Wearing the same smelly shirt, getting cut off from the outside
world and sharing the ice cream machine. Grab your knives and
find out these really weird rules that cooking show contestants have to follow.
When applying to appear in a cooking competition, there are a few key requirements you need to pass
in order to be considered. Some requirements have to do with your skill level in the kitchen,
but other metrics are a bit more black and white, including your age.
In a casting call for the cooking competition "Sugar Rush" found on
Backstage, contestants were required to be between the ages of 21 and 69. Beyond that,
there were not many additional demographics that the show was looking at when considering
which talent to cast in the show. Of course, other cooking competitions will have more
obvious age limitations. If you were looking to compete on a show like "MasterChef Junior",
you would have to be between the ages of 8 and 13, according to the show's website.
Depending on what competition you are applying for, your level of culinary
skill will likely need to be disclosed. After all,
if you want to compete on a show like "Nailed It!" which is known for less-than-amateur bakers
attempting to recreate elaborate cakes and pastries, then Netflix probably is
not searching for someone skilled enough to compete on "The Great British Baking Show".
That said, "The Great British Baking Show" does have certain limitations when casting
their show. While the contestants are highly skilled at baking, they cannot have acquired
any professional certifications in baking or food production within the last 10 years,
according to the show's website. Whether the cooking competition is looking for newbies or
seasoned professionals, it wants to make sure that there is a level playing field
amongst its contestants from the start. After all, it wouldn't be nearly as fun to watch
"Nailed It!" with a lineup of contestants who actually knew what they were doing.
"Oh it's awful!"
"How much salt did you put in there?"
"You put only salt in that!"
"Really?"
"You put salt instead of sugar!"
It may come as no surprise, but the episodes of your favorite cooking
competition are filmed well in advance of it actually airing on television.
Even a show like Food Network's "Holiday Baking Championship" is filmed in the middle of summer,
as host Jesse Palmer disclosed in an interview with Sports Illustrated. That is a considerable
amount of time between filming and airing, and the networks want to keep the final results of
the competition a secret from the public until the episodes are available to watch.
In order to maintain secrecy, all contestants are typically required to sign a nondisclosure
agreement, or NDA, after being selected to appear on the show. While eager chefs probably
want to tell their friends and family all about their experience on the show,
they must wait until the episode airs before discussing the results.
It can take a considerable amount of time to film just one episode of your favorite cooking
competition, but when watching the episode, it can seem like it all happens within the 30 or
60-minute timespan of each episode. According to a former contestant's interview with Seattle Met,
a show like "Top Chef" can easily pull 16 hours or more of work per day when filming.
Unfortunately for the contestants, Insider reports that long film periods often means that they need
to repeat the same outfits throughout filming to maintain continuity for the editors. And no,
the contestants are not afforded five of the same t-shirt, meaning they may need to re-wear
the same clothes without washing them. Not exactly ideal conditions, especially for a show
like "The Great British Bake Off" that films rain or shine under its iconic outdoor tent.
Some competitions have the same number of contestants across each episode, like "Chopped",
which always begins with a lineup of four chefs. Other competitions, like "MasterChef,"
have had varying amounts of contestants over the years. Regardless of how many contestants
you see on television, there are typically one or two alternates waiting in the wings.
According to E! Online, five chefs are selected for each episode of "Chopped",
with the fifth designated as the alternate. The alternate
chef is there in case of an event that would disqualify one of the regular contestants,
such as major injury or failing to report to the set. That way, the producers do not have
to go looking for a replacement in the middle of filming. You probably would not recognize
when the episode airs if any of the competing chefs were originally selected as the alternate.
One of the hallmark features of any cooking competition is the amount of time chefs have
to complete each challenge. Time limits are implemented to keep filming on schedule,
as well as to add some drama to the experience.
According to E! Online, those time limits you see on television are not dramatized in any way,
as those are the exact time limits contestants have on set. That can be extra stressful on
a show like "Chopped", where contestants are not given advance notice on what those
mystery ingredients are going to be, and no extra time is given to come up
with your ideas. Once the clock begins, there are no pauses, breaks, or resets.
The clock will wind down no matter what, and contestants have to use that time wisely. E!
Online reported that "Chopped" host Ted Allen advised contestants to practice cooking various
dishes in under 20 minutes, because that's truly how much time they have while filming.
While advanced-level and professional chefs may not need to rely on written instruction
when preparing a dish, it may be beneficial to have one on hand when competing in a high-stakes
cooking competition. Unfortunately, such an advantage is not permitted in many instances.
According to The Cinemaholic, cookbooks are plentiful where the contestants are living
during filming, and those resources can be used as a reference if one were to study during the
off days. However, once on set, those aids are not permitted, and neither are cell phones,
which could be used to access online recipes. It makes it all the more impressive to see
elaborate dishes being made under such a tight time frame when you know that each
step is coming off the top of the contestants' heads. Other shows like Nailed It! provide at
least somewhat vague recipes to contestants that may not have as much experience in the kitchen.
"Sal didn't even look at the recipe." "Oh my God!"
"A little water…" "That did not look right."
"He hasn't even turned on his tablet."
"Sal's renegade."
For most cooking competitions, it's important that
the contestants are at around the same level of proficiency in the kitchen,
as well as making sure the tools those contestants are using are the same.
While the majority of cooking tools are provided to contestants,
there is one category of equipment that chefs are allowed to bring, at least for a show like
"Chopped" - their knives. According to E! Online, contestants can bring up to seven knives for use
during the competition. This is likely due to the fact that chefs take great pride in their knives,
so it may not be worth it to try to force a new, unfamiliar set of knives onto a chef.
Contestants have to maintain discretion in regard to who they communicate with
during production. Even before the finale is reached, contestants are closely monitored to
make sure they are not speaking with the outside world. According to Seattle Met,
contestants for the show "Top Chef" are assigned handlers not only to make
sure they arrive on time each morning, but to essentially be chaperoned everywhere they go.
Not only can contestants not talk to the general public during filming,
but they also cannot interact with the producers. One producer for "Top Chef"
explained that they were on set to solve any issues when they arise,
but otherwise they would not speak to any of the contestants. It may feel a bit bizarre to
be brought to set and not be allowed to chat with certain people, but it is all a part of keeping a
level playing field as well as keeping the final results a secret from the public until the end.
"Can you believe it's the final challenge?"
"No I cannot believe it."
"Crazy!"
"It's the fastest/slowest journey of my life."
No matter which cooking competition a contestant is appearing in, they will
usually be given their own individual workstation with a selection of tools,
equipment, and appliances that is for their use only. But there are
some appliances that are few and far between on set, and that decision is intentional.
At least for a show like "Chopped", there is only one or two of each appliance on set that
the contestants are forced to share. According to E! Online, the decision to include only one ice
cream machine was intentional, despite multiple contestants wanting to use that appliance in a
single round. Especially for a show like "Cutthroat Kitchen", which is designed to
throw various curveballs at the contestants during cooking, it is to the producer's
benefit to keep certain tools or appliances at a minimum to create added stress in the kitchen.
When it all comes down to it, the purpose of most if not all cooking competitions
is to present the best dish to the judges. The food is usually judged based on taste,
presentation, creativity, and in some instances, the inclusion of required ingredients. But what
you may not realize is that for some shows, the judging does not stop at the edge of each plate.
While it is usually not shown on air, the judges will sometimes inspect each chef's workspace as
a criteria for how they judge the overall dish. According to E! Online, the contestants on the
TV show "Chopped" are not only critiqued on the food itself, but also on their workspace.
During this inspection, any number of things could be looked at or examined as part of
the overall judging of a dish. Ingredients that did not make it onto the plate might be tasted,
and for some shows like "Masterchef," cleanliness is also considered when visiting the workspaces.
"Everyone listen up a second! We're not gonna tolerate disgusting working
conditions. This is a kitchen, we have sanitary standards."
It is all a part of how the judges assess each contestant and,
depending on what they find, it may play a huge role in who is ultimately eliminated.
Next time you watch your favorite cooking competition, count how many plates a
contestant prepares for the judges. Depending on what the camera captures,
you may notice more finished plates at the chef's workspace than there are judges.
Including extra dishes is not just something a contestant may do to hedge their bets that
the best meals are placed in front of the judges, it is a requirement for the show.
In most instances, a cooking competition will include B-roll footage of the dishes that a chef
has prepared, which can take some time to capture. This could take place while the judges are eating
the remaining dishes, so the show might require an extra dish to be prepared for the sole purposes of
filming and photographing. According to E! Online, it can take hours to film this additional footage,
and the production does not want to hand off a plate of room-temperature food to the judges.
Also, for a show like "Chopped" that does a grand reveal of which dish is eliminated,
it is important for there to be an untouched dish without any bite marks
for that dramatic moment when Ted Allen lifts up the silver cloche.
Depending on how many contestants there are on each television show, there can be a lot
of food produced in a short amount of time, and the production does not want the food to be tossed
at the end of a filming day. Of course, it is a different story when the food is undercooked
or inedible, but most of the time, there are some stellar plates of food that will wind
up going home with somebody. People Magazine reported that on "The Great British Bake Off",
baskets are prepared at the end of filming days with each contestant's baked goods,
so everyone has a chance to try what everyone prepared that day.
That also goes for the unused food from the pantry areas. Those pantries are stocked with just about
every food item a chef could need, but depending on the challenge, only a small portion would be
used. On "Top Chef", the producers get to take any unused food home at the end of the day, since
filming can take weeks and pantries will need to be restocked periodically with fresh ingredients.