McEwan tapped to be head judge on Top Chef Canada—plus, hilarious questions from the contestant application form

McEwan tapped to be head judge on Top Chef Canada—plus, hilarious questions from the contestant application form

Not surprisingly, Food Network Canada tapped charismatic Toronto chef Mark McEwan (Bymark, One) to be the Canadian Colicchio on the Canuck version of Top Chef.

It makes sense to choose McEwan (we called it in a previous post), since he’s no stranger to the network, and his upcoming Fabbrica restaurant at Shops at Don Mills needs all the promotion it can get. We still expect to see other cross-promotion opportunities for other Food Network hosts, like Lynn Crawford, Bob Blumer, Chuck Hughes, Michael Smith and Laura Calder. But that’s still up in the air.

The application for the show is also now up on the site. After the jump, interesting tidbits from the 19-page application.

• The five-minute audition video “must not include any music or singing,” due to copyright. So please, no re-enactments of the kitchen scene from Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video.

• Applicants must indicate the size of their chef coat (sizes S to XXL).

• Filming will take place over six weeks, from July to September, in Toronto.

• In addition to the customary “Have you ever been convicted of any crime?” question, applicants must disclose if they have any restraining orders issued against them or have done anything that would cause the network “embarrassment or monetary loss.” Start untagging those Facebook photos now, because background checks are part of the agreement.

• Contestants who spill any details about the show before the final episode is aired (who wins, for example) must fork over a million dollars. Contestants who breach the confidentiality agreement after the final episode is aired are fined $100,000.

• Applicants must submit a list of people to whom they are not related but have known for more than three years, in addition to a separate list of contacts for references. (We always wonder why reality show contestants are so surprised when their loved ones pop up on the show, since they listed them as contacts on the applications.)

• In addition to giving background information on restaurant experience, applicants have to write about an “odd fact or talent” they possess and list their favourite TV shows and preferred movies.

• The form gives applicants two lines on which to write why they want to be on Top Chef Canada but three lines to describe their most embarrassing moment.

• Top Chef Canada Application and Release form [Food Network – PDF]
• Mark McEwan on being Top Chef Canada’s head judge [Food Network]