SPOILER WARNING: This story contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” on Fox.
It may be called “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars,” but it was Lisa Vanderpump who owned the Fox competition when a contestant from her team of students won the second season on Thursday’s finale.
In a two-hour episode that ended with finalists Jess Druey (Team Vanderpump), Roman Desmond (Team Vanderpump) and Ali Schlichter (Team Ramsay) giving dueling presentations in an attempt to win the $250,000 grand prize for their respective endeavors in the food and drinks area. And then it was up to Ramsay and the “Vanderpump Rules” star, who joined Ramsay as his co-host/rival mentor, for Season 2, to come to an agreement and decide which competitor won — and which of them won. association won.
“I know it affects him deeply, the fact that I won,” Vanderpump said Variety. “But I think the whole point of the final episode is that we really come together and say, competition aside, who wins? I think it was hard because the growth was all Ali in that last episode. It was incredible. And Roman, for someone so young. They were all great. But I said, I think I know who our winner is. And as much as it stuck in his throat, he had to admit it: Jess was our girl and I won. And I like winning that way. He’s not used to losing. So if he’s going to lose, he has to lose to me. And I reminded him of that from the beginning.”
The eventual winner: Druey, whose company Whiny Baby sells “high-quality, small-batch, accessible and chillable wines produced for wine drinkers of all levels,” with playful names like the “Unwind” White Blend, “OMG?!? Carbonated rosé and ‘obsessed’ red mix. The wines come from vineyards in California and are made by the McBride Sisters Wine Company.
“The talent that participated in ‘Food Stars’ this season was truly exceptional. After weeks of fierce competition, only one candidate could take the ‘Food Stars’ crown,” Ramsay said. “I am delighted to name Whiny Baby founder Jess Druey as the winner. Less exciting was that Lisa got her first ‘Food Star’, which further boosted her ego. However, I feel that I have actually achieved the greatest victory in recognizing Lisa’s incredible talent and bringing her many qualities to the show.”
What ultimately led them to choose Druey over her finalists?
“She presented herself very well, that was really her strength,” Vanderpump said. “She is a very natural speaker. And some other participants we saw had a lot of difficulty with that. The one time we saw it – I didn’t doubt her, but we saw her out of her wheelhouse when we had the exhibit and she cut her finger, and she said, ‘I can’t do this,’ and she started crying. I thought, ‘Whoa, come on, let’s work it out together.’ And she really took on the challenge and was very confident in her product.”
As for Drury, she remembers that specific ‘Food Stars’ Season 2 moment all too well, and says it motivated her to the finish line.
“Definitely a real pain in the ass,” Druey said. “I think you can see throughout the whole match that I was so happy to be on Lisa’s team, but I think it lit a fire in me to prove Gordon wrong all along. And to prove that I could hold my own in the food world. And the first chance I got to do that was at the stock market and I felt like I was failing miserably. During the presentation it came out well, but at that finger snap moment I really thought: okay, this could be it for me.
With the top prize of $250,000, Druey’s plans to expand Whiny Baby are already well underway.
“The wine industry is so outdated and complicated and there are many different layers to it,” she said. “And of course people buy wine in these traditional supermarkets. And the whole setup of the wine industry makes it very difficult for innovation and new people, which is probably why we’re not seeing it. And so going into the show, I’m fortunate enough to be on major store shelves like Target, Gopuff, Total Wine and more, but only in four states. And since the show we’ve added about 20 more states in Total Wine, which is insane and a total dream come true. And so just working to raise awareness and hopefully get Whiny Baby on all major store shelves in every state.
Watch Drury’s winning moment from the season 2 finale winner of ‘Food Stars’ below.