‘Hell’s Kitchen’ season 22 finalist Sammi Tarantino relieved to place 3rd: ‘I would have been crushed if my door wouldn’t open’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The season 22 finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” aired Thursday, January 25 on FOX, with Ohio native and current Los Angeles chef Sammi Tarantino finishing in third place. She was bested by eventual champ Ryan O’Sullivan and runner-up Johnathan Benvenuti in the final challenge, where each contestant had their five course tasting menu judged by chefs Brian Malarkey, Curtis Stone, Giada De Laurentiis, Michael Cimarusti and Nyesha Arrington. At the end of the contest, host Gordon Ramsay revealed Sammi had lost by one point.
“I love Johnathan and Ryan and I think all of us are talented,” Sammi tells Gold Derby senior editor Denton Davidson. “We all deserve to be one of his head chefs.” She admits going home in third place was a softer blow than had she finished in second. “I would have been crushed if my door wouldn’t have opened. I was very content with just losing by one and being first pick for Ryan. The pressure was finally off of me and I was like, ‘Now I can just cook. I don’t have to fight for my life anymore.'” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Sammi reveals her stumble on the balance beam challenge wasn’t as painless as she made it look on TV. “That hurt so bad!” she exclaims. “I had a major bruise. I fell right on my rib cage. That was rough. They wouldn’t even let me shower. I had to go cook immediately, so I have dried, canned tomato sauce on me that’s just so acidic burning my skin. That one was tough.”
The head chef of Layla Bagels in Santa Monica says competing on “Hell’s Kitchen” lit a fire in her to work on TV. “I definitely feel like I like TV more,” she explains. “I just started making my own videos and content since the show started and I’ve really been enjoying that. I feel like I get a little bit of both, which I really like. I like creating a menu and working in a kitchen, but I also really like being on a show and challenging myself in that way. I plan to keep doing both, hopefully.”