Simmons also shares a sweet story about how fellow judge Tom Colicchio reflected on his time as a judge with her and Kristen Kish
Credit: Bravo
NEED TO KNOW
- Gail Simmons reveals the judge most likely to cry if Top Chef wins an Emmy this year
- Simmons praises fellow judge Kristen Kish’s growth as host, calling her empathetic and humble, and shares a story about the sweet way Tom Colicchio commemorated his time with her and Kish as judges
- Colicchio also celebrates Kish’s hosting skills and shares what he loves about her hosting style
Gail Simmons is getting candid about her fellow Top Chef judges.
Simmons tells PEOPLE which of her fellow judges would be most likely to cry if the culinary competition show were to win an Emmy this year. The show is nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2026 Emmys, also receiving nods for hosting, casting and direction, recognition that the judges say means a lot to them.
As for who would be most likely to cry at a win, Simmons says “Kristen [Kish].”
“She cries at everything,” she says of the host.
Simmons adds, “I mean, I think we’d all cry. But, you know, she’s like an outspoken crier.”
Kish tells PEOPLE that receiving an Emmy nomination for her hosting was “a wonderful feeling.”
“I feel proud for myself. I feel proud for our show,” she says. “When the outstanding show plus directing plus casting [nominations] all rolled in, I was like, ‘f— yeah.’ All well deserved. It feels amazing.”
Simmons says that Kish has brought an “empathy factor” to the show since she competed on it herself. She adds that in the past three years since Kish has become the host of the show, she has “changed.”
Credit: Marcus Nilsson/Bravo
“She as a person hasn’t changed in the best way. She still wears her sweatpants and her hat backwards and eats candy at the judge’s table and prefers, you know, flip flops to nice shoes,” she says. “And she’s still like a completely humble person, but she has just this really strong sense of self and sense of style.”
“It’s just amazing to watch someone that you admire so much come into their own,” she says. “I think she’d say the same of us. We’ve all changed a lot since she’s come on the show, and that’s directly due to her.”
Simmons shares that Kish is not the only judge who is open to emotions.
Of her fellow judge Tom Colicchio, whom she jokingly calls her “roommate,” she says, “I’m always slightly touched and taken aback by actually how deeply empathetic he is as a person and how emotional he is.”
“He’s not the gruff, grumpy person that I think people wanna believe he is,” she adds. “Certainly on the show, he comes across as serious about food and the chefs.”
“He doesn’t, like, take any bull—-, and I really love him for that. He says it like it is. He is direct and opinionated, and I love all those things,” she adds. “But he’s also like a really good loyal friend.”
She says at her birthday this year, Colicchio gave an impromptu speech, pulling up chairs for him and Kish to sit next to Simmons.
“He said, ‘I’ve been sitting in this chair for 20 years and it is the place I am the most comfortable with the two people that I love the most in the world,’ like besides his family,” she recalls.
“No one could believe it. It was like the best thing,” she says. “He’s the guy you want to have on your team.”
Colicchio tells PEOPLE about his own admiration for Kish for coming into the show while maintaining its standard.
“I think she’s getting so much recognition for her hosting job and hopefully she’ll win,” he says.
He adds that he loves “how fiercely she reps the show,” especially on social media.
“She’s really out there like no one’s ever done before,” he says, sharing that he once saw Kish comment on a social media post that listed favorite shows without mentioning Top Chef.
“She said, “What about Top Chef?’” he recalls, laughing. “She was like, ‘Hang on. How dare you, like, not mention our show?’”
He adds, “We actually just love and adore working with her. She’s just fun, and she’s like a real pro.”
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