this week to talk about the cooking competition show’s season finale, I asked if the possibility of taking over hosting duties played into her decision not to compete.
I don’t know. I’d kind of argue against the idea of holding them up to past contestants. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. I think every season there’s a moment where nerves or excitement, or something gets the better of you. And as a competitor, it takes a minute to click into this new alternate reality of cooking on television. It is new for so many of them. And who’s to say that any one season is better qualified or talented than any other season? I don’t find that to be true at all.
I remember Episode 4 where I did get choked up. When you see someone else cry, it’s a human response, perhaps. I remember the Frank Lloyd Wright episode when Kaleena and Alisha were both eliminated, and Kaleena was already crying when she was standing up there, she was fighting the tears back. And that’s really hard, because I can feel where they’re coming from right. It’s like, dammit! I don’t know exactly what Kaleena was feeling, but certainly she was disappointed, hence, the tears.
I mean, certainly not “I could do it better.” I never thought that, no way. I’m so out of practice, there’s no way I could ever do that better. I think by nature I’m a relatively empathetic human being, so there’s that part. Of course there’s a layer of having gone through it myself, and understanding what it feels like and what it will feel like after. It’s not just what happens during six-to-eight weeks on the show filming it.
One moment that felt very you was when you joked about unbuttoning your pants before sitting down for the finale meal. Is there something that you feel like you learned or took away from this season that you would bring to the next one from the start, maybe that you didn’t know when you started?
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