Hell’s Kitchen Winner: Gordon Ramsay “Betrayed Me”

by Mark Joyella | 8:47 am, November 29th, 2010

» 17 comments

What? It didn’t work out? The winner of last season’s Hell’s Kitchen thought she’d scored an epic job: head chef at the Savoy Grill, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant project inside the massively renovated (£220 million) Savoy Hotel in London, which opens today.

If you watched the show, you were treated to endless mentions of the Savoy and the job–pitched as a massive prize for whichever contestant could endure the backstabbing among the other contestants and the withering criticism of Ramsay himself. And now? Well, winner Holli Ugalde‘s not making the trip to London after all. “I’m extremely disappointed and I feel a little betrayed,” she tells the Daily Mail.

Next thing you’ll tell me is winners of The Apprentice don’t actually get high powered gigs working for Donald Trump.

Ramsay and UK-based producers ITV claim a visa hangup kept Holli from landing the plum job, not any hesitation to turn over a huge position to an untested reality show winner:

ITV claims it made its ‘best efforts’ to obtain a visa for Ugalde, and a representative for Ramsay says: ‘We were sorry that Holli Ugalde can’t join the team. In spite of our best efforts, we were unable to obtain a work visa for Holli. Holli elected to receive the cash prize instead.’
A TV source claims: ‘At no time has either Gordon Ramsay or the Savoy indicated to producers that they didn’t want Holli to work at the restaurant. In fact, Gordon expressed disappointment to the producers when he found out that she wasn’t able to obtain the visa and work at the Savoy.’
Ugalde considered suing, but says: ‘I signed a contract for Hell’s Kitchen that was as thick as a book, and somewhere in there it probably says they can substitute prizes. But that doesn’t make it right. I received some cash in place of the Savoy job. I’m not allowed to say how much.
‘Yes, Hell’s Kitchen opened up a lot of opportunities for me. But now I’m not going to London it would at least be nice if Chef Ramsay had the decency to call and let me know what was going on. I know it was only a reality TV show, but it’s my life, after all.’

Ah, the old “substitute prizes” clause. Perhaps Gordon Ramsay Express at the Seattle Tacoma Airport?

fox, gordon ramsay, hell's kitchen, holli ugalde, London, Reality Show, savoy grill, savoy hotel

BatBoy

Of course he did…he is British.

If you ever want to work with a bunch of hard core, filthy mouthed people…get a bunch of Brits.

This was not coming from the Brit men, but the women also….

Before you go off and call me anti Brit…I am a descendent of Brit’s…thank GOD the “Mean Gene” was lost somewhere along the way!
The Real Royal King

BatBoy said:
Of course he did…he is British.

If you ever want to work with a bunch of hard core, filthy mouthed people…get a bunch of Brits.

This was not coming from the Brit men, but the women also….

Before you go off and call me anti Brit…I am a descendent of Brit’s…thank GOD the “Mean Gene” was lost somewhere along the way!

This is not appropriate. Blanket condemnations have no place here. And, I can point to a number of exceptions in my own experience. A fairly significant part of my day is spent working with the Scots and the English, and you are hard-pressed to find a more polite, motivated, solutions-oriented group of people.
The Lantern of Truth

The Real Royal King said:
A fairly significant part of my day is spent working with the Scots and the English, and you are hard-pressed to find a more polite, motivated, solutions-oriented group of people.

Racist ! King just smeared everyone else !

Wonder what the Scottish and English say about Amerikans now ?
Probably NOT wrong

This idiot TRRK would have to be a 150 years old to have
accomplished and experienced everything in his life he
says he has. This guy is a first class bullshit artist. My bet is
a lonely little old man in a nursing home with a hell of a lot of
time on his hands.
Get lost for a while you old turd!! Please.!
The Real Royal King

Probably NOT wrong said:
This idiot TRRK would have to be a 150 years old to have
accomplished and experienced everything in his life he
says he has. This guy is a first class bullshit artist. My bet is
a lonely little old man in a nursing home with a hell of a lot of
time on his hands.
Get lost for a while you old turd!! Please.!

Now, now, Kumquat. Jealousy is not a pretty thing. Just because I have a rich, full life is no reason to get your knickers in a knot.

Of course, my point was the utter absurdity of condemning an entire group of people with whom we share language, culture and a a keen appreciation of democracy. My point is wondrously valid.

And, I am sure the visa point is valid. The visa is to be issued to those who bring a skill not otherwise available from a British subject. Britain is filled with talented culinary artists.
Big_Fing_Deal

The Real Royal King said:
I have a rich, full life

LOL !
SpineCrusher

The Lantern of Truth said:
Racist ! King just smeared everyone else ! Wonder what the Scottish and English say about Amerikans now ?

HAHA! OH MAN! Thanks for the Monday morning laugh AT YOU (not with you).

Possibly one of the most moronic statements I’ve ever viewed on this site, and I’ve viewed quite a few.

Cheers!
SpineCrusher

BatBoy said:
Of course he did…he is British. If you ever want to work with a bunch of hard core, filthy mouthed people…get a bunch of Brits. This was not coming from the Brit men, but the women also…. Before you go off and call me anti Brit…I am a descendent of Brit’s…thank GOD the “Mean Gene” was lost somewhere along the way!

I wouldn’t say anti-Brit…I’d just say it’s a typical bigoted statement from another slothy, over-fed, under-worked, past-their-prime American.

Or as Edmund Morris would say, “an insular person who is insensitive to foreign sensibilities, who is lazy, obese, complacent and increasingly perplexed as to why Americans are losing their place in the world to people who are more dynamic than them and more disciplined.”

Yeah, he says it much better.
The Real Royal King

SpineCrusher said:
“an insular person who is insensitive to foreign sensibilities, who is lazy, obese, complacent and increasingly perplexed as to why Americans are losing their place in the world to people who are more dynamic than them and more disciplined.”

Too true for comfort, and it appears things are only going to get worse in the short term. Science deniers, arts defunders, education enemies ….
Vietnameravet

Of course we dont know the real truth but it does seem suspicious that anyone of these contestants would get such a plum job, $250,000 per year with almost no experience and constantly screwing up the way they all do, I figured that they would get the job but there is nothing saying they cant be fired the next day.. I think there is more to be heard on this story and I wonder what happened to the other winners.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Ward/100000135233619 Mark Ward

As an American of Scottish/English decent, I can say with all confidence, that I will NEVER patronize ANY of Gordon Ramsay’s establishments.

I find him arrogant, obnoxious and I have not seen ANYTHING that he has prepared that comes anywhere close to appetizing.

He is, in short, nothing more than a “Spotted Dick”!
The Real Royal King

Mark Ward said:
As an American of Scottish/English decent, I can say with all confidence, that I will NEVER patronize ANY of Gordon Ramsay’s establishments.

I find him arrogant, obnoxious and I have not seen ANYTHING that he has prepared that comes anywhere close to appetizing.

He is, in short, nothing more than a “Spotted Dick”!

Never cared for the stuff. Raisins rather frighten me, as do figs.
LibertySister

Working in London for two years the Brits were very nice to me. They do like Americans and were always very interested in asking me about the america culture.
The Real Royal King

LibertySister said:
Working in London for two years the Brits were very nice to me. They do like Americans and were always very interested in asking me about the america culture.

One of the things that has long impressed me about the Brits is that they are so often a very happy people. They will take any pretense to joke and to laugh, sometimes, even to sing.
Jayson

Mark Ward said:
As an American of Scottish/English decent, I can say with all confidence, that I will NEVER patronize ANY of Gordon Ramsay’s establishments. I find him arrogant, obnoxious and I have not seen ANYTHING that he has prepared that comes anywhere close to appetizing. He is, in short, nothing more than a “Spotted Dick”!

Coming from another Brit born. That was so lame.
Jayson

BatBoy said:
Of course he did…he is British. If you ever want to work with a bunch of hard core, filthy mouthed people…get a bunch of Brits. This was not coming from the Brit men, but the women also…. Before you go off and call me anti Brit…I am a descendent of Brit’s…thank GOD the “Mean Gene” was lost somewhere along the way!

I resent your comments. I’m Brit born, have a lot of Brit friends. None of which are as filty mouthed as some Americans. Don’t put down others just for funs sake. Makes you look like a fool.
Anonymous

Its so funny how Americans are viewed as under-worked, when that’s all we really do over here. We take the least amount of vacations and work ridiculously long hours. I am an American-bred African-American/Brazilian female and I work in the culinary industry and work in a 4 star French restaurant in Upper West Manhattan. My sous chef is from Chicago and is a bit psycho I admit, but he hasn’t had a vacation in 15 years and he’s 36 years old. The executive chef of our sister restaurant right next door (and yes our kitchens are connected) is British and one of the sweetest guys in the kitchen (unless you do something REALLY stupid) even then, he’s not slamming you into a wall and calling you a useless piece of s**t like my French executive chef. Our restaurant staff is extremely diverse. If anything its the French who hate Americans FAR more than the Brits. I have British friends and they cuss no where near as much as either the French or Americans. These allegations being made by ignorant people make sense for the simple fact that they are indeed ignorant.