Top Chef: We Was Had (and That's OK!)

We got taken for a ride by a cheftestant, and we don't mind one bit

We got taken for a ride by a Top cheftestant, and we don't mind one bit.

When we told you a couple weeks back that we had reason to believe that a front-runner (Jen, Kevin, Mike V. or Bryan) went home early, that reason was because someone from our team ran into "the red-haired guy from Top Chef" (aka Kevin Gillespie) while our friend was shopping for engagement rings in downtown L.A. The chef in question told our friend, "I got kicked off before the end." Well, as you saw last night, Kevin won the final Vegas challenge and sailed safely into the finale, along with fellow obvious finalists Jen Carroll and the Volt bros.

(FYI, this encounter happened in mid-October, which we believe to be before Kevin went north to shoot the finale in Napa, so don't sue us if Kevin doesn't make it into the final three and you feel spoiled. In that case, it's just a coincidence and we're not liable, darn it!)

We warned you at the time, "It could be part of a Bravo misinformation campaign, but we trust the source, so we're passing it along to you." Well, it's looking more and more like misinformation is the case, and we have to say, "Thanks, Bravo!"

Why are we grateful to have been taken for a ride? Well...

Well, this season of reality TV has just been so...obvious.

Without the misinformation, no one would have believed for a second that Eli Kirshtein (sorry, dude) stood a chance again the other culinary titans in the Top Chef kitchen. This season's final four have been clear as day since about week three.

But it's not just Top Chef that's had problems with suspenseless "drama" this year: Top Model's winner was obvious weeks ago. Project Runway's winner has been pretty evident for months now (and just in case you're not sure, Christian Siriano clears it up for you right here).

Long story short, we're very sorry for any anxiety we may have caused you Top Chef fans, we're flippin' delighted that Kevin is in the final after all, and we're grateful for last night's unexpectedly suspenseful and shocking Top Chef episode, thanks in part to our own shameless rumor-mongering...