How to Appear on Bravo's Top Chef

Always wanted to be a star of the culinary world? Bravo's reality show, Top Chef, offers talented chefs a chance to showcase their talent and creativity. Top Chef looks for professional chefs, either self taught or professionally trained, who are skilled, creative and competitive. Extensive experience is not required. Follow these steps to apply to get on Bravo's Top Chef.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Verify eligibility. Top Chef participants must be 21 years or older, be a legal resident of the U.S., be able to travel abroad and legally able to stay in the U.S. during participation on the program. Applicants must not be a candidate for public office, and if chosen as a participant, must not run for office until a year after the initial broadcast of the program in which the participant attended. Applicants whose participation would create an "impropriety" or the appearance of such will not be allowed to participate.
2. Download and complete the application found on the Bravo's Top Chef site. Complete and sign the Certification of Veracity. A recent resume and a photograph are also required.
3. Decide whether to attend an open casting call or to submit a video profile. Open casting calls are held in select cities across the U.S. A list of the cities with date and place appear on the Top Chef website. If attending the open casting call, take the completed application, Certificate of Veracity, photo and resume to the casting call. Be ready to show personality, skill and desire.
4. Prepare a video profile if unable to attend an open casting call. The video profile is the applicant's opportunity to display personality, uniqueness, skill and sense of fun. The video must be no longer than 5 minutes and in VHS, DVD or miniDV format and comply with all Top Chef's video submission restrictions. Label the video with name, address and phone number. The video must be submitted by the deadline, along with the completed application, Certificate of Veracity, photo and resume.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the video is interesting and full of activity. Include name, hometown and occupation at the beginning of the video. Hobbies and special interests add flavor to a video.
• Whether attending a casting call or submitting a video, earlier is better. Arrive at the casting call before the start time. Send the video before the deadline.
• Watch the show as much as possible. Knowing how the competition works will give valuable insight.