Vault: Undercover Boss goes to Hooters

Summary

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The Bert Show – "Vault: Undercover Boss Goes to Hooters"

Date: June 23, 2026

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Overview

This episode of The Bert Show dives into reactions and behind-the-scenes insights from the CBS show Undercover Boss, specifically focusing on the episode featuring Hooters CEO Colby Brooks. The hosts discuss ethical and business dilemmas surfaced during the filming, including problematic management practices, the realities of Hooters' employment standards (with a former employee sharing her story), and broader questions about image, legality, and workplace culture at the chain. The conversation is candid and maintains The Bert Show’s signature blend of humor, honesty, and curiosity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Undercover Boss: Initial Impressions & Format

• The hosts reference shocking moments from the show, not only from the Hooters segment but also from the Waste Management episode (01:05–01:41), highlighting real workplace challenges like inadequate restrooms for women in waste management.
  • Notable moment: Female waste management workers describe having to use cans as bathrooms. This prompts a policy change after the CEO witnesses it.

Colby Brooks on Camera Awareness

• Colby Brooks explains that all employees were aware of the cameras, believing they were filming a “documentary on entry-level employees” (02:16–02:34).
  • Quote (Colby Brooks, 02:25): “They think that they're there for a premise of a documentary of an entry level employee coming in to try something different.”

2. Toxic Management at Hooters: The Bean-Eating Contest

• The episode’s standout moment is a Hooters manager making waitresses compete in a "baked bean eating contest" with no hands for the chance to leave a shift early—a practice caught on camera and labeled humiliating (03:02–03:30).

  • Quote (Colby Brooks, 03:06): “If you wanted to be cut off the floor early, he would do a bean eating contest with no hands.”

• Colby notes that while the manager didn’t believe he was doing anything wrong, it was still inappropriate, and the CEO had to confront him about it after filming (03:28–04:07).

3. The Experience of Being the "Boss" Undercover

• Brooks describes being ultra-perceptive as a restaurant executive: “You sort of... nitpick more than the average person does. Sometimes it’s hard to even have a pleasant meal in any restaurant” (04:37–05:02).

4. Questioning the Authenticity of “Undercover Boss”

• Listeners and the team debate whether the show is staged or authentic, given the intense emotions and perfect PR moments. Brooks insists it’s unscripted, unpaid, and authentic. He dedicated about 10 days to filming (05:04–05:38).
  • Quote (Colby Brooks, 05:21): “No, it’s not set up at all. There’s no script... I wasn’t paid, the company wasn’t paid. Only thing I had to do was give about 10 days of my time for filming.”

5. Policy Changes & Company Growth

• Brooks says the show led to positive changes—policy adjustments, new marketing programs, and improved training for the chain’s 25,000 employees worldwide (06:17–06:55).
  • Quote (Colby Brooks, 06:17): “We actually implemented some different marketing programs. We did change some policies...”

6. The Global Spread of Hooters

• The CEO shares that Hooters had locations in 28 countries, with the most unexpected being a now-defunct store in Israel (07:12–07:36).
  • Quote (Colby Brooks, 07:16): “It was in Israel. It was in a town north of Israel called Poleg.”

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Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• On Having to Maintain Image Standards:

  • Joanna, Former Hooters Employee (08:10): “I was brought in during a yearly evaluation. And I was told that I did not look the same as I did when I was hired and that I needed to get back to that weight, and if not, they were gonna have to let me go.”
  • Interviewer (08:53): “So is that even legal?”
  • Colby Brooks (08:54): “We do. We have a bona fide occupational qualification, and there are image standards, and, yes, it is legal.”

• On Image Standards and Harm:

  • Joanna (10:07): “It hurts your pride and it hurts your image and your self esteem. And I got over it... I did enjoy working there until that point.”

• On Management and Inconsistency:

  • Caller/Former Employee (13:00): “If you didn’t look like you could have been in a calendar, you were running the bus tub... it was a Cinderella deal.”
  • Same caller (13:11): “It’s the managers. Every one of them is different.”

• Hosts and Team Commentary:

  • On Hooters’ brand: “In addition to the delicious and tasty wings and curly fries... also has an obligation to be staffed with hot women. That’s their gimmick.” (13:22–13:41)
  • On employment fairness: “My argument was that there were girls in the store who were bigger than me, but because I gained weight, I'm the one who has to go back...that was my biggest argument.” (Joanna, 11:30–11:47)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:53 – 02:16: Introduction to Undercover Boss Hooters episode & camera premise.
• 03:02 – 04:07: The humiliating bean-eating contest revelation and aftermath.
• 04:37 – 05:38: CEO Brooks talks about being nitpicky and authenticity of the show.
• 06:17 – 06:55: Brooks details positive changes made at Hooters after filming.
• 07:12 – 07:36: Hooters’ surprising international presence, including Israel.
• 08:10 – 10:20: Joanna shares her experience with image-based firing; legalities and impacts discussed.
• 13:00 – 13:41: A different former employee describes favoritism and treatment based on looks.

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Tone & Style Highlights

The episode is sharply real and conversational, with frank admissions from both employees and management. The hosts balance curiosity, skepticism, and empathy, allowing for both lighthearted banter and honest discussion of uncomfortable workplace truths.

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Takeaways

• Undercover Boss uncovers uncomfortable but real workplace issues, prompting change within high-profile companies like Hooters.
• Hooters enforces image standards as a “bona fide occupational qualification,” sparking debate about legality, ethics, and personal impact.
• The show’s authenticity is strongly asserted by Brooks, though the team remains healthily skeptical.
• Former employees share both pride in their experience and disappointments over image-driven firings and subjective management practices.
• The conversation illustrates how company culture and leadership must grapple with both fairness and brand realities in unique, sometimes controversial, ways.

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For those who missed the episode, this summary captures the substance, style, and core controversies of The Bert Show’s engaging and revealing discussion with Hooters CEO Colby Brooks and former employees.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Interviewer]

play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. The Birch Show Here's a little bit of the show from Sunday night after the Super Bowl. Undercover Boss on cbs.

[Waste Management Employee]

When you're a female out here working on a garbage truck. This is our outhouse. That's our little pea.

[Interviewer]

That's it.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

That's it.

[Waste Management Employee]

You obviously can't keep breaking off route all the time to go use the restroom. That would add all kinds of time onto the route. Every time I have to go to the bathroom, I'd have to break off routing.

[Interviewer]

Wow, you pee in a can. You okay with that?

[Waste Management Employee]

Well, I guess I have to be.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

I mean, I was just struck.

[Interviewer]

How do our female drivers deal with being out on the road, you know, when nature calls? I feel like a male chauvinist or something. I mean, I've never thought about it. So that was the owner of the

[Commentator]

company and he changed policy, right?

[Waste Management Employee]

He changed policy, yeah.

[Commentator]

Because their male drivers just go in

[Waste Management Employee]

people's yards or at the windows. They're driving down the road, you know.

[Interviewer]

Here is Kobe Brooks from Atlanta, but now he is the CEO and president of Hooters. Hey Kobe.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Good morning, Atlantis.

[Interviewer]

How are you, man?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

I'm great.

[Interviewer]

We are very intrigued by the show. You know, I've only seen the commercials though some of the women on the show saw it this week. The thing that I didn't understand while I was watching it is how do the employees know that there are cameras around? Correct.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Yes, they're very well aware. There's probably, I don't know, 15 while we're shooting.

[Interviewer]

So what's, what do they think the cameras are there for?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

They think that they're there for a premise Of a documentary of a entry level employee coming in to try something different than he's otherwise accustomed to.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so that said, even though this manager of Hooters knew the cameras were around, knew he was going to be on tv, he still did some pretty inappropriate things that you saw while you were on the show.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

He did. He did. And, you know, I don't think he thought what he was doing was really bad. I thought he. I think that he thought it was sort of cute in a way, but obviously it wasn't. But, yeah, he did that while the cameras were rolling.

[Interviewer]

And for those that haven't seen the commercial, what exactly was he making those employees do?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

He was. If you wanted to be cut off the floor early, he would do in a bean eating contest with no hands.

[Interviewer]

So the waitresses have their hands behind their back and they had to bend over and they had to do what?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Eat baked beans off of a plate

[Waste Management Employee]

in front of him.

[Commentator]

Humiliating.

[Waste Management Employee]

Yeah.

[Commentator]

Did he do anything else to humiliate the staffers?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

No, no, that was. That was pretty much it. He, you know, like I said, I don't think he thought, you know, he was being cute. He. I don't think he really thought anything other than that. And as you know, I obviously, I couldn't break character. I couldn't say anything to him because I was filming. But, you know, at the end of the show, when you confront the people that you've worked with, good, bad, or indifferent, you know, it's. You have to watch the show. I don't even know what's in the show. I haven't seen it. CBS won't let me look at it, but. So I'll be seeing it the first time. You guys are. So. I don't know what's going to air on it, but there was a stern meeting between the two,

[Commentator]

to say the least, before the. Before the television show. Do you live in Atlanta?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

I do. Born and raised. I'm a rarity.

[Commentator]

Wow. So when you would go to the Atlanta stores before the TV show, what would be something that you would normally notice without having the perspective of being in there?

[Interviewer]

Small infractions.

[Commentator]

Yeah. Maybe not wiping off a counter type of thing. What was the most significant thing that you had to address before having the cameras behind you?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

You know, I'm a terrible, terrible Hooters customer because I look at everything. I'm actually a terrible customer in any restaurant just because it's what I do. You sort of. You nitpick more than the average person does. So I look at everything and sometimes it's hard to even have a pleasant meal in any restaurant I go into just because the little things bother me, because I know they're not right, but the average customer would never notice.

[Waste Management Employee]

So.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

So there's a lot of things.

[Waste Management Employee]

When I. When I was watching the show on Sunday with the waste management episode, and a lot of people on Twitter were wondering, now, is this real? Because, I mean, it obviously gives great PR for the company, and it goes PR for the CEO in particular, so. And they were like, is this kind of set up? And so how would you answer that to those who kind of doubted the first show?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

No, it's. It's not set up at all. There's no script. It's. It's. It's off the cuff, and what happens, happens. So I can honestly say there's no scripting. I wasn't paid, the company wasn't paid. It's just, you know, only thing I had to do was give about 10 days of my time for filming.

[Interviewer]

How did they choose you and Hooters to be to highlight on the show?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

They contacted us early in 2009, and we get contacted by a lot of different people to do a lot of different things, and most of it's involving the girls and different shows they want to do pilots for. It never. Never involved me. So when this came through, we're like, yeah, okay, whatever. Well, they kept calling back and they said, really? This, we're going to do this. It's going to work. And they kept going back. And then I cast it, and they liked the casting. And, you know, we. At the whole time this whole process was going on, we're like, you know, it's never going to get off the ground.

[Former Hooters Employee]

And.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Well, it did.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

And when you were done filming, were there any policies or procedures that you ended up changing?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Yes, we actually implemented some different marketing programs. We did change some policies, and we changed the way we do a little bit of business and a little bit of training and things of that nature. But overall, my experience was extremely positive. Even the negatives were positive, because I'm glad that I saw everything that I did see. So it's only going to make our company better. We've got 25,000 employees in 28 different countries. And, you know, it's to say that every one of my employees are doing what they're supposed to be doing. I mean, I'd be a liar. So it's just big companies have opportunities, no matter what walk of life or what industry you're in.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

And going back to that one Manager. Are you concerned that there are other managers managing other Hooters that are doing the same thing that you're not seeing?

[Commentator]

Not after that episode.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Yeah. Probably not as much anymore.

[Commentator]

And you said that hooters is in 28 countries?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Yes.

[Commentator]

And what's the most obscure country where there's a Hooters? I'm just curious.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Well, the one that was really shocking to everybody. It's not open anymore because the developer of the shopping mall that we were in never did finish it. So all the business left, but. And it was doing well at the time until the shopping center went under. But it was in Israel. It was in a town north of Israel called Poleg.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Wow, that's cool.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

And so, you know, we're in a lot. We're in Austria, Switzerland, lots of countries in south and Central America. We have four in China, Singapore. So we're all over the place.

[Commentator]

That is wild.

[Interviewer]

Hey, Kobe, do you have to run, like, in 60 seconds or something like that? Are you in a pretty short time?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

I don't know. I have another person in there. Tell me what I'm doing in my other ear.

[Interviewer]

Okay, I'm gonna put you on the spot for just a second here. Cause as we're talking to you, one of our producers just instant messaged me and said that she used to work for Hooters, obviously, and she loved the experience. Until the.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Yes. I was a Hooters girl over in Roswell, Georgia, and I loved working there. I was a trainer. I got to go to the Hooters in Cancun and help open that store. It was a great experience. I did the contest. I submitted pictures for magazines. Well, towards the end of my Hooters career, I was actually fired. Let go, because I had gained weight. And I was brought in during a yearly evaluation. And I was told that I did not look the same as I did when I was hired and that I needed to get back to that weight, and if not, they were gonna have to let me go.

[Commentator]

And did they let you go for that reason?

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Yes, because, I mean, they give you 60 days to get it back.

[Interviewer]

So is that even legal?

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Colby, we do. We have a bona fide occupational qualification, and there are image standards, and, yes, it is legal.

[Interviewer]

And at that point, I'm just curious how this process goes. Do they tell you you have to lose five pounds? Do they tell you you have to lose ten pounds?

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Well, they take a picture of you with a Polaroid when you're first hired, and it's in your employee book, and then they show it to you. And they say, this is how we hired you. This is how we want you to

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

go look again, if you were chosen to do openings for us in Cancun or any other place, I mean, obviously they were very happy with you at some point because not everybody gets to go do that.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Correct. Which I really enjoy doing, like I said. But I personally feel like I didn't look bad. And I think women are different heights and different shapes and they come in.

[Commentator]

But did you look different than when you were hired?

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

I don't feel it. I probably gained 5, 10 pounds, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

[Commentator]

But it's not.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

And it's very hard for me to comment with education here because I have no idea. I don't know if I've met you. I was at the Cancun opening, and I have no idea the circumstances.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I mean, it's part of the Hooters marketing, too. I mean, I guess that's a tough thing to talk about, but I mean, that's what they do. That's the brand and that's the image.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

It is tough. I mean, it took a. It's a such. It hurts your pride and it hurts your image and your self esteem. And I got over it. You know, I moved on to other things. But like I said to you earlier, I did enjoy working there until that point.

[Commentator]

Well, let's really subjective, though, because if they were going to hire you in the first place, but your argument is if you gain five or ten pounds, then you should still be able to have your job, but they wouldn't have hired somebody 50 pounds more heavy than you in. In at the outset, you know what I'm saying?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Commentator]

And you wouldn't have argued about that.

[Interviewer]

Well, let's continue this talk, but I'm sure Colby has to take off. Hey, Colby, good luck on the show on Sunday night, and we appreciate your time and congratulations. Colby here, like, started working from the ground up. Like he didn't inherit Hooters, like he worked from the ground up. So he was a great choice to do the show on. All right, man. Thank you very much for your time.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Thank you. And my apologies to the Hooter girl.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

Well, thanks. It's great. I'm in a better place.

[Commentator]

It's okay. Now we're going to talk to her, actually, after the show. And Joanna, bring your Polaroid from there.

[Interviewer]

See you later, Colby.

[Former Hooters Employee]

Bye.

[Colby Brooks (Hooters CEO)]

Bye.

[Interviewer]

So I guess it's a little bit of the same conversation that we had when we Were talking about the tavern a long time ago. Also, like, if that's the image that the company has for their servers, then they certainly have the right to say, sorry, you don't meet that image anymore.

[Waste Management Employee]

Right.

[Interviewer]

I mean, it's harsh.

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

My argument was that there were girls in the store who were bigger than me, but because I gained weight, I'm the one who has to go back. But if they hired another girl who was already 10 pounds heavier than me, she's allowed to keep her job. That was what my biggest argument was with that.

[Commentator]

Do you think it was an excuse and they wanted to fire you for other things?

[Former Hooters Employee (Joanna)]

It could have been. I mean, that's definitely how. Of course, I look back now, and I'm like, oh, they probably just didn't like me. Maybe I'm old news. They got some new girls in. They want some fresh faces. I don't know. I had been there for four years. It could have been.

[Interviewer]

Without knowing anything about the situation, I'm pretty sure it was your attitude,

[Commentator]

and

[Waste Management Employee]

this is not a reflection on you, but I think that if you're a Hooters girl and you brag about being a Hooters girl and then your image changes based on, you know, like, on one day, you can't brag that you're Hooters girl, saying that I'm better looking than other women because I'm a Hooters girl. And like I said, this is not directed to Joanna, but those that do that, then I don't think you could complain. If you lose that image, because you kind of. You embraced it when you had it, and then when you didn't have it, then all of a sudden you're mad at the company. You know what I mean?

[Interviewer]

Hey, Michelle. Good morning. You're part of the Burt show.

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Hello.

[Former Hooters Employee]

Good morning.

[Waste Management Employee]

Hi.

[Former Hooters Employee]

My comment was simply just things like this go on all the time. I'm older than most of the girls. I got hired at the one in Noonan. Most of the girls there start out at 18 years old. I was already married with children. And one of the things that they would make you do is if you didn't look like you could have been in a calendar. You were the one that was running the bus tub. You were the one that was cleaning up the floors. You were the one that was checking the bathrooms. You were kind of. It was a Cinderella deal. I don't know.

[Interviewer]

I don't know how you can blame the company for that. I mean, it's what the job is saying.

[Former Hooters Employee]

It's the managers. It's not the company. I mean, I've met that is Kobe before. It's the managers. It's. Every one of them is different. Yeah.

[Commentator]

You know what you're signing up.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Commentator]

But you're taking a job at a restaurant that is, you know, in addition to the delicious and tasty wings and curly fries.

[Waste Management Employee]

It's called Hooters.

[Former Hooters Employee]

Yeah.

[Commentator]

Also has an obligation to be staffed with hot women. That's their gimmick. So the hottest women are going to be the ones who have the most customer interaction. It's what it is.

[Interviewer]

I don't know how you can blame them for that.

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