Holli Ugalde endured possibly better than anyone in the history of "Hell's Kitchen" -- she started off on a weak team, battled personalities early on, but ultimately persevered. Once she was finally free of the drama of the red team in the final six, we quickly learned we had a promising chef on our hands. Her creativity and growth throughout ultimately won her the grand prize, and a job at the Savoy Grill in London.
On Wednesday I had the opportunity to chat with Holli about her victory and the experience on the show as a whole.
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Matt: First of all, congratulations!
Holli: Thank you so much.
Are you in London right now?
No, not yet. (Laughs.) I'm in California.
So are you going to be heading over there pretty soon?
Yeah! I don't know the exact date yet, but pretty soon. The grand opening is going to be in October, so I'm guessing I have a lot of work to do. New menus and all.
So let's go back to the beginning -- what made you want to be on this show to begin with?
I had a friend who convinced me to go to a casting call. I hadn't even watched the show before. It was a cool process, but pretty easy. When I got accepted to go on the show, it was already cast, I was like 'oh snap, I better watch some to see what I'm doing'. That was the first time watching it.
With that in mind, what did you think of Chef Ramsay during all of this?
I already knew of Chef Ramsay and watched some of his other shows, so I knew he was going to be really, really tough. When I first got there, I was absolutely terrified of them. I really was -- I will not lie. As the season went on and we kept cooking, I got used to him and he started giving me compliments. I can't say I was comfortable, but I got a little more relaxed and I realized 'I probably can do this now'. I wasn't terrified every time he came around.
You persevered, and it was tough at times. You and the Red Team lost so many challenges early on. What was the problem -- was the team not meshing well?
Yeah, nobody really meshed. There was a lot of different ranges with experience. It was tough, because sometimes people were really stubborn, and didn't want to take help from anybody. They were just a little bit too green and you can't blame them for that.
It was really hard, and we were like 'gosh, the whole red team is going to get kicked off completely and it would just be the Blue Team for the final six'. I was so happy when we moved to the Black Team, and I was like 'thank you, I can finally do stuff on my own and really show Ramsay what I can do'. I wasn't able to show him that on the Red Team.
So when we had the final six, did you really think you could win this?
Yeah, I did. I wasn't overly confident like some of my other teammates, but I knew that I had a good chance. I didn't think by any means that I had it in the bag. No way -- it wasn't until right before the final dinner service that I finally realized that I could win this. It took me a while.
Well, the show seemed desperate to make it look like there was something there going on between you and Jay. What was actually happening?
Jay is a great guy, great friend, but no, there is definitely no future with Jay and I. Hearing his motives -- I didn't know that all he wanted to do was sleep with me. I found that out on the show like everyone else did.
No, I'm sorry that I've probably disappointed Jay a little bit.
You didn''t see this when you were filming, but how do you handle seeing people like Jay, like Benjamin in the confessional room acting cocky and bringing other people down?
I just think it's kind of funny. I have no problem with people being cocky if you can back it up. I would much rather be the person who is not overly confident -- I don't have to prove it to everybody with my words. I'd rather prove it with my actions. I just don't want to look stupid at the end of the day.
Why do you think Chef Ramsay decided to pick you?
I really think it was my growth while I was there. The first episode -- I refuse to watch the first episode. I don't want to watch because I sucked so badly. I just think that he saw that I could grow so much.
The compliment that [Chef Ramsay] gave me is that through all of the seasons of 'Hell's Kitchen', I grew the most out of everybody and he's scared to see what I could do in a year. Jay's a great chef, but he's very much set in his ways and his style of cooking. Ramsay really wants somebody that he can build to be in his team, and I think I really fit that mold more than Jay is. I can't say that Jay isn't an incredible chef because he is, but it wasn't what Ramsay was looking for this time.
So if you have any advice for anyone wanting to be a chef or on 'Hell's Kitchen', what would you say to them?
For anyone wanting to be a chef and they aren't yet, cook in a restaurant before you go to culinary school -- be sure you really love it. For somebody wanting to go on 'Hell's Kitchen', just compare 'Hell's Kitchen' to the military. You're signing up to get hammered and sleep-deprived, but if you think you can handle it, then go for it. Why not?
Are you happy Holli won?
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Comments
A great pic of Holli Ugalde from Hell's Kitchen
bit.ly/92muep
I'm really happy she won, a great cook and a lovely lady!
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