Bravo’s “Top Chef” ended Season 11 with a heated tie-breaker among the judges and its highest rated episode of the season.
Wednesday’s finale, which was shot in Maui, attracted 1.7 million total viewers, a 13 percent increase over the previous week’s episode. It also attracted 872,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 18-49 demographic, a 7 percent increase over the previous week.
Also read: Bravo Renews ‘Top Chef’ for Season 12
Spoiler alert! Don’t read on if you don’t want to know what happened on Thursday’s season finale.
On the finale episode, Elmi’s win from the week prior allowed him to pick three eliminated contenders to assist him before Compton was able to select her team. Tasked to serve the best service they’ve ever offered, the finalists opened pop-up restaurants in Maui. Their guests included their family members, former contenders and judges Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagassse, Gail Simmons and Hugh Acheson.
In the end, both delivered adventurous meals with just the slightest faults. The judges — especially Acheson and Colicchio — were faced with a tie after breaking down the meals course-by-course. But in the end, the judges awarded Elmi the title and $125,000.
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Compton won’t leave the experience totally empty-handed. Later in the night, Andy Cohen named Compton the winner of the “Top Chef Fan Favorite” poll and $10,000 on Bravo’s late-night talker “Watch What Happens Live.”
Produced by Magical Elves, “Top Chef” will return for its 12th season in Fall 2014.
Watch Season 11’s winning moment again above.