Top Chef’s Gail Simmons Reveals How She’s Changed as a Judge After 20 Years, Teases New Season

US Weekly

Transcript

00:00Season 23? Yes. That's insane, right? You just wrapped filming in the Carolinas? We wrapped

00:06filming probably 72 hours ago. Oh, wow. Okay, so you're fresh off. Fresh. I am. It was great.

00:13It was great. Yeah. Does each season just get better and better? And you were in the Carolinas?

00:17We were in the Carolinas. What does the season bring? Well, it's funny. We've spent time in

00:23South Carolina, sort of in coastal Carolina before. We've never spent time in the kind of

00:28northern, more mountainous area of both North and South Carolina. So I learned a lot. It was

00:34beautiful. You know, it's a very unique food way, and it's just a beautiful, beautiful part of this

00:40country. The chefs this season are amazing and fun and up for the challenge, and we give them a

00:47challenge. Wow. That's incredible. I can't believe it's been 23 seasons. It's wild. It's wild. I was a baby when we started.

00:53Right? Well, it started, what, over 20 years ago? 20 years ago, and we shot it in 2005.

00:58So, you know, it's been the greater part of my adult life.

01:02How do you feel like your style has changed over the course of the seasons?

01:05My judging style? Yeah, your judging style. Yep.

01:07You know, ultimately, I don't think my style has changed that much, but what has changed

01:12is allowing us as judges to really speak freely and edit us less.

01:17Okay. I think the world of reality television has softened in a lot of ways, and our show in

01:23particular, Top Chef, is so much more about the food, the cooking, the kitchen, the chefs,

01:28than it is about reality that happens outside of the kitchen. Right, yeah.

01:32The real juice, so to speak, is what happens in the kitchen, and that's what our fans want to see

01:37and our viewers want to see. So that's where we've really focused our time.

01:41And my judging style, I think, has just been that I now allow myself and the show allows itself

01:49to be a lot more about constructive criticism than anything else.

01:52Sure.

01:52And that comes first and foremost. And I think, you know, the chefs overall will tell you that

01:57when we talk to them at judges' table, it's because we really want to have a true and honest

02:01conversation about food and find out their intention and give them good feedback so that

02:08whatever happens, they can do better.

02:10100%. I know that we are talking about World Mental Health Day, and we're talking about

02:14something that is deeply personal to you and your family connection to schizophrenia.

02:18Yes.

02:19This is something that you haven't talked about, right?

02:21Well, I've definitely talked about it in my life, but certainly I have never necessarily

02:27talked about it on a, you know, big platform publicly before.

02:31So why now?

02:33I mean, a lot of reasons. One, it's World Mental Health Day, and I think that mental health and

02:39mental illness is something that we all still don't talk about enough. And, you know, gathering

02:47around the table, feeding people, sharing food, sharing experiences, something that has always

02:53been an important part of my life in all ways and my career. But schizophrenia is something

02:59that's very personal to me. I had a brother who lived with a condition, and I finally found

03:05sort of the right platform and the right moment that I thought it was really important to share

03:12that information with people to try and change the narrative about schizophrenia. And the more you

03:19talk about it and the more people see people who they recognize, who they know talking about it,

03:25my hope is that more people will be able to come to the table and to make connections, find the right

03:32treatment, find the support that they need. And that will allow them to really, you know, benefit

03:42and help themselves and help their families.

03:45Definitely. Tell me about your brother.

03:46Sure. My brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was in his mid-twenties. I was in my late

03:54teens. You know, schizophrenia is a persistent, really disabling mental illness that affects how

04:03you feel, how you behave. And my brother struggled for a really long time. And it was a struggle for

04:12him and for us as a family. It affected us deeply, especially in my early adulthood. And it was very

04:19hard to find the right treatment and to find the right connections with healthcare providers and for him

04:26to feel like he was getting what he needed. Which is also why I am so happy to be partnering with the

04:33Colbamphic Connections Campaign and with Bristol Myers Squibbs to talk about it in a bigger way, to talk about

04:40treatment and how finding and making personal connections can really help in the pathway to

04:47the right treatment.

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