“I’m used to the struggle”, a candidate moves Dominique Crenn by talking about his fight against cancer

It’s an event season Top chef which has just started on M6 this Wednesday March 13, 2024. As the show celebrates its fifteenth anniversary, many new features await the candidates. This year, there are no longer four brigades fighting to obtain the title of Top chef of the year, but only two brigades with three leaders each. The choice is therefore difficult between the gray brigade composed of Philippe Etchebest, Paul Pairet and Glenn Viel and the orange brigade composed of Hélène Darroze and the new additions, Dominique Crenn and Stéphanie Le Quellec.

Nearly sixteen candidates tried their luck to hope to join one of these brigades by passing the tests proposed by the leaders. If the first test staged by Hélène Darroze and Glenn Viel around the egg saw the Bordeaux candidate Jorick obtain the honors of the two chefs, it was during the second test by Dominique Crenn and Paul Pairet around the pear that One candidate in particular made a big impression on the members of the jury, but also on the viewers: Valentin.

Valentin tells his moving story

Chef of his own restaurant in the city of Marseille at the age of 27, Valentin then embarked on a daring choice to seduce the jury: a pear dessert covered in a chocolate shell. If at first Dominique Crenn and Paul Pairet appear skeptical of the young restaurateur’s recipe when they say to him: “So I’m going to rush you a little, where’s the problem in all of this?», the latter does not let himself be reached.

And for good reason, he saw others! While the young man explains his recipe to the chefs, Paul Pairet exclaims: “You can’t mess up there, you can’t catch up on your plate (…) So in a way, it’s still cheeky to do that in the first session of Top Chef» before asking him very seriously in front of his barbecued pears “and you, do you have the fire in you?» A question to which Valentin answers frankly and which shows all the strength he has within him: “It’s the story of my life. If I didn’t have the fire, I wouldn’t be here boss» he begins before continuing: “It’s stupid, but I lost my father as a kid, I had cancer as a kid. That’s why I can’t see out of my right eye, my eye was removed so I wear a prosthesis. I’m used to this, I’m used to the struggle, to showing courage when you need it“.

Chefs and viewers moved

As he tells his story in a moving portrait, we see the emotion in several chefs, including Hélène Darroze, and more particularly Dominique Crenn. And for good reason, the three-star chef recognizes herself in the words of the young man: “Now I understand you» she tells him before adding off-camera: “I know what he went through because I lived it. Experiencing cancer, if you don’t experience it, you can’t know. We are not going to be looked at as victims because we are not victims, but that gives us an image of life that is different. And Valentin has that. He has fire“.

An emotion also shared by viewers who did not fail to let it be known on X (formerly Twitter) by indicating that he is the first darling of this season. A first Internet user writes: “It’s definitely going to do it for Valentine’s Day!“, while a second writes: “Valentin Bichette touches me too much, I hope he will do well in this competition. He takes risks I really like» and a third: “Valentin you are my favorite of this season #TopChef“. The young man finally joins the orange team.

The people? A whole world! Passionate about the media, networks, series, films, and investigative investigations of all kinds, it was natural that Jessica turned to writing and that she takes…