Lisa Vanderpump Reveals If She and Gordon Ramsay Are Still Friends After Filming ‘Food Stars’

“I literally saw a tear in his eye and was like, ‘Holy shit, Gordon Ramsay has feelings.’”

Lisa Vanderpump has been a TV fixture for nearly 15 years. And now, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star—who began airing her restaurant empire and the tumultuous personal lives of her staff in 2013—is giving fans a deeper look into her hospitality expertise.

Vanderpump will go head-to-head with longtime friend and rival Gordon Ramsay on the second season of his Fox series, Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars—and she’s giving him some pretty tough competition. There won’t be any “stupid sandwich” insults, she promises.

Delish sat down with the Bravolebrity to discuss what’s been going on behind the scenes on Food Stars, including an upcoming episode featuring Executive Content Editor Carissa Tozzi and Delish’s Food Director Robert Seixas as judges.

Lisa Vanderpump: Yeah, more importantly, are we friends after the show? Yeah, we know each other pretty well, because we used to do press together for Caesar’s Palace. We have restaurants next to each other in Lake Tahoe, two restaurants in Vegas. And we opened at Flamingo this year in separate restaurants.

So we’ve always had a little bit of competition, but we’re both British and I have a huge amount of respect for what he’s accomplished in his life. He’s really driven, he’s really talented, he’s very precise in everything he does. And it’s not like he’s so competitive with me that I’ve really done everything I could to beat him.

Have you two gotten closer since working on Food Stars together?

We worked together for two months every day, laughing, joking, arguing. It was a very deep relationship. We definitely became very close. We were good friends before and we’re probably even closer now. There was definitely a lot of fun banter going on, but at the end of the day it was survival of the fittest and it was a competition.

We [directed] each of our teams in different ways. I don’t make silly sandwiches. But Gordon is very smart and we both had to play our best to beat each other. I think we both got our fair share of competition, which made it very interesting. We had a great relationship on set, even though it was competitive. Sometimes we actually got into trouble because we were so playful. But we were serious [though] because there was a lot at stake. These young people have $250,000 to grow their businesses.

Who do you think is more competitive, you or Gordon?

I would say him, but when I started this competition, I think it became personal for me as well. Normally, I’m not competitive as a woman. I think you saw that on [The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills]. I’m really not. I want to be the best I can be. But in this competition, I wanted to kick his ass.

How would you describe the episode to the Delish editors?

It was intense, challenging—with everything that came with it—and it was fun.

What were some of the biggest lessons you learned from the Delish challenge?

I’m so proud of my team and [their] growth. When people are suddenly thrust into challenges that they’re not used to… in this case, presenting recipes, that’s how they rise to the challenge. The worst part is when you’re watching them and you can’t tell them what to do. They have to make their own mistakes and that can be pretty tough as a mentor.

Which show has more drama, Food Stars or Vanderpump Rules?

Yeah, the emotional component is just as important as the financial component. [Food Stars] has a little bit of both. They’re trying to get their business off the ground, get attention, and take home $250,000. They’re under a lot of pressure. They’re away from home, they’re away from their environment. I think there’s drama in different ways, [but] there’s room for both shows.
Oh, absolutely! I don’t think we see a lot of the business side of things on Vanderpump Rules. On Vanderpump Villa, we’re trying to sort of cover everything, but it’s also a lot about business figures. I kind of enjoy doing that because I don’t get enough of that on my shows even though I’m a producer. There’s really no room to see how hard it is to run and build a business and what you’re up against.

Did you see a different side of Gordon? Absolutely. To the point where there were a couple of times where I actually said, “Are you going to soften up on me, Gordon?” I actually saw a tear in his eye and thought, “Damn, Gordon Ramsay.