Symon once told the Food Network that he and Flay usually avoid directly competing against each other to avoid rifts. “We refuse to compete against each other, whether it be on Iron Chef or anything else,” he explained. “We’ve never gone head-to-head. We compete against each other on the golf course; we don’t compete [against] each other in the kitchen.”
Symon and Flay made a slight exception in August 2019 when the duo mentored teams on BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Symon. As per People, Flay said that he was discussing holding a barbecue competition with a television network and figured he wanted to work with someone he knew really well. Symon offered an explanation for this. “When we originally talked about the show we were just completely going to mentor or coach ten great pitmasters,” he shared. They were then asked to consider cooking against each other a couple of times to keep the competition interesting. As Symon clarified, “It’s competition, but we have fun with it.”
The bottom line is clear: these guys don’t take things too seriously and always prioritize their friendship.
