In a sea of unscripted exhibits that prioritize battle and drama, Kristen Kish is aware of that Top Chef stands aside. Serving because the longest-running sequence in Bravo’s repertoire, the present has outrun franchise staples like The Actual Housewives of Orange County and Under Deck. Kish, who gained the truth cooking competitors in 2013 and joined as host simply two years in the past, is aware of precisely what to attribute High Chef’s longevity to.
“When we look at Bravo as a whole, there are a lot of different kinds of reality television. This is the one that is a career-driven culinary competition,” she says. “The one thing we all have in common is, on every show, there is eating, there’s food. I like being the anchor and defining another space on Bravo and reality television. I think that has translated outward, not only in the Bravo universe, but in the reality television competition scope.”
One other distinctive side of High Chef’s piece within the bigger unscripted puzzle is its steady cycle of latest contestants and filming areas throughout the U.S. (and even a number of worldwide locales).
“Our culinary landscape is being defined by different people every single season. These people come on [Top Chef], we’re introduced to them, we learn different things about what other cuisines are, and that completely translates back into the real world,” Kish says. “When you look at competition reality television, there is no greater [format], to me, that translates from on camera to off camera, and the integrity of the show remains intact.”
Kish, who has acquired Emmy nominations for every of the 2 seasons she has hosted, notes that her previous participation as a contestant performs a big consider how she guides episodes.
“I know what [Top Chef] means for someone’s career, what it could do for you and how life-changing it can be. It changed my life even before hosting. Immediately after I got spit out from competing on season 10, my life started to shift in really wonderful, beautiful ways,” she says. “I understand that, of course, you want to be the last person standing, but I also understand, every step of the way, how that pressure builds upon each [competitor].”
From left: Clare Reichenbach, Michael Mina, Kish, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.
Paul Cheney/Bravo
This yr, as a hopeful actuality competitors host nominee and proponent of High Chef incomes one other actuality competitors sequence nom, Kish finds herself in a singular place as a participant on season 4 of fellow Emmys juggernaut The Traitors. She’s the one one that’s competed on the homicide thriller present who’s additionally been nominated alongside Alan Cumming within the Emmy actuality competitors host class (which he’s gained the previous two years, ending RuPaul’s eight-year streak as host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, in 2024 — see web page 28 for extra). She and Cumming didn’t talk about this tidbit whereas filming in Scotland, however “it was an unspoken recognition,” she says.
“I don’t look at Traitors and them being nominated as a win for me,” she admits of the Peacock sequence. “I will be happy for them if they win. I will be happier for us if we win.”
High Chef was just lately renewed for a twenty fourth season, and Kish is wanting ahead to persevering with her tenure because the present’s main lady. After taking on internet hosting duties from Padma Lakshmi in season 21, Kish is now the plain face of the sequence, one which represents the repeatedly evolving way forward for its programming, which prioritizes culinary skillfulness.
“Having been someone that has competed, judged and now hosted, I’ve seen the full 360, and I can confidently tell you [Top Chef] is everything that I expected it to be. Being a competitor, hoping that what we do as the chef is taken as seriously as it is behind the scenes,” Kish says. “The chefs come first, and the food always comes first.”
