- Previously on "food stars"...
- What's up, seattle?
- All of you will be running a pop-up coffee shop.
I want to test your market awareness
And customer service.
You didn't step up and lead
When your team needed it the most,
And for those reasons,
I will not be investing in megan.
We're done.
Your next task is selling kitchen products
On live television.
- There's no rewinds when you're live.
- This challenge is about sales skills,
Connecting with the audience
While showcasing product. - Ow!
- Yeah, I can't hear him. - [bleep]!
- This is a whole nother level.
- It was the most stressful 20 minutes of my life.
- Hold on, 'cause I'm not done yet.
[dramatic beats]
[light music]
9:00 a.M., hollywood, los angeles.
- Guys, there's only six of us left.
This is so crazy.
- My remaining entrepreneurs
Have only three challenges left to win my investment.
I've invited the top six contestants
To meet me here
At a satellite studio for qvc.
- I used to be excited for the unknown.
Now I'm kind of scared for-- - I know.
Oh, my god.
- Today they're gonna step
Into the fast-paced world of live tv.
I'm looking for a business partner
Who's comfortable being uncomfortable,
So today I want to see how they cope under pressure
Out of their depth and when the clock's ticking.
- Three, two, one.
- But first, they need to see how the professionals do it
In broadcast rehearsals.
- Welcome back into qvc. My name's alberti.
We've got an awesome show for you today.
We're gonna start, though,
With one of the most used items
In your kitchen,
And that is an everyday pan.
What's really awesome
Is that I've got tons of capacity in here,
And that cook-and-look lid allows me
To see everything that's going on.
I'm hungry. I'm gonna take a bite
Out of this... - Five seconds.
- And then we've got more comin' up
Right after this. - Cut.
That's a wrap on rehearsal.
Take five. - All right.
- Mornin', guys. - Good morning.
- [laughs] - what'd you think
About that performance? - It's amazing.
- Interesting. - Listen to this.
Shopping from home today is more popular than ever.
And last year alone,
Qvc had over 15 million unique customers
Generating billions of dollars in sales.
- Wow. - So today
I'm gonna put you through your paces
Because your next big task is selling kitchen products
On live television...
- Oh, stop. - This afternoon.
- No way.
- Whew. - Now just let that sink in
For a moment.
This challenge will really test your sales skills
Whilst connecting to an audience live.
As for the teams,
Let's have a little fun here, shall we?
Let's make it boys vs. Girls. - Let's do it.
- So ashley, lan, and caroline,
You'll be the yellow team today,
Which means chris, tony, aaron,
You'll be the red team.
Each team will choose two hosts
And one producer to run the show.
You need to be absolutely on point
Because there's no second takes.
You guys are gonna be going live in just a few hours,
And your time starts now.
Both teams, good luck.
Off you go. - All right.
- Today I need to see the teams
Sell their products with conviction.
Whether they're on camera
Or behind the scenes producing,
There's truly nowhere to hide in this challenge.
[dramatic music]
I've given both teams a fully equipped kitchen
To prepare for their live broadcast challenge.
- I'm so excited for this.
- Each team must create 20 minutes of live tv
On their own.
- Girls rule, and boys drool.
My daughter's gonna love it. - Yeah, I love it.
- So first job, decide who'll be the two hosts
In front of the camera...
- The moneymaker's comin' out-- - whoo.
- Qvc hair action.
- And who will be producing backstage.
- I'm just looking at common denominators.
- Right. - You both have kids.
- Yeah. - You both have a food product,
And you both can speak on that,
So I think it makes a lot of sense
For me to be the producer in this situation.
- Okay. - Love it.
- Do you feel comfortable being one of the presenters?
- I've always wanted to be on qvc,
So this is a dream.
I'm one of qvc's biggest fans,
Not only because I buy so much from qvc,
But because I've sent so many submission videos.
With my brand, happy grub,
I know what we have to give
To make our product sell.
When it comes down to the challenge,
I will hit every note.
- I've had to do similar things like use my product,
Pizza girl sauce while talking and engaging with either a host
Or the audience,
So I definitely feel comfortable,
If you guys are cool with that,
Being one of the people that is onstage.
- Mm-hmm. - Caroline wants
To be on camera, but I am a bit concerned
Because she cannot handle stress.
The challenges that I've worked with her on,
She gets so nervous when she's in front of people,
And we cannot mess up when we're on camera
Because there's no rewinds when you're live.
- Roles, what are you thinkin', chris?
- I have experience doin' products
In front of the cameras. - Mm-hmm.
- I'd be more comfortable behind here
Just 'cause I've used some of these products before.
- I think I'd probably do best
In the producer booth, lettin' you guys know time,
Keepin' the time management down.
I'm about to produce the hell outta these guys.
I need to be telling these guys exactly what
To expect, where to go, and where to look.
I feel really good about going into the day.
- I'll be the host and-- 'cause you're so familiar
With everything and I'm not. - Mm-hmm.
- And I'll be like, "I'm the idiot."
[babbling] "I don't know how to use this.
Well, tony, show me how to do this."
And then you're gonna be like, "well, it's so simple, chris.
Even you can do it." - it'll be one hell
Of 20 minutes, I guarantee you that.
- Next... - We should use these
Because look at how cute they are, for one.
They're collapsible for space.
- The teams need to choose a selection of products
They want to sell... - This is just a cool gadget.
- When the cameras go live.
- I love the whole-- [both laugh]
I've used all of these things before,
And they're easy to explain with my culinary background.
There's a lot of moving parts
And, you know, you just have
To stick to what you know.
[device whirring]
- I think that's a no-brainer.
- It looks like it would be entertaining.
- The air fryer,
It has multiple racks in it,
And they're dishwasher safe...
- Mm-hmm. - Which is a huge thing.
I didn't think you could love an object like that,
But I love my air fryer. - Amazing.
So you're gonna sell the crap outta that air fryer.
- Yep, I will. - It's definitely comforting
To have ashley on my team.
I mean, she knows qvc in and out.
She watches it for fun.
She literally just sounds and looks right at home
In the qvc arena,
So I think she's doin' a great job.
I am thinking whatever we're selling, it has to flow.
I'm thinking a recipe.
The story is that there's two moms out there.
They have crazy busy lives,
And these are kitchen tools and appliances
To help them have an easier life.
- Let's do a run. - Let's do it.
Three, two, and you're live.
- We are busy moms. We are working entrepreneurs,
And we are here to show you
Five different kitchen utensils--
- Cut. I think a really critical point
To really tie in the five kitchen things
To really do a simple and easy recipe.
- It's not really about the recipe.
- You guys are going through a recipe essentially.
- But it's not a recipe, right?
- You know, caroline tends to focus
On the small nitty-gritty details,
And I'm focused on big picture.
This whole thing is gonna be ten times more fluid
If you guys are walking through a recipe.
- Using the word "recipe" is just confusing to the consumer.
What's up with lan and this recipe
She wants to do?
Honestly, with only 20 minutes
To show off five products,
A recipe is not
What we should be doing.
I mean, come on. This is not a cooking show.
- All of these things have to make sense.
Trust me on this.
[upbeat tense music]
- My six remaining food and drink entrepreneurs
Are competing to win $1/4 million of my investment
Into their business.
- With gordon's investment,
It would push tony b's steak chips
Into the realm of its own category.
I wanna win this, absolutely.
- This week's challenge is to produce and host
A 20-minute live show on qvc. [liquid boiling]
- I would show you putting it in there, pushing the button.
- The two teams will be judged on their ability
To learn from the experts...
- Guys, three easy payments, blah, blah, blah.
- Right. - Connect with an audience...
- If I miss a really important detail,
Boom, you're gonna get it right in my ear.
- And how they cope when the heat is on.
- Look at these incredible pots.
Ow!
- There's less than two hours until they go live,
But the yellow team still can't agree on their plan.
- We're gonna use these five kitchen things...
- Five kitchen-- - to really do a simple
And easy recipe. - But I just don't wanna get
Too wrapped up in the recipe, right?
- So right now we are not off to a great start.
Lan wants to do a five-piece recipe
With our five different products,
And caroline has an issue.
- I think using the word "recipe"
Is just confusing to the consumer.
I do, because it just seems like
We're gonna show them a recipe.
- I guarantee you, it's gonna be so impactful.
It's gonna flow. Trust me on this.
- We haven't really talked about
What we wanna make in this.
- Why don't we do, like, a carrot, apple,
Kale, broccoli thing?
- Do you do smoothies?
- Yeah, just throw it all in there.
- Throw it all in there? - Throw it all in there.
- Okay.
- It's gonna taste terrible.
- Nah, this'll be delicious. - Okay.
[blender whirring]
- Wow, look at that thing mix.
Look at that. Oh.
- [laughs]
- Look, look how delicious and green--
- Wow. - That stinks.
Look at that. - This looks awful.
- Oh, my god. - [chuckles]
- It's not chunky at all. - Oh, this is amazing.
- [laughs] good. - Oh, god. [spits]
- [laughs] - it's not just
Their front-of-camera hosting skills I'm testing here.
If the teams are to win this challenge,
They must run an effective show
From behind the scenes.
- Welcome to the producer station.
- I've lined up senior qvc producer,
Sean hagan, to give lan and aaron a crash course
In the control room.
- Your eyes have to see this screen and that screen,
And this right here is probably one
Of the most important things you'll need.
- Time. - Time.
One of your other valuable tools
Is standing right there on-screen, okay?
- Uh-huh. - You have a headset connection
To this button right here. - Okay.
- All right, so you talk to him,
And you give them direction.
Now you will have two people... - Okay.
- Listening to you... - Mm-hmm, yep.
- At the same time, so you're gonna need
To be specific, which team member
You'll want to do what.
You kind of have to be their eyes and ears for them.
- I definitely felt the pressure
From the very beginning
Because every piece
Of the puzzle
Falls on to the producers.
- Hey, alberti. This is aaron.
- Hey, aaron. How are you?
- Great.
You know, that's a challenge for you.
- Okay, get ready.
- Is this lan?
[both laugh] - yes, this is lan.
- It's okay to say--yeah.
- Okay, this is lan, and we're gonna go
On to the kettle next.
I've never been a producer,
And that was something that was really appealing to me...
Three, two, now you're live.
To be able to sit down in that chair,
Do a million things at once,
And really feel in control.
How do you suggest, like, communicating?
- Being confident... - Mm-hmm.
- But also being direct in the direction
You wanna go. - Okay.
- And you have to be ahead of them in many cases,
So you have to be thinking, "what do you wanna do next?"
- Okay, I just don't want them
To look like a deer in headlights.
[dramatic beat]
[tense music]
- I guess today, what we have to do
Is just think as if these are our products.
- We want it to sell. - Yes.
- Time to check in on the teams.
Ladies, how we doing? - Done with this?
- We are doing great. - Yeah? Well, good indeed.
- How are you? - How we feeling?
- Hi. Good.
- Assisting me is qvc host, alberti popaj.
- Trying to incorporate a little story
And a little rhythm right now. - Smart.
- Well, the story is we're making
A simple penne with meatballs,
So we're just gonna go from there, uh,
Into the jason wu set.
- So sorry, so you're following through?
- Yeah. - So you start with a recipe,
And it transcends across all five items?
Both: Yeah. - Wow.
- One thing that I would love for you to remember
Is that we are item by item on qvc, right?
So remember, whatever's in front of you,
That's the king at that time. - Right.
- So don't get caught up in the moment
And combine this story for 20 minutes.
- Okay. - Okay? It's--the impact
Is on the individual sales. - Mm-hmm.
- That's where the essence is. - Yeah.
- I knew that it wasn't about the recipe.
It was gonna be about showing the products.
These are the things that matter,
Not a recipe.
- It's a big gig, and there are millions of people tuning in
In just over 15 minutes from now,
But you just need to stay super composed.
Ladies, good luck. - All right. Good luck.
- Good luck. - Thank you so much.
- Oh, my goodness. Look-- - wow.
I've never seen a carrot be cut like that in my life.
It is so easy. Cut those carrots.
- It is just knocking against the cutting board.
Look at that. Someone's home. You know who is here?
The 12-inch cook's essentials-- - I love it. I love it.
[both laugh] I love it.
- Next up, the red team.
Tony, are you good? - Yeah, I'm good.
- Give us a sell. What do you wanna push?
- All right, welcome, qvc.
Today we have the cook's essentials
Automatic stop can opener.
This is perfect. Just set it right on top.
[device whirring] set it and forget it.
You know, you can-- [device stops]
[device whirs] [clears throat]
♪ ♪
Set it and forget it, and you can go and do some--
What the hell? - Okay, stop there.
That's what you can't do. Both: Right.
- That's the worst thing-- - yeah.
- You're right. - You gotta be seamless.
- Remember, you're a team. - Right.
- That's right. - So help each other.
- You need to be over this. - Yeah.
- I know it is smiling and laughing and joking,
But I promise you now, when we're live,
There's no jokes.
Any issues,
Mask over it, cleverly. - Good luck.
- Thank you. - See you guys.
- I know what makes live demos work beautifully
And what makes them go over like a lead balloon.
I can't work with someone
Who isn't able to pull it together
In a high-pressure environment like this.
- You talk into our ears if there's anything goin'.
- Yeah. - This challenge is all about
Sales skills, connecting with the audience
While showcasing products.
And that skill set I apply every day
In my business for smart cups,
So I think I'm a natural fit to be on camera.
- It's 30 minutes until their live broadcast.
- We need to get that plugged in
And started up. - Yup.
- The teams have one final on-camera rehearsal
To get it right.
- It's over here. - Yeah, right. How you feeling?
- Put your earpieces in... - Okay.
- So you guys can hear me.
- Yeah, give me a little, uh--
Gimme a little open. - Welcome to qvc!
I'm your host, chris kanik,
And today I have a very special guest,
Chef tony b is here
With some treats and some great deals!
- Great deals, even better products.
You know, one of my first--let's lead
Into the first product.
- Stop there for two seconds.
Don't shout.
I love the excitement, love that,
But when you're shouting it's gonna look like,
"this guy's shouting at me."
And then you need to look up and engage
And talk to them and lock eyes on that camera.
Fall in love with that lens.
- Okay. - Good. Let's do one more.
Five, four, three, two.
- Welcome to qvc!
I'm your host, chris kanik,
And today I have a very special guest!
- Stop shouting. Remember? - Okay.
- Okay, 'cause you're presenting, not shouting.
- No more hand turning!
It's amazing!
- Just tone it down a touch.
♪ ♪
Get in your positions. Let's do a quick rehearsal
Together, quick.
Ten, nine, eight...
- What are you doing? - Seven, six, five.
- What is happening? - Four. I said,
"let's have a quick practice of the opening."
- Okay. [sighs] - three, two...
- Hi, I'm ashley, and I am a mom of two.
I have a three and a four-year-old.
And today in the kitchen,
Moms are in charge, and we are going...
- Look at the camera-- - to show you what it takes
To make a meal.
- We know that you parents need
All the time you can in the kitchen, right?
- Look at the camera, caroline.
- Here we go. - You need to be assertive.
- Okay, got it. - You're the producer.
- Yeah. - Okay? And we're live.
- You guys, when I say "red light,"
That means you're looking at the red light.
Do you guys know which one-- where the red light is?
- Oh, yeah. I see it. I see it. - Okay.
When I say "red light," that means look at the cameras.
- Okay. - Okay, cool.
[suspenseful music]
- With five minutes to go,
It's now or never
For the yellow team.
- Whoo!
Holy [bleep] balls.
I am nervous as hell.
All of this prep, all of this rehearsal,
And it's all gonna come down to 20 minutes,
20 minutes live in front of millions of people.
This is a whole nother level.
- I told the teams that they'll be presenting live
On air because I really want to keep them on their toes.
But trust me, they are not ready for prime time.
Today they're not actually going live to the nation,
But live to a exclusive panel of qvc executives
Who will judge their every move.
[whispers] hello, everybody. - Hello.
- Welcome, and thank you so much.
We're literally 90 seconds away from going live.
Liz furlong,
Kristen stevens,
And christina pennypacker,
Alongside alberti popaj will guide my decision
On who's got what it takes
In the world of live tv shopping.
I've also invited 30 of qvc's regular customers.
Together, their feedback will help me choose who wins
And who goes home tomorrow.
- [exhales]
- 'member, if you're tense, they'll be tense.
- Final touches.
Are we good? - This ear thingamajiggy's
Freakin' me out. - Yeah, no.
You can't keep on touching that.
- Okay. - 30 seconds until live.
Get in position. I need high energy.
- 10 seconds.
- Come on.
Both: Three, two, one.
- Action.
[dramatic music]
- This challenge is the ultimate test
Of character and nerve.
- Whoo!
- The yellow team think they're about to go live
To the nation on a tv shopping channel.
- 10 seconds. - Come on.
But instead, they have to convince me
And a team of qvc executives they can work together,
Connect with a roomful of buyers,
And cope with the pressure
On both sides of the camera to be this week's winner.
- I think caroline's struggling a little bit.
I just need her to reel in that nervous energy
'cause it's making me really uncomfortable,
And I wanna make it to the finale.
I wanna bring home a win.
Both: Three, two, one.
- Action.
- Go. - Hi, my name is ashley,
And I am a mom of two.
I have a three and a four-year-old,
And today in the kitchen, moms are taking over...
- Whoo. - And we are gonna show you
What it takes to make a meal
With all of these wonderful devices
That you need to have in your kitchen.
- Ashley, look at the red light camera.
- Absolutely. My name is caroline,
And I am also a mom.
- Good energy.
- I'm ready to have fun.
- Components, ashley.
- Do you ever go through a fast food restaurant,
And you have these soggy fries when you get home?
- I love that she asked a question, by the way.
- Yes. - I do too.
- Colors.
- This comes in five unique colors.
- Oh, they called out the colors.
- This is wonderful
Because it makes mom life so easy
When you have chicken nuggets for the kids.
Even if it's a frozen crème brûlée
From the... - Absolutely.
- You can heat it up.
- [bleep]. Christ. - Heat it up.
- Wrap it up and transition to caroline.
- And this is the jason wu eight-piece cookware set.
Let me just show you. First of all,
These are extremely light in weight, which is amazing.
There is a very even, um...
- She looks a little more nervous.
- Uh, aluminum. - Five layer.
- Five layer, um-- - convection.
- Cook surface. Both: Yes.
- Yes, on the bottom here, which is amazing.
And it comes with a larger--
- Fry pan.
- A larger fry pan, so you have your...
- Exactly. - Small one
And your large fry pan.
- I'm not sure who's in charge here.
Who's the lead? - That's--that's so true.
- Yes. - Pot over here
That can double as a dutch oven.
How cool is that?
- We have a phone call coming in.
- Oh, my gosh, I just heard we have a phone call coming in.
- My panel of executives are playing the role of customers
Calling into the channel...
- Hi, ladies. Oh, my goodness.
I am so excited to be talking to you.
- To test the team's product knowledge
Under the spotlight. - What about cast aluminum?
Is there any benefit? 'cause I hear a lot about
Different cooking surfaces.
- Even heating. Even heating. - Absolutely.
- What should I use?
- If you use the aluminum,
It's gonna be so easy to wash. - Mm-hmm.
- Right? It's nonstick.
- Even heating.
- And you can also throw these
Right in the dishwasher, which is so exciting.
- Ashley, say that it heats evenly.
- And the best part about it is, it heats evenly.
- Say thank you to the caller, and wrap it up.
- You can then throw your pasta right in.
- Ashley, say thank you to the caller.
- 54360-- - all right, thank you, caller.
We so appreciate you calling in.
Thank you for all your questions.
- They're talking over each other.
- I think they're not listening to each other.
- They're not. - Now let's move on
And talk to you guys about
These beautiful jason wu bamboo six-piece--
- Six? Wow. - Um, yes. You get six pieces.
How great is that? Spoon set.
- Don't forget about the tongs.
- Oh, and don't forget the-- - the tongs.
- The tongs. - It's very interesting
That they chose to have all the products out there
All at the same time.
I understand where they're going,
But there's a lot going on. - It's confusing.
- I'm not sure what you're presenting.
I'm not sure where to look. - Yeah.
- And just a reminder, you guys,
The sku number on this one is k54357.
Just so you know when you can-- [dramatic sting]
- That's--you would never do that.
- No. - That's a huge faux pas.
- Yeah.
- With the quality that comes
With these bamboo utensil sets,
This is definitely something that you wanna cherish.
- 'cause look at how beautiful they are, right?
- That looks gross. - [laughs]
- Strong finish. Come on.
- These are pretty cool. These are incredible.
- Yes, they are.
These are our cook's essentials set
Of three-piece collapsible strainers.
- Speed it up, guys.
- These are so easy to store... - Mm-hmm.
- You guys. It's kind of incredible.
- She's showin' 'em sideways. - This is good.
- And at the same time,
They're really highlighting the color palette,
Which looks beautiful.
- Price, guys.
- So our price today--
Are you ready for it, caroline?
- I'm ready for it, ashley. - On qvc...
- [laughs] - it is 32.96.
- That's it? - Yes, that is.
- Five seconds. Thank you. - All right.
Thank you, everyone. - Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
[dramatic music]
- Whew, lord.
I am feeling a ton
Of adrenaline at this moment.
I am genuinely walking around with my head held high.
- We got it, mom. - Thank you very much. Whoo.
- I gave it 100% of what I had,
And I do believe that our girl team
Did enough to win.
- Good job. - Thank you.
- Yay.
- It's now time for the red team to go live.
- I hope the girls completely bombed it.
Who knows? But I know and my team knows
That we're gonna do everything that we can, you know, to win.
- Tony, can you acknowledge me?
- Tony, acknowledge-- can you hear him?
- Tony, can you hear me at-- - I can't.
- You can't hear him. - Yeah, I can't hear him.
- He can't hear him.
- You know, live tv is extremely difficult.
You have so much going on.
You know, I'm just trying to keep it together.
- Here we go. You got audio now.
- So give tony a check now. See if he hears you.
- Tony, can you hear me now?
- I can hear you. - Good.
- Take a deep breath.
Both: Five, four, three, two, one.
- We're live. - Tony, smile. Come on.
♪ ♪
- Hollywood, los angeles.
My $1/4 million investment is still up for grabs.
[tense music] - all right.
- I'm looking for a business partner
Who shows strength of character
Under immense pressure.
- Take a deep breath.
- And for chris, tony, and aaron...
Both: Five, four, three.
- This is their chance.
- One. We're live.
- Welcome to qvc!
I'm your host, chris kanik,
And today I have a very special guest with me
Chef tony b.
I know that every product he's bringing with us today--
- Let's think about the graphic.
- Let's get the graphic up.
- Thank you for bein' here.
Uh, tell our--our viewers, uh, what do you have for us?
- Thank you for having me, chris.
You know, uh, this first item
That we have, uh, it has a special place in my heart.
It is the cook essentials auto stop can opener.
- I need feedback from the qvc execs...
- I love the fact that one decided to be the guest,
And one decided to be the host. Both: Yes.
- And my roomful of buyers.
- Look at how amazing that is! - It's insane!
- Just one button.
Three easy payments.
Do yourself a favor.
- "do yourself a favor." [laughs]
- Great freakin' deal.
- [bleep]. - Highly recommended.
- All right, go back, uh-- - what we have here
Is the kuhn rikon set of two pull chops.
- Oh, yeah. - So--
- He's gotta look at the cam-- - tony, look at the camera.
- Choppin' up vegetables, choppin' up, uh, fruit.
- Look at the camera. - What else can you do?
- Oh. - Tell the--tell the viewers.
- We can--we can make some hummus in here too.
- His earpiece fell out.
- Let's make some hummus.
So what we're gonna do here--
- Is there a way-- should I tell--
- Tell chris.
- Chris, have tony put his earpiece back in.
- Yeah.
Squeeze in some lemon.
Wow. - No way.
- And watch this. Watch this. - No way.
Look at that work.
- That's instant hummus right here.
Boom. Hummus.
- That is wonderful hummus.
I can't wait.
♪ ♪
- [whispers] earpiece. - Look at this.
Look at how quick that is.
- Get it in. - That great hummus.
- That is wonderful hummus.
I can't wait to try that.
Quick, efficient.
- We're moving to the vitamix.
Get the vitamix out. - I love this
Because I have one at home.
[tense music swells]
♪ ♪
- While tony was loading that,
I wish chris told us how to order it,
Just to fill a little bit of that dead air.
- Where was the producer feeding him the information...
- Oh, yeah. - Tellin' him what to do?
- That is absolutely the expectation of a producer.
- Psst.
- I love--I love this product.
Tell--tell the viewers about this product.
We got the vitamix 7500 right now.
- He has it facing him.
- I would prefer to see it facing outward,
So the customer can see all the controls.
- It has a 2.2 horsepower. - Wow.
- That's like a go-kart. It comes with...
- [laughs] - a seven-year war--
- That's like a washing machine.
- It's taking a long time to get to any demo.
And, again, color choices.
I'm not seeing any of that.
- You could just drop broccoli.
- Oh, broccoli is going in? - Ooh.
- And you know what, let's throw some kale in there
Just 'cause.
- And then we got a banana.
- This does not look delicious to me.
- It looks terrible. [laughter]
- This sounds horrible.
- [whispers] turn the [bleep] thing around.
- Oh, yeah. And check this out.
It has 13 different speed options.
- Showing us now.
- Better late than never.
[vitamix whirring]
- Look at that thing.
- It's gray.
- Look at that. Look at that. Pour me a glass here.
- Are you a smoothie guy, chris?
- I am a smoothie guy.
[goofy music]
- If you're gonna do something,
Do something that people are gonna want to recreate.
- All they had to do was put a beet
At the bottom of that blender,
And it all would've turned bright pink.
It would've been beautiful. - I think they lost the sale.
[laughter]
- Absolutely delicious.
- We're goin' to the stainless steel electric skillet.
Tony, start clearing everything off.
- Quick.
- Clear. I have this still up.
Keep--clear. - That's nothing.
- Click. A little more direct.
- You guys gotta clear fast with some hustle.
- Keep talkin'. - Come on.
- I'm stressed that they're putting an electric skillet--
Both: On a stovetop. - Yes.
- It should be on the countertop...
- It should be on the counter. - Because that could cause
A bit of confusion and start fires.
- You brought this product. It's the cook's essential
Stainless steel electric skillet.
- Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And you know what?
It will not scrape up the bottom at all.
- I wonder how big this is.
- Me? - Tell chris.
- How big is this?
- It's an eight-quart capacity, right?
- Eight-quart. - I think I gotta give
A call in for this one.
- Aaron, call coming in.
- Where are you seeing a call coming in?
Can you show-- - don't stop. Don't stop.
- Hi, my name's liz.
- Hey, liz. - I wanna be clear.
I see on the screen that it says
That this is electric?
But you have it on a stovetop.
Can I use it on the stovetop too?
- Yeah.
- No. - No. No, you cannot.
- Who put it on there?
- Aah!
This challenge is chaotic.
Aaron's the producer, and tony's messin' up.
What the hell is this?
[tense music]
- Oh, my god.
- Aaron, call coming in.
- The red team has one minute left
Of their live tv show.
- Hi, my name's liz.
- Hey, liz.
- But one caller has highlighted
A dangerous mistake.
- I wanna be clear. I see on the screen
That it says this is electric?
- Yes, it-- - you have it on a stovetop.
Can I use it on the stovetop too?
- Yeah. - No.
- No. No, you cannot.
- Who put it on there?
- No, you cannot use it on the stovetop.
Let's move it off. We just have it set up here.
There's no heat coming from the stovetop,
So you can set this on any surface.
- How long is the cord?
Will it reach some of the outlets I have?
- Uh, right here we have about a four-foot cord.
- 48-inch cord, perfect. - It's a 48-inch cord,
Um, to be exact.
- Wrap this up. Come on. - All right, wrap it up.
We got 50 seconds. Get there off the call.
- Okay, that should work for me, I think.
- Well, liz... - I think this will be good.
- Hope you--hope you placed the order
Because this is a great product.
Three easy payments of 33.33, so--
- Tony, say something. Say goodbye.
- Thank you, everybody. - Bye, tony.
- Chef tony, thank you for bringing
These amazing products.
- Thank you so much for havin' me.
- Stop playing with your ear, tony.
- Uh, get the electric skillet.
Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. - Thank you so much.
- Eight, seven, six. - Keep talking.
Oh, jesus. - We're in the break.
We're clear.
- [bleep].
- Go and see your team.
- Yes, sir. - Man, that was tough.
- That was way tougher than I imagined it
Was gonna [bleep] be. - Yeah.
- That was a long 20 minutes, and I was back there.
It was a lot more difficult than I was expecting
And I think that all of us were expecting.
We were definitely a little confused and chaotic.
From my point of view,
It definitely wasn't how I wanted it to go,
But I know that we did our best.
[uneasy music]
All: Girls rule!
- Coming off of the seattle coffee challenge,
Winning that was huge for me,
And if I get this win today,
I think it's just gonna add
To the momentum and hopefully
To the finale.
- I've got all the feedback I need
From the qvc executives...
Amazing feedback. Thank you so much,
And continued success.
All: Thank you.
- And gathered the thoughts
From my panel of buyers.
Tomorrow I'll reveal the results
And decide who has failed to meet this challenge.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Game time.
- Oh, boy.
♪ ♪
- Right, red team, yellow team, welcome back.
This week I gave you my most intense challenge
So far, pitching live on qvc.
Now come on. Let's be honest.
That was not as easy as it looks, right?
- No. Both: Not at all.
- No. - Not at all.
- But across that challenge,
I was looking for more than your ability
Just to sell products.
I wanted to see you connect with an audience...
- Mm. - And I wanted to see
If you could take the reins in a high-stress environment,
Something we all get used to in business.
- Mm-hmm.
- And most importantly,
I wanted to see if you could take direction
And feedback.
Red team, the group of boys...
[light laughter]
Give me an insight to how you divvied up those roles.
- Tony and chris both have products on the shelves
And have a lot more experience pitching than I do.
- You know, with cooking products,
It's, you know, real familiar to my hands, so, you know,
It's easy to talk about those,
And chris is, you know, a personable person,
So just, you know, bounce back dialogue
With him, which was really great.
- And how do you feel your presentation went?
- I think we started strong.
We faced some obstacles, some adversity, but we pivoted.
- Yellow team, how did you guys decide your roles?
- Lan is a strong leader, and based on the last challenge
That we did, I was able to see that she was able to adapt
To multiple things at the same time.
- What I saw in caroline and ashley
Is that they have a common denominator,
And it's that they both have food products,
And they are also-- have children.
The whole theme was really easy to integrate
Into our entire process.
- How do you feel the presentation went?
- Truthfully, I think that we did fantastic.
- Well, first off, I've got a surprise for all of you.
Yesterday you were broadcasting live,
But not to america.
- Oh, boy.
- You were broadcasting to a highly selective focus group
Of customers and a panel of qvc executives.
- What? [laughs]
- Not only did I get feedback from the panel and alberti,
But the focus group gave me pivotal feedback as well.
- [exhales]
- The winners of this challenge...
Are...
[tense music]
- The winners of this challenge are...
♪ ♪
The yellow team.
Ladies, great job.
- Wow. - Sean, alberti,
And the qvc executives singled out lan.
They thought you were phenomenal.
- Oh, wow. - Good job.
- Red team, dear, oh, dear.
I'm disappointed in all three of you because I know
If I asked you to do that again,
You'd be way more composed, smarter with the choices,
And more together cohesively.
You three have got one more chance
To save yourself from leaving this competition tonight.
I'll see you boys in the restaurant.
Yellow team, well done.
- Thank you.
[somber music]
- Damn it.
- Chris, sit down, please. - Thank you.
- Aaron, take a seat. - Yes, sir.
- Tony, sit down.
Okay, how you feeling?
- I'm pissed.
- Why? - 'cause a lot of things
Went wrong, and some of them weren't in my control.
- Where did it go wrong?
- Tony started experiencing a number of issues.
He failed to smile, his earpiece was fallin' out,
He wasn't putting it back in.
I was placed in a very tough position,
And I tried to make the most of it.
- And how do you think that worked out?
- I don't think that tony was as good on camera
As what he thought he would be.
He didn't know how to react as quickly on the fly.
- A couple of weeks ago, you shone on social media
In that tiktok challenge.
Why hide in the booth to produce
When you could've stood up and presented that--
- Yeah, when we were deciding roles,
It was a big deal that tony was our expert in that field.
He knew the products.
- We put me on camera 'cause I'm very comfortable
With the tools... - That's right.
- And I can explain the tools-- - you're the expert.
- And I'm the expert. - You're the only chef
I have left in this competition.
- Yep. - The demo did not
Make you look like an expert at all.
A producer's supposed to be over their presenters.
- Absolutely. - When I went into that booth,
It felt like you were actually watching the performance
As opposed to producing the performance.
- You know, that was my first time
In the producer booth, and so it was evident
That there was a lot more pieces to maintain and juggle.
It was a lot more difficult than I was expecting for sure.
- How much info was aaron sending down your ear?
- He wasn't sending much, or when he was sending it,
It was as I was saying it,
Like the cord on the electric skillet.
Looked at it, four feet. "it's 48 inches."
So he's saying it after the fact
That I answered the question.
- Tony's earpiece, what happened there?
- I saw it pop out. - Mm-hmm.
- And I cued him to put it back in a couple times,
And he just wouldn't put it back in.
- I didn't feel it pop out.
- Oh, my god.
Chris is alongside you, telling you to put it back in.
Did you not hear him? - I heard him, and I just--
And I was waiting till we went on the blank screen.
- So-- - I was waiting for that cue
To put it back in my ear.
- You were shouting at us.
As opposed to this authentic individual,
It came like a secondhand car salesman.
- It was one of the most stressful 20 minutes
Of my life, and me comin' across as inauthentic
Is probably a result of that.
- Let me tell you what the focus group had to say.
And I quote,
"when he made that hummus,
I gagged."
And then the smoothie?
- Yeah, it was... [laughs] green.
- I'm not laughing now. I'm serious.
I'm glad you find it funny
'cause I was shocked.
When have you ever seen a smoothie made
With those vegetables?
- Chris drinks smoothies.
I don't drink smoothies. - Did you try it in rehearsal?
- I did try it, and it wasn't great.
- I expect you to speak up in rehearsal then.
You're the expert. If there's one area
That you could've shone brilliantly across that
Was with the food.
- Yeah. - That's my beef.
What's he doing with a skillet on top of a gas stove?
- The gas stove wasn't on.
- So you're saying that's the right place
To place it? - Not necessarily.
- Well, let me just help you there.
The last thing you ever do is advertise
Electric skillet on top of a gas stove.
Tell me why you deserve to stay in this competition.
- Week after week, I'm placed into challenges
And doing tasks that I've never done before,
And week after week,
I'm putting my teams in the best position to win.
- You're looking for a long-term investment,
Someone who's gonna create change.
At 20 years old, I'm 11 years younger
Than the next youngest competitor here,
And my capabilities are only gonna grow exponentially.
- I take risks, and nobody can do what I can do.
- [sighs]
Tony, thank you.
Chris, thank you.
- Thank you, gordon.
- Thank you, aaron. - Absolutely. Thank you.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- This competition is unlike anything else
I've ever put together.
I'm looking for my next business partner,
And this challenge was uniquely difficult.
So the person leaving the competition tonight is...
♪ ♪
Tony.
- [sighs]
- I said "play to your strengths."
You then positioned yourself across that live broadcast
As an expert.
But none of those demonstrations
Really shows the expertise that I know you have.
This week you fell short.
So for those reasons,
I will not be investing in you.
We're done.
Here's the good news.
It's clear that you're an innovator.
Tony b's steak chips, that's your creation.
The nation are gonna be taking it by storm,
So focus and continue that momentum.
[suspenseful music]
Hold on.
'cause I'm not done yet.
[dramatic beat]
♪ ♪
This week, the red team's downfall
Was because of not one, but two of you.
♪ ♪
Aaron, I'm sorry, young man,
But you are not ready.
The producer is supposed to command
And support the talent.
But you went silent.
So for those reasons,
I will not be investing in you.
We're done, but let me tell you something really important.
20 years of age, you stepped into this competition,
And I've seen so much progress from you:
The way you absorb the knowledge like a sponge,
The way you dust yourself down,
And boy, do you bounce back.
And trust me, in business,
They are traits that you cannot buy.
Best of luck to you both.
Good night.
- Damn. - [laughs]
- I didn't see that one comin'.
- I had no choice but to get rid
Of both tony and aaron tonight.
Tony was the last chef in this competition,
But he dropped the ball with the recipes,
And he dropped the ball with his presenting,
So tonight I had to drop him.
- Hey. - Mm.
Of course I'm bummed to be going.
You know, my company could've used $250,000,
But at the end of the day,
This whole experience showed me
That I can adapt,
I can overcome obstacles,
I have a great business.
I got nothing to worry about.
- Aaron has impressed me week after week,
But this time the energy and excitement
That I've come to expect from him was nonexistent.
- It sucks, but, uh,
I'm really proud of myself.
[laughs sadly]
[shakily] and, uh, yeah.
I know that gordon was hard on me
Throughout this challenge,
But it--I know why he does it,
And it's because he wants the best outta me.
He wants to push me to my limits,
And he definitely pushed me to my limits this week.
It's been an honor, guys. - The moneymaker.
Both: Bye. - Let's go, tony.
[melancholic music]
- We're down to the final four.
The end is right there,
And I will do anything it takes
To get gordon ramsay's investment and partnership.
- Last man standing.
- Well, let's just see what the next challenge is.
- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.
- Next challenge... - Mm-hmm.
- I'm gonna win.
- On to the next one. - Yeah.
- Wow. - Let's go.
- Whoo! - Vegas!
- Yeah! - Final four!
- I can taste the finale-- so close.
- I need to see that you're capable
Of developing a new vegas business model,
A sensational culinary circus.
- How are people gonna eat their food
While watching this? - [gasps]
- I've invited las vegas luminaries.
You've got my vegas reputation on the line.
- What the hell? - [bleep].
- This is their last chance
To prove that they deserve a spot in the finale.
Go big, 'cause if you can't, you're going home.
- Oh, my god!