‘Top Chef’ season 14 receives official premiere date; eight chefs from past seasons will return

Is “Top Chef” doing a “Fans vs. Favorites” format similar to “Survivor”? While it may be wrong to designate it in precisely that manner, this does appear to be reasonably close to what the show is doing entering season 14.

Bravo announced today that their latest season will begin on Thursday, December 1 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, and that the competition is heading to Charleston, South Carolina, a place where Southern cooking will probably be highlighted more than in any other season to date. The big twist this time around is that eight new chefs to the competition will square off against eight others who were a part of another season of the show.

Is this an interesting idea? Sure, but the problem we’ve had with it when it comes to other shows is that the returning players always have an enormous advantage, given that they’ve been there before and know how to handle the pressure, the stress, and the production aspect of the show. All three seasons that “Survivor” had a tribe of returning players versus newbies, a returning player was declared the victor. Recently, “Ink Master” did something similar, but they had a newbie take home the title despite many returning players making it really far into the show.

From a judging standpoint, there is one thing in particular that does excite us: The presence of one Graham Elliot at the judges’ table. Graham was a judge on “MasterChef” for many years before departing that show, and we know that he’s got a ton of food knowledge and an excellent point of view. Here he joins Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, and Gail Simmons, who are all returning for yet another season of the show.

What do you think about the idea of this season? Share below, and head over here to get some other news when it comes to “Top Chef.” (Photo: Bravo.)