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After falling short on his original season of Top Chef, all star Richard Blais finally tasted redemption when he was crowned the winner of Top Chef: All Stars.
Richard walked away with the $200,000 cash prize, beating out pal and fellow chef Mike Isabella for the title that has eluded them both in previous seasons.
However winning the big prize did not come easy as Richard and Mike had to create a four-course tasting menu for the restaurant of their dreams… in just five hours…. with the help of their previously eliminated contestants who might or might not have had their sights sets on more important things such as jet skiing in the Bahamas.
The judges had a difficult task ahead of them as both Richard and Mike gave them some superb dishes. In the end, Blais, who had won the most competitions during the season, came out on top with his “Tongue and Cheek” restaurant offerings.
“I didn’t think I could do it,” said an emotional Richard after being declared the winner. “You just don’t know. I don’t want to be cliché, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I willed this.”
A teary eyed Richard then called his wife who couldn’t be there due to her late pregnancy. “Jazmin, I won Top Chef… I won Top Chef,” he said. Jazmin and Richard welcomed second daughter Embry Lotus Blais on Feb 5. A photo of Richard and his family is below via the Ourlaboroflove blog, plus another photo of Jazmin and baby Embry as tweeted by Richard two days ago.
As for runner-up Mike, he expressed his disappointment in losing to Blais. “It hurts, 32 challenges, to come in second. It’s tough,” said Mike. “I feel like I beat him. I just didn’t get the prize.”
Richard’s prize also comes with a showcase at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic and a spread in Food & Wine magazine, but most importantly, the title of ‘Top Chef.’ Airing next week will be the reunion show.
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE TOP CHEF FINALE? IS WINNING ALL STARS SWEETER THAN WINNING A REGULAR SEASON?
Richard deserves to win this time. Mike doesn’t deserve to win as Top Chef after he stole Richard recipe few episodes ago. Karma is a bitch for Mike. If Mike plays honest this time and he would win. Just sayin’…
@me ~ Yep, always her fault. LOL
A spoiler is revealing the results of a show before it airs, example the Bachelor spoilers which are never posted in the titles.
For every website that didn’t post the winner in the title, I can name others that did example Huffington Post, E! News, NY Daily News, Hollywood Reporter and many more.
I’ve always done things this way so I’m guessing some of you might be newer readers. Plus the story was posted at 10:38 eastern time.
Changing this would be changing a bit, such as not being able to use the right photo, not having the right title for seo purposes etc. And then there are shows like the Bachelor which already has break-up stories ready to be published hours after the finale airs.
And I say this in the nicest way but I’m a sports fan and I don’t and wouldn’t go on espn’s website, twitter, or even facebook if I had yet to watch a game.
With that said, I will stop posting the winners’ names in the titles of the facebook and twitter links, and then perhaps take a poll to see what the majority wants and go from there.
I always do appreciate all the feedback believe it or not, good or bad! Always open for ways to improve the site
I’m with you, I don’t go on websites that will have info about the show (or sports team) unless I have seen it or will not watch it and want an update. =)
OK then – message received.
I’ve often read recaps before watching the show, because they’re entertaining and don’t really ruin anything. I’ve been a reader for a long time, and haven’t noticed this before.
In the future, after finale shows, I’ll avoid coming to RT, unless I want the show ruined for me. Thanks
@ me, myself and i again & to no one in particular:
who the hell would read a recap about an episode that determines the winner then complain that the recap included who won? what’s the definition of a recap for you then?
just sayin’………….
#56@anne_ooo/me:
………….hahahahahahahahahaha………
Like, [thank u Kelly, u dodo] Right?….soooo redicledockle…..imho….LOL
RT – Some people don’t alway watch shows right away especially with DVRs. People aren’t complaining you are posting it, -why not just put the winner name/pics/etc “after the jump”? Like you do with photos of the week, etc. People wouldn’t get spoilers, and those who want to read the article will still be able to. Seems simple enough,
@56 anne_000 LMAO!!! #truth
Okay, I have spent the past few hours doing some research, weighing out all the options, and most importantly getting feedback from readers.
I asked the twitter followers what they thought and the general consensus seemed to be to leave things as it is on the site but stop posting the results/endings for finale shows in the twitter and facebook links.
Which is what I had in mind. So I will make that change right away, in addition to putting warnings in the preview posts for the newer readers, letting them know the results will be posted the next morning.
I considered other options like perhaps waiting until noon but I doubt it would help as this one was posted at 10:38 am, not too far from noon.
While some other sites do things differently aka CNN, MSNBC, PEOPLE, and others. This site is a bit different because it is reality tv news 24/7 so waiting 24 hours to do a story, or not using the right image or title wouldn’t be ideal.
Certain feedback I just brush off, and then there are others like this where I do take some time to think about it, consider it, and weigh out the options.
It’s always tough to please everyone with a blog like this but I actually do try :–) Thanks again guys and I do appreciate all the support!!
First let me say I’m so glad Richard won. I wish he had been up against Antonia, but it was a sweet consolation that she helped him win. In terms of spoilers, I purposefully did not come to this site or any other today because I had DVR’d the show and couldn’t watch until this afternoon. I do post on twitter and follow RT, so that’s where I got the spoiler. Glad RT has now seen the light. No harm in writing the story in however much detail needed, just don’t put it in the title.
two words…pepperoni sauce! ha ha, i love gail. i really thought WWHL was awesome last night minus jen’s drunken antics…loved the video of padma and gail pigging out on bacon and hot dogs (am i the only one here convinced there’s a lot of pot smoking going on in the world of top chef?) and poor fabio not being able to hear was kinda cute.
i’m glad for richard he won, i don’t like him and i feel like he’s a little disingenious with the false modesty and the comments about how he hates everything he does – especially when in the next breath he’ll cut down other chefs. in my fantasy world dale talde would have still been there instead of mike…i feel like dale did a good job of redeeming himself this time around.
i LOVE the idea of a fan favorite show! as long as kevin and his pig tattoo came back. maybe then we could have a season of villains…bring back lisa from season 4…or we could have a season of second chances with chefs sent home first…okay, i’m going overboard but you get the idea lol.
I have watched every season of Top Chef and I don’t think there ever was a more deserving chef (except perhaps Brian Voltaggio). Richard is a perfectionist who just really desires to always do his best. He’s very critical of himself, but not normally others. He has always been willing to help others, as Michael pointed out on WWHL. Richard has a hamburger place and really wants to open a place where he can whip up all those amazing dishes. Please remember also that his wife was about to give birth and I’m sure he was stressing that he was away from her and might miss the delivery. Also, Richard blew it on his finale and he was one of the few that were honest enough to admit it. I know he didn’t want to fail again. He is a family man that cares about what he makes and providing for his family. A better man could not have won. I also saw online articles that said Antonia beat Mike (Wolfgang supposedly voted for her in the tiebreaker, but then Tom talked to him and he changed his vote). I’m proud of Richard and would support him in a second.
I DVR’d and watched the show BEFORE I came to a site where people would be discussing the show.. no complaints from me. I loved Richard’s work ethic and team work. Congrats to him. Mike stole a recipe, don’t feel bad for him. Carla is great.
And I loved Fabio’s pet turtle.
Had to do research? When you could simply put a headline, some info and say the winner after the jump and keep everyone happy?
Wow.