While there’s a lot of “weight” to the elimination challenges, during the early days of Top Chef, I can remember contestants getting a little goofy and letting off steam by drinking after they competed. Sometimes those contestants would be a lot looser-lipped by the time they had to face the music a short time later. But judge Gail Simmons recently opened up about some Top Chef secrets, and I honestly didn’t realize how much time contestants had to wait to be judged when the show is being put together.
How Long Do Top Chef Challenge Results Take, Really?
In fact, Gail Simmons recently revealed some of the more complicated challenge results can take nearly a third of a whole day to work through. Like I’m seriously talking about 7-8 hours, particularly early on in the show's history. It sounds like they have it down to a science a bit more these days, but when people are passionate about the pros and faults of one dish over another, it can be tough.
People don’t know how long the judging process takes. There were years that the judging table alone took 7, 8 hours. Hours! Now, it’s about 3-4 hours, you know, sometimes more during the finale.
It’s even more complicated given sometimes the challenges take a really long time to complete even before the judges start yapping. Contestants have been candid in the past about how hard the 24-hour challenges are, for one example.
Article continues belowSo, why does the judges table take so long? There’s one word that explains it: “unanimous.” The judges must be 100% on the same page about who is winning and who is going home, or they have to keep talking about it, as the longtime Top Chef judge admitted in her appearance on The Chef’s Cut.
The reason it also takes a really long time is because during that debate when we are just deliberating and figuring out who wins and who goes home, we all at the end have to agree with each other. It has to be unanimous.
That last bit is interesting to me, because throughout the show, and even in the current Carolinas season, sometimes eliminations have been a bit controversial. It makes me wonder if sometimes one judge feels more strongly about one person going home over another, and then they collectively have to get on the same page about it. It’s not a majority; it must be unanimous. And while even Padma Lakshmi did say everyone gets along before her own Top Chef exit, needing to be on the same page complicates things.
I Also Learned Tom Colicchio Does Have Final Say… When Needed
So, what does Top Chef do if Kristen Kish, Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio and the guest judges don’t agree? Tom is the head judge. This is why we sometimes see him pop in with contestants before challenges, among other side challenges (such as this season's s'more's challenge), and Gail admitted he’s got the final say. She was quick to say, though, that he absolutely does not abuse the power:
Tom, as head judge, can have the veto power if it’s needed, but I can probably count on one hand of the hundreds of challenges where that’s actually had to happen because we can’t come to a decision.
Back in the day, while they waited, production would ply contestants with alcohol to make the ensuing TV better, as even famous chef and Top Chef: Masters contestant Rick Bayless has admitted. These days, there’s still alcohol, but there doesn’t seem to be copious drinking, and some of that may have to do with the times and attitudes of contestants changing, and some of that also likely has to do with the judges debate times being whittled down. Whatever it is, it’s still making for pretty good TV, though I occasionally long for the ‘I’m not your bitch, bitch” days.
Top Chef is currently airing on the 2026 TV schedule on Monday nights, only on Bravo. Or stream it and the latest “Last Chance Kitchen” twist via your Peacock subscription.
