By participating in Top chef, the candidates go beyond their limits, meet big names in French gastronomy, benefit from the advice of the four jurors Philippe Etchebest, Hélène Darroze, Paul Pairet and Glenn Viel (replacing Michel Sarran) with whom they form a big family. And once the cameras are off, it’s not all over. Camille Delcroix, winner of the M6 culinary competition (season 9, in 2018) testifies to our colleagues from 20 minutes.
He thought he would resume his daily routine without a hitch. In fact, once the broadcast of the show launched, the young chef of 32 years was surprised to be recognized on every street corner. “The after Top chef was very speedy and we are not necessarily prepared for that. This is why I appreciated the confinements, confides Camille Delcroix. Sudden notoriety is not easy to manage especially for me who likes to be quiet. I’m a little lunar, I like to stay in my bubble.“
Camille Delcroix in the face of success: “I did not invent the vaccine against the Covid”
The former candidate who planted Philippe Etchebest in order to open his own restaurant is now the father of an adorable girl named Rose (2 years old) and would have preferred to be able to spend time with family anonymously. “Take a stroller for a walk with his wife and daughter and get stopped in the street, it’s funny one year. Then we have to turn the page, he believes. I neither invented the Covid vaccine nor won the World Cup football, I just won a cooking competition. Even though I know it’s part of the game.“
Surprised by this sudden notoriety, Camille Delcroix had initially made the decision not to change his lifestyle. Thus, he preferred to continue working in the kitchens of chef Marc Meurin. But in 2020, between two confinements, when he learns that his mentor is selling the restaurant, he thinks about embarking on his own adventure. It then opens Bacove, a 35-seat establishment in Saint-Omer which is very successful!