Culinary Class Wars judge Anh Sung-jae shares he had to lose weight for the show
In an interview with South Korean news outlet JTBC on Sunday (Oct 20), Anh revealed how he was invited to judge the hit Netflix cooking competition.
Culinary Class Wars judge Anh Sung-jae founded the fine-dining restaurant Mosu whose Seoul branch is the only three-Michelin-star restaurant in South Korea. (Photo: Netflix Korea)
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The global success of Netflix's cooking competition Culinary Class Wars has turned its contestants and judges into household names all over the world. Anh Sung-jae, one of the two judges on the show – alongside Paik Jong-won – has received attention (and a new legion of fans) following his stint on the show.
In an interview with South Korean news outlet JTBC on Sunday (Oct 20), the 42-year-old chef shared a few behind-the-scenes stories about filming Culinary Class Wars.
According to Anh, the show's production team told him to lose weight before filming started.
"I liked eating so much that I had gained some weight and was in the process of losing weight. (The production team's words) motivated me to work a little harder to lose weight."
One of the highlights of Culinary Class Wars was the dynamic between Anh and Paik Jong-won. Both judges frequently disagreed on the contestants' dishes due to their different judging styles – with Anh employing a stricter methodology.
During the interview, Anh admitted that working with Paik "wasn't good" at first.
"I had different standards from Paik but I felt like this meant we could judge the food from various angles so that our viewpoints weren't one-sided," he said.
Nonetheless, Anh respects Paik.
"Paik has been very kind to me. I respect him because we have conversations where we fill each other's gaps."
Although Culinary Class Wars has been renewed for a second season, Anh has not yet decided if he'll be returning.
"I've heard about it, but I think [the production team and I] need to discuss it a bit more... If there are better judges than me, if there are people who can do better, how could I join again?"
