Sigh. Somewhat predictably, Hung (pictured, with his mother) won the title of Top Chef two night ago. And though he certainly deserved it — his consistency throughout the show made some of his less successful dishes more forgivable — part of me can’t get past his smug, self-satisfied demeanor to actually be proud of the executive sous chef, especially when charming underdog Dale was thisclose to landing the prize.
While spending the night tossing and turning over the upsetting outcome (and the tragedy that was Padma’s Chiquita banana girl-inspired dress), I began to think about other unlikeable reality show winners. Usually, reality shows seem to follow a concrete blueprint: keep the "villains" around long enough to create drama — but kick them off before they defeat the likable crowd favorites (see: America’s Next Top Model’s ousting of Cycle 6’s Jade Cole and, of course, The Apprentice Season 1’s Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth). But every so often, a sly, conniving, and generally reprehensible contestant will break through this mold, leaving the show with the top prize and last laugh. Such winners that first came to my mind are Project Runway season 3’s acerbic Jeffrey Sebelia, Survivor season 1’s "snake" Richard Hatch and Big Brother: All Stars‘ two-faced Mike Boogie.
Your turn, PopWatchers. Who is the least likable reality show winner of all time?
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Amber from “Survivor: All Stars” – She just rode on Rob’s coattails. No way she would made it that far had he not fallen for her.
Taylor Hicks, American Idol Season 5. No talent, arrogant spaz.
Richard Hatch. He was a snake on an island filled with snakes and rats. After he won, dude started up a charity that he then defrauded for tons of money. And I believe he’s in jail for it now. That makes him scummy in my book.
In Hung’s defense, I found his origins to be really interesting and was rooting for him. He really shined as of the restaurant wars. Dale was good but inconsistent.
Hello?… How about Dick and Danielle from Big Brother this summer? I didn’t even watch the finale because the money was going to go to one or the other of the two most awful people imaginable.
i’ll jump on the taylor hicks train. i’m going to also say nicole from america’s next top model. she was terrible. who wasn’t rooting for bree!
aww- no love for the hung?
i thought the competition was about the food, not the personality.
imagine a tony bourdain in the role of competitor. . .
in games like survivor and big brother- personality is much more a part of the competition, and i could say legitimately we can root for heroes and villains.
after all, we didn’t see hung undermine or sabotage anyone else. i would recommend you reassess how you view him.
Brian Heidik from Survivor:Thailand – he gave used car salesmen a bad name. Just a nasty, oily “person”.
I’m with Bruce – when I think “worst winner ever”, I think Brian from Survivor. There are the guys that are the bad guys and win, and then there are the skeevy, oily, nasty human beings who win.
If you have ever watched the Amazing Race, several unforunate teams have won that one, like those morons who walked away with the “all-star” victory. Hey, that is what is so great and so terrible about that show, hard to get rid of the villains because you can’t vote them off.
1. Taylor Hicks
2. The dude who just won Hell’s Kitchen (although i must not hate him enough if I can’t remember his name)
3. Ilan from last year’s “Top Chef.” (Elia deserved to win).
I was NOT happy when Jeffrey won PR Season 3. I felt it was Micheal’s to lose. But of course, Micheal choked and the rest is history.
I don’t like when RR wins any of the RW/RR challenges. I’m a HUGE RW fan, so I die a little inside when they lose.
When it comes to competitions like Big Brother, Survivor, Top Chef etc..there are only single winners. You play the game the best way you can, and that means to cheat, be mean, rude, sneaky, cook better than that is what you do. Who cares if anyone likes you. It is not a team competition. I will give games like Big Brother, Survivor and the like where they start as teams but end with individuals need to be careful as to how the are perceived in the beginning. Otherwise your there to make money not friends.
Project Runway’s a good example. Wasn’t a fan of Season 1 or 3’s winner – Jay and Jeffrey. But then again, most of my favorites in these programs lose halfway through the competition, which sometimes makes me mad when there are other obvious choices to eliminate. (We can thank the producers for this, since they want to keep the drama coming rather than the talent.) I’m still bummed over Albert Reed’s elimination this week!
I didn’t find Dale particularly charming. I was glad Hung won. He deserved it.
I’m not craxy sbout Hung, but at least he’s not oblivious to the fact that he’s a jerk. Then there’s Ilan Hall from last year’s Top Chef. That guy is totally clueless as to the fact that he’s a jerk. I always felt that Sam and Elia felt some remorse about the almost raping of Marcel that they were in on, but they aren’t big enough to admit it. Ilan has no idea that what he did makes him a bad person and that maybe that’s why he hasn’t landed a job with a big restaurant. He’s said, “I’ve been offered lots of opportunities but they were too big for me,” but we all know that’s a crock. What he’s been offered were small opportunities because the big guys don’t need to have an unsavory jerk in the kitchen. Ilan always looked like the kind of guy who spits in your food and pees in the soup. With Hung, I get a feeling that he’d think he’s better than you, but he’d still cook a great meal because he’s a professional. He would never let you know that he loathes you.
You got it exactly right, Jane. Here I am two years later and finally viewed all of season 2 and am completely appalled by Elia, Ilan, and the other guy.