Bobby Flay is a big name on Food Network, with more than a dozen hosting gigs and judging stints to his name. The celebrity chef and TV host may be best known for his role on Iron Chef, and he made headlines back in October when he seemingly quit the show by wearing a t-shirt on camera that said "THIS IS MY LAST IRON CHEF BATTLE EVER." Now, Flay has finally addressed why he did indeed quit Iron Chef, saying this:
I've done over 100 Iron Chef competitions, and frankly they are exhausting. They are exhausting physically but, even moreso, they are exhausting emotionally. When I do a season, I do between 6 and 8 [battles] in a week and it crushes me because it's 60 minutes of pure energy, creativity, and execution. And so at some point I was like, 'I've been doing this for a long time and I want to go out on a high note.'
Despite Bobby Flay's rather unconventional means of announcing his intention to depart Iron Chef, his reasons for leaving are pretty relatable. He revealed during a discussion panel at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (via EW) that he was worn out emotionally and physically from doing battle after battle after battle. He finally decided that he'd had enough of the strain and donned the infamous t-shirt to quit.
He went on in the panel to explain that Iron Chef is an ideal place for young and fresh chefs to make a splash in the food biz. According to Bobby Flay, he has proved his salt time and time again on Iron Chef, and the time has come for some newcomers to tackle the battles. His official departure from Iron Chef -- which was revealed 20 minutes into an episode when he revealed his shirt -- doesn't mean a departure from Food Network, which is good news for his fans. Even if he won't be competing on Iron Chef on a regular basis, he'll still be contributing to the network.
That said, the network wasn't exactly thrilled with Bobby Flay's means of announcing the end of his time on Iron Chef. Flay neglected to give anybody at Food Network the head's up that he was going to drop a bombshell on the audience during an Iron Chef battle. He explained Food Network's reaction to his stunt:
The network was not thrilled. I thought it would be good TV. They didn't think of it that way, and that's obviously their prerogative. [Food Network] said to me, 'Why didn't you tell us?' And I was like, 'I didn't tell anyone. That's the whole point, that it's a surprise!'
Apparently, Bobby Flay leaving Iron Chef was not the good kind of surprise for Food Network. In fact, the network went so far as to "black out" his big shirt reveal when the episode aired, which is a sign that the folks at the top of the ladder disagree with what Flay considers "good TV" in some big ways. We can only hope that Iron Chef continues to be a success without the venerable Bobby Flay on board.
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