Top Chef season 23 winner Rhoda Magbitang praised the judges for how they handled Chef Sieger Bayer giving his feedback on the judges’ feedback.
ICYMI, Sieger snapped at judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and host Kristen Kish after being eliminated for serving warm chicken liver pâté. For the record, Sieger had already been eliminated earlier in the season, but returned when another contestant had a medical emergency.
Chef Rhoda told PEOPLE about Sieger’s instantly infamous hissy fit. “It’s all raw emotion, and there are a lot of things that we all feel as chefs, especially when we put ourselves out there to be just so vulnerable and be judged.”
“What I thought was really heartfelt and just very genuine was the exit of Sieger on that episode. The Quickfire Challenge that happened right after Tom, Gail, and Kristen were in the studio, and we were just kind of talking. I totally thought that they were going to air it, but they basically addressed it.”
Instead of trash-talking Sieger, the judges empathized with how stressful the competition can be. “Gail Simmons said that she’s surprised that it doesn’t happen more often, that chefs flip out and just get their emotions put out there for the world to see. And she’s so right.”
Chef Rhoda added, “I thought that was really nice. I thought it was really great that [the judges] addressed that. They made us feel comfortable with the situation and tried to move past it.”
