Chopped Fans Are Wondering Why Its Bizarre Foods Episode Didn't Have This Chef As A Judge
Though "Chopped" seems to be on pretty much every time you turn on the Food Network, fans still haven't gotten bored of it season after season. The show manages to keep things interesting not only with mystery basket ingredients that seem to get more challenging with each episode but also with a rotating panel of judges and guest judges. For five-part specials and tournaments, "Chopped" often brings in celebrity hosts. They brought in Alton Brown for the "Chopped: Alton's Maniacal Baskets" and Martha Stewart for "Chopped: Martha Rules." Fans on Twitter therefore expected it would be the same for their "Bizarre Foods" episodes.
Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern is basically the unofficial authority of anything and anything related to bizarre foods. After all, he hosted Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods," then went on to produce and star in a similarly formatted travel and food show called "The Zimmern List" (via Travel Channel). Anyone who's watched an episode of Zimmern's shows knows that the food featured on them could easily make for a very interesting mystery basket on "Chopped," and Zimmern would be able to provide feedback that no other judge could.
Andrew Zimmern was a guest judge on Chopped, but never returned
In 2015, "Chopped" had a "Bizarre Foods" themed episode called "Bizarre Baskets," and Andrew Zimmern was in fact the guest judge (via IMDb). The episode featured basket ingredients such as goat heads and jellied meat, a combination that proved to be such a challenge that the "Chopped" judges decided to take it on themselves in a behind-the-scenes special, per YouTube. Considering how entertaining the episode ended up being, "Chopped" went on to produce two more "Bizarre Foods" themed episodes, "Bizarre Battle" and "Weird, Wacky, and Wild!". Zimmern, however, wasn't a guest judge on either of them.
When a fan took to Twitter to ask host Ted Allen why this was the case, he responded by asking Andrew Zimmern, "So you'll join us, then?" to which Zimmern responded, "Anytime brother." Neither offered a specific explanation as to why he wasn't included originally, but based on the Twitter interactions between the two of them, it seems Zimmern is welcome in the "Chopped" kitchen for any future "Bizarre Foods" themed episodes.