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Food Network Screws Up Again, Prematurely Reveals Winner Of Chopped Champions
Published on: September 9, 2009 – 9:14 am by Jillian Madison 
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Another month, another embarrassing screw-up for the Food Network.
At 50 minutes into last night’s premiere of Chopped Champions, it all came down to James vs Natalie. Who would it be! Who would move on! Who would be chopped! The suspense was so thick, you could cut it with one of Guy Fieri’s tacky knives.
Time for a commercial break!
With ten minutes left in the show, the brilliant people at the Food Network ran a promo of next week’s episode with James saying something like, “I already won twice… and now I’m ready for a 3rd victory.” OH NO THEY DIDN’T!
Imagine that. The entire show! Completely spoiled, like Melissa D’Arabian’s milk.
Nice move, Food Network! Way to piss off the 9 people who actually cared about the outcome.
(Thanks to everyone who sent the tip!)
Other posts on Food Network Humor:
---OOPS: Food Network Accidentally Reveals Winner Of Unaired Challenge---Next Food Network Star Winner: Melissa D’Arabian
---HUGE SPOILER: Did Food Network Reveal Next Food Network Star 6 Winner?
---Next Food Network Star Finale: And The Winner Is…
---The Worst Of Food Network Magazine (June 2010 Edition)
THIS WEEK: Ina Garten's "beginner" recipes, new Food Network shows starting in September, thumbing through an issue of Semi-Homemade magazine, Rachael Ray's daytime talk show, Aarti's "accountability group", Claire Robinson on Big Daddy's House, another sensual reading of Alex Guarnaschelli's tweets, sink or swim voicemail, and much more.
“My milk may be spoiled but SOMEHOW I got it for half off.” — Melissa “truth challenged” D’Arabian
That little ‘oops’ by food network really spoiled it for me…I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when the commercial played.
My fiance was watching Chopped with me, and he goes, “isn’t that the guy from tonight? They gave it away in the promo!” I was like yeah they do that a lot.
I checked food network humor this morning just to see if you guys were talking about this. Personally I was pretty pissed and don’t feel that he should have won in the first place.
I noticed that too FNH!! I was wondering if anyone else had picked up on that.
Another way to tell if a contestant is going to win is based on the confidence level. The more hesitant the contestant is and the more the judges talk about how awful the prep looks, the more likely the contestant is to win.
I didn’t much care who won after they sent the lackadaisical gay man home. Still, it pissed me off, after sitting through 50 minutes of that horrible shit.
The ingredients they give them are so ridiculous, as is the time constraint, that it’s uncomfortable to watch.
I saw that “oops” last night too! I also was dissapointed that Sandy the gay guy went home. It seemed as though they had it in for him because he didn’t run around all crazy like everyone else. And I noticed too that the more they talked bad about someone’s food, the more likely they will continue.
I would like to see the judges do what they expect the contestants to do. I would also like to see a show where the judges didn’t see everything the chefs were doing. James put so little ceyenne pepper in his food last night and they acted like it was soooooo hot! I bet if they hadn’t seen it, they wouldn’t even have noticed!!
I think I hear a few heads rolling at FN!
@CherryRose
Phht…. in that fail up network called FN; Susie probably took credit for it and gave herself a raise.
So was angry woman what’s her name one of the judges… I forget her name (italian) but she is the one that was one of the culinary “elite” on NFNS (not the neelys)
“…what’s her name one of the judges… I forget her name (italian)…”
You mean Fat Alex? :))
That one. Alex Gsomething.
Dang, I have only watched chopped a few times but then disdain she shows is just over the top mean, I can only imagine how much she would spew on a finale.
I think it’s Alex Guarnaschelli – or something close to that. DH and I have watched “Chopped” more than any other FN challenges because we like Ted Allen. I try to imagine what I might come up with while using the various ingredients ;)
The angry squat little woman is Fat Alex Guarnaschelli.
Actually watching her detracts from the show. Where they got this little bush pig I have no clue, but I’d love to kick her in the big fat ass of hers.
Not sure I understand all the hostility directed at Alex Guarnaschelli who is one of the few people employed by the Food Network who can, you know, actually *cook*.
Can’t we go back to bashing on Mommy of the Year and Sunny Anderson and that 5-ingredient chick who looks like an extra from bad 70s porn?
I record the show so I can fast-forward through the commercials so I didn’t notice this. As for the judges I really like chef Amanda Freitag. I hope she wins the next Iron Chef title!
I hate the way Fat Alex glares at the contestants!!! I watched part of her show once (I couldn’t make it through the whole thing) and she was trying to be all funny and I thought wtf?!!!!
I’m actually more confused than anything.
There are 4 epsiodes of the choppped champions. We all found out who won the first one 10 minutes early, but does the winner of the first episode compete in the second epsidoe? Against people who have not competed in the champion series yet? So the winner of the first show must win more competitions that anyone other contestant…and has the ability to win more money? What kind of system is that? It doesn’t make any sense at all.
As weird is that is I hope that’s the truth…because my main concern was that they actually showed scenes from the final epsisode.
Just another of the horrible programs on FN that I won’t watch.
Alex is just rude. Last night she barked at Natalie, let me finsish speaking, like she was talking to a child. It may be for the drama of it all, I don’t know. She’s just wound a little to tight for me.
Off topic, but did anyone watch the Neeley’s Sunday? He used Ya’ll at least twice in most of his sentences, just like Paula Deen. Yuck.
LOL @ Silvio. Alex = bush pig – hahaha!
She always looks likes she smells something stinky.
“LET ME FINISH SPEAKING!”
I didn’t watch the Neely’s Sunday but this is at least the 3rd time Alex has whipped out that line.
“..She always looks likes she smells something stinky.”
And, all the while, she’s thinking, “Geez! I hope that’s not me!”
Oh quit picking on Alex…she’s just grumpy because she’s HUNGRY! They don’t feed her enough or fast enough on chopped. That’s why she’s always upset about the entree not being large enough.
They did this to me a few months back when catching a rerun of the Next Food Network Star. I was close to the end trying to catch up before the finally and out of the blue comes a promo for the Next show, completely spoiled it.
Boooooooo
When hard ass Alex Gu-wanna-piece-of-me said “Let me finish speaking”, my first thought was who the hell do you think you are? Judge Judy??!? She ruins the show.
On the show, how difficult is it going to be to be the final chopped champion if you have to win five total competitions? Of course, this is FN, so one may consider that, like NFNS, the fix is once again in. I mean, taking the (lack of) ethics and character of Bob and his ilk, there’s no reason not to believe it’s rigged for some unknown reason.
It’s stupid to make the winner of the first round have to win each consecutive round to win the championship. No competition works that way. It should be quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
How is it fair that someone is able to win more money than the others based on which show they are scheduled to be on.
Chef Alex should never be described as hard assed.That thing back there she carries around is soft & giggly like a 68 inch round StayPuft.
As for Chopped, I find the overall quality just OK, finding myself tuning into the program to see exactly what Chef Big Bucket is gonna say next.
I don’t get the hate against Alex G. either. She knows her stuff, she can cook and she is clearly playing up the grumpiness for the cameras. And she’s not THAT cranky.
However, I agree with previous comments about the fairness of “Chopped Champions” if the winner of the first round has the opportunity to collect $40,000. If he loses round two, the new winner could only potentially win 30K, and so on. Hardly fair.
It’s not a bad show, but I’d change a lot. The judges should only be allowed to critique what is on the plate, not how it got there. Whether the chefs ran around like crazy or played it cool doesn’t seem to be an issue for “Iron Chef America.”
Producers can force someone to clean up if there is a sanitary problem. Otherwise, Ted shouldn’t be allowed to bring up a sauce that was made but not used, for example. He’s not a judge, he’s the host. If a chef didn’t get food on enough plates, the judges should not be allowed to share. And so on.
How do we know Alex G. can cook? Did she establish her credentials on a previous series (I have to admit I don’t have time to watch a lot of programs) or are we just taking FN’s word for it that she knows everything? Even if she is the most expert of all the experts in the world, she still acts snotty to the contestants.
FN released this statement through their facebook page apologizing for the screw-up…
“To Our Loyal Chopped Viewers: Food Network sincerely apologizes for the on-air promo that prematurely revealed the winner of the first round of the Chopped Champions competition. We thank you for your comments and want to reassure you this error wil…l not happen again. We value our viewers and hope you will continue to tune-in every Tuesday in September for more twists as Chopped Champions continues to unfold.”
I guess better late than never…
I think I heard Alex make a comment something along the lines of “they’re serving chefs here, so we need more food!”, regarding the size of some of the plates.
Also, I think if they’re giving them crap ingredients to use to come up with something “gourmet” in only 20 or 30 minutes time, Ted Allen needs to keep his butt away from the chefs and stop wasting their precious time with small talk!!!!! You can just see the frustration on the chefs’ faces when he does that. They’re trying to be gracious and answer him politely, but you just gotta know that they’re seething inside!
Not too sure about Ted Allen. I actually liked him when he was on Top Chef, but since leaving, I find him annoying on Chopped and Food Detectives. A lightweight trying to be a heavyweight.
There is just so much you can do with a competition format and I suppose asking Chef Derriere to be nasty to everyone is part of the slop they think is riveting TV.
They ought to have an episode where the judges compete against each other, and let some real-life chefs do the judging. I’d love to see Alex try to come up with something involving crawfish, mango, strawberry jelly and oatmeal… or whatever else they throw at her.
And it’s easy to guess who is going to win the competition, just try to figure out which contestant Alex wants to sleep with. The male judges on either side of her don’t dare cross her. They know perfectly will they might find their testicles in the next basket of ingredients.
ssssSlightly off topic, but related to FN hiccupps: did any one notice on Iron Chef this week featuring IC Morimoto, that they overdubbed his voice when serving to the judges (Tiki, food critic???)???????
Pardon me if I’m incorrect, but was he not speaking English? Granted, heavy accent (he is JAPANESE), but still comprehendibile.
Oh wait, I forgot that FN is now just catering to “Y’all, you know, you dumb f*CKs who never been ut of your hometown who never have any international expieirence ‘cept at the Taco Bell”!
I’m truly embarrassed for the general view of the American people, but admittedly, know where the producers are coming from.
Poor Chsef
““Y’all, you know, you dumb f*CKs who never been ut of your hometown who never have any international expieirence ‘cept at the Taco Bell”!”
Ah hem….. If one is going to brag about being a world traveler implying vast intellect…One may want to run a spell check.
Actually Wahoo, when somone is implying they’ve read somone’s post as you have, you should probably actually read the post and understand it before crying aboot spelling. What’s next; claiming your “FIRST!” to post?
Fred, Alex G had an FN show called the Cooking Loft where it is said she is the executive chef at butter (this was also mentioned in NFNS– they ate there in like the first challenge or something).
@Rob, I guess you are correct. Silly me, I thought there were several misspelings there but I don’t know much “aboot” the subject. Care to enlighten? Because I dont want to play flame wars.
dank dillweed…what an appropriate screen name.
I’m agianst them too. It seemed to me you implying dank Dillweed had the opinion stated in his/her quote. It’s obvious to me, when he/she said that they were presenting an opinion they felt was expressed by the FN, and what FN thought of people. Hence the last statement aboot being “embaressed for the general view of the Amercian people.”
I guess I felt that instead of actually reading the entire post and trying to understand the context, you went straight to complaining aboot bad spelling. Which is just really lame and typical.
But I apologize if i’m wrong.
@Dank Dillweed. Yes, I found the dubbing on Iron Chef a little insulting. He was speaking English, after all.
No Rob, I accept the drubbing but only because my spelling humor was in poor taste for my first post here. You did misunderstand me but I present an olive branch rather than a prickly pear. I also somewhat agree with the statement about what FN is becoming….which is why I’ve enjoyed reading here.
Deal, let’s both prepare some olive branches and then have Judge Alex G scowl at us for it. Lord knows we would have argued for another 30 minutes just to have a poorly placed promo tell everyone the outcome before it happened.
Yes, Alex G scowls and Anne Burrell always looks like she smells doggy doody.
The format of Chopped itself makes little sense to me because it makes appetizer the most important dish. They should keep all 4 contestants till dessert round, or mix up the order of the dishes. Would be funny if someone gets chopped for screwing their dessert first.
They have always dubbed english over Morimoto…nothing new except you as a viewer. They seem to think he Is hard to understand.
I saw Chef Fat Alex G. compete on some lame Food Network Challenge and not sure if she won or not, but I’d love to see her and her large backside compete on Chopped.
I can hardly wait to see the day some competitor tells Ted Allen to “get the fuck outta my way, you maggot” . I know it’s coming because Tuschman will find a way to exploit the moment.
I thought I read somewhere that Morimoto is not totally comfortable with his English prefers the dubbing… but I’m not sure. Can’t find source. His English doesn’t seem that bad. *shrug*
That’s hilarious! Too bad I don’t even care for the show to have seen the mishap for myself. :)
Bless me Father for I have sinned, I misspelled words on my FNH thesis. I will pray the rosary, and watch TWO episodes of IronChef reruns.
First off, I DESPISE reality shows, and avoid them, but wifey had it on. So please excuse my ignorance of previous episodes of aforementioned show, did not know it was standard operating procedure on FN to overdub the English-challenged.
Secondly, let’s get off our high horses about spelling. We’re not writng our masterpiece here. Not that this is an excuse, but iI wrote this on my dumbphone, which isn’t the easiest to type on, and I misspelled, not perfect like some of you. Sue me.
n se
@Dank – you are four-givin my sun.
@ Byrdie, love it! Thank you, but I will probably be in the “Confessional of Misspelling” soon enough. I guess I’ll have to wear a big scarlet letter, only a letter, ‘cuz ya no i’z only got a six grade edumacation, and can,t spell a full werd.
@Dank – maybe youz shud git ‘hookd on foniks’
Hay, it werkt 4 mi!
@Dillweed; Don’t be so sensitive. I admitted the post was out of line for a first time comment……..
Sensativity is all I got left. And a WHOLE LOT Of cynicism and sarcasm. Besides that, I’m a beaten man. I’ll lay down and cry now.
Sorry to hear that Dillweed, really sorry.
@ Wahoo: Many thanks on the compassion, I am nominating you for a Nobel peace prize. Mother Theresa and my therapist are SO jealous.
@SHEL “It’s stupid to make the winner of the first round have to win each consecutive round to win the championship. No competition works that way. It should be quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.”
Indeed. The way they have structured the competition is bizarre. So, if you were in the first round and won, you could potentially take home $40k, if you win each successive week. But, if your first appearance is in round 4, the most you could win in $10k. Unless they employ some strange prize payout scheme next week, this seems unfair to the other participants. Makes no sense. I figured the competition would be structured at least somewhat as you described.
On another note, I’d love to see the judges put in the competition in one of the shows and see how well they do. Maybe they’d lose some of the condescending and haughty attitudes they sometimes display. Good point, too, about Allen should just stay out of the kitchen while the competitors are preparing their dishes.
Aaargghhh!!! This post ruined it for me. I would have fast-forwarded through the commercials and missed the spoiler, but now my planned hour of Tivo viewing is ruined. Damn you, FNH!
I don’t know if I got a different airing or what (Long Island, here), but the Chopped Champions commercial actually aired 10 minutes INTO the show for me. I believe it was when they went to break right before chopping the appetizer loser. At that point, all four players were still in the game.
Also, @B: Yeah, it’s unfortunate that the course order has to go in, well, proper order. After the entree round, dessert is so anticlimactic. In almost every episode, there will be one “I don’t make dessert ever” contestant, and the vast majority of the end results are weak.
Maybe it’s me, but I still can’t understand how food is judged objectively for its taste. What tastes good to me and my tastebuds, might not taste good to another judge, but it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the dish or how it was prepared. It’s simply how it tastes to ME.
HGTV did it, too, on Design Star. Twice I watched the later showing only to see a commercial for the next week showing who was left remaining. Argh…..
SoccerMom, you are thinking way TOO logically for FN programing. You have to stop doing that or you will need serious psyciatric help for the rest of your life. It’s not about FOOD! It’s about developing personalities that can eventually hawk some cheap line of cookware or knives or boxed brownie mix at an unbelievable markup!
I watched a show from
Chopped today which was repeat. One of the chefs had cut himself and was bleeding and he didn’t wash his hands or put a bandage on his cut. I can’t believe that the Chopped “Judges” would send this chef on to the last round!
I don’t care how good the food is his hygiene is definitely to be questions. Although the judges did not award him the $10,000 prize they put him through to the last round double-dipping spoon and bleeding all the way to the end.
Remind me to never eat at any of your restaurants!
guys, he’s talking about his first regular win and his one chopped win. the chopped champions episode he’s in (that night’s one) starts with the same shtick. that’s all…
No.
I suppose that the reason they created this format is because they started out with 13 champions, and that wouldn’t fit evenly into a “rounded” championship. This way, there’s always four cheftestants because the previous winner becomes the fourth person. I totally agree that this’ ridiculous and unfair — the people in the last show can’t possibly make as much as those in the earlier ones.