The one thing that I find “interesting” about Chopped is that the judges really and sincerely focus on the food.
I have seen overtly gay participants eliminated several times. Yes, Ted is gay (or, maybe he just presents himself as such having been the food editor for “Queer Eye”?).
I do cringe when a contestant is over-the-top regarding their “gaity”. It has nothing to do with their prowess as a chef and, for me, makes me wonder about HEP-C and other “queer-centered” virii and diseases.
I feel the same regarding heavily tatooed chefs...do I need a HEP-C booster to eat at those restaurants?
Many of the early judges used to go for the sob stories (and it was obvious). Thus in more recent seasons the contestants all started to trot out sob stories until they got a selection of judges who were able to be impartial about it.
I do concur that I’ve never seen the judges given a damn whether or not the contestant is part of victim group X or not.
Some of the lesbians are the worst. “I’m doing this for my ‘wife.’ I can’t wait to win so I can take my ‘wife’ on vacation. My ‘wife’ is my biggest supporter. My ‘wife’ and I do everything together. Did I mention I have a ‘wife’?”