Top Chef’s Kelsey Barnard Clark Faced ‘2 Difficult Years’ After Winning Season 16 [Exclusive]
Winning Top Chef Season 16 was one of Kelsey Barnard Clark’s proudest moments. But she admitted that becoming an overnight sensation isn’t just a big party and instant fame was a little shocking.
She’s had some time to reflect on those early years immediately following her Top Chef victory and said the platform has provided a stream of endless opportunities.
“I’m literally in California right now filming a show. So there’s your answer right there,” she teased during an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “No, it’s changed absolutely in the best way.”
“I will be very honest. The first two years after Top Chef were very difficult. Because in the situation with Top Chef, some of us at least, I was very much like not in the TV scene or anything,” she recalled.
“So I went from just like a normal mom in the south with a restaurant and a baby. And then like overnight, boom!” she said. “But now skip forward a few years and, kind of got my feet wet a little. And no, it’s just remarkable. It’s truly what the show does for young chefs. I know it’s a TV show, but at the end of the day, they’re just like skyrocketing people’s success and getting them places that they probably never would’ve. And that is just amazing.”
Kelsey Barnard Clark has advice for future ‘Top Chef’ cheftestants
You don’t have to win Top Chef to be thrust into the limelight. Many cheftestants have extremely successful careers in the public eye, so Clark had some insightful advice for future reality stars.
“Right after you win, I’ve said this to winners a lot when I go back and talk to them, to get representation and listen to what they’re telling you,” she shared.
“Because if you don’t take every opportunity that happens after you win, you’ll just fall right off the map again. It’s a very fast-moving wheel,” she said. “So I would say for me, it’s just been saying yes to everything I possibly can. Period. And that’s really my mentality with all of it, is to say yes until I can’t. And say yes, unless there’s something that would literally hurt me or my family. Otherwise, it’s doable and I’m doing it. So that’s really for me, what it’s all about is just taking every opportunity and doing the best I can to make it as best it could be.”
Kelsey also says ‘yes’ to Lit’l Smokies
Autumn means tailgate parties and football to Clark. She partnered with Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies to challenge fans to share their favorite, inventive way to showcase the legendary cocktail links in their celebration-worthy recipes.
“When you say Lit’l Smokies I think crockpots because it’s every tailgate!” she exclaimed. She’s interested in learning what others associate Lit’l Smokies with and recipes they grew up loving.
Fans can submit an original recipe featuring Lit’l Smokies for the chance to win a $3,000 cash prize and have their dish featured alongside Chef Kelsey’s recipe at a pop-up restaurant in New York City.
Consumers can enter the contest by posting a photo of their creation, recipe and directions on Instagram using the hashtag #LitlCocktailLounge and #HillshireFarmContest, and Hillshire Farm will select three winners to debut their recipes on the Lit’l Smokies menu.
Contest will run from October 17 through October 29.
See here for the official rules.
