Lisa Vanderpump and Gordon Ramsay have been friends and rivals in the restaurant world for years, but Season 2 of Fox’s “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” will mark the first time the two will team up to take down each other on screen.
The flavor of Season 2 of “Food Stars,” which debuts Wednesday at 9 p.m., is that food and beverage entrepreneurs will pitch themselves and their products, services or business ideas to Ramsay and reality TV star and restaurateur Vanderpump, who will then select contestants to form their own teams and go through “business boot camp.” Come the finale, one of the contestants will win a $250,000 prize, and either Ramsay or Vanderpump will earn bragging rights as the winner’s mentor.
“I had to be strategic in choosing my team,” Vanderpump told Variety. “We had a series of challenges where we had to cover all aspects. We needed people who understood how a kitchen worked, people who understood presentation. They weren’t just selling a brand; It was also about our field of expertise. Sometimes it was frustrating when we both targeted the same person. There were also personal reasons why they chose one of us. Gordon has a big presence in England, where we filmed, but the contestants were American, so they’ve known me for years. There were emotional reasons too, like I loved him. There were a lot of different reasons.”
The star of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” and Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa” said that every time Ramsey bragged, the competition became more intense and she became “uncomfortable in a way.”
“He wants to win so badly that I want to win too,” she said. “If he ever hinted that there might be a stronger contestant than him and that he would win, that would add more excitement to the match. I can’t spoil how things change, but if I won something, I was at risk of being kind of obnoxious. So it was back and forth.”
While Vanderpump has been busy opening new restaurants and dating Ramsay lately, she knows fans are waiting for news of the renewal of both “Vanderpump Rules” and “Vanderpump Villa.” But for now, she doesn’t have any news to share other than her optimism that negotiations with them will move forward in some way.
“Nothing has been announced yet. I know it’s on hiatus,” Vanderpump said, adding, “I think we were all stuck in the aftermath of ‘Scandoval,’ so I’m not sure what to do with ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ ‘needs to take a little breather,’ he added. And I need to stay busy doing what I do best: designing and opening restaurants. ”
As for a second season of “Villa” on Hulu, while “nothing’s set in stone” on that front, Vanderpump said the show has been “incredibly successful” on the Disney-owned streamer and there’s “no reason to think we won’t do more.” She’s also “definitely” considering moving to a different location for future seasons, and plans to move from her property in the French countryside to a different hotel; she just hasn’t yet “found a location that I think would be the best for it.”
One thing she does know about the future of reality TV is that following Season 2 of “Food Stars,” she would love to have Ramsay appear on her show for a change.
“I’ve been a guest on a few of his shows, and now I’m in London for two months during his shows. It’s finally time for him to show up at my house,” Vanderpump said. Ta. “Maybe they’d like to see him give his opinion on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ in the kitchen. I think people would appreciate that. Bring Ramsey into his own realm, Anytime you can intimidate him a little bit, there’s a feel-good factor to it.”
Vanderpump had those “feel good” moments whenever the team was moving forward on “Food Stars.”
“I didn’t let him forget that. And he’s used to winning — but guess what? So am I,” she said.
