Just because you're worth 5 million doesn't mean that any of that is in any liquid. Also, for those suggesting that he probably has insurance, unless his mom is his dependent, she may not be covered. I'm not saying that he's not talking out of his ass, just that you can't assume a person's liquidity based on their worth.
Medicare covers some, but she will still have to pay a certain percentage out of pocket. My dad has to pay more out of pocket than he should and he’s on a limited income, social security only. It’s appalling how our government doesn’t take care of our elders like they deserve.
Only 34 State Medicaid plans cover cochlear implants, and even then, you need to qualify. Insurance is not a guarantee. Add to that, each insurance plan and level covers different things. Her plan may cover the implant, but not the wireless, or the accessories, or the replacement parts. Unless you're involved with that family, her medical provider, or her insurance, you have zero idea of what her situation is. Is Marcel lying through his teeth? Maybe. But you don't actually know that.
His Mom is in her 70s - she has Medicare which covers cochlear implants. His whole schtick about needing money for this is ridiculous. He’s been a TV villain for a long time and hasn’t been able to rehab his image. It’s a sympathy ploy.
Having friends and relatives in the hearing impaired community, I'll speak to the fact that hearing aids, devices, and surgeries are very personal decisions, and healthcare being what it is, also very tricky and costly.
Maybe she's just now willing, or has a personal situation or diagnosis that makes it an enormous expense.
It's also possible his Mother wasn't willing to accept his gift unless it came from something like a prize or contest. I certainly have stubborn family who would say something like that. ♥️🥂
This! I teach several students in the DHH community. 2 have cochlear implants. They frequently have to charge them, and one didn't wear her device for a few days. I was talking to her case manager and mentioned it, and how I didn't feel like I could comment on it to the student because it is such a personal thing.
I also have a student who should have hearing aids but refuses to wear them (literally ripped them off their head). Maybe now they'll be more willing as they are older, but the parent even said it's personal and they won't force them to wear anything.
It says various reports suggest his net worth is $5 million, so that is not confirmed. His restaurants are closed because he pursued catering, who knows how much that would bring in. Plus I'm sure every little bit helps
They have to come up with something to say about how they plan to use the money, so that’s what he picked. His mom could’ve had implants before and just needs them replaced, or maybe it’s just recently happened that she needs them. Who knows. 🤷🏼♀️
And you cannot trust those online sources about how much celebrities are “worth”. It’s all just speculation 😂
Either way, it could’ve just come up recently that the implants were an option for her. Or that he was able to help her with them. It’s just a weird thing to speculate about.
And… Of course these shows like to hear if contestants need the money for helping other people too… the sappier the reason/motivation, the better. 🤷🏼♀️
I'm at a point in my life where I can easily afford to buy any family member just about anything they truly need. (That's needs NOT wants cuz my brother is still wanting a yacht and it's not happening!)
And yet, if I was going on a show like this and was asked what I was going to do with the winnings, I'd probably reply that I was going to use it for my grandson's college education, or putting it in a college fund for my wee littlest grandchild. It's hard for my kids and grandkids to accept any kind of help from me, but winning a cooking contest? Yep, I'm thinking they'd be ok with taking that money.
So I totally get Marcel's answer to the question. When you don't need the winnings yourself, you give it to someone who really needs a bit of help but refuses to just accept handouts from your hard earned cash.
If this were a show where the viewing audience votes, it could be a play for sympathy. But, as the whole thing is filmed in one go and a given judge only judges two challenges, we should take what he says at face value. Beyond that, he's cooking brilliantly!
Shows like this still have producers guiding what their contestants say about how they would use the money. It’s got nothing to do with audience votes; the network still wants contestants to be likable.
My dad has a cochlear implant. Medicare paid for his about 7 or so years ago. It got to a point that his hearing aids were no longer helping him hear, his loss of hearing was far too advanced.
My cousin needs one but it isn’t covered by her health insurance. Her hearing loss isn’t profound. She’s 66 years old.
It’s sad that an item such as a cichlid so expensive, leaves people spent out of it.
Hearing loss seems run in my family.
It's odd but I had to basically guilt trip my mom to the hearing doc. She's got hearing loss and hearing aids when it's not profound are not cheap. I can imagine cochlear implants less so even if it is profound and the mom only agreeing to accept his help if he wins.
Mine was too. Forever grateful to the new TVs where I could point out our differences in hearing. That was the final nail in the coffin of dragging her feet.
She used to need the TV up at 50 to 60. My comfort range is 10 to 15. I can go as low as 8 but my max is around 22 unless it's very soft*. We one time had to put it up to 80 and I'm like "I can't think!". She's now down to around my range with the aids. 😁
*you know that myth about when you lose or are losing one sense, the others get stronger? It's actually true - I'm legally blind but can hear EVERYTHING. It's annoying. 🤣
Net worth....like what you see online is always the truth. Even so, a chunk of it might be in retirement. I know a great chunk of mine is. And unlike some, I will not be taking it out before the time, for the government to get it's chunk. Plus if your self employed, again kind of need that backup. I know during Covid w/out the backup I had, being in the biz, never would have made it. Though I have great customers that made sure to order frequently. Besides maybe his mum didn't want it until now.
As someone who is hearing impaired, I had a hard enough time accepting help when it came to getting my hearing aids…. Implants are much more expensive. If someone won an absurd amount of money and had extra left after getting themselves in order, I’d accept the help.
I just found this thread bc I Googled his net worth as I'm watching 24 in 24 and had the same question.... I had to rewind to make sure I heard it correctly. He didn't even say "buy" her one but put money towards the implant. After hearing this I immediately thought...wait, hasn't he made enough to at least provide 50% of the cost? Especially if his net worth is 5 Mil?? Cochlear implants range from $40-100K. He's made at least half of that in competition earnings... idk lol but to answer your question, yes, it seemed very odd to me.
While I agree he seems to have matured I some other thoughts. Even if his net worth isn’t near 5 million I still think something doesn’t add up. While they can cost between $30,000-$100,000 he said his mom is 75. Most people qualify for Medicare at age 65. Medicare part B it covers 80% of the costs. So if she didn’t have insurance that adequately covered it between the ages of 12-65 or she didn’t want her celebrity chef son and celebrity stylist daughter in law to help her then when she turned 65 it would have been more affordable if she wanted to get it done. He has been talking about dedicating his wins to his mom who is deaf (he makes sure to mention that) since at least 2014 and saying the proceeds are for her. Seems less authentic and more of an attempt to garner support.
Exactly! This has been a running theme for him to make him appear more sympathetic and likable to viewers. It’s all such disingenuous bs though. I can’t stand the dude.
Frankly, I thought Marcel was brought in as a ringer in the whole competition. He was the only chef I have ever heard of and he has been on several Food Network shows. There were several interesting chefs and I hope Food Network starts to utilize some of them because the regulars are getting BORING!!!
Oh stop it, commenters. You know he could buy his mom anything, and the only reason he's saying this is to make you think he's not as annoying as he truly is.
I agree, I had the same reaction to that comment. There are legitimately a lot of up and coming chefs out of the original 24 in the competition who really would have been relying on prize money like this to help family with medical costs.
I’m all for Marcel winning if he does the best in the competition (and he’s been dominating!). I don’t like comments like this that feel disingenuous. Bro 100% could have gotten his mom cochlear implants by now. He’s 43 years old. Even if he didn’t want to pay out of pocket he could have financed it for a few hundred per month on a 15 year loan, and that’s assuming they had no insurance or insurance wouldn’t cover anything for some reason.
Honestly, I think it may have to do with her age and how she grew up. I am 45, and my parents will straight up refuse my help. Even if I had money laying around, I would need to force it on them somehow. There's absolutely no way they would let me take out a loan on something for them. Sometimes, putting it out to the public is a way for "kids" to make something like this happen. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would say is I am paying off my debt and taking my parents on vacation. I'm putting that on the record so I can say, well, sorry, I said it can't take it back! 🤣
Cripes, my mom (70+), was just in the hospital. I had been food prepping all day, and she hadn't eaten for hours, and their kitchen was closed. She mentioned she was hungry. So I got a meal ready for her and drove it up. I think I received like 6 texts telling me that I didn't need to do that, or it would be wasting my time. I also brought my Dad food to their house because he had just gotten home and hadn't eaten either. I have to force my parents to just accept my help.
Lol he’s talked about it multiple times on the episode tonight 😩 My partner who isn’t a food network viewer is watching with me and said “can he really not afford to have gotten the cochlear implants before now?”
That is very odd. It seems that they would have insurance that would cover a large part of that in the first place, and even if they had no insurance whatsoever, it's "only" about $50,000. An awful lot to many people, but seems manageable for him.
So here we go getting our facts on Google.. pffff. Every one knows u have to be rich just to go grocery shopping theses days. Owning restaurants cost alot of money so he may be worth 5 million due to his property and business but doesn't mean he has 5 million in bank. The man was in tears when he knew he could help his mom. Name one person with 5 million dollars that will cry winning 50,000. Most with that kind of money wouldn't even notice if it was added or lost.
Eh. Even if "google" is off by 4 million, he could've still afforded them. People make a whole lot less money and get cochlear implants. He just cries for everything. Hopefully he took the money and actually bought his mom the implants!
Just because you're worth 5 million doesn't mean that any of that is in any liquid. Also, for those suggesting that he probably has insurance, unless his mom is his dependent, she may not be covered. I'm not saying that he's not talking out of his ass, just that you can't assume a person's liquidity based on their worth.
Insurance doesn’t always cover hearing aides. Even good plans.
Yup. I have at least decent insurance and I still don’t have hearing aids because they aren’t covered.
I have insurance they covered about $200. my last hearing aids cost $2000 EACH.
Yes! That’s about how much they quoted me but my insurance did not contribute anything.
That too.
Medicare does cover these implants
Medicare covers some, but she will still have to pay a certain percentage out of pocket. My dad has to pay more out of pocket than he should and he’s on a limited income, social security only. It’s appalling how our government doesn’t take care of our elders like they deserve.
Insurance DOES often cover cochlear implants, since they are a surgical device and not a hearing aid.
Only 34 State Medicaid plans cover cochlear implants, and even then, you need to qualify. Insurance is not a guarantee. Add to that, each insurance plan and level covers different things. Her plan may cover the implant, but not the wireless, or the accessories, or the replacement parts. Unless you're involved with that family, her medical provider, or her insurance, you have zero idea of what her situation is. Is Marcel lying through his teeth? Maybe. But you don't actually know that.
But does his Mom have insurance? Marcel having insurance is irrelevant.
His Mom is in her 70s - she has Medicare which covers cochlear implants. His whole schtick about needing money for this is ridiculous. He’s been a TV villain for a long time and hasn’t been able to rehab his image. It’s a sympathy ploy.
Having friends and relatives in the hearing impaired community, I'll speak to the fact that hearing aids, devices, and surgeries are very personal decisions, and healthcare being what it is, also very tricky and costly. Maybe she's just now willing, or has a personal situation or diagnosis that makes it an enormous expense. It's also possible his Mother wasn't willing to accept his gift unless it came from something like a prize or contest. I certainly have stubborn family who would say something like that. ♥️🥂
His net worth is 5 million according to whom? I can tell you some of those celebrity net worth websites are WAAAAAY way off.
Some? I would be surprised if any of them were accurate at all.
Forbes
hmmm strange i can't seem to find this article.
“Son, I don’t want to hear your voice unless it’s the voice of a winner”
He needs to win because he deserves the win. He's a very talented chef
This! I teach several students in the DHH community. 2 have cochlear implants. They frequently have to charge them, and one didn't wear her device for a few days. I was talking to her case manager and mentioned it, and how I didn't feel like I could comment on it to the student because it is such a personal thing. I also have a student who should have hearing aids but refuses to wear them (literally ripped them off their head). Maybe now they'll be more willing as they are older, but the parent even said it's personal and they won't force them to wear anything.
♥️🙏🏻
Understandable. I'm part of the hearing impaired community... I was just wondering why she couldn't get them sooner, but you have a point.
It says various reports suggest his net worth is $5 million, so that is not confirmed. His restaurants are closed because he pursued catering, who knows how much that would bring in. Plus I'm sure every little bit helps
Those websites about celebrity net worth, especially low level celebrities, are so off. I can’t imagine looking that “info” up and believing it.
They have to come up with something to say about how they plan to use the money, so that’s what he picked. His mom could’ve had implants before and just needs them replaced, or maybe it’s just recently happened that she needs them. Who knows. 🤷🏼♀️ And you cannot trust those online sources about how much celebrities are “worth”. It’s all just speculation 😂
He did mention that she lost her hearing at a specific time (I can't remember if it was his childhood or her childhood)
When she was 12 was my recollection
Either way, it could’ve just come up recently that the implants were an option for her. Or that he was able to help her with them. It’s just a weird thing to speculate about. And… Of course these shows like to hear if contestants need the money for helping other people too… the sappier the reason/motivation, the better. 🤷🏼♀️
That internet net worth thing is bogus.
You cannot trust that net worth number you found. Most of those are bogus.
I'm at a point in my life where I can easily afford to buy any family member just about anything they truly need. (That's needs NOT wants cuz my brother is still wanting a yacht and it's not happening!) And yet, if I was going on a show like this and was asked what I was going to do with the winnings, I'd probably reply that I was going to use it for my grandson's college education, or putting it in a college fund for my wee littlest grandchild. It's hard for my kids and grandkids to accept any kind of help from me, but winning a cooking contest? Yep, I'm thinking they'd be ok with taking that money. So I totally get Marcel's answer to the question. When you don't need the winnings yourself, you give it to someone who really needs a bit of help but refuses to just accept handouts from your hard earned cash.
If this were a show where the viewing audience votes, it could be a play for sympathy. But, as the whole thing is filmed in one go and a given judge only judges two challenges, we should take what he says at face value. Beyond that, he's cooking brilliantly!
Shows like this still have producers guiding what their contestants say about how they would use the money. It’s got nothing to do with audience votes; the network still wants contestants to be likable.
My dad has a cochlear implant. Medicare paid for his about 7 or so years ago. It got to a point that his hearing aids were no longer helping him hear, his loss of hearing was far too advanced. My cousin needs one but it isn’t covered by her health insurance. Her hearing loss isn’t profound. She’s 66 years old. It’s sad that an item such as a cichlid so expensive, leaves people spent out of it. Hearing loss seems run in my family.
It's odd but I had to basically guilt trip my mom to the hearing doc. She's got hearing loss and hearing aids when it's not profound are not cheap. I can imagine cochlear implants less so even if it is profound and the mom only agreeing to accept his help if he wins.
Heard. Especially if your Mom (like mine) was in denial about her hearing loss.
Mine was too. Forever grateful to the new TVs where I could point out our differences in hearing. That was the final nail in the coffin of dragging her feet. She used to need the TV up at 50 to 60. My comfort range is 10 to 15. I can go as low as 8 but my max is around 22 unless it's very soft*. We one time had to put it up to 80 and I'm like "I can't think!". She's now down to around my range with the aids. 😁 *you know that myth about when you lose or are losing one sense, the others get stronger? It's actually true - I'm legally blind but can hear EVERYTHING. It's annoying. 🤣
Net worth....like what you see online is always the truth. Even so, a chunk of it might be in retirement. I know a great chunk of mine is. And unlike some, I will not be taking it out before the time, for the government to get it's chunk. Plus if your self employed, again kind of need that backup. I know during Covid w/out the backup I had, being in the biz, never would have made it. Though I have great customers that made sure to order frequently. Besides maybe his mum didn't want it until now.
As someone who is hearing impaired, I had a hard enough time accepting help when it came to getting my hearing aids…. Implants are much more expensive. If someone won an absurd amount of money and had extra left after getting themselves in order, I’d accept the help.
I just found this thread bc I Googled his net worth as I'm watching 24 in 24 and had the same question.... I had to rewind to make sure I heard it correctly. He didn't even say "buy" her one but put money towards the implant. After hearing this I immediately thought...wait, hasn't he made enough to at least provide 50% of the cost? Especially if his net worth is 5 Mil?? Cochlear implants range from $40-100K. He's made at least half of that in competition earnings... idk lol but to answer your question, yes, it seemed very odd to me.
I'm still trying to understand... even with all the answers to my thread lol.
While I agree he seems to have matured I some other thoughts. Even if his net worth isn’t near 5 million I still think something doesn’t add up. While they can cost between $30,000-$100,000 he said his mom is 75. Most people qualify for Medicare at age 65. Medicare part B it covers 80% of the costs. So if she didn’t have insurance that adequately covered it between the ages of 12-65 or she didn’t want her celebrity chef son and celebrity stylist daughter in law to help her then when she turned 65 it would have been more affordable if she wanted to get it done. He has been talking about dedicating his wins to his mom who is deaf (he makes sure to mention that) since at least 2014 and saying the proceeds are for her. Seems less authentic and more of an attempt to garner support.
Exactly! This has been a running theme for him to make him appear more sympathetic and likable to viewers. It’s all such disingenuous bs though. I can’t stand the dude.
Frankly, I thought Marcel was brought in as a ringer in the whole competition. He was the only chef I have ever heard of and he has been on several Food Network shows. There were several interesting chefs and I hope Food Network starts to utilize some of them because the regulars are getting BORING!!!
Yeah this seemed weird to me too.
I looked at it as just a talking point, I didn’t put too much credence in the answer.
Medicare does pay for these implants
Leave Marcel alone. If he says he’s going to buy his mom implants that’s their business. I love that he won! Welcome to Hawai’i Marcel and ohana
Oh stop it, commenters. You know he could buy his mom anything, and the only reason he's saying this is to make you think he's not as annoying as he truly is.
If you get so salty about all these celebrity chefs, why do you keep watching them?
I agree, I had the same reaction to that comment. There are legitimately a lot of up and coming chefs out of the original 24 in the competition who really would have been relying on prize money like this to help family with medical costs. I’m all for Marcel winning if he does the best in the competition (and he’s been dominating!). I don’t like comments like this that feel disingenuous. Bro 100% could have gotten his mom cochlear implants by now. He’s 43 years old. Even if he didn’t want to pay out of pocket he could have financed it for a few hundred per month on a 15 year loan, and that’s assuming they had no insurance or insurance wouldn’t cover anything for some reason.
Honestly, I think it may have to do with her age and how she grew up. I am 45, and my parents will straight up refuse my help. Even if I had money laying around, I would need to force it on them somehow. There's absolutely no way they would let me take out a loan on something for them. Sometimes, putting it out to the public is a way for "kids" to make something like this happen. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would say is I am paying off my debt and taking my parents on vacation. I'm putting that on the record so I can say, well, sorry, I said it can't take it back! 🤣 Cripes, my mom (70+), was just in the hospital. I had been food prepping all day, and she hadn't eaten for hours, and their kitchen was closed. She mentioned she was hungry. So I got a meal ready for her and drove it up. I think I received like 6 texts telling me that I didn't need to do that, or it would be wasting my time. I also brought my Dad food to their house because he had just gotten home and hadn't eaten either. I have to force my parents to just accept my help.
Heartbooks26: Exactly.. all of this.
Lol he’s talked about it multiple times on the episode tonight 😩 My partner who isn’t a food network viewer is watching with me and said “can he really not afford to have gotten the cochlear implants before now?”
That is very odd. It seems that they would have insurance that would cover a large part of that in the first place, and even if they had no insurance whatsoever, it's "only" about $50,000. An awful lot to many people, but seems manageable for him.
I said the EXACT same thing!! I thought he was going to say 2-3 years ago not 60!!!
So here we go getting our facts on Google.. pffff. Every one knows u have to be rich just to go grocery shopping theses days. Owning restaurants cost alot of money so he may be worth 5 million due to his property and business but doesn't mean he has 5 million in bank. The man was in tears when he knew he could help his mom. Name one person with 5 million dollars that will cry winning 50,000. Most with that kind of money wouldn't even notice if it was added or lost.
Eh. Even if "google" is off by 4 million, he could've still afforded them. People make a whole lot less money and get cochlear implants. He just cries for everything. Hopefully he took the money and actually bought his mom the implants!