The two-hour-long premiere of The Great Food Truck Race Season 18 saw a huge twist at the end as Rising Tiger, the team from Longmont, led by chef Devin Keopraphay, left the competition despite not being the team with the lowest sales totals, which would be eliminated as per the rules of the game.
So why did Rising Tigers withdraw from the contest?
Why did Rising Tiger leave The Great Food Truck Race in Season 18 premiere?
At the end of the Season 18 premiere of The Great Food Truck Race, the team with the lowest sales total was to be eliminated. Eat My Biscuits from Atlanta finished last on the day. However, in a surprise move, the team with the second-lowest sales, Rising Tiger, withdrew from the competition.
In a shocking move, Keopraphay announced at the end of the premiere, “Due to personal reasons, I want to retire the team from the competition. Sorry, but we got things to take care of back home.” This came as a shock to everyone around, including the host.
The series did not give a specific reason for the exit. But it is clear that Devin Keopraphay left to deal with a family matter. Since then, Keopraphay said that he received “hundreds of emails and social media messages” asking why he would turn his back on this opportunity (via Westword).
Keopraphay explained, “My mom said she wanted to see him before he was deployed, so it was a hard decision to leave, but I feel like I made the right one,” he added, “Sure, I expected some controversy from the decision to put family first, but I didn’t realize it would be this big.”
So, this ended one of the most surprising twists on TV in recent years. Despite the withdrawal, Eat My Biscuits still exited the show as per the established rules.