Guty Carrera and Miguel Arce, the two Peruvian contestants on Telemundo's "Top Chef VIP 5," became embroiled in a tense confrontation during the episode broadcast on Sunday, September 13, 2026, after Arce was involved in an altercation with actor Carlos Ponce.
The two Peruvians had shown a cordial relationship during the competition's early days, according to the source report. Although the fight did not start directly between the two countrymen, Carrera stepped in to pull Arce away from his confrontation with Ponce, and in doing so also criticized Arce for what he considered poor conduct.
How the confrontation started
The dispute began when Arce, a member of the red team, walked over to the blue team's station to ask whether they had a spare onion. Stephanie Salas reacted sharply, telling him to leave the station. Arce shot back, telling her to learn how to speak to people and questioning whether she was being unreasonable.
The situation escalated when Ponce grabbed Arce by the arm to remove him from the blue team's area. Arce warned Ponce that things would turn ugly if he laid a hand on him. Ponce then pushed him toward the exit, where Carrera was waiting and tried to calm his countryman down.
Guty Carrera's warning
Carrera's intervention ended up putting the two Peruvians at odds with each other instead. Arce, visibly annoyed at being forced out of the blue team's station, remarked that if things were going to turn physical, he was ready for it.
Carrera then issued Arce a pointed warning, saying that if Arce touched his team while they were working and doing things properly, and it affected them, that was when he would step in.
"Top Chef VIP" is a Telemundo celebrity cooking competition now in its fifth season, built around putting well known personalities through demanding culinary challenges judged by a panel of experts. Arce is known in Peru for his time on the reality competition show "Combate" and for appearing on "Esto sí es amor," while Carrera, previously linked to television personality Alejandra Baigorria, built his profile on the reality show "Esto es guerra." Ponce is a well known Puerto Rican actor.
