“If I wasn’t an actress, I’d be a chef. I’d love to open a restaurant.”

In high school, there are so many cliques. You’re never safe.

I can read a four-page scene once and have it memorized. It’s a skill you learn in school: disposable cramming.

It’s difficult to wear such high Louboutins and also freestyle rap.

I need good friends who can say, ‘I love you to death, but you look terrible in that, and you need to change right now.’

Often you see people on the red carpet with tight up-dos, but that makes me feel stiff.

When I moved to New York, I started switching fragrances. Between different seasons I would change fragrance, or if I was going out for a big fancy night versus going out in the daytime. But I also found that I was changing and growing so much.

People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won’t be talked about.

I always love somebody who makes me laugh, who’s fun to be with.

Family is at the heart of everything I do.

I just want Beyonce to be the mother of my children.

I’ve never been a big fan of gossip. Being a victim of it, I knew how much it hurt.

I’m always the person who’s taking everyone else’s kid and putting them on my hip, so I’ve kinda always been a mama.

I went straight from high school to ‘Gossip Girl,’ and both were very structured, scheduled environments, so I never had freedom to explore and carve my own path.

I’m so used to being within 10 minutes of my family.

What do you do with your best friend? You do nothing.

I feel shy when people are fussing on me.

The food, the lesson, the chef, the ingredients – all the best of the best. I see why Le Cordon Bleu is world-renowned.

I have a very modern way of thinking; the chef is there to lead the team and not just to sit behind the piano.

There are so many chefs out there, and so if you were to say, “The dude who used to host Man V. Food is doing pairing for Jim Beam,” you’d say,

This is the difference between a pastime and a passion. I like to play golf, but I am not a golfer. I like to cook, but I am not a chef. I don’t just like to run. I am a runner. It is a passion

The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.

The reason that chefs become chefs is that they’re not allowed into rooms with windows.

If you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. And that’s exactly what I did.

The level of jealousy and insecurity in this industry [restaurant] is far greater than ever before.