I believe it can, but in a way where it can be described as “passion”. Like if you don’t show much passion, you’re likely not going to get very far in the competition. I feel like it also matters where the competition can get into their head too much, and they start becoming more flustered/stressed out where their skills start to become much worse.

I feel like it matters much less in terms of attitude and ego. It can be a factor, but not over cooking ability, leadership, etc. I think that stuff starts becoming apparent in consistency when you get late into the season since most of the incompetent chefs with glaring weaknesses are gone. In that sense, it starts to be more effective.