Credit: FOX
Jess Druey came in hot on Episode 1 of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars on Fox and never looked back. Her Gen Z-ready Whiny Baby brand and her confident sales pitch are what made her the perfect team member for mentor Lisa Vanderpump. However, we think she sealed the deal the moment she walked into the room in her hot-pink suit — a Vanderpump signature color.
Calling the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star her “kindred spirit,” Druey admits to Soaps.com that she “never once throughout the show thought, ‘I’ve got this.'” While revealing that she’s “confident in myself and my business,” the 27-year-old wine entrepreneur didn’t ever believe that she was “Lisa’s favorite” during the season. Instead, she was inspired by the woman who has made her mark beyond the reality show universe. A mention of any of Vanderpump’s restaurant portfolio — which includes Sur, Wolf and Tom Tom (RIP Pump and Villa Blanca!) — will always elicit a reaction from Druey, who was a major fan ahead of her competition show fame.
“I grew up watching her. I’m a reality show lover. I’m a Bravo lover. I’ve watched her on Housewives. I’ve watched her on Vanderpump Rules,” she enthuses about her “hospitality maven” idol. “And I honestly don’t think I even realized how much she’s affected me since I was really young.” When it’s suggested her mentorship with the restaurant queen is reminiscent of the relationship former Vanderpump Rules cast member Stassi Schroeder had with Vanderpump in the early years at Sur, Druey glows, saying that is “the greatest compliment ever.”
Credit: JAY MAIDMENT/Fox
Even one of Schroeder’s Season 3 signature phrases rolls right off her tongue. “I never quoted her iconic, ‘I’m not really sure what I’ve done to you, but I’ll take a Pinot Grigio’ [on Food Stars] which forever killed me,” Druey laughs. “I should have quoted that on the show. I one hundred percent adore Stassi.”
Vanderpump should also know that her beloved team member also has her eye on a different prize outside of the Food Stars title she just claimed. “If I’m being totally honest, I’m like, ‘Hey, like Lisa, you know, maybe Vanderpump Rules needs some new blood,” she smiles. The long-running show is currently on a filming pause, and there are plenty of rumors that Bravo TV is recasting the show and going back to its 2013 roots in West Hollywood where it all began. Druey thinks she would fit right in, so her request really isn’t out of pocket — and hopefully, executive producer Vanderpump is listening.
But first, Druey gets to enjoy her Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars victory, which means a $250,000 prize and the opportunity to expand her Whiny Baby brand. “I am hoping that I can bring the sorbet and even Sip Strips” — her semi-final invention for pocket-size bags of wine — “to market,” she explains. “You know, I took a risk with Sip Strips, doing something where the package didn’t exist, so it had to be created. I knew I was taking a risk because it needed a lot of product development.” Her innovative idea might have been what put her over the winner’s circle in the end, but we think it’s her “saucy” personality that sold Vanderpump and Ramsey on their latest Food Star.
