Lisa Vanderpump and Gordon Ramsay are getting real about what they look for in potential business partners on “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.”
“How are you going to format the team?” Ramsay, 57, asks Vanderpump, 63, in Page Six’s exclusive preview ahead of Wednesday’s Season 2 premiere.
“Are you looking for characters over products? Products over characters?”
After taking a beat to think, Vanderpump reveals that she is looking for both as she curates a team of hopefuls in the culinary product space to compete against Ramsay’s own fleet of contestants on the Fox reality competition series.
“I’d like to have character and product,” the restauranteur asserts. “I need somebody creative, I need somebody organized because it’s not just about the business. It’s the character we’re looking for as well.”
Ramsay tells his pal and fellow Brit that he is looking for the same qualities as participants pitch both their personalities and products.
“I agree,” he says. “I just want my team to be excited about their products and desperate for success.”
Vanderpump is joining Ramsay for the sophomore installment of “Food Stars,” which sees the duo searching for the next great food and beverage entrepreneur.
In a new twist, contestants will pitch their products, services or business plans to the moguls — who will then handpick talent to join their respective teams. Whoever survives a subsequent “Business Bootcamp” will win a cash prize of $250,000 to invest in their enterprise.
“Of course, it’s a reality show but the competitive part of it and the business aspect was certainly something that I wasn’t used to in reality,” Vanderpump tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast of filming the show.
The reality star — who has been featured on countless unscripted series, including “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “Vanderpump Rules” and “Vanderpump Villa,” among others, that highlight her storied career in hospitality — says talking business on a day-to-day basis was in her “wheelhouse.”
“But doing the show was definitely something else … Some of the challenges were pretty difficult,” she admits.
“Like marketing a food product or creating a unique bar experience, rebranding. It was a lot. There was an emotional component as well with these young people because the stakes were high. $250,000 and a spotlight shown on your business, that is something worth fighting for.”
“Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” Season 2 premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
