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The Winner of 'Hell's Kitchen' and Gordon Ramsay's New 'Executive Chef'

Posted by Raphael, July 9, 2008 at 10:00 PM

Last night the season finale of the ratings powerhouse Hell's Kitchen aired, pitting Louis Petrozza, catering director, against 25-year-old Christina Machamer, the culinary school student. Gordon Ramsay, known for expecting his chefs to be physically fit, picked Machamer as the winner over 47-year-old Petrozza, basing his decision on her "potential and drive." She gets the position of "executive chef" (in title only) at Ramsay's new Los Angeles restaurant, a prize "worth" $250,000.

Hitting the inbox today was a press release from the cooking school Machamer attended, the Culinary Institute of America, that helped explain why she was labeled a "culinary student" for the duration of the show.

The backstory, after the jump.

Here's the back story: She took time off from school to take part in the show, and, "when she returned to school, she could not tell her classmates about her experiences on the show or how well she did."

In other words, she went back to school and had to lie to her instructors and classmates about where she'd been, what she'd done, and the fact that she won a ton of money and already had an "executive chef" position all lined up at Ramsay's restaurant.

Previously
The Prize of Winning 'Hell's Kitchen': Executive Chef by Title Only
In Videos: Don't Burn Gordon Ramsay
'Hell's Kitchen,' The Game: A Review

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Tags: celebrity, Christina Machamer, food on tv, Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen, Hell's Kitchen: Season Four, spoilage, TV