Is Beat Bobby Flay Fake?

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has starred in several different cooking reality shows, amongst them Iron Chef, Throwdown With Bobby Flay, and his most recent offering, Beat Bobby Flay, all of which have the premise of cooks going head to head to see which one can win in a battle of the chefs. As the title of this last-named may seem to imply, it's a rare amateur chef who can actually go up against the great Bobby Flay and pull out a win. While numerous Bobby Flay fans probably haven't the slightest doubt that their white knight in a black apron can do no wrong in the kitchen, Showbiz Cheat Sheet reveals that other viewers are growing slightly suspicious of the fact that Bobby seldom seems to lose. So what's the scoop? Is Beat Bobby Flay the real deal, or is it faker than a WWE kayfabe storyline? The truth, it seems, lies somewhere in between those two extremes.

While Bobby Flay is quite the culinary whiz, at least when he can keep his feet off the kitchen utensils (as in the notorious Iron Chef incident where he stood on top of his knives and cutting board), he's not the absolute expert in every single dish out there. In fact, one area in which he can and repeatedly does drop the ball (or the bombe), is that of dessert preparation. Baking really isn't his thing, and, lucky for him, few of the contestants on Beat Bobby Flay challenge him to see who can, say, whip up the best pie crust. While most of the show's fans do not believe the judging is rigged, they do think the producers may well be stacking the deck in Bobby's favor when it comes to selecting contestants who might be a bit less challenging for him.

Another aspect of Beat Bobby Flay that strikes some viewers as pretty phony, or at least stagey, is when Bobby goes straight-up pool hustler, acting like, "Wow, I've never cooked that dish before." Since he was not only an Iron Chef contestant but an actual Iron Chef, it's not as if there are too many dishes that would seriously stump him.

Whether Beat Bobby Flay is entirely fake, or Bobby Bobby really is the super chef he claims to be, the bottom line is — does it really matter? The show has been on the air since 2013 and there's still no shortage of hopefuls who truly believe that they will be the one who can, finally, beat the big man himself. And even when they don't, hey, it's all good, since they still got to be on TV.