Nona Johnson's Favorite Hell's Kitchen Moment You Didn't See On TV - Exclusive
Nona Johnson, née Sivley, might have never guessed that her favorite moment of "Hell's Kitchen" could end up being one of her scariest encounters with Gordon Ramsay. Johnson, who went on to win Season 8 of the show, has had an illustrious career working as a chef in California and Georgia since making it through the competition and could credit the interaction she shared with chef Ramsay for a breakthrough in her career (via Reality TV Revisited).
When asked about her favorite moment of the season, Johnson clarified that it was both a terrifying and incredible dinner service. It all started when she had issues cooking poultry. "I didn't drop my chicken when I heard it," Johnson said in an exclusive interview with Mashed. "And these chickens weren't par-cooked. It was half chickens. They take some time, so you have to hear it, drop it and then when it's time for pickup, you just splash it, sear it, whatever, get that color. And you're good to go. Well, I didn't hear it. So then that backed me up for all of my beef and that did not go well. And I didn't understand what [Ramsay] was saying. You know, he was saying back up or whatever. I didn't realize that he was telling me to get out."
"So I was like, 'I am backed up,' and I'm getting frustrated because it didn't happen like he thought it happened," Johnson said. "He was like, 'You're in here just throwing them all in here and steaming them.' And I'm like, 'No, no,' it all happened within 30 seconds and it wasn't translating. And you can't explain yourself. He's just like, 'No, get out!'"
A tough conversation with Gordon Ramsay
"And man, I flew out of that kitchen," Nona Johnson continued. "Just all my emotions were just raging. They were just coming out, and for a lot of people, if they get angry or frustrated, they cry and I was just balling."
"They didn't show this part, but when we did line up afterward, after the service and everything ... [Ramsay's] telling us we're garbage or we did something all right. I spoke up and basically, I was like, 'Can I apologize? Can I apologize for my behavior during service?'"
"And he just was, basically, 'F*** your apology,'" Johnson continued. "He was just like, 'no.' And I was like, 'Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.' Well, as we were leaving, and this you saw, he called me back in." It turns out, Ramsay wanted to tell her that he believed in her and her skills. Johnson explained, "To have someone of his caliber believe in my abilities and believe that I can do this and be something. [...] And so, that was probably my most favorite moment, being that it was also the scariest moment for me because when that whole thing went down with the meat situation, it was so fast."
"For him to come back and be like, 'Yeah, you know what? We all have bad times. We all have bad nights, whatever. You have that jewel that no one else has. So you have to keep going.' And so, yeah, it was an up and down all at the same time."
Stay up to date on Johnson's latest adventures on Twitter and check out her catering company, The Local Peach, next time you're in Georgia.