‘Hell’s Kitchen’: Jay and Holli sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g....
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
It’s a ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ first: rivals turned lovers in the finale.
The last four cheftestants standing were clearly rattled by their surprise family visits -- but while Holli and Jay used that to fuel their ambition, Benjamin seemingly used it to wimp out. He claimed his back was so bad that he couldn’t prep, so he spent the day sleeping and hanging in the whirlpool and getting worked over by a chiropractor. He even told the other players that he was too injured to continue cooking, and said as much to chef Gordon Ramsay.
Perhaps Ramsay holds some secret restorative powers: After giving Ben a talking to, Ben was ready to go back into the kitchen.
This week, the first challenge was a ‘taste it, now make it’ contest that Holli handily won. (Her prize was spending the day on a boat with her son and baby daddy, still raising questions about how close these two really are.) That caused Jay and Ben to act like little spoiled brats complaining about her. ‘I know I can beat Holli,’ Jay said of the woman he has been pitching woo with. And then he added an ‘Oh, of course,’ when Benjamin bragged that no matter what happened, he would be further along than Holli, career-wise, in three years. (We have no idea yet whether Holli and Jay are still involved, but if they are, that could not have gone over well if they were watching the episode together.)
The bigger challenge was all about taking turns overseeing every dish before it makes its way out into the dining room. Jay set the bar high, handling it all with ease. Holli was nervous when she started out but then pulled it together. Benjamin and Autumn had less-than-stellar performances. So it was no surprise that the two of them were sent home, leaving Holli and Jay in the final challenge: Creating their own restaurants.
‘I’m going to clean the floor with him,’ Holli vowed.
So, who do you think is going to win? And does this relationship have a snowball’s chance in ... hell?
-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch