Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron Had The Hardest Time On The Show Between Being Assaulted And Accused Of Cheating

Summary

• Marcel Vigneron faced a scandalous assault from fellow chefs on 'Top Chef', leading to his forced ejection from the show.
• Vigneron also dealt with accusations of cheating from competitors, leading to a dramatic confrontation during the show.
• A disturbing off-screen incident saw Vigneron attacked in a nightclub, sparking further controversy and leading to hospitalization.

When it comes to most reality TV shows, fans expect there to be some pretty wild scandals. After all, Chip Gaines was sued for $1 million, Josh Duggar was involved with Ashley Madison, and the Love Is Blind cast had scandalous pasts.

On the other hand, many Top Chef fans expect there to be higher-brow drama like Gail Simmons complaining about the show's impact on society. Unfortunately for Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron, however, he went through a lot of low-brow scandals during his time competing on the show.

This article will reveal what happened after Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron was assaulted by his castmates. Then, the article will look at why Vigneron had to cope with being accused of cheating during his Top Chef tenure. Finally, the article will look at when Marcel Vigneron was attacked by a stranger because of Top Chef.

Marcel Vigneron Was The Victim Of An Infamous Top Chef Assault

After the first season of Top Chef was a success, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the show would return for a second round. What fans of the franchise couldn't have known, however, is how scandalous a moment from the show's second season would become.

From the early stage of Top Chef's second season, it was clear that one of the season's chefs got on his peers' nerves. While there was no doubt Marcel Vigneron was a talented chef, something about him rubbed some of his peers the wrong way.

Still, despite the tension that Vigneron had with his fellow chefs, there was no way to anticipate that he would be assaulted. After a night of drinking, things became dark when the other chefs turned on Vigneron.

As several of Top Chef's competitors were drinking, Elia Aboumrad and Ilan Hall decided to shave their heads. Those two chefs began cutting their hair as their fellow competitors, Cliff Crooks and Sam Talbot, encouraged them to go through with it.

At some point in these events, someone decided that they should cut Vigneron's hair against his will. After finding him sleeping, Crooks woke him up and forcibly held Vigneron down while trying to get the others to shave his head.

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In the limited footage of this incident that was shown, Vigneron could be heard angrily telling Crooks to stop and leave him alone. Despite that, Crooks continued to hold Vigneron down in very uncomfortable positions.

After the other chefs refused to shave Vigneron's head, Crooks eventually let him go. Fearing another incident like this, Vigneron escaped to a bathroom where he could lock the door and he slept on the floor.

The following morning, Vigneron revealed that Crooks was holding him down so forcibly that he suffered rug burns.

Most Top Chef viewers were outraged for Vigneron as they pointed out that he'd been assaulted as others stood by and didn't intervene. In the aftermath, it seemed clear that Crooks and the other three chefs who didn't stop him knew things had gone too far.

What Crooks didn't seem to realize is how seriously his conduct was going to be treated by the people behind Top Chef.

The next day, Top Chef's head judge Tom Colicchio took Crooks aside, chastised him, told him he'd broken the rules, and informed him he was being ejected from the show. To Crooks' credit, after being eliminated from the show, he sincerely apologized to Vigneron before his departure.

Colicchio would later reveal that he was prepared to also send home the other three chefs who didn't try to stop Crooks. That would have meant that Vigneron would have won by default but Top Chef's producers talked Colicchio out of that.

Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron Was Accused Of Cheating

During the second season of Top Chef, Marcel Vigneron's fellow competitors called him out many times. For example, Vigneron was criticized several times for almost always incorporating foam into his dishes. Vigneron was also repeatedly criticized for aggressively deconstructing his dishes.

While those complaints could be quite biting, the worst criticism that Vigneron was accusations that he cheated. Vigneron was even accused of cheating in front of the judges during the elimination challenge that followed Crooks' exit.

At the time, Elia Aboumrad and Ilan Hall initially interrupted a judging session to voice their complaints about Vigneron. After Hall began talking, Aboumrad took over the conversation by complaining about something she claimed Vigneron did.

According to TV Guide, Marcel Vigneron has competed on many cooking shows that weren't related to Top Chef. Vigneron's other credits include Cutthroat Kitchen, The Next Iron Chef, and Superchef Grudge Match, among others.

In the beginning, Hall stated that they all felt that Vigneron "disrespected people and disrespected food" without mentioning him by name. When Vigneron interrupted to say they should name him, since everyone knew who they were talking about, Aboumrad called him out more directly.

"Come on Marcel. You cheated several times."

When the judges asked for more information, Aboumrad claimed Vigneron took her steamer off a burner so he could use it. In response, Vigneron claimed the burner wasn't even on when he moved her steamer and that he asked first if anyone was using it. Aboumrad disputed that claim by saying the burner had been on.

Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron Was Attacked While The Show's Second Season Aired

While Top Chef's second season was airing in 2007, MTV published an article that cited the Las Vegas Weekly. That report claimed that Marcel Vigneron was attacked while out in a club.

The report quoted Vigneron explaining what happened to him. Based on Vigneron's description of what happened, it seemed clear that he was targeted specifically because the person didn't like him on Top Chef.

According to Vigneron, he was enjoying a night out and minding his own business when things went awry. Vigneron was approached by a person who made sure he was the guy from Top Chef before he was suddenly attacked.

"The girl came up to me at a nightclub and asked me if I was Marcel from Top Chef. The next thing I knew, this bottle struck me."

After being attacked out of nowhere, virtually anyone would be angry the way Vigneron was. However, Vigneron explained that he resisted his initial instinct to respond to the attack with violence of his own. Vigneron also brought up the time his head was almost shaved while talking about the incident in the nightclub.

"I don't believe violence solves anything, but when I broke free from them, I saw this lamp and I just wanted to smash it over one of their heads. That freaked me out. At that moment, that had me playing their game. And it kills me that these are the guys that question my maturity. I mean, pinning me down to shave my head, that's what drunken frat boys do, not a top chef."

This incident which took place the week after the attempted head-shaving episode of Top Chef aired did some serious damage to Vigneron. As Vigneron explained to the Las Vegas Weekly, he suffered an injury that was serious enough that he wound up in the hospital.

"My friends had to rush me to the hospital. I needed 30 stitches for this."

MTV's article about this unfortunate incident went on to elaborate on the injury that Vigneron suffered after being attacked with a bottle. The article reported that Vigneron suffered a one-inch scar as a result of the attack. That said, the report didn't make it clear where the scar Vigneron suffered was located.