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**Disclaimer: This Tournament of Champions article is based on the writer's opinion. Readers' discretion is advised.**
Tournament of Champions season 6 released its finale on April 20, 2025, concluding another season of renowned chefs competing against each other for the champion's belt and the $150,000 cash prize. After many battles, Chef Antonia Lofaso emerged victorious by defeating Chef Sara Bradley in the finale, becoming the sixth consecutive female ToC winner.
The previous winners were Brooke Williamson, Maneet Chauhan, Tiffani Faison, and Mei Lin. Despite the greater number of male participants and thus, a higher chance of winning the show, female chefs consistently dominated the seasons and claimed the winner's title each time. In my opinion, the reason why this happens is because the female contenders acquire ability to multitask and manage time efficiently.
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In culinary shows and in the world at large, it is not uncommon to see men becoming frontrunners due to various factors that remain debatable.
However, in a show like Tournament of Champions, which removes every bias, allowing an equal playing field to all, the female contestants utilize their time-management and multitasking skills, traits they have picked up for their day-to-day survival, to their advantage to add on to their cooking abilities and secure the win over the men.
I believe these qualities make them, not the men, more equipped to handle the pressure of ToC, and so does Sara Bradley. She reaffirmed this point by speaking extensively about the work women have to do daily, equating the pressure of their everyday routine to ToC's, in an episode of Food Network Obsessed on April 4, 2025.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen out there, but moms are significantly better at multitasking. And not just moms in general, I think women."
Tournament of Champions alum Sara Bradley says women are calmer than men while handling difficult situations
While time management and multitasking skills add to the female contenders' abilities, it does not take away from the fact that they cooked better plates of food in each round on Tournament of Champions. Since it is a bracket-style tournament, each cook-off is designed to have two randomly paired chefs. Consequently, every time a female chef won, she did so based solely on her performance.
However, it goes without saying that they had skills the men lacked when it came to handling the pressure of the competition. In the podcast episode, Sara explained how being a mother trained her to multitask not only in the house but also in the kitchen.
"A lot of times, when I'm doing stuff with my kids or in the restaurant, I am thinking about exactly how much time do we have to get our shoes on before we have to go downstairs and fight about our jacket, which then have to go and wrestle them into the car seats and get them," she said.
She added that for her, time management "intensified" after she became a mother. It taught her not to take on more than what she could handle, and handle perfectly. Recalling one of her battles on Tournament of Champions, Sara said that her opponent had over 50 ingredients on his station, and she had eight.
However, Sara pointed out that instead of seeing it as a negative point, she perceived it as a logical way of functioning, saying:
"I'm not gonna go over there and pick up 50 ingredients. I'm gonna get what I need the first time and make it work. I'm not going back and forth."
In my opinion, it is indicative of how women, in general, think before acting and have picked up the ability to "make it work" with what they have. It not only helps them manage time more efficiently but also keeps them away from unnecessary stress. Thus, it makes female chefs better equipped to handle the pressure of Tournament of Champions..
Sara also spoke about how she binge-watched the previous seasons to prepare for her debut, but admitted there was no way anyone could prepare at all. She explained that no one could study or train themselves to know what the Randomizer could throw their way. It further shows how one needs a more focused mindset to achieve the goals in the ToC kitchen.
As Sara mentioned, women are better at multitasking, and, in my opinion, a person can successfully multitask only when they are highly focused on every layer of their work. Thus, I believe that a woman's capability to remain calm, and organized plays a significant role in helping them handle the pressure of ToC.
Women, in general, are conditioned to have these traits and tackle everyday hurdles similar to those presented by the Randomizer, emerging as better contenders than men.
Tournament of Champions can be streamed on Max.
