Jessica Vogel, a former contestant on the Fox cooking competition series “Hell’s Kitchen” has died at age 34.
Vogel, who competed on Season 12 of the series airing in 2014, died on Monday. Her fiance, John Michael Keyser, told NorthJersey.com that Vogel was being treated for the inflammatory bowel disease colitis at a New Jersey hospital when “her heart gave out.”
Keyser added that he and Vogel “were planning to open a restaurant together,” adding, “My heart is breaking.”
Vogel, who grew up in Spring Lake, New Jersey, attended culinary school in Denver and was working at creperie and bakery in California when she auditioned for the series, which stars hot-tempered celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
An obituary for Vogel described her as a “local legend for foodies in Bergen County,” adding that she had struggled with alcohol and drug use, and “recently committed to living a better life and had graduated from an inpatient rehabilitation program with hopes of regaining control of her life. Unfortunately, the damage done over the years was too great, and she died, like she lived, a fighter.”
The obituary added, “She wants the message left behind not to be ‘sex, drugs, and Foie Gras,’ but rather the importance of appreciating your talents, always working hard to improve, but to never forget that it is the loving heart that truly changes the world.”
See Vogel on “Hell’s Kitchen” below.