Why Some Food Network Fans Think Beat Bobby Flay Is Rigged

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay clearly loves what he does for a living. On his website, the chef highlights his love for food and everything related to it. "First and foremost, my most comfortable place is in my kitchens — at my restaurants or at home," he wrote. "The apron I tie on is inevitably battle-stained with remnants of my creations — both the good and the works in progress."

That kind of passion rarely goes unnoticed, and this is definitely true for Flay. He's built an enviable empire for himself and has appeared on countless television shows, written cookbooks, built restaurants from scratch, and more. One of Flay's most popular shows is titled "Beat Bobby Flay," an entertaining contest on the Food Network that invites talented chefs to participate in a challenge against Chef Flay himself. 

According to a piece by CheatSheet, winning "Beat Bobby Flay" is a difficult task because Flay has many years of competitive professional experience to back him up. In Flay's defense, however, he does give his competitors the opportunity to choose the dish they'll be making while battling him. Most of the time, those who end up winning selected a meal that they think Flay isn't very confident about getting right. There aren't many options like that, unfortunately, and participants have to think hard.

Some viewers who watch "Beat Bobby Flay" believe that it's rigged in some form. Whoa. For example, a Redditor posted a thread asking other fans to comment with their thoughts on the show, especially their theories that things aren't as real as they seem. The original poster of the thread was basically unhappy about the fact that Flay wins so often on the program.

One commentator responded that they're unable to wrap their head around the fact that Flay gets praise and appreciation even when he uses pre-made ingredients to make something. "It kills me when he uses pre-made ingredients and the judges moan over how good those pre-made ingredients are when challenging chefs are killing themselves to make recipes entirely from scratch," they lamented. Yikes.

However, as per CheatSheet, Flay doesn't always end up being crowned the winner. If you're looking for specifics, he triumphs over his competitors 66% of the time. Again, the key lies in choosing the right dish to prepare. For instance, an ex-participant on the show, Tim Freeman, chose Pad Thai as his dish and that worked out well for him. It was my biggest strength and his biggest weakness," he revealed.