Note: This story contains spoilers from the Season 2 finale of “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.”
“Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” Season 2 didn’t just let Lisa Vanderpump coach a team of entrepreneurs to victory. The Fox show actually unlocked a new side of the Bravo star and restaurateur.
“I loved the chance to kick [Ramsay] in the ass. I really did. I never thought I was competitive, but I realized that when it comes to beating Gordon Ramsay, I was like a fiend,” Vanderpump told The Wrap.
Vanderpump gained that distinct honor thanks to the Season 2 finale of “Food Stars.” This season of the entrepreneurial competition series divided contestants into two teams, one overseen by Ramsay and the other overseen by the “Vanderpump Rules” icon. Ultimately, it was Team Vanderpump’s Jess Druey, the founder of Whiny Baby, who took home the title of “Food Stars” winner as well as the $250,000 grand prize.
Whiny Baby came from Druey’s own experience with the wine industry. When she was just out of college, Druey went on a first date with a man who asked her to bring a bottle of wine. Like many before her, she felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variety of alcohol at her disposal. But unlike other people, Druey turned her sense of wine anxiety into a business. Whiny Baby is a brand specifically targeted to the Gen Z wine newbie that offers only three types of wine: an Obsessed Red Blend, an Unwind White Blend and an OMG!?! Fizzy Rosé Blend.
Before going on the show, Whiny Baby was only available on the shelves in four states and nationwide via its website. That $250,000 changes the company’s reach quite a bit.
“Since the show started airing, I’m super happy to share that we are on about an additional 20 new state store shelves,” Druey told The Wrap. “My mission is to get Whiny Baby available on every major store shelf and in every single state. That $250,000 is going to open up so many opportunities for us to do exactly that.”
The “Food Stars” finale tasked the three finalists — Whiny Baby owner Druey, Hot Box Pretzels owner Roman Desmond and Chin Dribblin owner Ali Schlichter — with a personalized challenge that targeted their weak areas. For Druey, that meant creating a new food product and expanding past her polished public persona to show more vulnerability.
“I was really excited in the presentation to get uncomfortable and show some vulnerability and shows some of the struggle behind how I got here,” Druey said. “I definitely am, naturally, optimistic and peppy, but I forget sometimes that people want to see the struggle and the relatability and the deeper parts of my story.”
Though Vanderpump emphasized that the growth of all three contestants was “extraordinary,” it was Druey’s consistently impressive performance that made her this season’s winner.
“Throughout the whole competition, you saw her rise to the challenge. She only floundered really once when they were selling to all the professionals at the food exhibition where she cut her finger,” Vanderpump said, referring to the seventh episode of this season. “It could have been any of those three, but she just pipped them at the post and delivered a flawless execution of her belief in her product … She very rarely ever wavered on anything.”
For her part, Vanderpump found the finale to be “emotional” for both herself and Ramsay.
“You see these young people, and they came to us with a presentation, and we thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, no, no, that’s not going to work.’ We really gave them a lot of notes. Then to see them all come back, rise to the occasion, take the directive and really flourish,” Vanderpump said. “Anybody that says Gordon Ramsay doesn’t have a heart hasn’t seen this show.”
Throughout her career and even on “Vanderpump Rules,” Vanderpump has a history of being a mentor to younger talents. “I’ve been very much supporting them and hoping that they’re making the right choices, and then disappointed when some of them don’t,” she said. That’s partially why she found her role on “Food Stars” to be challenging. Because the series was ultimately a competition, Vanderpump was unable to step in and more directly guide the entrepreneurs on her team.
“It’s been very different, for sure, but I’ve seen a couple of my young people on the show grow up and become successful in their own right,” Vanderpump said.
Though the format required her to be somewhat hands off, Druey said she “could not have dreamed” of a better mentor for her than Vanderpump.
“Lisa is a self-proclaimed maximalist, as am I. And as I look to the future for Whiny Baby, I hope to enter into a lot of hospitality, in real life locations and more food and beverage [spaces],” Druey said. “What Lisa Vanderpump says is ‘You walk into any one of our restaurants or bars, and it is a completely transformed experience.’ Learning how she does that is something that I’m going to carry with me the rest of my career.”
Overall, Vanderpump said that she enjoyed “every minute” of being on the Fox show. If there was to be a third season of the show, Vanderpump would be open to starring on “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” again, but with one big caveat.
“If we were going to do it again, I’d like to kick him in the ass twice. I think that would hurt more than twice as much for him, just to really seal the deal,” Vanderpump said. “We’re both busy people. We’ll see what’s happening. But it was a great experience.”
As for what’s ahead for the multi-faceted celebrity, Vanderpump revealed that she’s busy until October, so production on Season 12 of “Vanderpump Rules” couldn’t begin until “around then.”
“The only thing I can tell you — the thing I have control over — is the fact that I’m opening Pinky’s in October in Las Vegas,” Vanderpump said.
All episodes of “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” Season 2 are streaming on Hulu.
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