by Todd Betzold

 

Last night the six remaining chefs in Hell's Kitchen joined forces and made one remaining team. They took on some chefs that were runner-ups in previous seasons and despite a good dinner service, they were taken down by the runner-ups. Robyn Almodovar was put up for elimination and Chef Ramsay thought it was her time to go. Today, we got an exclusive interview with Robyn as she discussed her experiences in Hell's Kitchen, her conflicts with Barbie and much more.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for Hell's Kitchen?
A. Robyn: I remember seeing the first episode and I was like holy shit, I want to be on this show. It was challenging and pressure and everything I stand for and I wanted to do it.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: On last night's episode you seasoned the scallops for Dana, but then waited for her to cook them. She blamed you for the errors with the scallops. What really happened with the scallops?
A. Robyn: The real story behind that was it was my time to go. It was too cliquey and the alliance was too big, five against one. We all watched the episode last night and I feel I shouldn't even have left, but things happen for a reason and I'm happy with everything that I've done. Everyone is controlling over their stations and I've worked with Dana before in challenges and I know how she likes her stuff and she likes it a certain way, so I decided to let her tell me when she wanted to do the scallops. That's my fault and I own it.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: You and Barbie seemed to not get along at all this season. Was that the case or was it played up more on TV?
A. Robyn: Barbie was at my viewing party last night, so that's all I have to say about that (laughs). It's TV, it's editing, it's FOX. It's the reason why Hell's Kitchen has been for ten seasons and the reason they got signed for two more seasons. It's different than it is in the UK and it's all about editing. I'm not saying we didn't have bad blood. There are some things I didn't like that Barbie did, just like there are things that I did that she did not probably like. There were 18 individuals stuck in a household.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: What were you thinking when it was you and Clemenza in the bottom two?
A. Robyn: During the taping, I thought I was going to win or I thought I was going to go home, so I was just waiting. I was the only one left in my bedroom. Everyone that watched Hell's Kitchen, we all know that the rooms get consolidated at the end. The boys already got moved into one room. I was in a room by myself, while Barbie, Christina and Dana had their own room, so what was going through my head was either I was going to win it or I was the next to go.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: What was it like working in Hell's Kitchen and under Chef Ramsay and all the chaos/drama and what not?
A. Robyn: Working with Chef Ramsay was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, as well as working with Chef Andi. That's who I was most excited to work with was Chef Andi. She has an amazing resume. Chef Gordon Ramsay has made himself known here in the States as a celebrity chef, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Hotel Hell, MasterChef. He has made his name on that. Andi has made her name on her, I don't want to say experience because Chef Ramsay may have more experience than her, but I was more excited to work with Chef Andi than Chef Ramsay.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: What's the biggest thing you are going to be taking away from this whole Hell's Kitchen experience?
A. Robyn: The biggest thing I am taking away from this experience, thus far, is breathe before I speak (laughs). I'm not even saying thinking, I am saying breathing before I speak. We all know from watching me on television, a thousand miles a minute. So, I definitely have relaxed a lot and I definitely think about what I am going to say beforehand, but I'm not disappointed. I was true to my character. I was true to myself. I have a lot of haters out there and I have a lot fans and the haters can hate, but they are making me into what I want to be, which is a household name. At 10:00, just look at the Twitter board and let's see how many tweets I got. The viewers at home are helping me do what I want to do. A lot of the contestants that are left are fake. You all need to go to confessional boxes to say stuff. Maybe that's why people didn't like me. I chose not to say it in the confessionals, I chose to say it to people's face.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: Now that you're off the show, are you rooting for anyone to win this season?
A. Robyn: It's kind of hard to go back to emotions from a year and a half ago. Like last night, I thought I was going to cry when I got kicked off, but I was fine. I think I'm past the stages of emotion that Hell's Kitchen had wrapped around my life because the last year, Hell's Kitchen has wrapped my life. I couldn't say anything, no one knew. I never really got to deal with leaving the show, being eliminated. I never got to cry or get the stress out that I wanted. I left the show and I came home and started working right away, so I never had that time to just relax.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: Where are you cooking now and what can readers expect next from you?
A. Robyn: I own Palate Party, a mobile food truck here in South Florida. I was voted third best new trucks by Channel 10 News. The viewers at home, this is not the last they are going to see of me, sorry all you haters out there, but I have goals and dreams in life and Hell's Kitchen was just one to mark off my bucket list.

 

Q. Todd, RealityWanted: Is there anything you would like to add?
A. Robyn: I don't regret anything on the show. I was really happy that I was true to myself. Some viewers think that I'm a bitch, but I'm not. I'm just straightforward and some of that is mistaken as aggression, but I am really a sweet marshmallow if get to you know me.

 

Hell's Kitchen airs Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.

 

(Image courtesy of FOX)

 

Follow Todd on Twitter @tbetzold