Fort Mill chef ready to mix it up on 'Kitchen'

As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of New York, but you can't take the New York out of the girl.

Lisa LaFranca, 48, says co-workers originally thought she'd make a good candidate for Fox's hit show "Hell's Kitchen" because of "my New Yorkness… They think I'm a (expletive), I guess."

The corporate food director -- who has lived in Fort Mill for four years and wound up making "Hell's Kitchen's" Season 8 cast -- describes her personality with equal bluntness: "I'm not out to impress anybody, really. The things I do, I do for me. I don't care what other people think. I really don't. I'm not gonna kiss anybody's (expletive)."

She and 15 other contestants will vie for a $250,000-per-year head chef job in L.A., under the watchful eye of the show's acerbic star, chef Gordon Ramsay (who himself is known for profanity-laced tirades). The competition begins in Wednesday night's season premiere, which airs at 8 on Fox.

LaFranca, for her part, is curious to see how she's been edited. "It'll be interesting to see what they keep and what they don't keep, 'cause with my mouth … I don't know."