by Gina Scarpa

 

On last night's season finale of Hell's Kitchen, Chef Ramsay declared 29 year old Nona Sivley as the winner. The Texas cook went with a Southern style menu for her last challenge and defeated Russell Kook, who didn't take his loss well. Nona will now make the move from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where she will cook at the prestigious LA Market. We spoke to her today in an exclusive interview about her win on Hell's Kitchen and what it means to her.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to try out for Hell's Kitchen and learn from Chef Ramsay?
A. Nona: I've watched it since day 1. I remember the first season, my husband I were watching, and he was saying, "Could you do that?" I had been saying that I wanted to go to culinary school and I was like, "No, I could never do that. I couldn't take someone screaming at me like that." The next season, I had already started culinary school and my husband asked me again if I could do it and I was like, "Hell yeah, I can do that!" When you're in culinary school, you're critiqued on every single thing you do.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You had to give up a lot to go on Hell's Kitchen; mainly, leaving your family behind. Was that tough for you to be separated from them?
A. Nona: It was unbelievably hard to leave. My son was just a baby! He turned 1 the day that we walked in to Hell's Kitchen. It was really, really hard. I was leaving my husband and I was leaving my son. It might come off weird but while I was there, I very rarely thought about them. I couldn't. I couldn't consciously think about them. I would make a huge effort to put them in the back of my mind. I had pictures of Jackson and looked at him every night but I had to make an effort not to think about him. If you do, it starts to break you down to where you lose focus and you turn into a mess.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Chef Ramsay said that you and Russell were incredibly close in the last challenge. Were you nervous as you waited to find out the results?
A. Nona: Oh yeah! It was tied up and we were like, "Come on, come on, come! Pick me!" It was really close.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel about your team in the last challenge - Gail, Melissa, Boris, and Trev?
A. Nona: I think that they were a huge part of my win. They worked their butts off and I think there was a lot of focus. We came together and I also think it was sort of a redemption for them. It was kind of nice for them to come back and really perform well and show that they can do it. They did great!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Many eliminated chefs from Hell's Kitchen say that the winner is always someone who is willing to be molded by Chef Ramsay. Do you feel that being open to Chef Ramsay teaching you helped get you the win?
A. Nona: To me, that's crazy if you go into Hell's Kitchen thinking you're on the same level as Chef Ramsay. You have another thing coming! I can't speak for everybody but I would look at how he stood in the kitchen, how he moved, and how he walked. How he held a pan and how his towel was on his apron. Anything he said, regardless of it was yelling or not, you need to take it and learn from it. He's not yelling just to yell. He's not screaming because he wants to be an a**hole. He wants you to do well.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel you'll adjust to life in L.A.?
A. Nona: I live in Atlanta right now and L.A. is definitely a different lifestyle. I'm really excited. I'm sitting here looking over downtown Los Angeles and it's pretty sick!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What is the best part about winning Hell's Kitchen?
A. Nona: I think it's really... there's a redeeming factor to it. It kind of validates everything that I've worked so hard for and everything that I've wanted for so long. I didn't start out in this business 15 years ago or 10 years ago when most people do. I'm still relatively young or at least, young in this business. It's just really, really validating.

 

 

(Image courtesy of FOX)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa

 

For more Hell's Kitchen links, visit SirLinksALot.net