Culinary Class Wars winner apologises for remarks during show: 'I saw a lot of my arrogance and shortcomings'

The final two episodes of the hit South Korean cooking competition Culinary Class Wars aired on Tuesday (Oct 8). The remaining contestants battled it out in what was probably the show's most gruelling challenge.

Stop reading here if you do not want to find out who won the competition. 

The Endless Cooking Hell challenge required the remaining chefs – Choi Hyun-seok, Edward Lee, Jeong Ji-seon, Jang Ho-joon, Triple Star, Cooking Maniac and Auntie Omakase #1 – to create a new tofu dish every 30 minutes, with the worst-performing contestant getting eliminated at the end of each round.

Final warning: Major spoilers ahead.

Twenty-seven tofu dishes later, US-born chef Edward Lee emerged victorious and took the last remaining finalist spot, alongside Napoli Matfia who had previously secured his place after winning the Cook Your Life challenge.

The two chefs then faced off in the final round, with Lee presenting a dessert made using tteokbokki and Napoli Matfia whipping up an entree with lamb and ravioli.

After trying both dishes, the two judges of Culinary Class Wars – Paik Jong-won and Anh Sung-jae – unanimously agreed to award the win to Napoli Matfia, whose real name is Kwon Seong-jun.

The winner takes home the grand prize of 300 million won (US$223,000).

However, Kwon has since apologised for his behaviour on Culinary Class Wars.

In a post on his Instagram page on Tuesday night, Kwon wrote that rather than expressing his joy, he wanted to express his apologies and gratitude.

"Even though I am not young, I think I acted and thought a little young. As a result of the broadcast, I received a lot of advice to be humble from those around me, and I also saw chefs who were greater than me – including Chef Edward, Triple Star and Cooking Maniac who were my final opponents – always being humble and not condescending.

"When these three people were left at the end of the tofu hell, I honestly thought that they were all opponents that I would have a hard time beating, so I bluffed even more to avoid being intimidated or scared."

It appears that Kwon was referring to his seemingly overconfident remarks during the confessional segments of the final episodes.

He added: "When I saw myself through the broadcast, I saw a lot of my arrogance and shortcomings, and it became an opportunity for me to reflect."

He then apologised to Edward Lee, revealing that most of his comments about the latter had been edited out of the show.

"In one of the interviews, I said that I was amazed by Chef Edward's crazy tofu competition, creativity, and challenging spirit that I saw in person from above."

Kwon added that he had wanted to give words of support and "a greeting" to face him in the finals by heading down to the challenge area at the end of the Endless Cooking Hell challenge.

"The 'I will step on you little by little' remark was intended to encourage them not to give up until the end and to gain strength as it was the last meal when everyone was exhausted, but contrary to the intention, it seemed to have been a very arrogant and careless remark. I would like to apologise again."

Kwon ended his post by thanking Lee and those involved in the production of Culinary Class Wars.

Lee then responded in a comment, saying: "Chef, you deserved the win and don't ever lose your confidence. It is a competition and we all compete to win. No apologies ever needed. Congratulations!"

The success of the show has caused the restaurants operated by Culinary Class Wars' contestants to enjoy a meteoric rise in popularity. For instance, Trid – the restaurant owned by fan-favourite Triple Star – is reportedly fully-booked till the end of the year.