‘Top Chef’ Host Padma Lakshmi and Judge Gail Simmons Tease ‘World: All-Stars’ Edition in London: ‘This Season Feels Bigger’

usmagazine.com:

Pack your knives because Top Chef is heading to London! Bravo has brought together 16 of the best chefs from different international versions of the franchise to compete in a “World: All-Stars” edition.Season 20 of the Emmy-winning series, hosted by Padma Lakshmi with judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, will feature returning U.S.

contestants Amar Santana (season 13), Sara Bradley (season 16), Dawn Burrell (season 18) and reigning season 19 winner Buddha Lo competing against winners and finalists from other Top Chef iterations including Italy, Canada, Germany, the Middle East and more.“I wouldn’t call it a normal Top Chef season,” Lakshmi exclusively told Us Weekly while on set in London during fall 2022. “The merit of having these all-stars and having them be global is that not only do you get a crop of competitors that are already seasoned and know what the show is about and know more or less what to expect, you also have people who have been sort of the cream of the crop in their country.”Of the caliber of competition, she said, “I know so many Top Chefs who didn’t even win and who didn’t even make it past Restaurant Wars.

And yet their restaurants are full and their reservation books are packed and closed for months because of the experience and the exposure that they’ve received.

So here you’re starting off with people who are already at the top of their game, and that’s exciting. So it’s not at all like a regular season of Top Chef.”Simmons agreed, telling Us, “They’re all finalists or winners of their respective seasons so they’ve been in this game, they’ve won this game, they’ve conquered this game.