Probably the most criticized chef in the competition, Jenna, was sent packing Wednesday night on Around the World in 80 Plates after serving a stellar dish. Why? Well, as we all learned, this show is about winning and eliminating your biggest competition. So when it came down to a tie, cutie John voted her out.

We caught up with Jenna to get her take on the elimination and find out if she's still upset with Mr. Manpris. 

Ology: So you had the best dish. Why did you go home? Why do you think John voted you out?

Jenna: I think John ended up voting for me because he wanted to win. Ultimately, at the end of the day it’s a competition, and I think everyone was strategizing to vote the best people off, and it really became clear when my time was up that I’m a stronger chef than Liz is, and Liz couldn’t run, and I had two weak ankles, and I wasn’t making it to the challenge.

This show surprisingly has a lot to do with physical activity.

I think you can really see how tired we were because I can’t even tell you how many miles we ran that day. It was so hot, and such a physical day. I mean we’re all chefs and we went there to cook, so I don’t think we were expecting it to be like a race every day. 

Was is personal or about the food??

I took it personally at the end, but now I can really see that it was just about winning. When you put $150,000 on the line, and you put that Survivor voting at the end then it becomes more about the reality show format, and people start looking for negative things in other people’s food, and trying to find a reason to vote someone off. Whereas, if we were there just to cook food without choosing who was going to go home, we would all be looking for the positive things in everyone else because you would want those to emphasize and highlight the teamwork. I think in normal life, in a normal setting, the things that people said were annoying about me, I don’t think would have really been annoying, and might have been more fun. I can speak other languages and I really do enjoy travelling, so I talk about it a lot, I think that other people wouldn’t have found that so annoying if the voting was different.

How was it watching people say negative things about you on TV?

That was difficult for me because I’m much more the kind of person that if I think something, I’m gonna say it to your face, and I think that’s also why I came across really bossy, but that’s just because I’m sharing my opinion with people rather than saying it behind their backs. I was surprised to hear a lot of the things that people had to say behind the camera, but I’m proud of the fact that everything I had to say I said it to people’s faces other than behind their back.

Was there anything in particular that was really hurtful?

My feelings were really hurt when I went home, but that’s because I had a really great friendship on the show with John, and we really enjoyed travelling together, and we spent a lot of time talking. So, I was surprised, but it’s a competition at the end of the day, so I think my feelings were really hurt when I left, and now I’m over it.

Do you think he and Nookie should have been reprimanded for serving a watered-down drink?

It was really disappointing. We were surprised that they watered-down their drink, but I think Curtis and Kat were surprised too, and I know this is the first season where there’s no precedent set. So, I think everyone was surprised that they did that, but am I mad that there weren’t any repercussions? I guess that’s like getting mad at someone else on the playground for not getting in trouble for something they do. I was so concerned about myself. I mean I wouldn’t have done it, but there you go.

We saw a lot of negativity in terms of the competition, but what were your favorite moments of the experience?

I have a lot of favorite moments. I loved being in Barcelona. That was really special for me. That’s always been on my bucket list. I was really excited to go to Thailand as well because I had never traveled to a country like that before, and that was fabulous. I loved being in Morocco and tasting the foods. I loved coming back to Italy, especially Bologna which surprised me because the whole time that I lived there I never went to Bologna even though I would ride the train by it all the time, so that was phenomenal. The factory where they made the parmesan cheese was incredible. I had a lot of really wonderful moments on the show, and I think you can see in small little snippets of moments that we were all actually friends, and we all had a really great time together. You’re travelling with people who love the same things as you: travel and food, the conversations are incredible.

Who are you rooting for now?

I’m rooting for Nicole because I really appreciated that she stuck up for me in the elimination, and that she had my back, and that she recognized the fact that we had the best dish. 

Do you think Jenna deserved to go home? Let us know in the comments!

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Follow on Ology: Sharon Tharp |  TVOlogy

Follow on Twitter: @sharontharp  | @TVOlogy

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