The most deliciously stressful entry on the 2025 TV schedule is sadly close to leaving again, with Top Chef: Destination Canada set to conclude Season 22’s two-part Milan-set finale. It’s been a wild cycle for both cheftestants and viewers, with strong competitors like Massimo Piedimonte and César Murillo going home as Chi-Town’s Bailey Sullivan survived and thrived via Last Chance Kitchen. Host Kristen Kish paid this group the ultimate compliment, while also telling CinemaBlend whether or not she’d like to compete again.
When I talked to Kish about settling into her second year as Top Chef’s high-fashion host, I mentioned that this season, perhaps more than any other, had me switching my predictions for winner on a near-weekly basis. She agreed with that assessment, and shared that she reflected more than once on how she would have felt to be cooking against Destination Canada’s hopefuls, saying:
All of them are on these highs and lows and journeys and it is anyone’s game. And it was like that from the very beginning. Sometimes I think about like, ‘Oh my God, if I had to compete against all of them, and this was my season?’ Terrified, absolutely terrified. [Laughs.] They’re all so good.
Considering Kristen Kish was the first Top Chef contestant to take home the top honors after being eliminated and winning out on Last Chance Kitchen — which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription — one might think that she’d have an unwavering confidence in the realm of cooking. But such is the combined talent of Season 22’s chef pool that its talented host would be so intimidated.
avoided the dreaded early eliminations, and ended up taking the crown. But without a similar need for vindication, Kish is perfectly happy not putting that kind of pressure on herself again.
Only time will tell if Kirsten Kish ever does decide to don an apron again for the sake of competition, even if it’s not on Top Chef, but I wouldn’t count on it. Fans can definitely find her hosting the Season 22 finale, which will air on Bravo on Thursday, June 12, at 9:00 p.m. ET.