‘Top Chef’ finale preview: Nicholas Elmi, Nina Compton, and Padma Lakshmi in a bikini

Stop us when this one sounds familiar: As we near the finale of “Top Chef” this season, Padma Lakshmi is going to at some point be in a bikini. Really, we’re doing this again? We remember this happening at least once the last time that the show went to a tropical location, and it hilariously has no bearing on anything. We can almost imagine the pitch meeting where someone came up with this idea, which seems more akin to an out-of-context shot from “The Bachelor.”

Bikinis aside, the preview video below is really all about Nicholas Elmi and Nina Compton preparing for what will be their final showdown of the season, which is going to involve everything from a complicated dinner service to some past contestants from this season showing up and lending a helping hand once again. There are a ton of little components that make up just how each chef is going to do, but we feel like the two most important things are going to be the quality of the food, and just how well that contestant represents themselves as a Top Chef. After all, Bravo wants to have a winner that they can feel good about and celebrate, and both of these chefs have something that they can bring to the table.

While we know that “Top Chef” is not a cumulative thing, we are still sticking with what we said in our rankings recently: Nina is going to likely win this. The last time Nicholas had to do anything that involved service, it turned into more or less a disaster. He has to find a way to keep that focus and composure that he showed last time if he wants to have a shot at winning all of this in the end.

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Photo: Bravo