Top Chef Winner And Next Gen Chef Judge Kelsey Clark Arrested In Alabama

Contestants on the popular hit series "Top Chef" come from all walks of life. Some have backgrounds working in the finest Michelin-starred restaurants in the country, while others learned vital culinary lessons from working at McDonald's. Yet, one thing they all have in common is a dedication to being the best of the best, exuding professionalism at every turn. For that reason alone, you don't often see "Top Chef" alumni making headlines for breaking the law.

Sadly, that's exactly what people are seeing today with the recent arrest of Kelsey Barnard Clark. According to reports, on January 21, the "Top Chef" alum was booked into Alabama's Dothan City jail under suspicion that she was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. A lackluster performance when tasked by police officers to pass field sobriety tests landed Clark a one-way ticket to the pokey, but the cops weren't just making a random traffic stop when they approached her vehicle. 

Dothan Police Department initially made contact with Clark in response to a call about someone slamming their car into a residential mailbox. As officers approached the vehicle in question, they quickly noted a powerful stench of alcohol coming from Clark. She also gave officers the general impression she shouldn't be driving in her condition, resulting in an embarrassing mugshot that's now plastered all over the internet.

In 2019, Kelsey Barnard Clark made her claim to fame by winning the ultra-competitive "Top Chef" contest, beating out her Season 16 rivals with her flair for cooking upscale southern comfort food. That victory became a springboard for her journey into the world of culinary television work. After enduring a long season of filming "Top Chef," Clark went on to serve as an occasional guest judge on the show. From there, she had a brief stint on "NFL Tailgate Takedown" before securing a permanent spot on "Next Gen Chef" as a judge.

Clark currently still appears as a judge on "Next Gen Chef," a competition that pits up-and-coming chefs against one another to determine who has the most gastronomic grit. Unfortunately, it's often the case in show business that producers don't want someone's personal mistake tainting a project, often quietly axing folks who create negative headlines. One can only hope that isn't the case for Clark, and that she bounces back from this blunder with the same gusto she displayed when she first arrived at "Top Chef."