‘Hell’s Kitchen’ season 22 runner-up Johnathan Benvenuti: ‘I won second place, I didn’t lose anything’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The season 22 finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” aired Thursday, January 25 on FOX, ending with Cork, Ireland’s Ryan O’Sullivan defeating Huntington Beach native Johnathan Benvenuti. Ryan won a $250,000 cash prize and the head chef position at Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas. For Johnathan, it was a bittersweet way to end his journey with host Gordon Ramsay.
“At least it was him,” Johnathan tells Gold Derby senior editor Denton Davidson. “I got home and my daughter said, ‘Daddy, did you win?’ I won second place. I didn’t lose anything. You hear Gordon say too, ‘You didn’t lose.’ At least it was to Ryan. It was a fair-fought battle. I’m super proud with how everything turned out. I wouldn’t change a thing. It was really cool to share that moment with him.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
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Johnathan shares why he and Ryan developed such a close bond while competing together — a friendship the show called a budding “bromance.” “We’re very like-minded people, we’re both Leos,” he explains. “We shared a room together. They don’t show that part so much, but Tad went home first and Mattias went home third. Those were our roommates. So from week three or four on, we had the room to ourselves. We sized up the competition week by week. It was about the food for us. It was really cool for us to go back to our room and talk about food and bounce these ideas off each other. We just won so many challenges, too, so we had so many opportunities to go bond and hang out.”
One of the most devastating moments for Johnathan was when Gordon told him he looked like a “hot bag of s***” the morning after his Black Jacket celebration. “It really did get to me,” he admits. “I did know it was coming and I also told myself that I wasn’t going to be spoken to like that. Up until that point I hadn’t been. I think it just hit home. That moment with him one-on-one was special because it did feel like an apology and I did get to tell him I was embarrassed for taking it personal. So, I have no regrets. Did I take it a little personal? Sure, but it is who I am. It’s a chance for me to grow emotionally and mature from that.”
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