Hell's Kitchen Castoff: I Was Prepared for the Yelling!

Vinnie Fama got his fire extinguished by Hell's Kitchen's Gordon Ramsay when his beef Wellington repeatedly came out not well at all, and his unapologetic attitude only added to his undoing. TVGuide.com asked Vinnie what all the screaming was really like and what it was like to get an egg smashed on his chest by the world-famous chef. (Hell's Kitchen airs Mondays at 8 pm/ET, on Fox.)

TVGuide.com: I've been wondering this for a couple of seasons now: What the heck is a Wellington?
Vinnie Fama: What is a Wellington? It is... um... I don't know.

TVGuide.com: OK, maybe that's why you had so much trouble with it!
Vinnie: [Laughs] It is a beef dish [that was] named after a knight, Sir Wellington, many, many moons ago, before my great-great-great grandmother was alive. He wrapped a piece of beef in dough and they named it after him.

TVGuide.com: Why did you want to do this show?
Vinnie: I thought I could win. I thought I could make that next big jump to Las Vegas with a guaranteed contract of $250,000. I had nothing else to do for the months of January and February, so I said, "Hey, why not do this?"

TVGuide.com: Were you surprised by the screaming and the yelling?
Vinnie: Nah, I was prepared. I had heard about the show and I looked it up on YouTube. I had seen [Ramsay's] highlight reel.

TVGuide.com: But he smashed an egg on you. That was a little over-the-top.
Vinnie: It was probably borderline mild for him. It was the first time he'd done it since last season. Somebody was going to get an egg on them. My odds were good — I had a 1-in-12 chance of wearing egg and I did it. I've been playing lotto every day since, thinking I could hit [the lotto odds] now, but that hasn't worked out.

TVGuide.com: It seems like nothing surprises you. I guess you weren't surprised when he redid Rock and Jen's selection of who should be eliminated.
Vinnie: I had a feeling it was coming. I wasn't surprised that I wasn't selected [by Rock] to go home, because I hadn't been selected to go home yet. I hadn't screwed up anything, and Josh had already been selected three times.

TVGuide.com: Josh seems very angry.
Vinnie: Yeah, well… he got ridden like a donkey for weeks there. He got hit with an egg, also, right after I got nailed with one. Every week during elimination, he was up there dodging elimination on top of it all. He's angry all the time. But I like Josh.

TVGuide.com: Do you think you deserved to go home?
Vinnie: No! I thought I was qualified to win. I don't think I screwed up too much, except for what came out of my mouth.

TVGuide.com: I was surprised that you got sent home before Jen, who tried to serve garbage food.
Vinnie: Isn't that surprising? Everybody kind of said, "The girl who picked food out of the garbage stayed on longer than you."

TVGuide.com: Do you really think that Bonnie cheated on the "testing the palate" challenge?
Vinnie: I think she took advantage of being able to hear. I wouldn't call that cheating, though.

TVGuide.com: Would you ever do anything like this again?
Vinnie: Reality TV? Probably yes, but I don't think I'd do this "boot camp" format ever again. I like the challenge and competition, but as far as doing boot camp? I don't know if I could do that.

TVGuide.com: Where can people go to eat your food?
Vinnie: Come look me up on the Internet at vincentfama.com!

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