“They didn’t want an all-male finale”- Top Chef fans criticize the judges for eliminating Cesar over Bailey 

Top Chef Season 22 Episode 13, released on June 5, followed the final four chefs as they traveled to Milan for one last elimination before the finals. Though the season was Canada-themed, the change in location brought an Italian twist to the dishes.

The four remaining chefs—Tristen Epps, Shuai Wang, Bailey Sullivan, and Cesar Murillo—first took on a risotto Quickfire challenge. Then, they competed in three head-to-head rounds, with the winner of each round earning a spot in the finals.

He went for a celery root risotto in the Quickfire, which Tom Colicchio, the judge, didn't think was acceptable as it lacked the "riso," meaning rice. After that, round one was won by Shuai, and round two was won by Tristen. This left Cesar and Bailey in round three.

They had to make a dish that was centered around gorgonzola cheese. Cesar's butternut squash casserole with gorgonzola and a sage pesto didn't quite land over Bailey's crispy polenta gratinata with a bruleed gorgonzola, and he was eliminated. Fans of Top Chef came to react to his elimination on X. They thought his dish had a better appeal than that of Bailey's, so they criticized the judges and the producers for sending Cesar home.

"I'm so damn tired of this shyt. I know they didn't want an all-male finale. UGHHHH. Cesar deserved to go! So creative and innovative. So pissed off at the judges right now," a fan said.

The tweet above (Image via X/@bombasticl0ve)

"What????? Bailey deserves to be eliminated, not Cesar!!!!! That's outrageous.......!!!!" said another.

"Not gonna lie, I really want César to go to the finale. There's something about Bailey and her cooking that I'm just not vibing. Ultimately, I want Tristan to win the whole thing," added a third.

"I'm irritated over Top Chef and the last 2 people who got eliminated. Cesar and Massimo deserved to be in the finale!!! I see what you're doing, judges and producers, you don't want an all-male finale," wrote another.

Most fans of Top Chef didn't like that they eliminated Cesar over Bailey.

"I really can't believe they got Bailey over Cesar and Massimo... omfg. WHAT. I'm over it," an X user wrote.

"I honest to God don't remember any of Bailey's dishes... like this is insane that she won over Cesar and Massimo," said another fan.

"Wtf #TopChef is starting to be some bullsh*t. No way Bailey beat out Massimo last week and Cesar this week. Just ridiculous," commented one.

"Bailey has skills, but not over Cesar and Massimo. I'm all for women in the finale, but it's gotta be a skilled one," wrote another.

---

The dishes that got Cesar eliminated from Top Chef season 22 ahead of the finale

For the first Top Chef round among the three deciding rounds, the chefs were asked to make use of polenta, for the second round, it was beet, and for the third, gorgonzola cheese.

For the first round, Cesar made a polenta cake with black walnut ice cream. In this round, he didn't secure any votes, just like Tristen. While Bailey got two votes, Shuai bagged five and moved to the finals.

In the second round, Cesar had to beat Tristen and Bailey to advance to the final, but his beet tostada fell back as he was only able to secure three votes, as compared to Tristen, who got six and advanced to the finals. Bailey had zero votes.

In the final head-to-head with Bailey, Cesar made a butternut squash casserole with gorgonzola and a sage pesto, which again wasn't appealing enough to the judges. They were impressed with Bailey's crispy polenta gratinata with a bruleed gorgonzola instead. So, they sent him home.

"I'm just telling myself over and over about how proud I am of me. I got to go to Europe for the first time, I got to see myself grow as a person, grow as a chef," Cesar said before leaving.

---

For more updates on Top Chef season 22, fans can follow the show's official Instagram account, @bravotopchef.