FOX‘s Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the Ages winner Alex Belew may have been favored to win by the fanbase, but Belew had his doubts during the grueling competition.
“The first couple of weeks I really was just trying to survive day to day,” Belew told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “The first plan was just don’t go home first because that would suck.” But then he felt a shift as he dominated challenge after challenge, taking on the wing competition and making the perfect lobster.
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“Watching it kind of unfold on T.V., I’m like, Who is that guy?” he wondered, describing how watching himself on TV didn’t match what he was feeling during the Hell’s Kitchen experience.
‘Hell’s Kitchen’ winner Alex Belew wasn’t sure he would win
He described having more of an out-of-body experience on Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the Ages Season 21. “It did not feel like [I was going to win] while I was living it,” Belew recalled. “It was just like, I’m glad it wasn’t me today. Not until it got down to the top five. Even the first black jacket challenge, I didn’t get a black jacket. And I was like, oh God, two more of these back to back it’s crazy. So I’m very thankful to get one of those. I had no clue what was going to happen.”
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“When you watch it, it’s like I seem much better than I actually am,” he laughed. “It’s hard to explain. Watching it, I look like some culinary God that came down to play with the people. But when I was there, it was like all these people are super talented. They’ve all got great gifts and great strengths.”
“And so when you’re living it, it’s like one bad day will undo five days of great work,” he shared. “It’s hard to get that out of your head. As [chef] Gordon [Ramsay] says go pick the weakest chef. But a lot of time you’re only focused on that one dinner service where you lost, and it’s like, you may have done great the last five days, but you served that one raw scallop, so you’re going home.”
Which chefs were Alex’s biggest competition?
Belew said without a doubt that the other two finalists, Alejandro Najar and Dafne Mejia were his biggest competition. “On day one after the signature dish was done, when we went back in the dorms and we all kind of got to meet each other. I looked straight at Dafne and I said, It’s going to be me and you in the end,” Belew revealed.
“Alejandro kind of came out swinging. His signature dish was good,” he reflected. “And then he won the chicken wings. Then just through our conversations, I knew he was creative and talented. Then getting to work with him, he had some flubs during dinner service. He started second-guessing himself a lot when it came to cooking steaks.”
“Because you mess up once or twice in Hell’s Kitchen and all of a sudden you don’t think you know how to cut an onion,” he admitted. “But when he’s left his own devices, it comes to a challenge to create something off the cuff, the kid is talented. He’s got great creativity. He knows how to build flavors and how to plate a dish. He’s very strong. I think the right two people were standing with me towards the end.”
Alex Belew would have ‘broken down the door’ during the ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ finale
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So what was it like to wait in anticipation to find who won? Belew said it literally was hell waiting to see if his door opened. “I wanted that door handle to turn more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. I’ve had so many almosts in my life that, if this was an almost I would have broken the door down,” he joked.
He was even tempted to jiggle the handle just to see if it had any give. “I didn’t know which way it was going,” he said. “And I thought Dafne’s dinner service might have gone better than mine, but I wasn’t really sure how it went because I was so focused on mine. I thought she had a chance. In the past, Gordon typically has not picked an older chef to win. I’m by far the oldest by four or five years to win.”
“And, Dafne’s got creativity, passion and she’s young. And he can mold her into a great leader. So I really didn’t know which direction it was going. I’ve seen a clip of me walking through the door. If you look at my eyeballs and in my mouth when I walk through the door, it’s sheer disbelief. I was just elated. And I couldn’t believe it.”
Belew won the Head Chef position at Hell’s Kitchen in Atlantic City, the $250,000 cash prize.
Hell’s Kitchen Battle of the Ages is produced by ITV America’s ITV Entertainment in association with A. Smith & Co. Productions, Inc. Gordon Ramsay, Arthur Smith, Kent Weed, Kenny Rosen, and Bernie Schaeffer serve as executive producers.
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