Since Top Chef premiered in 2006, the popular reality TV show has made many people famous. After all, there have been many memorable Top Chef chefs and Padma Lakshmi became extremely well-known, even though she found it hard to host the show.
Unfortunately, some of Top Chef’s memorable chefs have become known for negative things. Some examples of that include Leah Cohen, whose love life was destroyed by the show, and Alex Reznik, who was accused of stealing a fellow competitor’s food. Unfortunately for Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins, she was shocked to have gone from being popular among Top Chef fans to being hated.
Top Chef’s Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins Went From “Sweetheart” To “Villain” Without Realizing It
When the second season of Top Chef: Mexico aired, it was won by Gabriel Rodriguez, who would later compete in Top Chef: World All-Stars. That season also featured another talented young chef, Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins.
After failing to win Top Chef: Mexico, Claudette returned to the franchise by competing in the American version of the show. More specifically, Claudette competed in the 15th season of the show, which was titled Top Chef: Colorado.
While it was remarkable enough that Claudette went from one Top Chef series to another, that wasn’t what made her experience incredible. Instead, the amazing thing is that Claudette went from being beloved on Top Chef: Mexico to the villain of Top Chef.
In December 2018, Claudette was interviewed by the Robb Report about her Top Chef experience as a whole.
While talking to the
Robb Report
, Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins compared how reality TV stars are portrayed to professional wrestlers. “You know, it’s reality TV. I knew what I got into. Everyone needs a villain. My husband explained it perfectly. He says it’s like WWE. You’re the heel. The Rock was the heel and look at him now.”
Based on Claudette’s remarks throughout the interview, she had a really mature view of how she was perceived by Top Chef fans.
During the Robb Report interview, Claudette was asked how she felt about how she was presented on TV.
How successful was Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins during Top Chef: Colorado? | |
|---|---|
Placement | 8th Place |
First Time Eliminated | 2nd Eliminated |
Second Time Eliminated After Earning Her Way Back Into the Competition | 9th Eliminated |
In response, Claudette reflected on how she went from being popular on Top Chef: Mexico to being hated on Top Chef.
“I’m the sweetheart, like I was in Mexico or the villain as I was portrayed in America.”
After speaking about how differently she has been perceived, Claudette stated that she isn’t the good or bad person TV has portrayed her to be. “I’m in people’s thoughts in one way or another. It has been kind of cool to then prove to them that I’m not just that 30 second clip. I think that is coming through slowly, but surely.”
Even though Claudette seemed to take her Top Chef journey in stride, that doesn’t mean she expected she would be portrayed as a villain.
When she was interviewed by the
Robb Report
, Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins revealed why she would return to
Top Chef
if she got the chance. “It taught me way more than I would’ve learned by myself and growth that happens during that period where you’re dataless, family-less, and you go to those ugly parts of your psyche and it makes you a better person. It can’t not make you a better person.”
Instead, when the Robb Report asked her if she knew how she was coming across, Claudette revealed she had no idea she would become a reality show villain.
“Not while it was happening, no. Oh my god, no. You don’t feel it at all.”
That quote makes it fascinating to think about how other Top Chef villains may have thought they’d be perceived by fans.
During her interview with the Robb Report, Claudette detailed exactly why she had no idea how the show would go on to portray her.
Top Chef’s
biggest villain ever, Heather Terhune, told
TV Guide
in December 2011 that fans misunderstood how she treated Beverly Kim. “I think people made it seem worse than what it really was. I have a very direct personality and she does not. That’s not bullying. I have no ill will toward Beverly. She wasn’t a so-called target or anything.”
As Claudette explained, the show makes the competing chefs feel so comfortable that they’d never expect to be made the villain.
“They make you feel like you’re super comfortable, which is why you’re able to just kind of let your guard down and sit there and be like, ‘Yeah.’ I had one producer the whole season, so I was super comfortable with her and that’s where you let your guard down and your filter is non-existent.”
One of the most interesting parts of Claudette’s Robb Report interview came after she was asked about how she came across on Top Chef. Obviously pretty self-aware, Claudette was blunt about the part of her personality that made her a Top Chef villain.
“I’m brutally honest to a fault, I guess. I have a hard time with filtering. When I see something wrong, I can’t not say it. I think that being a mom of teenagers, I always tell them, ‘If you see something wrong, you got to say it.’ And well, it gets edited that way and it’s copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste from all these interviews.”
Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins Thought Being A Top Chef Villain Could Help Her Restaurant Succeed
During Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins’ aforementioned Robb Report interview, she spoke to the outlet to promote her recently opened restaurant. That resulted in a fascinating moment when Claudette suggested being a Top Chef villain could be helpful to the restaurant.
During the interview, Claudette was asked how Top Chef could affect her restaurant opening. In response, Claudette suggested that her haters could show up in hopes of seeing her fail.
It’s a little of a double-edged sword. People that didn’t like me will come in because they want to see a hot mess in the kitchen. It’s funny, I’ve actually read some of the Yelp reviews where it’s like, ‘If you come in looking to see Claudette be a hot mess, don’t, you should leave. She had it under control.’”
Claudette then went on to say that Top Chef could also be helpful since some viewers who liked her may want to support her restaurant.
Sadly for Claudette, her restaurant efforts at that time didn’t turn out to be a success. Instead, NBC 7 San Diego reported in July 2019 that El Jardin was closing and would reopen without Claudette involved.
