Dale Levitski gets the Top Chef silver medal, meaning that Ilan Hall remains the only Top Chef with a mohawk.

But Dale wins the prize for biggest heart (not you, Hung). He explains how he lost his job, lost his boyfriend, and had his world fall apart—then Top Chef saved his life. So even though Dale claims he’s a chef, not a celebrity or a TV star, he certainly fits the profile of a reality-television redemption story.

Listen to all of this season’s Top Chef podcasts:
Season 3 Round Table
Hung Huynh
Casey Thompson
Brian Malarkey
Sara Mair
CJ Jacobsen
Howie Kleinberg
Tre Wilcox
Sara Nguyen
Joey Paulino
Lia Bardeen
Camille Becerra
Micah Edelstein
Sandee Birdsong
Clay Bowen