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Top Chef is a French reality television cooking programme broadcast on M6 and a few days later on RTL-TVI since February 22, 2010. It is an adaptation, by Studio 89 Productions (M6 group), of the homonymous American television programme broadcast on the Bravo channel since March 8, 2006.

Top Chef is a televised competition between several professional cooks (with a few exceptions) who compete against each other in culinary and gastronomic challenges for which they are judged by a jury that varies in composition according to the challenges. Four chefs are present in order to accompany the candidates throughout the competition and they notably make up the jury that decides which candidate will be eliminated during the so-called "last chance challenge" ("la dernière chance"). In season 11 of the competition, the chefs were Philippe Etchebest, Michel Sarran, Paul Pairet and Hélène Darroze. Several starred chefs regularly participate in the programme (for example, Gilles Goujon or Yannick Alléno).

The first season was presented by Stéphane Rotenberg and Sandrine Corman who was replaced by Agathe Lecaron in the second season. Since the third season, Stéphane Rotenberg has been presenting the television programme on his own.

Broadcasting
The programme was broadcast on Monday evenings at 8.50 until season 7, and from season 8 on Wednesday evenings at 8.50. The number of weeks for which each season ran varies. In Belgium, it is broadcast at 8.20 p.m. An episode of Top Chef lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Principle
After a casting carried out throughout France and Belgium, promising young cooks compete against each other in different challenges judged by juries made up of renowned chefs or of various public figures, in order to attempt to become the "Top Chef" of the year and win up to €100,000.

Generally, one candidate is eliminated by the jury at the end of each week's programme, reducing the number of candidates until the final, which sees the last of them compete against each other.

Participants

 * Presentation

The programme has been presented by Stéphane Rotenberg since the beginning, associated with Sandrine Corman during season 1 and Agathe Lecaron during season 2.


 * Jury
 * Jean-François Piège (season 1 to 10)
 * Ghislaine Arabian (season 1 to 5)
 * Christian Constant (season 1 to 5)
 * Thierry Marx (season 1 to 5)
 * Cyril Lignac (season 1 to 5)
 * Hélène Darroze (since season 6)
 * Michel Sarran (since season 6)
 * Philippe Etchebest (since season 6)
 * Paul Pairet (since season 11)


 * Candidates

The eleven seasons of Top Chef broadcast from 2010 to 2020 have seen 149 different candidates take part, including 33 women. Four female candidates and six male candidates participated in the competition twice, the fifth season having allowed the return of ten former candidates.

Of the nine seasons from 2010 to 2018, a total of 21% of the candidates were female, with a peak of 33% for season 5. The female winners make up 22% of the winners. This lack of parity reflects the applications received by the production and the gender imbalance in the field of gastronomy, despite the higher parity seen in hotel schools.

The number of candidates and of weeks of competition has varied throughout the seasons: from twelve candidates in the first season to sixteen candidates in the fourth. Equally, the number of weeks of competition (and therefore of episodes) has changed: between seven (during the first season) and fourteen (during the fifth and the tenth).

In February 2020, twenty-two Top Chef candidates were or had been Michelin-starred chefs in France and in Belgium, including sixteen who are still starred.

Seasons

 * Season 1 (2010)

Directed by Sébastien Zibi, Pierre Leix-Cote and Francis Cote, the first season was broadcast for seven weeks from February 22 to April 5, 2010. It was won by Romain Tischenko who won €100,000.

The candidates who participated in the programme were: Romain Tischenko, Pierre Augé, Brice Morvent, Alexandre Dionisio, David Fricaud, Benjamin Kalifa, Grégory Cuilleron, Yoaké San, Benjamin Darnaud, Anaïs Catherine, Renaud Ramamourty and Flora Lamoure.


 * Season 2 (2011)

Directed by Sébastien Zibi, Pierre Leix-Cote and Olivier Ruan, the second season was broadcast for six weeks from January 31 to April 4, 2011. It was won by Stéphanie Le Quellec who won €100,000.

The candidates were: Stéphanie Le Quellec, Fanny Rey, Pierre Sang Boyer, Paul-Arthur Berlan, Tiffany Depardieu, Ronan Kernen, Ludovic Turac, Alexis Braconnier, David Gilabert, Abraham De La Rosa, Matthieu Lestrade, Adrien Clauwaert, Grégory Delobe and Christophe Bibard.

Tiffany Depardieu, who finished fifth on the programme, won an alternative prize awarded by Internet users: Top Chef du Web, worth €10,000.


 * Season 3 (2012)

Directed by Sébastien Zibi and Olivier Ruan, the third season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI for eleven weeks from January 30 to April 9, 2012. It was won by Jean Imbert, chef of his own restaurant, who won €100,000.

The programme was now presented by Stéphane Rotenberg alone, after Agathe Lecaron decided to leave for France 5 in September 2011.

The candidates of season 3 were: Jean Imbert, Cyrille Zen, Norbert Tarayre, Tabata Bonardi, Noémie Honiat, Carl Gillain, Julien Burbaud, Denny Imbroisi, Ruben Sarfati, Juan Arbelaez, Florent Pietravalle, Mehdi Kebboul, Gerald Guille and Amélie Langlais.


 * Season 4 (2013)

Directed by Sébastien Zibi, Pierre Leix-Cote and Francis Cote, the fourth season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI for thirteen weeks from February 4 to April 29, 2013. It was won by Naoëlle d’Hainaut who won €100,000, with Florent Ladeyn as rival finalist.


 * Season 5 (2014)

The fifth season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI from January 20 to April 21, 2014. Ten former candidates competed against each other again:
 * Pierre Augé and Yoake San (season 1)
 * Alexis Braconnier and Tiffany Depardieu (season 2)
 * Ruben Sarfati and Noémie Honiat (season 3)
 * Quentin Bourdy, Julien Hagnery, Étienne Geney and Latifa Ichou (season 4).

It was won by Pierre Augé. He won a cheque for €62,480, proportional to the percentage of votes obtained.

Since season 5 in 2014, the winner no longer wins €100,000, but an amount proportional to the votes obtained by the candidate during the final. For instance, if the candidate obtained 70% of the votes, he would win €70,000. This led to a minor controversy started by Pierre Augé saying: "We can no longer win €100,000. The system is badly made. We win according to the votes during the final. 60% of the votes equals €60,000. As far as the second candidate is concerned, he doesn't get the rest. It sucks."


 * Season 6 (2015)

The sixth season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI from January 26 to April 13, 2015. Only Jean-François Piège remained as a juror, the other members of the jury being replaced by Philippe Etchebest, Hélène Darroze and Michel Sarran. The programme was also shortened to make space in the schedule for Top Chef: Les Secrets des grands chefs in the second half of the evening. It was won by Xavier Koenig who won a cheque for €62,230, proportional to the percentage of votes obtained.


 * Season 7 (2016)

The seventh season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI from January 25, 2016 to April 18, 2016. During this season, sixteen candidates competed against each other and three were eliminated right from the first challenge. Xavier Pincemin won against Coline Faulquier. He won a cheque for €52,500, proportional to the percentage of votes obtained.


 * Season 8 (2017)

The eighth season, called Le Choc des brigades, was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI from January 25, 2017. During this season, the three jurors Philippe Etchebest, Michel Sarran and Hélène Darroze were more involved in the competition. The candidates were divided into three kitchen brigades, each one coached by one of these three jurors, who were present in the kitchen each time a member of their kitchen brigade competed. Jean-François Piège is more present according to the episodes.

Moreover, victory was also played out between the chefs, each hoping that a candidate from their kitchen brigade would win. Jérémie Izarn (Michel Sarran's kitchen brigade) won against Franck Pelux (Philippe Etchebest's kitchen brigade). He won a cheque for €55,150, proportional to the percentage of votes obtained during the final.


 * Season 9 (2018)

The ninth season was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI from January 31 to April 25, 2018. During this season, fifteen candidates competed against each other and three are eliminated right from the first challenge. Camille Delcroix won against Victor Mercier. They were both on Philippe Etchebest's kitchen brigade. Camille Delcroix won a cheque for €66,920, proportional to the percentage of votes obtained.


 * Season 10 (2019)

The tenth season was broadcast on M6 from February 6 to May 8, 2019, and on RTL-TVI from February 11 to May 13, 2019. The candidates were now divided into four kitchen brigades, Jean-François Piège becoming a kitchen brigade chef. He takes part in all the challenges where his candidates are present. Samuel Albert, from Philippe Etchebest’s kitchen brigade, won against Guillaume Pape from Michel Sarran’s kitchen brigade. He won a check of €53 080 proportional to the percentage of votes obtained.


 * Season 11 (2020)

The eleventh season was broadcast in 2020 on M6 from February 19 onwards and on RTL-TVI from February 24 onwards. The chef Paul Pairet replaced Jean-François Piège as a juror and as a kitchen brigade chef.

Top Chef: Le Choc des champions
A special programme called Top Chef: Le Choc des champions confronted the last two winners of Top Chef twice. This scheme was modified by the third edition.

The first edition was broadcast live on April 11, 2011, on M6. It opposed Romain Tischenko (Top Chef 2010) to Stéphanie Le Quellec (Top Chef 2011). Stéphanie Le Quellec won this competition.

The second edition was broadcasted live on May 6, 2013 on M6. It opposed Jean Imbert (Top Chef 2012) to Naoëlle D’Hainaut (Top Chef 2013). Jean Imbert won this competition.

A new edition of Top Chef: Le Choc des champions was broadcast live on M6 on April 28, 2014. It opposed Jean Imbert, winner of the second edition, to Pierre Augé, winner of Top Chef 2014. For the first time, this special programme did not oppose the last two winners of Top Chef but the winner of the last edition of Top Chef: Le Choc des champions to the winner of the last edition of Top Chef. Pierre Augé won after his victory the previous week.

On April 20, 2015, M6 offered a new edition of Top Chef: Le Choc des champions, broadcast live. The winner received the trophy and the amount of €10,000. For this edition, a viewer was brought in as the fifth juror. Pierre Augé, the winner of Choc des champions 2014, won this new edition against Xavier Koenig, winner of Top Chef 2015.

As tradition dictates, the winner of Top Chef confronts the winner of the previous edition of Top Chef: Le Choc des champions. The programme was broadcast on M6 on April 25, 2016 and was won for the third consecutive time by Pierre Augé named "champion of champions" against Xavier Pincemin. He distinguished himself with breath-taking visuals which allowed him to win all of the points awarded by the audience on this criterion.

Norbert et Jean: Le Défi
This programme was born from the success of season 3, led by the winner, Jean Imbert, and semi-finalist Norbert Tarayre, who had become friends. In this programme, they have to accept more original culinary challenges than the others.

Objectif Top Chef
This programme was launched in November 2014, hosted by the cook Philippe Etchebest who travelled the roads of France in search of young cooking enthusiasts. At the end of the competition, the winner would take part in the next season of Top Chef. The programme was broadcast in access prime time.

Top Chef: spéciale célébrités (2018)
This special evening was broadcast on M6 and on RTL-TVI on May 2, 2018. During this evening, five candidates competed against each other: Caroline Receveur, David Douillet, Danièle Évenou, Baptiste Giabiconi and Issa Doumbia. The competition was won by Danièle Évenou.