Stubborn, Short Fuse, Arrogant: Why Do the Yes, Chef! Competitors' Confessional Labels Always Change?
Series executive producer Kevin Lee explains the show's witty titles for their chefs.
NBC's new culinary competition series Yes, Chef! distinguishes itself from other cooking programs with a unique psychological component. Each of the 12 highly skilled chef competitors who came into the series are well-regarded in the industry, and they cook like champs. But they have some... issues.
All of them were nominated by a friend, family member, or a colleague to join Yes, Chef! because they struggle with a personal Achilles' heel holding back their career. Be it a hot temper, an outsized ego, a problem with teamwork, or self-doubt, each chef will cook and be observed and mentored by series hosts Martha Stewart and José Andrés to overcome their fatal personality flaw.
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Yes, Chef! executive producer Kevin Lee told NBC Insider that the show's uncommon twist amps up the personal stakes for all 12 chefs, but they also try to ensure that no one takes themselves too seriously.
Yes, Chef!'s creators make sure the competition series maintains a sense of humor
Like many other competition reality shows, Yes, Chef! includes weekly competition rounds, timed challenges, and individual confessional videos where each chef shares something personal right to the camera about their lives, strategy, thoughts, and behavior.
All season long, the show's producers have distilled each chef's primary "problem" down to a wry or witty label that serves as a quick shorthand for the audience that does double duty in diffusing the high tension by spurring a laugh. Any time you see an episode cut to a confessional, the chefs' names are joined by a rotating list of problem areas; if one chef has a problem with being "too arrogant," the next chef could be labeled "also arrogant," and so on.
"It's there to help remind the audience of the specific behaviors that that individual chef is working on during the show, but we wanted to do it with a sense of humor because we're not looking to call somebody out specifically," Lee explained. "We wanted everybody to understand that José and Martha have these same personality problems in their career. Nobody is pointing a finger or living in a glass house, so to speak."
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While Yes, Chef! does aim to be a conduit for these talented chefs to improve their whole selves by providing awareness and a path to behavioral improvement, Lee also agreed that it's still a show meant to entertain.
"We didn't want it to be too serious, and we wanted to have fun with it because it's a big part of the format," Kevin said of these cheeky on-screen titles. "We wanted to have a little bit of a wink and a nod so that the audience could have fun with it and know that we weren't seriously pointing the finger at these chefs. And that's kind of why we try to weave in the humor."
New episodes of Yes, Chef! premiere on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, following The Voice. Each episode will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
