• I was invited to be a guest on "Top Chef" earlier this year in Wisconsin.
• My invitation didn't provide many details, and I signed a non-disclosure agreement when I arrived.
• The chefs all served their dishes at different times to keep them hot, and the judging felt fair.

As a journalist who's covered food, travel, and entertainment for nearly two decades, I was invited to participate in the production of "Top Chef: Wisconsin" earlier this year.

I wasn't given many details, but I was able to choose from a list of dates that corresponded with different episodes. I selected a Friday in September and made plans to fly into Milwaukee, where it was being filmed, the day before.

Here are a few things that surprised me about being a guest on "Top Chef."

With vague descriptions and NDAs, a lot of effort was made to prevent spoilers

I received an email three days before filming letting me know I'd be participating in the 10th episode of the season, which would be a Door County fish boil.

It said the filming location was a 20-minute drive from the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, where guest judges were staying.

Production said I'd need to be on set from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and this would be an outdoor event requiring me to stand and walk during service.

Lastly, I was advised that this would be a seafood-focused challenge, and chefs would not be able to accommodate any allergies or dietary restrictions.

The night before the big day, I received a call sheet with more specific directions to the filming location.

When I arrived, my credentials were checked before I was let onto the set. The production team had me sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), then briefed me on more details of the challenge.

Once I was on set, though, filming felt somewhat laid-back

As contestants cooked, we could get drinks from the on-set bar. We were also able to get name-brand snacks and beverages from production's craft services but were told to keep those off of the set.

The production crew also reminded us to mingle and keep our phones away to help create a buzzy atmosphere.

Contestants staggered the start times of their cooks so food was served hot

Although it often looks like contestants are all done at the same time on television, this wasn't the case while I was on set.

The chefs started and stopped at staggered times so the final dishes would be spaced out and served hot. We walked in behind the judges every 20 minutes or so as a new contestant's time ran out and they served their dish.

Not all diners got to try food from each chef

When we arrived on set, each guest was assigned two stations to try food from but told we could sit wherever we liked.

I was surprised each of us wasn't guaranteed to try every dish. Fortunately, my table had diners trying each of the chefs' food, so we all shared bites.

I agreed with the judges' decisions, which seemed very fair

It was also cool to see firsthand how judges dissect and discuss the dishes. To me, judging felt very fair — and really seemed all about what's on the plate.

When watching the episode back, I very much agreed with the judges' decisions.

• HGTV's "The Flip Off" is premiering on January 29, 2025.
• Christina Haack will compete against Tarek El Moussa and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.
• Haack's ex, Josh Hall, was originally supposed to star in the show.

"Flip or Flop" stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa are reuniting on HGTV nearly three years after their hit show ended.

"The Flip Off" is a six-episode, competition-style series that will pit Haack against Tarek and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa. It's premiering on HGTV on January 29, 2025.

Haack was originally supposed to team up with Josh Hall on the series, but they suddenly split in July, leaving Haack to compete alone.

Here's everything we know about the show so far.

'The Flip Off' is a competition series

HGTV announced that Tarek El Moussa, Heather Rae El Moussa, Christina Haack, and Josh Hall were filming "The Flip Off" on May 15, describing the series as "a battle to see who can find, buy, renovate, and flip a house for the biggest financial gain."

Tarek and Haack — who were previously married and share two kids — flipped houses together on "Flip or Flop" for nine years, filming the show even after they separated in 2016. The series ended in 2022.

After it wrapped, Tarek continued flipping homes on his other HGTV series, "Flipping 101" and "The Flipping El Moussas." At the same time, Haack turned to renovating homes for clients in "Christina on the Coast" and "Christina in the Country."

They were set to team up with their new spouses for the coming show and harness their years of experience in home flipping to compete against each other.

However, in July, Hall and Haack filed for divorce less than three years after they got married.

HGTV did not immediately announce how the split would impact "The Flip Off," but on July 23, E! News reported that Tarek and Heather told paparazzi "production is still going as planned without Josh" for the series.

On Thursday, HGTV confirmed Haack would do most of the competition alone.

"As 'The Flip Off' begins, Christina will start the competition against Tarek and Heather alongside her husband, but a sudden life change will bring a shocking twist," the network said in a press release. "With even more to prove on her own, Christina will turn to her trusted team, stopping at nothing to silence Tarek's endless bragging and beat him at his own flipping game."

Heather, Tarek, and Haack serve as executive producers on the series.

Haack will discuss her divorce on the show

HGTV released a sneak peek of the series on Thursday. Rather than spotlighting the flipped homes, the clip featured an intimate conversation between Tarek and Haack at her Newport Beach, California, home.

In the clip, Haack told Tarek that her marriage to Hall had ended.

"Josh and I officially split up," she said.

"We had a blowup," she added. "Middle fingers in my face."

Haack also said things with Hall had "been bad for a long time."

"The kids literally asked me to leave," she told Tarek. "They told me he's not nice to me. Why would I stick around?"

"I feel like I'm in a tornado all the time, and I just can't get out of it," she said.

When contacted by Business Insider for this story, a source close to Hall said he "has no public comment on private matters. Once again, Josh has moved on and does not want to live in the past. His life is not a reality show."

In the clip, Haack and Tarek's conversation turned to her life since they separated in 2016, and the exes apologized to each other.

"Everything since, like, 2016 has been so hard and so horrible," Haack said as she cried. "It's really taken a really bad toll on me."

"I'm really sorry for shit, too," she said to Tarek. "I really am. I just want you to know."

"I understand that feeling of being a little bit lost," Tarek said. "And I acknowledge that I'm a big part, if not the entire part, of all of this."

Other reality stars — including another of Haack's exes — will appear on the show

Haack and the El Moussas will renovate one room of their chosen properties in each episode of "The Flip Off," a format borrowed from other HGTV series like "Rock the Block" and "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge."

The El Moussas and Haack also tapped their celebrity community to judge their renovations.

According to HGTV, the El Moussas and Haack will "take turns handpicking special guest judges to evaluate the transformed rooms based on design, use of space, quality of work, overall transformation, and added value." Each week's winner will get a $2,000 prize from the losing team to use in the following challenge.

The judges include other reality TV stars, such as Amanza Smith from "Selling Sunset" and Heather Dubrow from "The Real Housewives of Orange County," as well as Tarek and Haack's mothers, Dominique El Moussa and Laurie Haack.

The most notable guest judge might be Haack's other ex-husband, Ant Anstead. They were married from December 2018 to June 2021.

Haack and Anstead's relationship was frosty following their divorce, particularly in April 2022 when they had a dramatic custody battle over their 5-year-old son, Hudson. They were able to reach a joint custody agreement in November 2022.

The strain on their relationship seems to have mended in recent months, with Haack re-following Anstead on Instagram in August and telling Backgrid she wants to "get along" with Anstead for Hudson's sake, People reported.

On November 7, Anstead was photographed on the set of "The Flip Off" with Haack, fueling rumors he was replacing Hall on the series. However, as a judge, he will likely only be in one episode of the show.

The two-hour premiere of "The Flip Off" airs on January 29 at 8 p.m.