Getting eliminated is rarely the goal on reality competition shows, but since Season 9 of Top Chef, the acclaimed cooking competition has lessened the impact by offering chefs a path to return. I’m not sure what the expectation was when Last Chance Kitchen first launched, but over the last decade plus, it has produced three winners and several other players who made really deep runs after returning. Current host Kristen Kish is one of those winners, and she’s pretty sure she knows why so many others who took the same path have been so successful.
Kish sat down with Deadline as part of the Contenders series to talk about her Emmy nomination and the show’s Season 23 success. Not surprisingly, the subject of Last Chance Kitchen came up, given Rhoda Magbitang was eliminated and returned via the behind-the-scenes competition to win the whole thing. Kish offered a fun little observation, partially from personal experience and partially from being around the show, as to why so many chefs do so well after coming back…
