It's Holli.

Holli Ugalde, the 24-year-old banquet chef from San Bernardino, won Season 7 of "Hell's Kitchen," landing her a gig at Chef Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill in London, currently being remodeled as part of the Savoy Hotel's multimillion-dollar renovation.

Whether it was crafty editing or perhaps her Angelina-esque looks and coy laugh, Holli wasn't considered a contender in the early part of the competition. That honor went to the blue-haired Jay, who also made it into the finale, and Benjamin, who made it to the final four before his poor temperament and inconsistency in the kitchen caught up with him.

But before long, Holli began to shine and began winning week-to-week challenges. It was this progress that made her the winner, Ramsay said: Holli had grown more than any other cheftestant of the season, "and once she emerged, there was no holding her back."

Holli and Jay weren't just competitors in the finale ... sparks flew between these hot tub buddies.

It's a "Hell's Kitchen" first: rivals turned lovers in the finale.

The last four cheftestants standing were clearly rattled by their surprise family visits -- but while Holli and Jay used that to fuel their ambition, Benjamin seemingly used it to wimp out. He claimed his back was so bad that he couldn't prep, so he spent the day sleeping and hanging in the whirlpool and getting worked over by a chiropractor. He even told the other players that he was too injured to continue cooking, and said as much to chef Gordon Ramsay.

Perhaps Ramsay holds some secret restorative powers: After giving Ben a talking to, Ben was ready to go back into the kitchen.

This week, the first challenge was a "taste it, now make it" contest that Holli handily won. (Her prize was spending the day on a boat with her son and baby daddy, still raising questions about how close these two really are.) That caused Jay and Ben to act like little spoiled brats complaining about her. "I know I can beat Holli," Jay said of the woman he has been pitching woo with. And then he added an "Oh, of course," when Benjamin bragged that no matter what happened, he would be further along than Holli, career-wise, in three years. (We have no idea yet whether Holli and Jay are still involved, but if they are, that could not have gone over well if they were watching the episode together.)

The bigger challenge was all about taking turns overseeing every dish before it makes its way out into the dining room. Jay set the bar high, handling it all with ease. Holli was nervous when she started out but then pulled it together. Benjamin and Autumn had less-than-stellar performances. So it was no surprise that the two of them were sent home, leaving Holli and Jay in the final challenge: Creating their own restaurants.

"I'm going to clean the floor with him," Holli vowed.

So, who do you think is going to win? And does this relationship have a snowball's chance in ... hell?

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Holli and Jay in a sneak peek at next week's finale. Photo credit: Fox.

Were my eyes deceiving me? Or did Joe Bastianich make Gordon Ramsay look like the cuddly one by comparison?

It was "Cook-along with Gordon Ramsay" Tuesday night on Fox as we were treated to back-to-back episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" and the new "MasterChef," a one-two punch that we'll have for a few more weeks until "Hell's Kitchen" wraps up. 

In "Hell's Kitchen," Ramsay took the lambs to slaughter -- and then spared them at the very last minute. Autumn (who ever thought she would have lasted this long?) and Benjamin were put on the chopping block, taken off, and then handed much-needed visits with family. The reprieve will not last long, however. Ramsay said two contestants will go home next. Does this mean we could end up with love birds in the finale? I will say this much: I am going to be sorely disappointed if Benjamin is the last person standing. While I am not sure I would give the restaurant reins to anyone in this crew, I think Benjamin would slowly poison whatever kitchen he is in. He is so disrespectful of everyone around him and cannot communicate with his "brigade," and that will not inspire loyalty of any kind. And finally -- does Holli's baby daddy know that they are, um, presumably broken up? Sure didn't seem like it.

Moving on to "MasterChef." Last week, during a media conference call, chef Graham Elliott compared the judging table for "MasterChef" with the original judgeson "American Idol." He said that he was Paula, Ramsay was -- get this! -- Randy, and that Bastianich was Simon.

Now we know what Elliot he was talking about.

Really, Benjamin?

You have been sorely lacking in leadership. Dinner service after dinner service, chef Gordon Ramsay has begged you to step up, but you haven't been able to lead your colleagues. Which makes your actions this week so curious, and so dumb. (And so much fun to watch.) So there we were in the midst of dinner service and Ramsay needed to leave the kitchen for a few moments. He put sous chef Scott Leibfried in charge. And so you decided that that would be a good moment to start acting like a leader, and you tried to edge Scott out and started calling out dishes. In other words, you proved that you cannot lead a bunch of people who are in dire need of leadership, but you decided that it would be a good idea to disregard what Ramsay said and take on his second-in-command.

Well, I'm really glad you did. That was perhaps the best tail-whipping of the season so far. Clearly, Scott has learned from the best. I cannot possibly quote Scott in full, because of all the expletives, but I did get this much: "Don't ever come up to my pass again!" But that doesn't begin to do justice to the intensity of it all. Maybe Scott needs his own show.

This is leadership? Sure, Benjamin went over to women's team and immediately it was vastly improved. (If I didn't know better, I'd say those women just needed a man to tell them what to do.) But there is a difference between leadership and bossing people around, being rude, telling them that they are worthless and announcing, loudly, that you'd rather kill yourself than deal with your teammates. And that's exactly what Benjamin was doing.

Is this what chef Gordon Ramsay wants in his kitchen? Oh, wait ... maybe he does.

This night was largely about winnowing the herd and enjoying Ramsay's own way of dressing people down. The challenge was a special one: celebrating a couple's 50th wedding anniversary by updating the recipes served at their wedding, including trout almandine, steak Diane and chicken Kiev. Salvatore came up with chicken ... meatballs. Raw chicken meatballs.

So let's recap, shall we? Salvatore the Italian cannot cook pasta or meatballs. Mama mia! No surprise, he was the first to go tonight. Ramsay dispatched him with a "Your time has run out."

Ciao, baby!

Later, there was a special field trip to Philippe's in downtown Los Angeles and a terrific new challenge: Come up with your own gourmet sandwich a la the world-famous French dip. Because the red team has one more player, they had to pick someone to sit out the challenge. Benjamin chose, of course, Siobhan, because he was gunning for her. And you knew it was coming: Ramsay tried her sandwich and told the red team that if they had included hers instead of Fran's, they'd be the winning team. (Best line of the night, when Ramsay told Fran that she'd been up for elimination so many times that her footprints had left an indentation in the carpet.)

Instead, victory went to the blue team, which took a private jet to the wine country and promptly got pickled, with Ed taking off his clothes in the hottub and practically screaming: "Look! Look at my penis! Please look!" Isn't this guy a high school cooking teacher in his "real" life? Better lock up that cooking Sherry, folks.

But it turns out the sandwich challenge was Siobhan's high point. She botched her scallops at the dinner service, earning her a "You donkey!" from Ramsay, who then forced her to eat her mistake. And later he forced her to take off her jacket and leave Hell's Kitchen.

But here's my real question: The guy who confronted Ramsay about the undercooked steak. Was he for real? A plant? For a tough guy, he could barely form a sentence. But what was Ramsay saying in response? Between the quick patter, the bleeped-out bad words ... and the strangeness of it all, I could barely make it out. There was something from Ramsay about "go get a shave" and "you look like a quail." Huh? You look like a quail?! And then, I swear I heard something about a bunny. Did anyone else get any more than that? Let me know.

And note to Fox: Can't you subtitle these Ramsay rants? Pretty please?

— Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Benjamin and Fran try to set the place on fire. Photo credit: Fox.

Did you reach for the remote? I sure did. I thought Holli said she had the biggest "corn" collection of anyone she knew, and I thought, "Hmmm, that's unusual, but then again she is a chef." Well, it turned out she said she had the biggest PORN collection of anyone she knew. And that she often made, er, private films with significant others. These tidbits were revealed during a "let's get to know each other" session led by the Italian Dr. Phil, a.k.a. Salvatore, who has a gift for getting people to gab.

Not to be outdone, Siobhan offered up that she used to dance in the nude and perform S&M. Presumably for money. 

OK, ladies! Thanks for (over)sharing and making your families proud on national TV! And although one person is expected to get a gig running chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London Savoy, maybe there will be two new gigs this season: We gotta get a talk show for Salvatore. (Especially since we know he cannot cook pasta.)

This week started with a squeal, as Ramsay had the cheftestants trying to wrangle cute baby pigs for the first challenge. Luckily, there was no butchering involved. But the little piggies helped determine which, um, pork dishes would be prepared in the next challenge. (I hope no one told the pigs.) The women lost -- again -- and had to give the piggies baths while the men got a day at Glen Ivy Spa and got to ogle Autumn in a teeny-weeny yellow bikini.

You know it's a tough dinner service when chef Gordon Ramsay is the one yelling, "Get me out of here!" But another chef -- Andrew, a.k.a. Hannibal Lecter for his love of butchering animals and eating them raw -- crumpled under the pressure and walked out the door, marking only the second time in seven seasons that a cheftestant couldn't take the heat and quit. Not even Jean-Philippe could persuade Andrew to stay by reminding him how many people would like to be in Andrew's shoes competing for the grand prize: a shot to help run the kitchen at Ramsay's restaurant at the Savoy in London. Andrew had the perfect comeback: He took off his cooking clogs and said, "Here, take my shoes" and kept on going.

But before we get to that: We started with a brilliant new challenge, the egg challenge. Ramsay said he was so disappointed in the first night's dinner service that it was time to get back to basics. So he paired teams up and asked them to cook four eggs in four different ways -- poached, sunny side up, scrambled and soft cooked -- in five minutes. Yes, you read that right: Four eggs, four ways, in five minutes.

Because of the uneven numbers, Siobhan was ordered to cook alone. Pitying her, Autumn offered to help, which seemed nice, but it turned out to be a big mistake. Instead of seizing the opportunity to impress Ramsay -- even if she served up four egg dishes that managed to be overcooked or undercooked, it would have been impressive -- she didn't even try. When she admitted that she had help from the others, Ramsay (duh) hit the roof, and Siobhan lost it. Let's start calling her Cry-Baby from now on.

The women lost the egg challenge and, as punishment, had to clean, gut and filet a tuna that looked bigger than some of them, while the men were rewarded with a helicopter ride high above L.A. and a meal with Ramsay.

By the time dinner service rolled around, the chefs were falling apart again. Oversalted water. Undercooked chicken. An overcooked salmon that Ramsay slammed with his fist, sending it flying. ("I think I have salmon in my ear," Jamie said afterward.) Salvatore was temporarily banned from the kitchen because he failed to remember the desserts for the night. It was so bad that Ramsay refused to name a winning team.

There was some backstabbing attempted at the elimination: The women chose to put bossy Autumn on the chopping block, while the men nominated Jason. Ramsay forced the teams to defend those picks and they couldn't -- neither had proved to be the worst cook in the place. Ramsay made his own choice: Spiky-haired Mikey, who had been a disaster, serving up raw halibut one night and raw risotto the next.

So, does Mikey regret that impressive "Hell's Kitchen" torso tattoo that he ordered up before joining the cast? He said he regrets nothing. "I accept my fate."

He could consider it a badge of honor. Or the sting left behind by Ramsay's branding iron.

-- Rene Lynch
twitter.com/renelynch

Photo: Chef Ramsay and Salvatore. Credit: Fox.

It was a night to remember in "Hell's Kitchen." There was Halibut shrapnel. A chef who couldn't tell the difference between crab and lobster. Nearly half of the contestants failed miserably and were kicked upstairs to the barracks.

And the remaining "Hell's Kitchen" contestants managed to do the unthinkable: Complete a full-service dinner on their very first night. (In seasons past, that accomplishment didn't take place until after several miserable attempts, and eliminations that weeded out the losers from the contenders.)

Which just means "Hell's Kitchen" overlord chef Gordon Ramsay is just starting to turn up the heat on this bunch, who are all competing for a shot at what is arguably the best prize ever in "Hell's Kitchen" history: running the kitchen at Ramsay's flagship restaurant at the renowned Savoy Hotel in London..

And what a bunch it is:

Chef Gordon Ramsay named 16 new victims -- sorry, make that contestants -- for the 7th season of "Hell's Kitchen." The prime-time culinary boot camp starts up again June 1 on Fox. There are several hometown contestants to root for, or, if you prefer, to laugh at as they get put through the ringer by Ramsay.

They include: Autumn Lewis, 29, a personal chef from North Hollywood; Holli Ugalde, 24, a banquet chef from San Bernardino; and Stacey Slichta, 38, a personal chef from Studio City. Still to be announced: What they're competing for. In the past, the competitor who managed to survive Ramsay's withering glare won a six-figure restaurant gig, which, presumably, made the all abuse worth it.

--Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Photo: Season 7 contestants on "Hell's Kitchen."

"Hell's Kitchen" overlord Chef Gordon Ramsay is celebrating 100 episodes in the can. That's 100 episodes of berrating, threatening, cajoling, shaming, humiliating — and inspiring chefs to culinary heights.

Chef Ramsay racked up other notable "HK" numbers: Eight seasons, 116 chefs, 13 medical emergencies, including one person (Robert) hospitalized twice, 10,000 guests who have walked through the doors of "Hell's Kitchen" for a live dinner service — although not all of them ever get their food. And about 2,500 filets of Beef Wellington cooked — but only about five that actually made it into the dining room.

But no recap of 100 episodes of Fox's hit cooking competition would be complete without recalling the heated, expletive-laden showdown between Chef Ramsay, who stood his ground, unflinching, as he was charged by a former Marine, Joseph, and challenged to a fight out in the parking lot. Instead, Chef Ramsay just booted him out the door.

Chef Ramsay, who joked, "Let's make one thing clear, I'm nobody's ..." -- fans who watched that episode know what word the Michelin-starred chef used, but alas we cannot -- said that he was actually sorry to see Joseph go in such a manner. He clearly had talent, he presumably had self-discipline (not that it was exhibited during "HK") and had a chance at going far in the competition, the chef said. But he lacked an ability to keep his mouth shut. "It was a shame, really," Chef Ramsay said of the ouster.

Chef Ramsay said that the format of "Hell's Kitchen" appears to be working just fine — competitors scramble to survive Ramsay's boot camp for a shot at a high-profile, high-paying job in the restaurant industry. And Ramsay said he never decides who will get kicked off until the very moment that he blurts out the name and orders him or her to "Take off your jacket and leave 'Hell's Kitchen,' " because it adds to the palpable tension in the room. But he said he still wants to shake things up and introduce new challenges. He also wants to see a live finale where viewers get to choose the winner. "I want a live final ... I want to hand it over to them ... and give them that level of responsibility." (I offered up one suggestion: Chef Ramsay doing some more cooking in front of the cameras.)  

Next up for Chef Ramsay is "Master Chef," which takes people who have a passion for cooking -- but no formal training -- and trains them. "That's my next ambition," said Chef Ramsay, who called it a chef's version of "American Idol."

The show's executive producers, Kent Weed and Arthur Smith, said some things will never change about "Hell's Kitchen" -- a live dinner service, which ratchets up the tension, prizes and punishments, and the  blindfold challenge, which truly separates the chefs from the wannabes. But they are tinkering with the format in some ways. Also one possibility on the horizon: a "where are they now" show.

The men said it's unclear whether "Hell's Kitchen" will have syndication legs. And they said that they, too, were sad to see Joseph go. (Let's face it, continuing fireworks between Chef Ramsay and Joseph, the first "HK" contestants who had no problem backtalking, made for great TV. "We were on the edge," Smith said. "We had no idea ... it was intense."

But arguably the most startling moment to come out of the 100th episode celebration, with glasses of Champagne, red velvet layer cake and Chef Ramsay's casually elegant wife, Tana, and their four young children in attendance, was Chef Ramsay striking a note of humility: "It's not me, I can assure you," Chef Ramsay said of the show's success. "I'm backed up by the most amazing team," he said, motioning to the Fox honchos, executive producers and the crew surrounding him. "Without you guys, I'm nobody."

— Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Photo credit: Rene Lynch / Los Angeles Times