Q&A with a 'Top Chef' Season 5 Crew Member

An anonymous "low level crew member" of Top Chef season five decided to come forward on Reddit.com and answer questions about the show. "I can't tell you anything that I think Magical Elves might sue me for...but I'll try to be as specific as I can." A few good nuggets:

On Padma:

She wasn't dumb, but she was a major diva who expected preferential treatment and complained about things the other judges didn't care about. She got along better with Gail than she did with Tom—she and Tom were like cats and dogs

On editing the contestant interviews:

They do interviews after someone gets eliminated. People keep tabs on what they wore during different segments, so that they can change into those clothes for the interview. They talk in the present tense and the producer helps them recount what they did and why they did it. This way the contestants don't get hints about what's coming in the future.

On who was awesome:

Danny, Stefan and Eugene were awesome, easy to talk to and a riot, Danny especially. People were sad when they found out he'd been cut. Stefan was super nice and people liked talking to him, and I had no idea until I watched the show that he was being painted as the bad guy—he opened a beer for me once without me even asking.

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