Meghan Gill Reveals What Gordon Ramsay Was Really Like On Hell's Kitchen - Exclusive
When Meghan Gill won Season 14 of "Hell's Kitchen," everything changed for the young chef. After impressing Gordon Ramsay with her talent, Gill went on to work at the celebrity's Atlantic City restaurant, Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill at Caesars (via Reality TV Revisited). This career move made sense, as Gill had worked in a variety of restaurants before making her television appearance on the show, in addition to training at L'Academie de Cuisine, according to Dormie Network.
Running a kitchen under chef Ramsay didn't phase Gill, who had worked in equally tense kitchen environments. "I kind of knew what to expect," Gill said in an exclusive interview with Mashed. "I had worked on a line like that before. Most cooks haven't or chefs haven't, so that was probably a big learning curve for them. But working with Gordon, it was just like ... I mean, it's professional, so it's: you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and you're a wheel in the machine." She called the experience reassuring. "Reassuring that all that work that I had put in for all those years in training and stuff, that it was right. I did the right thing. Putting food up and him being like, 'Yeah. Good job,' was like, 'Okay, I know what I'm doing.'" Gill found something she particularly loved in Ramsay's approach to running a kitchen and shared how he truly operated on "Hell's Kitchen."
Gordon Ramsay keeps the standard high, according to Gill
Meghan Gill confided that at one point in the competition, under an enormous amount of pressure, she'd expressed that she wanted to send herself home. Instead of letting her throw in the towel, chef Ramsay took her aside and said, "I trust you. I believe in you. Do what you do. I want to see it. You're holding back. I want to see it," Gill recalled. It was exactly the push she needed.
Gill said she understands Ramsay's intensity and thinks he has earned the demeanor. "If you're reaching for perfection, and perfection is impossible, you have to focus, you have to hone in," she explained. "If we didn't have chefs like Gordon Ramsay, we wouldn't have good cooks," Gill continued. "We wouldn't have new chefs. The standards would be gone. So he keeps you to a standard."
While anyone who loves watching Ramsay in the kitchen knows the chef has a temper, Gill saw the persona's playful side. "He has that spirit that chefs kind of have in general, that nostalgic kind of childlike that goes into the food," Gill said. "And I think that you have to have that to be able to relate to all people, because nostalgia is something that we all kind of share, it's kind of an unspoken thing, but we all share it and we can all tap into it."
You can keep up with Meghan Gill by following her on Instagram or Facebook. Be sure to catch new episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" Wednesdays on Fox.