On M6, “Top Chef” 2026 finally turns around, and it’s not to displease us

Thomas PADILLA / AGENCE 1827 / M6

The colorful brigades of chefs Glenn Viel, Stéphanie Le Quellec, Philippe Etchebest, Hélène Darroze and Paul Pairet are back

This Wednesday, May 13, M6 broadcast a new episode resembling fake quarter-finals of Top Chef. Indeed, Alexy, Viviana, Nicolas and Victor thought they had reached this level of the competition, but that was without counting on the returns of Antoine and Aboubakar, the winners of the parallel competition. And that’s not the only surprise in store for them.

Under the amused and surprised looks of the candidates still in the running, the two former leavers regained their precious place in the competition. For this evening of reunification, everyone competed in the Halles des Docks of Saint-Ouen, to revolutionize street food. On the menu: mussel-miso and oyster-miso ice cream cones, hot dog and Catalan cream broth or even fried bites of paella and churros.

Spoiler alert. If you haven’t seen the episode of Top Chef season 15 from May 13, do not continue reading.

Julien THEUIL / M6

With a jury made up of Hélène Darroze, Glenn Viel, Stéphanie Le Quellec, Paul Pairet and Philippe Etchebest further back, audiences for “Top Chef” are struggling to take off in 2026.

A tempting test where they were decided by the five jurors who are Paul Pairet, Glenn Viel, Philippe Etchebest, Hélène Darroze and Stéphanie Le Quellec, but also the chefs Fabien Ferré and Yoann Conte, the culinary critics François-Régis Gaudry and Mina Soundiram, as well as 10 food influencers like Alix Grousset or Alexis Thiebaut. At the end of this episode, Antoine, one of the viewers’ favorites, was eliminated. “It’s very hard. It’s complicated to digest. It’s going to take time, but too bad, it’s like that. (…) I hope I was able to show what I can do.”he confided when leaving his comrades.

5 chefs, 5 brigades

With this departure, there are now 5 candidates. And it is precisely at this moment that the brigades make their comeback. Each chef will now be able to coach a candidate and support them until the final. A return to the fundamentals of Top Chefwhich is hugely popular with aficionados of the program and which was so missed in this 17th season, as evidenced by the various mentions of this absence on social networks.

If the chef Hélène Darroze did not have to fight with her colleagues to choose Viviana and «Sa cuisine généreuse, de coeur et de goût»Alexy and Nicolas were at the heart of the discussions. The jovial Catalan candidate seduced Glenn Viel and Paul Pairet. After a battle of speeches between the two big names in gastronomy, left “en campagne électorale”Alexy chose the gray cuffs from Glenn Viel’s brigade. As for Nicolas, a demanding, rigorous candidate and Louise’s close friend, the latter attracted the attention of Stéphanie Le Quellec and Philippe Etchebest. Both welcomed his « très beau parcours » and it was ultimately towards Stéphanie Le Quellec’s orange brigade that Nicolas chose to turn.

Then came the turns of Victor and Aboubakar to know their future brigade. Philippe Etchebest decided to bet on Aboubakar, nicknamed “the phoenix”, whose “the atypical journey” et “Crazy development” pleased the Bordeaux chef. Finally, Victor joined Paul Pairet’s purple brigade, who saw in him “Someone who listens to go as far as possible, and if possible, to the final”. Will this return of the chefs to the competition be followed by television viewers? One thing is certain, this change will please more than one person.