Bobby Flay Explains Abrupt 'Iron Chef' Departure

Although at first it seemed that Bobby Flay "fake quit" Iron Chef with a goofy shirt stunt, it now appears that he has quit for real. The Food Network favorite revealed his reasons for quitting during the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on February 24.

"I've done over 100 Iron Chef competitions, and frankly they are exhausting," Flay told the audience during an "In Conversation" discussion moderated by Michael Symon. "They are exhausting physically but, even moreso, they are exhausting emotionally."

"When I do a season, I do between 6 and 8 [battles] in a week and it crushes me because it's 60 minutes of pure energy, creativity and execution, and so at some point I was like, 'I've been doing this for a long time and I want to go out on a high note,'" People reports Flay as saying.

Flay also mentioned that Food Network, although supportive of his decision to quit, was not delighted with the scandalous TV moment. "The network was not thrilled," he said. "I thought it would be good TV. They didn't think of it that way, and that's obviously their prerogative." Unfortunately, fans looking to see the scene are in for a major disappointment. Flay divulged that the network expensively "blacked out" the offending clip.

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