Antonia Lofaso Says Playing Golf Was the Secret to Winning 'Tournament of Champions VI'

This time felt different for Tournament of Champions VI winner Antonia Lofaso. She didn't know she was going to win it all — in fact, she wasn't planning to compete again — but a calm she hadn't been able to find during the first five seasons of TOC had descended upon her. "I always felt like a fierce competitor, but my focus was stronger. I felt stronger," she says. You could say this season's win was fated for the Los Angeles-based chef, who told host Guy Fieri several times that she would not be joining for Season 6 after losing to Maneet Chauhan in the Season 5 finale. But Guy held out and, at the last minute, Antonia couldn't resist hopping back into the competition. Ahead, she sits down with Food Network to discuss what being a TOC champion means to her.

ANTONIA: I should get a trophy just for that [laughs]. I was overcome with a ton of emotion. The entire journey was so long. Getting so close Season 1; doing well Season 2. Seasons 3 and 4, I fell off to the point where I thought I was never even going to compete again … I thought, "I'm too old for this and I've lost my touch." Then, Season 5, coming in and destroying. So, to have this happen for Season 6 … there's no words to describe it, truthfully. It was the accomplishment I needed. This idea of not winning TOC and knowing all the people who won that I'm with all the time: Brooke [Williamson], Mei [Lin], Maneet and Tiffani [Faison]. I make a joke throughout the season where I'm like, "Those are my people. I'm with them, yet I'm not with them. I'm the only one who hasn't won TOC."

(Pictured: Antonia in TOC I.)

ANTONIA: Britt is a fierce competitor. She's young. She's hungry. I know how much she wanted it. There was part of me [thinking], "Listen youngin, it'll come to you. Don't worry. You'll get it." But part of me was also sad because I know what it means to the other person. Even last year when I beat Jet [Tila], I was overtaken with emotion. I said [to Jet], "I'm so sorry" — it just came out. Guy was like, "Did you just apologize?" It's because we're all in this thing together. We're in these trailers together. We're confined to these areas for two weeks. You're watching your friends get picked off one by one. It goes from 32 people to one person, so there is a moment of sympathy, because I've been there before. I know what it feels like to get there and not make it.

ANTONIA: The win for TOC comes when preparation meets opportunity. My entire career has been preparation. That's why the more seasoned chefs make it as far as they do. Your repertoire of food knowledge and combinations and ability to think out of the box and create things out of nothing — that only comes from experience. Some chefs have flash cards and make combinations and practice those combinations … You end up trying to fit your idea into the randomizer instead of just letting the randomizer tell you what to cook. This time around, I had a lot of conversations with Alex Guarnaschelli before I left. [Alex] said, "Antonia, everyone roots for you ... win or lose." Bobby [Flay] said the same thing. He goes, "It doesn't matter." So, I went in with a different mindset … where it wasn't just about what I was making. I set very clear intentions so my mind was just right, and that came with understanding why I came back. And also, are you ready for this? I played a lot of golf. It's very meditative. Kevin [Lee] and I went to a golf tournament in the middle of filming [on our days off]. It put me in a position to focus on myself and the task at hand. Like [when] you just hit the ball and think of nothing else: Cook and think of nothing else. And I did better. I felt better doing it. There's so many people coming at you, and so many people who handle nerves in different ways, and it bleeds onto you. To be in a room with 32 people who are losing their minds is really the hardest part.

ANTONIA: When I did the finale in Season 5, I felt like Maneet knew more than I did. That kind of pressure in that last round — an hour for two dishes — is like nothing I've ever experienced. I did well in five, but I knew, just energetically, I wasn't as fast or diligent as she was. I could see it. Not to mention she had been to the finale before, and the gravity of that moment is bigger than you think. The last cook is very confusing. So, [this season] I went in there and it was familiar to me because I had been there before. There was a comfortability in that familiarity I knew I had this time.

(Pictured: Antonia hugs Maneet after the TOC V finale.)

ANTONIA: You stand there shell-shocked, like a bomb has just gone off. The air feels thicker in the room for whatever reason. You're breathing heavier. The only thing I can compare it to is [maybe] what boxers feel like going into a ring. Your adrenaline is going … like there's a car accident and your ears are ringing. Your whole body feels like it's in shock … It's [also] the gravity of knowing what we just did for the last two weeks, and being like, "I can't do this again. So, it needs to happen this time."

ANTONIA: Definitely the last dish. The last cook is very confusing. There's a lot that goes into it. You have to make two different dishes. [Against Sara,] one of [the dishes] had to be hot, one of them had to be cold. Then with the hot and cold, one of them had to be spicy and the other one had to be sticky. So, even just remembering what you have to do and hitting all of the elements … is very overwhelming.

(Pictured: Antonia's Spicy Wagyu Sausage from the TOC VI finale.)

ANTONIA: That was like the greatest thing of my entire life … She's everything to all of us. She also has no filter, so if she hates something, she's going to say it.

ANTONIA: We're basically on this underground group chat, all of us. I have six of them — six tournament chats. Season 1 still has a chat. Even if you're kicked out in the first round, everyone is still so invested until it's over. It's a chat of [updates]: who lost, who won, the scores and then a big congratulations or, you know, "Don't worry you'll get it next time." And we'll wish each other a merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy birthdays — stuff like that.

(Pictured: TOC champions [from left to right] Brooke Williamson, Maneet Chauhan, Tiffani Faison and Mei Lin.)

ANTONIA: We're gone for so long and you're eating out or you're eating at the hotel. So … maybe there were 16 of us left … we went across the street and bought steaks and hamburgers, cooked outside for ourselves and sat down and ate like a family. It was a piece of normalcy we all really needed … It was a calm before the next round of the storm. The other part that I really loved too is — because [filming] is two weeks we're always sandwiched on a weekend — Guy always has a party at his house on Sunday called Sunday Funday. We all go up there and swim or make dinner. It's fun to chill and not take ourselves so seriously.