Bravo Shamelessly Capitalizing on Chef Academy Contestant's Porn Star Past [Emmanuel DelCour aka Jean Val Jean]
By now you know that Emmanuel DelCour, one of the contestants on Bravo's Chef Academy with Jean-Christophe Novelli, is also a somewhat famous adult film star who went by the name "Jean Val Jean" (yes, a Les Misérables reference). Santa Rosa, CA's Press Democrat asked: "Cheap casting stunt or another example of a reality show not doing due diligence when screening contestants?"
Well now we have our answer: "How are you?! Happy Friday!" began the Bravo PR email we received this morning.
It continued: "Bravo's Chef Academy student, Emmanuel Delcour, aka, Jean Valjean, is raising more than Cosette...if you get my drift! Before he became a Chef Academy student, Mr. Delcour had a prior career in the movies…the GROWN up movies!"
Yeah, Bravo, we get it. You're hoping we'll watch not because you've produced a quality cooking reality show, but because there's an ex-porn star walking around on screen! If you really need it, here's a SFW interview with him back in his adult film days, and here are some decidedly NSFW videos of him. And here's a clip from Chef Academy in which other contestants discover DelCour's porn star past. It's... titillating?
Video: Porn Stars on Bravo
Update 11/24/09: Here's video of Emmanuel DelCour admitting to his porn star past.
—Raphael Brion
