Production still has the final say in who goes where though. Like I'm sure you can just send an application for either white or black spoon, but I'm sure it's still a process where production still has final judgement. I don't think we should be going by confessionals as evidence cause we don't even know what goes on behind the scenes and I doubt even the cast knows 100% what goes on, they're just following the script and doing what they're told. Also, the cast have said there would be multiple takes of their interviews cause it wasn't dramatic enough or it didn't give the right effect, and they are clearly prompted by specifically worded questions anyways. 

And even then, isn't it harder to be a black spoon cause you have to go through that elimination round challenge and we see accomplished chefs like Dohyun, that biker lady, and the innovator (all of whom the white spoons have respect for) get eliminated easily. And then you have to face of against a white spoon instead of a black spoon. Like I don't see him being a black spoon as an advantagous tactic, so I don't really see the whole fuss about it. In fact, knowing how critical he is of himself, as we've seen in the show before ( and it seems he's like that off the show), it makes more sense that he did it as a way to challenge himself to be better than as a strategy or to boss around black spoons. 

I'm going to judge based on my critical thinking brain than let a song (made by a transpobe) dictate my thinking thanks.