Characters / Hell's Kitchen Seasons - 11 to 12

Main: Hell's Kitchen

Navigation: Seasons 1 - 3 | Seasons 4 - 5 | Seasons 6 - 7 | Seasons 8 - 10 | Seasons 11 - 12 | Seasons 13 - 15 | Season 16 | Season 17 (All Stars) | Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans) | Season 19 (Las Vegas) | Season 20 (Young Guns) | Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) | Season 22 (The American Dream)

Season 11

Ja'Nel Witt

"I'm a better chef than you, I'm faster than you, I'm more creative, I have a better palate than you..."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 31

Hometown: Houston, TX

• Berserk Button: Understandably, she didn't take too kindly to being considered for nomination in the latter stages of the competition, when the other three remaining women were clearly gunning for her. Less so in Episode 13, the one occasion where she had a truly bad performance; she said that while she thought Susan should be up (fortunately for her, Cyndi and Mary agreed on without hesitation), she would accept being nominated if that was what the Red Team decided.
• Bittersweet Ending: Was prevented from taking the winners' job after she allegedly failed a narcotics test, though she did later become the Executive Chef at Corner Table in her hometown of Houston, TX, but only for a year.
• Complexity Addiction: Lampshaded by Nedra, but Ja'Nel had a habit of coming up with some odd ideas for dishes, with them varying on whether or not they came out right.
• The Generic Girl: She didn't stand that much out personality wise in comparison to the other colorful contestants.
• Out of Focus: For the first half of the season, she didn't have much screen presence. But as time went on, she started establishing herself as a badass by dominating in the challenges. Emerged more by entering the Black Jackets, then winning Hell's Kitchen.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gave one to Susan on the night of her elimination, to prove that she was a better cook than Susan and that she didn't deserve to be nominated.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: She won the season, then didn't get the job due to (allegedly) failing a drug test.
• Sore Loser: She did not take her loss to Jon in the King of the Mountain challenge well, being annoyed that this was the second time that Jon had beaten her out.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Was very upset about the maggots during the recycling punishment.

Placement: Winner

Ja'Nel's Winner Comment - "Oh, my God! I win! I win Hell's Kitchen Season 11! I feel on top of the world. I cannot believe it. How lucky can I be? I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. I'm so proud of myself right now. It's been a wild, wild ride, but it's been incredible, and my life will never, ever be the same. My Hell's Kitchen journey ends tonight, but my future lies at Caesar's Palace: Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill. I am so ready to move to Vegas, dig my heels in, and get to work."

Ramsay's Winner Comment - "In all my years in Hell's Kitchen, I have never seen a more composed individual than Ja'Nel. And that is why I am so happy to have this ambitious, creative and talented woman as my Head Chef."

Mary Poehnelt

"It would be terrible to have to hack up a cow on a beautiful day like this, but I'm not gonna lie, hacking up a cow sounds like fun, too!"

Occupation: Butcher & Line Cook

Age: 26

Hometown: Belchertown, MA

• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite being one of the nicest chefs this season, at the final service she didn't hesitate to state that she would kick off any of her teammates who didn't pick up the pace. She kept her end of the bargain as she kicked Dan out after he screwed up on steaks.
• Childlike Voice: Much like Paul from Season 9, this was lampshaded by Gordon in the Signature Dish Challenge, as her voice tended to be quite soft and airy.
• Crazy-Prepared: The pressure cooker challenge; after everyone else stated in confessional that they had never used a pressure cooker before, Mary proudly announced that she owned one.
• Creepy Good: Was a really nice girl, but could get a little bit creepy sometimes, like when it came to butchering meat.
• Distaff Counterpart: She may have been the Nice Girl most of the time. But when it came to leading the pass, she was like a female equivalent of Chef Ramsay (with a rather childish voice).
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Even after she Took a Level in Badass she was still a bit shaky compared to the other Black Jackets. But when she led on the pass, she showed some really impressive leadership skills which got her a spot in the final two.
• Get Out!: Delivers this to Dan as he was constantly messing up, making her the first chef to kick someone out during service. This wasn't enough for her to win in the end however.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Was censored a grand total of 3 times in 22 episodes. She even once said "oh fudge!" during prep, and "son of a biscuit" during the final service.
• Graceful Loser: Deconstructed; she clearly wanted to be happy for Ja'Nel winning the competition, but as she put it, defeat was "a tough pill to swallow". Especially because Dan was the big reason she lost.
• Nice Girl: Probably the nicest chef this season, always supporting the Red Team and being polite to everyone, while knowing how to be stern when needed.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Thinks hacking a cow in the hot sun is pretty fun, although this was probably because she's a butcher and is used to it.
• Underestimating Badassery: As she states, "To all who ever doubted me, never underestimate a butcher with a soft voice."

Placement: 2nd

Mary's Runner-Up Comment - "It's just hard. I wish that I could sit here and cry tears of joy, but it's just not how it is. It's just a hard pill to swallow. This has been the most amazing ride of my life. Even though I didn't win, like, I'm still a winner, and Hell's Kitchen has completely transformed who I am as a chef. It's 'Bye-bye, Mary the butcher' and 'Hello, Mary the chef.'"

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Jonathan "Jon" Scallion

"Why am I doing all the heavy lifting? I'm the only one who got a point today."

Occupation: Chef de Cuisine

Age: 27

Hometown: York, PA

• Achilles' Heel:
  • Was a damn good cook, whose only competition on the line was Ja'Nel. But his performance on the pass was lackluster at best and led to his elimination.
  • Another subtle weakness he had is ingredient identification. Notably, he had a major part of failing the third challenge (identifying the protein from the dishes) and somehow manages to mistake fish for scallops in his pass, another possible reason for his elimination.
  • It happened little, but he also had a bad habit of failing when his teammates were as well. His mistakes in the 2nd and 12th services actually managed to get the Blue Team thrown out of the kitchen.
• Bitter Sweet Ending: Despite showing promise for the finale, he got eliminated in the final three because of a poor performance at the pass. Still, Ramsay called him the lone shining star of the Blue Team this season, let him keep his Black Jacket, and told him to keep in touch for a job opportunity.
• The Cameo: Made an appearance in Season 21 to help Alejandro with his menu as a Sous Chef.
• Celebrity Resemblance: To the late Chester Bennington.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Despite being the most level-headed male chef this season, he still had a few... quirks. He'd often talk to himself in the kitchen, and others would look at him as if he was crazy.
• Cosmic Plaything: Jon was a very strong chef in both challenges and service. Unfortunately, the Blue Team was so consistently poor in both of those that by the time he was in the Black Jackets, he had only been on two rewards all season.
• Deadpan Snarker: This is essentially his go-to whenever his team fell apart.
• The Determinator: Never stopped putting a strong effort into the kitchen, despite constantly losing thanks to the incompetent Blue Team.
• Dramatic Irony: After losing another challenge due a poor performance by the blue team, Ramsay points out that Jon actually had the highest scoring dish out of everyone that day, yet his teammates poor performance resulted in Jon's impressive dish being dragged down.
• Epic Fail: Had arguably the worst pass performance in the show's history, where he let key sabotages slip by him and could not get the team to work in sync due to a lack of vocalness. His poor leadership would end up costing him a spot in the final two.
• Glass Cannon: It didn't come up often due to him being the best chef on the blue team, but as mentioned above, he had a habit of failing when his teammates were, and the mistakes he made in the 2nd and 12th services were enough for the Blue Team to be thrown out of the kitchen.
• Graceful Loser: In general, he took most of his losses on the Blue Team fairly well (albeit getting a bit frustrated here and there). Gave warm hugs to both Ja'Nel and Mary right after finding out he got eliminated. He was pretty graceful about being eliminated. A lot more graceful than his fans were anyway.
• Last of His Kind: Last original Blue Team member and man standing in the Black Jackets. Too bad he didn't make it to the final two.
• Not So Stoic: For the most part, he handled the Blue Team's failures fairly well. But there were a couple times where he got visibly pissed off and told them off for it. Best exemplified during the People Magazine challenge. Despite having the highest score out of all the cooks there, he still lost because his teammates got out-shined by the Red Team... again. Even Ramsay mentioned this.
  Jon: This is fucking ridiculous. Guys, I could've been in fucking People Magazine. With the highest rank score.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicer guys on the Blue Team.
• The One Guy: Thanks to his largely incompetent team, he ended up being the only guy in Black Jackets this season.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Jonathan, but he went by Jon during the show.
• Only Sane Man: He's the only one on the Blue Team who has his head on straight most of the time.
  • Can be seen as a real life Deconstruction as it shows just how exasperating it is to be the only competent cook on the Blue Team.
• Power Trio: With Anthony and Michael, as they were the three most competent chefs on the notoriously weak Blue Team.
• The Runner-Up Takes It All: Even though Jon ultimately lost the competition, he would later get to work as a Sous Chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak in Las Vegas under Season 10 winner, Christina, before eventually becoming an Executive Chef for the Gordon Ramsay North America group.
• Sidetracked by the Analogy: After another bad dinner service, he started talking about Frankenstein's monster and Atlas carrying the world. Anthony thought he might have meant that they didn't rise up. But he wasn't sure.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: However, he was pretty casual about it, so it didn't really matter much to anyone.
• Sole Survivor: The Blue Team of Season 11 was one of the worst teams in the show's history with a lot of weak, inconsistent and incompetent chefs; Ramsay followed through on a threat to kick them off the show as a faster rate, and Jon, the only consistent chef, was the only guy to reach the Black Jackets (Zach was the only other man in the final six, but that was a two-team service and he became the final victim of Ramsay prior to Black Jackets, although they now had Ja'Nel by that point.)
• Worthy Opponent: To Ja'Nel. They recognized each other as the strongest competitor/threat. They were both by far the most consistent cooks on the line that season. Had he done better at the pass, he likely would have faced off against her in the finale.

Placement: 3rd

Jon's Elimination Comment - "It sucks not to be in the final pairing, but it was a hell of a ride. And being on the blue team was hard. Every punishment, every time I won and still lost, you know, knocked me down a little bit. And I just got back up. I have nothing to be ashamed of. You know, I guess in the end, even I couldn't survive the curse of the blue team. Damn, it would've felt good to be in that last two, though."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Cynthia "Cyndi" Stanimirov

"Can't we both get a point? You're killing me Chef Ramsay!"

Occupation: Head Chef

Age: 25

Hometown: Queens, NY

• Butch Lesbian: It says so on her Facebook profile. Lampshaded by Jon when he decided to take her on his reward for winning the second Black Jacket challenge, as he knew that she would not get too "girly" about the whole thing.
• Crippling Over Specialization: Was so used to winning challenges on the Red Team that when they lost on the last team challenge, she had to see the medic because she was so worn out from the punishment.
• The Generic Girl: Didn't stand out a lot despite being around until the final four.
• Not So Stoic: Spent the whole season being relatively emotionless (if not a total brick wall) until Episode 17 where she broke down in tears after being reunited with her family.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Cynthia, but she went by Cyndi on the show.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Pretty much her reaction when she finds out that one of the winners she has to face in the winner's service is Dave, who now has two working arms.
  Cyndi: I have to go up against Dave with two working arms, this shit's gonna be hard.

Placement: 4th

Cyndi's Elimination Comment - "I really came into the competition with a lack of confidence. Even though I got beat up and knocked down, I didn't give up. I didn't falter under pressure. I was able to rise above and give everything – my whole heart, my whole soul. Winning all the challenges and winning dinner service was great. I know that I gave everything that I had throughout this competition. I came here not knowing if I was a chef, and I'm leaving here knowing that I'm absolutely a chef."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Susan Heaton

"First of all, this is fake. You're blonde too, Chef Ramsay. So what does that say about you?"

Occupation: Culinary Student

Age: 29

Hometown: Whittier, CA

• Achilles' Heel: Lamb was her constant weakness; she managed to cook it raw at least three times now.
• Consolation Backfire: When the Red Team considered her for nomination because of her failure on the steaks, she defended herself by saying she felt like she was a huge contributor to the Red Team. She then said that was her opinion and she didn't know if anyone else agreed with her. She waited for someone to confirm her belief. Nobody did.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Inverted. She was actually pretty solid on the fish station, but everywhere else she was very mistake prone.
• Deadpan Snarker: "I cannot believe that Danielle is a head chef. A head chef of what? A hot dog stand?"
• Dye Hard: As mentioned in the above quote, she actually isn't a natural blonde.
• Glass Cannon: While she pull off some really good performances for a culinary student, she was also very prone to making mistakes, which resulted in her being a pretty common nominee for elimination in the latter half of the competition.
• Lethal Chef: In the Signature Dish Challenge she had the audacity to serve up raw lamb chops to Chef Ramsay, as the meat was still bright pink. Asking if she was trying to kill him, he threatened to send her home right there. He didn't, but it proved to be just the first of many fails involving lamb for her.
  • In the pressure cooker challenge, she constantly removed the lid (which is a big no no for pressure cookers). Lampshaded as there's a little counter that shows how many times she opened it. (In all fairness, she had never used a pressure cooker before)
• Overshadowed by Awesome: She was decent for a culinary student, but fell short both skill-wise (to Ja'Nel, Jon and Cyndi) and growth-wise (to Mary).
• Running Gag: Her and her failure to cook lamb. It took her sixteen episodes before she finally got it right.
• We Used to Be Friends: Initially was on very good terms with Nedra, but after Nedra was nominated over her, the friendship fizzled out.

Placement: 5th

Susan's Elimination Comment - "Coming into the competition, I realized that there was gonna be people that were much more experienced than me. I'm in culinary school, and this was my very first experience working on a line. I'm most proud that no matter what challenge was thrown at me, I did not back down. I had a black jacket. You know, I made it very far in this competition, so I'm gonna be ready for whatever comes my way."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Susan had little experience, but she came a long way. She's not ready to lead my kitchen in Vegas, but I'm happy to say that she'll be leaving Hell's Kitchen as a real chef."

Zachary "Zach" Womack

"I'm the last person you wanna cross; this is the lesson learned the HARD fuckin' way."

Occupation: Head Line Cook

Age: 34

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: He calls the Chinese vegetable bok choi "bok chewy" and calls soy sauce "sewey sauce". He also doesn’t seem to know the difference between Chinese and Japanese cuisine, which ensures that the Blue Team has to undergo punishment... again.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: Always wore one at services.
• Crying Wolf: When Nedra completely sunk on the Blue Team's app station, the Red Team suspected Zach of sabotage since Nedra usually did well on apps. They refused to believe Zach because of his constant dishonesty. But for once he was telling the truth, Nedra really did fail all by herself.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Titanic ain't got shit on us!"
• Evil Gloating: He does this when he successfully sabotages Ray during charity night.
• Fatal Flaw: Not communicating in the kitchen was Zach's downfall.
  Jon: I just wanna grab Zach and be like, “fucking listen man, wake up!”
• Flip Personality: Apparently, Grant Banks.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: When the Red Team found out that working on the Blue Team meant working with Zach, none of them wanted to do it.
• Graceful Loser: Actually took his elimination very well, saying he was glad to get to work with Chef Ramsay and hoped to do so again in the future.
• Manly Tears: In a confessional over the fact that a late season challenge dish of his didn't win.
• No Indoor Voice: Probably the most prominent male example in the show's run thus far.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Zachary, but he went by Zach during the show.
• Only Sane Man: Alongside Christian during the first service, in which everyone else on the Blue Team was thrown out. Was also this alongside Jon and Anthony in general until he started slipping up himself.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • In Episode 13, when he refused to bend to new teammate Nedra's hissy fit as to why she shouldn't be nominated.
  Nedra: I'M NOT GOIN' UP! FUCK THAT! YOU CAN KISS MY ASS IF YOU THINK I'M GOING UP!
  Zach: Nedra! You're going up.
  Nedra: I'M NOT GOING UP! FUCK YOU! I AIN'T GOING UP!
  Zach: Your ass is out of here!
  • He took another one in the finale, managing to prove himself as a worthy asset to Ja'Nel's team, if not her best chef that night.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Had this moment during the opening night (after eight of the ten Blue Team members got kicked out), complete with a cut to commercials.
• What Were You Thinking?: During the international cuisine challenge, Zach got Japanese cuisine, and was unfamiliar with it (to the point that, when presenting his dish to Chef Ramsay and the guest judge, he mispronounced the ingredients). He decided to make his dish based around Chinese cuisine, as "a Korean friend" told him Japanese and Chinese cuisine were the same thing. Needless to say, the judges pointed out the dish he had prepared was more Chinese cooking than Japanese.
• The Worf Effect: Zach started off extremely well, being one of the only two chefs to avoid being kicked out of the first service on top of having a strong signature dish. However, in the following episodes, Zach started to get worse and worse, and on top of his penchant for sabotaging, he gradually lost the respect of his team.

Placement: 6th

Zach's Elimination Comment - "I got to work side-by-side with one of the greatest chefs of our time, so I'mma still continue my culinary dream, and, hopefully, if Chef Ramsay needs me in the future, he'll pick the phone up and call me. If he calls, I'll be there. Not a problem."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "There once was a chef named Zach, for words he didn't lack. But in the kitchen, he was no magician, and he won't be coming back."

Anthony Rodriguez

"Risotto goes out, awesome! Perfect! Good, good start! Risotto comes back, awesome. Perfect. This is what we do."

Occupation: Line Chef

Age: 27

Hometown: New Orleans, LA

• Ambiguously Gay: Has some decidedly flamboyant mannerisms, but otherwise there hasn't been much evidence one way or another.
• Beginner's Luck: Had never cooked a Chinese dish before the Chinese food challenge. He was completely lost during prep. But his dish actually got his team the winning point.
• Butt-Monkey: Full stop in Episodes 14 and 15. After failing miserably in the Blind Taste Test and scoring 0 out of 4, during punishment he misreads a clipboard and causes the Blue Team to have to do more work than they had to, and getting chewed out by Sous Chef James in the process. Then, during the individual challenge, Ramsay says he got the flavor perfectly... but the meat was overcooked. Damn.
• Crazy Enough to Work: For the steak challenge, he cooked his with garlic, shallots, and dry banana. He admitted that he never worked with bananas like this before. A bewildered Chef Ramsay remarked that it actually worked and gave him a point.
• The Determinator: Rolled his ankle in the first part of the lobster challenge. Instead of going to the hospital, he went down to the kitchen to participate in the rest of the challenge.
• Deadpan Snarker: Anthony easily rivals both Trev and Barbie as easily one of the snarkiest contestants in the show's history, and much of the humor from the season comes from his reactions to the more eccentric chefs.
  Anthony: To use one of Nedra's analogies, she's struggling like 'two fat bitches'. I don't know what that means but she seems to be doing it.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Despite being nominated by him, Anthony encouraged Jon to win as he left through the doors.
• Epic Fail: Got a 0/4 on the Blind Taste Test, leading to the Blue Team losing another challenge again.
• Handicapped Badass: Nearly broke his ankle early in the season, but he stuck it out long enough to become the second most competent chef on the disastrous Blue Team.
• The Leader: He became this in the fifth episode, where he managed to help the blue team finally win their first service.
• Nice Guy: Shares this role with Jon.
• Only Sane Man: Before his disastrous performance in Episode 15, he shared this role with Jon.
• Power Trio: With Jon and Michael, as they were the three most competent chefs on the notoriously weak Blue Team.

Placement: 7th

Anthony's Elimination Comment - "Hell's Kitchen is insane. It's like no other kitchen I've ever heard about, worked in, or seen in my entire life. The blue team really couldn't get it together this whole competition. There was a bad cloud hanging over us this whole time, and I'm the most recent victim."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Anthony hobbled through Hell's Kitchen, and even though his leg eventually got better, his cooking didn't."

Nedra Harris

"If I knew we had to run today, I would have put on three bras to tie these bitches down!"

Occupation: Kitchen Manager

Age: 24

Hometown: Detroit, MI

• Artistic License – Physics: In the charity service, Nedra made a massive mistake previously done by Season 1's Wendy, where she tried to boil cold water for her lobster linguine course, something that Cyndi pointed out was extremely dumb. While she did manage to get caught up, she wound up being nominated as a result.
• Big Beautiful Woman: On the large side, but compared to other plus-sized Red Teamers like Kimmie or Cyndi who were pretty shapeless, she's quite curvy.
• Big-Breast Pride: She's huge, and she has no problem flaunting it, even naming her boobs "Suzy and Annie".
  Gordon: You named your breasts?!
  Nedra: Suzy and Annie, meet Chef!
• Cluster F-Bomb: Is prone to drop one when she's particularly upset.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Never referred to Gordon Ramsay as anything but "Chef".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Was very immature and hostile. But she could be a team player when she wanted to. She was a hard worker who noticeably put her best foot forward into helping the Red Team. YMMV on this though because other times she was indeed malicious. Still, more of a brat than a bitch for the most part.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: On the Red Team, she could get away from being nominated by blaming it on someone else, and manipulating her teammates to do so. However, on the Blue Team, she tried the same tactic again, but the Blue Team did not budge in their decision to nominate her. She ends up being eliminated that night.
• Lazy Bum: She did not help out much when it came to taking in wine deliveries, which essentially resulted in the blue team hating her more.
• Manipulative Bitch: On three occasions, she managed to get the Red Team to change their minds on nominees (Jessica over Jacqueline, Mary over herself, and finally Cyndi over herself).
• Never My Fault:
  • Best exemplified when she was transferred to the Blue Team. She was unprepared on her station, and she blamed her teammates for not preparing it for her. When she sunk on apps, she blamed Zach and Anthony for supposedly sabotaging her.
  • Another example is refusing to be up for elimination after the breakfast service, despite being one of the reasons the Red Team fell apart.
• Not So Above It All: Constantly criticized the Blue Team for being weak when she was transferred, when she was arguably the worst of all of them. She refused to participate in the punishment because she blamed the Blue Team for losing, even though she cooked up a mediocre dish as well.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Towards Mary. First when she apologized to Mary for putting her up for elimination and defended her from the Blue Team's taunts. Second, she proved to be a valuable asset to Mary's team in the finals, running the meat station flawlessly after Dan crumbled.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered one to Gina after the first service, which made her go berserk and eventually Rage Quit.
• Rule of Three: She was eliminated on her third nomination.
• Sassy Black Woman: Perhaps the biggest example in HK history.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: She had maybe four sentences that didn't contain the word "bitch". She even beats Kimmie in terms of usage.
• Took a Level in Badass: Despite a shaky start, she became a powerful asset to Mary's team in the final service, taking over Dan's spot in the meat station after Mary had to kick him out.
• Verbal Tic: Aside from saying "bitch" in almost every sentence, she said "Yes, chef" so many times that it practically became this for her.
  Gordon: Why are you using soggy buns when you have toasted right behind you?
  Nedra: ...Yes, chef.
  Gordon: No! Not "Yes, chef"! Why are you using the soggy ones?
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: A challenge dealing with placing farm animals in cages had her dwindling down seven of the Red Team's ten minutes due to her fear of them. She states in her confession cam that she's afraid of her own dog (makes you wonder why she has one).
• Womanchild: Threw a fit whenever she didn't get her way.

Placement: 8th

Nedra's Elimination Comment - "Hell's Kitchen is a roller coaster ride. You go from being nervous, to mad, to being happy, and, mentally, it's crazy. I made a couple mistakes, but nobody can say 'Oh, she didn't fight.' All my life, I had to fight. Even coming here, I had to fight to come here, so I'm not gonna let one thing defeat me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Nedra wore a Red Jacket and a Blue Jacket. But after tonight's performance, I knew that she wouldn't be wearing a Black Jacket."

Michael Langdon

"I've never worked with so many fucking amateurs in this business in my life!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 33

Hometown: Plains, PA

• Crippling Overspecialization: Was one of the stronger chefs when it came to cooking on the line, but in challenges, he tended to be very hit or miss.
• The Generic Guy: Didn't really stand out much from his other teammates.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Had a pretty nasty temper towards anyone who he felt disrespected him, although to be fair, it was mostly against chefs like Dan and Zach.
• The Leader: Took this role in the third and fourth episodes, but all it really amounted to was him getting annoyed at Jeremy and arguing with Dan.
• Not So Above It All: Was far from the worst member of the Blue Team, but had real difficulty fighting back during service when he made mistakes, especially in his final service.
• Only Sane Man: Besides Jon and Anthony.
• Power Trio: With Jon and Anthony, as they were the three most competent chefs on the notoriously weak Blue Team.
• Took a Level in Badass: Was a key member of Mary's team in the final.
• What Were You Thinking?: During his elimination night, he stated that he worked a night where he could've taken his kid home from the hospital.

Placement: 9th

Michael's Elimination Comment - "I had one bad service. My team saw me as a threat, that's why they got me out of there. I tried to put up a good fight, but Chef Ramsay saw otherwise, so, you know, I have to respect his decision."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Raymond "Ray" Alongi

"I'm gonna fucking slap a bitch in a minute!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 51

Hometown: Boston, MA

• Beware the Nice Ones: Never really had any drama with any other contestants, except for after he and Dan were assigned to the fish station together; in the dorms after they got kicked out, they had a huge argument, with Ray repeatedly calling him a bitch.
• Cool Old Guy: At age 51, the show's oldest contestant to date, Ray zigzagged this trope: he was dedicated to the teammates (at least, the ones who aren't jerks, like Dan), and always worked really hard... the problem was, he barely scraped by each service due to making simple mistake after simple mistake.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Ray was accused of "having senior moments" at least once during the competition, and had trouble during services.
• Deadpan Snarker: After portly Jeremy returned from the hospital with the prognosis being that he wasn't eating enough, Ray summed up the entire Blue Team's reaction perfectly:
  Ray: Doctor says you gotta eat more... I think you need a second opinion.
• The Ditz: Could best be described as a bumbling old man during service.
  • When Chef Ramsay told the Blue Team to taste a poorly cooked risotto, he dipped his finger into the pan to taste it. He was promptly kicked out.
  • Managed to occasionally subvert this in the challenges, most notably the Signature Dish Challenge where Ramsay told him his dish was "cooked to perfection".
• Leader Wannabe: Saw himself as a good potential leader for the Blue Team. He was one of the most inconsistent cooks of the season who had very poor communication. He couldn't even instruct his teammates on how to help him plate.
• The Load: Despite lasting halfway through the competition, Ray never really established himself as any sort of front-runner. In challenges, outside of a few shining moments, Ray was often a weak link in those, and in service, they tended to range from mediocre at best to awful at worst.
• Manchild: Despite being 51, he wasn't above not admitting to his mistakes, yelling at people when he was angry, making rude remarks about his own teammates and sticking his finger into a risotto.
• Never My Fault: He wasn't very good at accepting responsibility for his failures. Especially seen in his big argument with Dan after they get kicked out due to the disaster at the fish station. He rages and attacks Dan, despite the fact that Ray never allowed Dan to help him or even cook anything.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Raymond, but he went by Ray during the show.
• Papa Wolf: Was on the receiving end of one of Ramsay's Papa Wolf attacks when he sent up a stone-cold burger meant for Ramsay's son during the family service. An incensed Ramsay said he wouldn't dare do that to Ray's family.
• Rule of Three: He was eliminated on his third nomination.

Placement: 10th

Ray's Elimination Comment - "Tonight is a disappointment, and it eats me up. I'm leaving with my integrity, I'm leaving with my pride, and I'm leaving knowing that I was a gentleman. I may have been the oldest competitor ever to be on Hell's Kitchen, but I'll tell you, I think I gave it a hell of a run."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Ray's age was not the issue; it was his cooking. And I was not getting any younger waiting for him to improve."

Barret Beyer

"I can't even look Chef James in the eye. He's like a triple black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, this dude could probably FUCK ME UP right now."

Occupation: Head Chef

Age: 35

Hometown: Long Island, NY

• Alliterative Name: Barret Beyer.
• Anime Hair: Before he shaved it, he had a big mohawk that he went into great detail on how he prepared.
• Deadpan Snarker: This exchange with Ray.
  Ray: The cow's going to tell you where it wants to be separated.
  Barret: Well, he ain't telling me shit right now.
• The Ditz: As seen during the Quinceañera challenge, when the girl stated that she doesn't like spice:
  Barret: I figured, Spanish people, hot sauce. Could work out pretty well, right?
• Epic Fail: Had such bad performances in his last few episodes that Chef Ramsay eliminated him, even though he had already eliminated Amanda post dinner-service that very night. This was the first time Chef Ramsay eliminated two chefs in the same elimination ceremony outside of Joseph's meltdown (the fact that the Red Team failed to serve all of the appetizers before the Quinceanera waltz, leaving two tables to never receive their appetizers, contributed to this due to it being viewed as an insult to the guests of the Quinceanera)
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: His hair and tattoo screamed passion for HK, but he never executed.
• Important Haircut: Shaved his head to symbolize him improving on the job. It didn't work.
• Lethal Chef:
  • In the family night service, he attempted to serve Chef James' wife pink chicken. As an added bonus, his wife was pregnant. This lead to Ramsay assigning the Red Team to the kitchen.
  • Seen another time when he sent a halibut up to the pass... without taking the parchment off. Said halibut was meant to be served to an old lady. The rest of the Blue Team, especially Dan and Zach, reacted appropriately, as did Chef Ramsay.
  Zach: (Confession Cam) You left the parchment on it?! What, are you trying to kill somebody?! By the time you've swallowed it, you're already on the floor with JP doing CPR on you! Who the fuck would want that?!
• The Load: Was apparently so bad that he didn't even get to return in the finale, despite Amanda and Dan, who were eliminated before him, doing so.
• Manly Tears: The raw chicken incident had Gordon openly questioning whether Barret gave a shit about what he was doing in the kitchen; he was narrowly spared elimination that night, but was devastated when Ramsay began to secondguess his ability.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Had a huge one when he served raw chicken to Chef James' pregnant wife, and profusely apologized for it before attempting to redeem himself starting with the next service.
• Never My Fault: He was displeased with being eliminated after Amanda following the Quinceanera service, saying "I don't agree with the decision". This is a little while after Ramsay, noting that the Blue Team had only won one service and challenge, threatened to send them out quicker; he made good on his promise with Barret.
• Nice Guy: Whatever his various faults, he did seem to be one of these. Best example would be in Real Life; he is a frequenter of Facebook group "Hell's Kitchen Underground", and he offered to take over the page when the creator's mother passed away, giving her time to grieve.
• You Look Familiar: He reappeared on Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen.

Placement: 11th

Barret's Elimination Comment - "I don't agree with the decision, but I really can't be upset with myself, because I did everything I possibly could. I think I could've made it further, but I didn't do it quick enough for Chef."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Amanda Giblin

"Back off the station, I have it!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 28

Hometown: Orange County, NY

• Beware the Quiet Ones: She was generally quite mellow and amicable, but she completely lost her cool at Nedra in one episode when the latter wouldn't stop harping on her about her mistakes.
• Butch Lesbian / Lipstick Lesbian: Displays characteristics of both, although leans more toward the former.
• Deadpan Snarker: She had her moments of this.
• Epic Fail:
  • Singlehandedly tanked the Red Team on the meat station during the 8th service, where she was unable to get the meats out to the pass despite repeated assurances to Gordon that they were coming. This started a chain reaction where half of the Red Team was ejected from the kitchen; unsurprisingly the Red Team lost in that service and she narrowly avoided elimination because Ramsay thought Jacqueline was showed no care in the kitchen.
  • Then came the Quinceañera service, where Amanda caused a backlog on the appetizer station on seared tuna, the easiest item on the menu that night, and caused the women to fail on serving all their appetizers before the traditional waltz occurred. That failure sealed her fate.
• Out of Focus: She never really got much focus while on the show, due to being one of the sanest people on the red team.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered one to Nedra in the 8th service.

Placement: 12th

Amanda's Elimination Comment - "I didn't expect to be leaving Hell's Kitchen so soon. This is something I've been doing for 13 years. I thought it was easy, and it's not. It's not easy. I'll tell you that, it's not easy."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Jacqueline Baldassari

"Chef Ramsay told me to get out, and I'm like, 'All right, I'm gonna go upstairs and rehydrate myself!'"

Occupation: Roundsman

Age: 27

Hometown: Florence, NJ

• Bystander Syndrome: In the first service, after Susan and Danielle - who had originally been on the garnish station - got tossed out of service, Mary took over the garnishes, and Ramsay ordered Jacqueline to help her. Jacqueline responded by completely ignoring Ramsay and just chugging down a bottle of water, which unsurprisingly caused her to get thrown out as well. On top of that, in a Confession Cam insert immediately afterward, she actually said that she was glad she got thrown out of service, because now she could sit down and relax. Her tendency to be passive during service ultimately led to her elimination.
• Crippling Overspecialization: She wasn't exactly the worst when it came to challenges, but when it came to service, she often was one of the weaker performers.
• Emotionless Girl: Throughout her time on the show, Jacqueline never really seemed to care all that much, usually preferring to have a laid-back attitude. This eventually would result in her elimination.
• Epic Fail: Jacqueline managed to screw up pancakes of all things.
• Informed Ability: Many of her teammates talked about what a great chef and how experienced she is, yet she sent out raw chicken, spent the first service standing around and doing nothing even after Ramsay ordered her to help her teammates, and screwed up a pancake.
• Lethal Chef: In one of her services, she ending up serving raw chicken. Ramsay was not happy about it, nominating her even when the red team did not, and claimed he should have eliminated her on the spot for that mistake.
• Never My Fault: After serving raw filet mignon, she immediately blamed Amanda for it. Zigzagged, as while Amanda did cook it, Jacqueline should've checked it.
• Rule of Three: She was eliminated on her third nomination.

Placement: 13th

Jacqueline's Elimination Comment - "I think Chef Ramsay made a huge mistake. I'm extremely proud of myself in everything that I do, and I don't need some guy that screams at me to tell me that I'm a good chef. I'm gonna keep going on, I'm gonna keep cooking, and that's what I want to do with my life, and I love it."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Jacqueline talked a good game, but unfortunately for her, I need someone who can deliver."

Daniel "Dan" Ryan

"Fuck you and fuck your fucking mother! Put that on TV!"

Occupation: Head Cook

Age: 27

Hometown: Westchester, NY

• Accentuate the Negative: The Blue Team nominated him because he burnt one pizza. This was mainly cause they didn't like his personality/attitude.
• All of the Other Reindeer: He was very quickly isolated by his other teammates for his arrogance and overall bad attitude, to the extent that he was put up for elimination for burning a single pizza. Unfortunately for him, that, along with his attitude, resulted in his elimination.
• Deadpan Snarker: He did this a lot.
• Epic Fail: Ruined at least half a dozen steaks all at once. As a result, he became the first chef to get kicked out in the middle of the final service.
• Fatal Flaw: His attitude. While Dan was easily one of the strongest chefs on the notoriously awful blue team, his incredibly volatile and arrogant attitude very quickly resulted in the blue team turning their back on him. It's telling that he was eliminated for this, which is a rarity as Gordon almost never eliminates chef due to their awful personality.
• Flipping the Bird: Does this behind his back to Zach, which Zach calls him out on.
• Foil: He seems to be one for Mary. In the beginning, Mary was one of the weaker members of the red team, while Dan was one of the stronger members of the blue team. However, Mary Took a Level in Badass throughout the season to be seen as a reasonable threat, while Dan remained consistent, but his awful attitude resulted in his teammates putting him up for relatively minor mistakes. Mary also was thrown under the bus as well thanks to Nedra, but unlike Dan, Ramsay saw through these attempts and kept her on, with her making it to the finals. Dan on the other hand had no such luck, with Ramsay eliminating him for failing to work with his team.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Neither Ja'Nel nor Mary wanted him on their teams for the final service, and in the end Mary had to kick him out for making so many mistakes.
• Informed Flaw: He was a good chef, and was a lot better than his teammates painted him to be in terms of culinary skill. It was just that his attitude and personality were so bad, that the Blue Team just wanted him gone, and he never did well enough in the challenges and dinner services to justify him being around. As Ramsay stated after his elimination, despite his competent cooking skills he was way too much of a "wild card".
• Jerkass: Perhaps his most defining trait, as Dan had absolutely no problem whatsoever rubbing his skills in his teammate's face and being incredibly obnoxious. That's not even to mention his dislike of waiters and generally disrespected them.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Dan was such a jerk that the Blue Team wanted him gone and even Mary wasn’t happy to have him on her team in the finale, but he was right to be upset with the Blue Team for deciding to nominate him alongside Ray instead of Barret in the seventh episode, since Dan had done well on the meat station while Barret forgot to take the parchment off of fish that was going to be sent to an old lady! That's not even to mention that despite his arrogance, Dan could back up his skills in the kitchen fairly well.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Dan was easily one of the most unpleasant chefs of the season, several times he's shown to have a good side to him. He did try to help out Jeremy several times before Jeremy's attitude pushed him away, and he did genuinely apologize for ruining Mary's chances at winning the season.
• The Load: He messed up the steaks in the final dinner service for Mary multiple times that she had no choice but to kick him out. If it wasn't for that, Mary would've had a better chance of winning the competition.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: Mary was completely happy with the team she had in the finale. Except for Dan.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Possibly. He managed to annoy Michael and Barret for asking a lot of questions during prep.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Daniel, but he went by Dan during the show.
• Only Friend: Tried to be this to Jeremy, comforting him after his first time up. However, as Jeremy continued to not take blame, Dan's opinion of him drastically decreased.
• Pet the Dog: After all of his jerkassery, when it was revealed that Ja'Nel won, he hugs Mary and apologizes not only for his attitude but also said that he'd make it up to her someday.
• Picked Last: For the final service between him and Ray.
• Rule of Three: He was eliminated on his third nomination in a row.
• Spear Counterpart: He seemed to share many similarities with Season 8's Sabrina, such as the two of them asking questions during prep to possibly annoy others, getting into a rivalry with a chef who made particularly bad mistakes (Barret for Dan, Melissa for Sabrina), and both were eliminated due to their attitudes despite being fairly competent.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gave one to Zach, Barret, and Michael during his elimination quote.
• They Just Dont Get It: While Dan was a competent chef, the others kept putting him up for his arrogant and unpleasant attitude. While one would assume that Dan would try to better himself and try to be more of a team player, he just continued to bicker with his teammates, ultimately culminating in his elimination.
• Two First Names: Dan Ryan.

Placement: 14th

Dan's Elimination Comment - "Barret, you are a weapons-grade douchebag. Zach, you're two-faced as shit. Michael, you are S-T-O-O-P-I-D, stupid. My message to the blue team is, shove it up your ass."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Dan was just too much of a wild card. There's no way I'm betting a restaurant in Vegas on him."

Jessica Lewis

"I will outwork every single one of you up there right now!"

Occupation: Chef Tournant

Age: 25

Hometown: New York, NY

• Cant Hold Their Liquor: She got particularly tipsy during the first reward.
• Deadpan Snarker: Best exemplified by her comments before doing push-ups in the beginning, and laughing at Ramsay in the 5th service.
• Distaff Counterpart: A parallel to Jim from Season 6. They were both good chefs, had deadpan voices, were among the best looking on their teams, had good senses of humor, and got tossed because they lack passion.
• Emotionless Girl: Despite a rather energetic intro, she devolved into this. Constantly had a blank face during service, and never really seemed to care. Chef Ramsay eliminated her because he felt that her heart was not in the competition, which was probably true. Even at her elimination, she barely had any reaction.
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: Showed promise early on, but flamed out due to her aforementioned lack of passion.
• Mirthless Laughter: While trying to motivate her team after Susan undercooked a risotto, she ended up doing this. Ramsay didn't appreciate this, and offered to throw her out right there.
• Never My Fault: Only had one instance of this, where she blamed her lackluster Chinese dish on the lack of ingredients, despite the other chefs managing to do well despite that.
• Two First Names: Jessica Lewis.

Placement: 15th

Jessica's Elimination Comment - "During this experience, I tried to stay very confident and very strong, and that came across as not passionate, and that sucks. I guess I just didn't put up enough fight for Chef Ramsay to believe in me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "When Jessica first arrived, I had high expectations for her. Unfortunately, she let us both down."

Jeremy Madden

"You don't even know where the fuck I'm from!"

Occupation: Lead Cook

Age: 22

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

• The Eeyore: Almost never smiled. Constantly looked and sounded depressed.
• Epic Fail: Tried to bring up a sample dish that was cooked an hour beforehand. Chef Ramsay was so offended by this that he eliminated him even though the Blue Team won.
• Fat Idiot: Not to the extent as, say, Raj or Jason^note Season 4's Jason, but he still wasn't very bright.
• Graceful Loser: As out of his depth as he was, he did at least own up to his fumble with the sample plate, a mistake that got him eliminated.
• History Repeats: Like Season 8's Raj, he was eliminated despite his team winning that night's service due to his lack of ability.
• Kaizo Trap: He ended up being eliminated from the winning team after continuing to be a weak link during services.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He would insist he was a great chef, but tellingly he wasn't even sure whether his own signature dish, a rib-eye steak, was a rib-eye. This frustrated Ramsay more than the fact that the dish was overcooked, and things didn't really improve from there.
• Lethal Chef: During the breakfast service, Jeremy took one of the sample plates that was shown to the blue team an hour earlier to the back and inadvertently served it to the pass without noticing it was the older dish. This resulted in Jeremy getting chewed out, and him being eliminated that night despite being on the winning team.
• The Load: Was very dopey on receiving orders and cooking; his inability to repeat an order Ramsay was telling him several times over led to a frustrated Ramsay kicking him out of opening night. And then there's bringing the sample dish up.
• Manchild: He was the youngest competitor and hated being told he might have less experience or age than the others. He would always be on the verge of crying (bitterly at points) on Confession Cam in reaction to when people tried to work with him and would always attempt rationalize away his mistakes by the fact that he was learning... even when he made egregious mistakes.
• Never My Fault: Had a lot of trouble accepting responsibilities.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Called himself a great chef, and thought he was a frontrunner, but he was in fact the slowest chef that season, and Ramsay said he was in over his head.

Placement: 16th

Jeremy's Elimination Comment - "I don't know what I was thinking, It was my fault. I brought up the wrong plate, but I've learned a lot about myself. I know I'm a fighter. And above all, I'm a great chef."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Danielle Boorn

"I've never cooked in a brigade before. There's hardly any fucking restaurants that work that way!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 33

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

• Consolation Backfire: After being completely lost during the first service due to her inexperience in the brigade system, she ranted about how so few restaurants used a brigade system. She then rhetorically asked the dorm how many cooks there ever cooked in a brigade system. Cue almost every cook in the Blue Team raising their hands.
• Dumb Blonde: With the exception of Gina, she was easily the worst performer on this season's Red Team.
• Genre Blind: Her excuse for her poor performance was that "no other kitchen" works with the kind of brigade system Hell's Kitchen is built around, as shown in the quote above.
• Graceful Loser: Despite her poor performance, she was still proud of having had the opportunity to compete on Hell's Kitchen, only regretting that she didn't get farther than she did.
• Identical Stranger: Bears a strange resemblance to Season 10's Royce.
• The Load: Was not prepared at all for Hell's Kitchen; one example is with the opening service, where her failure on her station led to Susan getting ejected because she had to babysit her. Ramsay then says two orders with chicken and Beef Wellington as well as a redo, and Danielle told him she was confused, and asked if he needed the redo and the meat, or just the chicken and two Wellingtons. Ramsay's answer: "Get Out!"
• Never My Fault: The first contestant in a long time to try blaming everything on her lack of experience since amateur chefs were barred from entering the show back in Season 6. Not surprisingly, she was eliminated very early on.
• Rule of Three: Danielle was eliminated after her third poor dinner service performance, something Ramsay lampshaded after making the call.

Placement: 17th

Danielle's Elimination Comment - "Chef Ramsay, I'm sorry that you didn't get the opportunity to see me in my true form. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pick up and grasp this kitchen as quickly as expected. I'm very thankful, and I'm grateful that I made it this far! I just wish that I had made it further."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Every dinner service, Danielle looked like a deer in the headlights. And that's why she ended up as dead meat."

Christian Rosati

"I don't know what to do, my mussels are ready, so I said 'fuck it'."

Occupation: Line Cook & Sandwich Maker

Age: 38

Hometown: Boston, MA

• Expy: To Season 10's Chris. Both were named Chris, got tossed after the 2nd service, screwed up on scallops, had strong regional accents (Chris' was New York, Christian's was Boston), and never got much screen time.
• Funny Foreigner: Subverted as he was actually from the US, but that doesn't make his Boston accent any less hilarious.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: His Signature Dish and first service were impressive. After elimination, he stated that if he got his second chance, then he could have made it much further.
• Only Sane Man: Alongside Zach during the first service, in which everyone else on the Blue Team was thrown out.
  • However, completely averted during the second service where he was the main reason for the Blue Team's collapse and was eliminated that night.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He was eliminated early on, and wasn't given much attention due to being overshadowed by his more colourful teammates.
• The Worf Effect: Went through this in record time. His signature dish was well-received and was one of the only two chefs on the blue team to avoid being kicked out on the opening night. However, the following service, he completely crashed on the fish station, and was eliminated as a result.

Placement: 18th

Christian's Elimination Comment - "Hey, I'm a Boston guy. I had my Bill Buckner moment. I froze at a big time, but I didn't get my second chance to fight, which really pissed me off. Chef Ramsay made a big mistake by getting rid of this Boston guy."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Gina Aloise

"You better watch your Ps and Qs 'cause you don't know me!"

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 49

Hometown: The Bronx, NY

• Beginner's Luck: Her first set of scallops was somehow perfect during the first service. However, that was the only time Gina sent anything passable in her short stay on the competition.
• Butt-Monkey: She brought, get this, an Italian chef puppet ^note (one that suspiciously looked like the Chef Excellence puppet that Ashens has) she played with all the time to the annoyance of the other chefs, screwed up royally during service, nearly got into a fight with Nedra and was shunned by the team, before quitting on the second day.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Abandoned the Red Team during prep to put on her makeup and "be away from the kitchen", and never seemed to function normally.
• Epic Fail: Her entire short stay. Arguably, she was even worse than Raj. Yes, Raj.
• The Eeyore: She never smiled once, and always looked like she was in distress. She even acted like it, sulking and walking slowly on her way outside the second day shortly before her abrupt Rage Quit.
• Establishing Character Moment: One of the first things she does in Episode 1 after sitting down with the rest of the girls is talk through a chef puppet. Needless to say, none of the other girls were impressed and quickly labelled her as crazy.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Decided to Rage Quit on the second day after starting a fight with Nedra.

Placement: 19th (Quit)

Gina's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Sebastian Royo

"Zacky Wacky!"

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 32

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

• Funny Foreigner: Subverted, he attempted to be this, but really just got on everyone's nerves. Gordon had him kicked out of the kitchen when he called Zach "Zacky Wacky." Chef Ramsay lampshaded this in his elimination statement and even before Sebastian's elimination
  Chef Ramsay: This is a kitchen, not a place for comedians.
  Chef Ramsay: (elimination statement) Sebastian tried to be funny, but it was his cooking that was the joke.
• Graceful Loser: He fully owned up to the fact that it was his own fault that he got eliminated, and warned everyone watching that indeed, Hell's Kitchen was no joke.
• Fatal Flaw: His immaturity. Throughout his very short stay, he seemed to be more preoccupied with making a fool out of himself instead of actually making an effort to come off as a serious contender. This especially backfired when he kept returning to the kitchen after Ramsay kicked him out, which resulted in Ramsay eliminating him over Jeremy, who probably had an even worse service.
• Irony: The fact his portrait on elimination was sandwiched between Ja'Nel and Mary... who ended up winning the season and ended as runner up respectively.
• Nice Guy: He was a mediocre chef, but he was at least cool to be around; he hugged Jeremy and encouraged him to fight back, and even gave Ramsay a friendly shoulder bump on his way out.
• The Nicknamer: During the first service, he started calling Michael and Zach nicknames. Unsurprisingly, Ramsay would kick him out after hearing him call Zach "Zachy Wachy".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Almost tried to pull this during the Signature Dish Challenge, jokingly running off before coming back to present his shrimp corn dogs to Chef Ramsay. After tasting them, both Gordon and Nedra (Who tasted it with him) agreed that he probably should've run away for real.
• Too Dumb to Live: Getting kicked out of the kitchen once is bad, but to return three times in spite of a furious Gordon Ramsay telling you to get out? Downright suicidal. Unsurprisingly, he was the first to be eliminated.
• Wall of Blather: On the bus ride the Blue Team had to take, he would not shut up.

Placement: 20th

Sebastian's Elimination Comment - "Right now, I'm disappointed with myself. I came here thinking that the challenge was gonna be to beat the other chefs and win Hell's Kitchen, and I found a way to defeat myself. Hell's Kitchen, man, its no joke."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Sebastian tried to be funny, but it was his cooking that was the joke."

Season 12

Scott Commings

"Chef Ramsay has beaten my ass every day that I've been here... for me to still be here, it means I must be doing something right."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 36

Hometown: Woodstock, IL

• Accentuate the Negative: This would often be how Scott would be put up for nomination. While other chefs would make much more costly mistakes, they or other chefs would say Scott's mistakes were worse than theirs, resulting in Scott being put up for relatively minor mistakes in the long run.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Admitted how frustrated he was in Episode 17 of constantly being railed on by everybody and he eventually snapped... at Chef Ramsay. He very nearly got thrown out on the spot and barely avoided elimination that night. Happens again in the finale, where he tosses Jessica out of service for her constantly forgetting even basic cooking standards - one of the few finalists to ever do so.
• Breakout Character: Much like Rock, Paul, and both Christinas, he's made appearances in future seasons, even being a guest diner for one service.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • Some of his nominations were debatable, such as Episode 11, where he made no mistakes and even scored the winning point in the challenge. However, he was nominated over Gabriel, who served frozen mushrooms.
  • It happened again in Episode 14. His only mistakes were slicing and serving a plate of raw chicken (that was cooked by Anton) and attempting to cook a full order of scallops when Chef Ramsay only asked for a single scallop to complete a full dish (the scallops were saved thanks to Anton and Kashia noticing on time and removing the pan from the heat), yet he was nominated over Kashia, who had some mistakes in the fish station.
• Complexity Addiction: Almost all of his dishes are very elaborate, but they usually fell flat in favor of far simpler dishes. However, this finally worked in Episode 11 with his pork ravioli (which worried his teammates and Ramsay given the time constraints). From then on, he started making most of his creative yet risky ideas work, such as his spicy mahi-mahi panini during the tailgate party in Episode 17.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Scott was often a strong link in challenges, coming with dishes that either got the win or nearly gained it. During service however, while a good chunk of his nominations were due to other chefs pushing their mistakes onto him, Scott tended to have some pretty middling performances.
  • Additionally, comparing his run whilst running the pass and the finale to his performances early on, it was clear he was far more capable as a leader than a cook.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Arguably, Scott had everything in his favor in the final service compared to Jason. He had a brigade that was very consistent (thanks in part to Chris and Ralph stepping up their game for him), he never lost his temper or panicked when things went wrong, and he made the wise decision to get rid of Jessica when she was not delivering on garnish. Its thanks to these three concepts that gave him the win.
• Dark Horse Victory: Even as few as three episodes before the finale, almost nobody thought he would win.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mostly in the confessionals.
• Determinator: No matter what abuse he received from Chef Ramsay or his teammates, he never gave up and remained level-headed and professional. Even when he got into an argument with Chef Ramsay in Episode 17, he simply did it out of frustration, and he apologized for it.
  • Ramsay listed this as a key reason why he won, and the reason why he got the most shit out of all the chefs was that he had the most potential of the chefs that season.
• The Dog Bites Back: Deconstructed, in Episode 17, he reveals his frustration in the Confession Cam about everyone picking on him. The stress and anger built up so much that he snapped at Chef Ramsay, and almost got eliminated on the spot for it.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Was on the receiving end of this due to him being the scapegoat, most frequently from Joy in order to protect her friend Kashia.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Scott was one of the contestants most put up for elimination in the whole series and was either the scapegoat or had a middling performance rate. Come to the final episodes though and his persistence rewards him with a victory as the last man standing.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: While he was constantly put up for elimination for various reasons, he truly shined in the final four, delivering one of, if not, the greatest pass performance in the show's history, which gained him a spot in the final two on top of the eventual win.
• Expy: In the finale, Kashia compared his leadership to a second Gordon Ramsay, saying that like him, he expected perfection and drive.
• Family Man: Based on his interactions with his family, he clearly loves them.
• Foil: He serves as this to Melanie once they reach the top four. Whilst Melanie was far more consistent than him (notably being the only in the final four to completely avoid nomination), she often cracked when put under a leadership position. On the other hand, Scott received the most nominations of the season, tying the record for most in one, but once put into a leadership position, there was no stopping him. Bonus points to them both saying the other shouldn't move on into the finals due to their flaws.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Jason in the finale.
• Get Out!: Delivers this to Jessica as she continuously messed up during his service. Notably, he does this without any prompting by Ramsay, which likely secured him the victory.
• Glass Cannon: Probably the best way to sum up his performance in the kitchen. Scott could perform well in the kitchen, but he was prone from making mistakes that would either be middling or outright bad.
• Happily Married: He entered the competition to secure a better life for his wife and two children.
• Iron Butt Monkey: He tied the record for the most nominations ever on the show with seven ^note  He's tied with seven nominations alongside Season 7's Autumn, Season 8's Sabrina, Season 9's Elise, and Season 10's Clemenza , but he never lost an ounce of passion and eventually won.
• The Leader: He easily had the best performance at the pass of the final four, and arguably had the best final service of any winner.
• Never My Fault: Jumped onto the pizza station to help Chris in Episode 7, but he struggled as well. Ramsay dragged them into the storeroom; Scott blamed the oven and the pizzas themselves for "not cooking right".
• Nice Guy: A pretty notable example, as despite being put down multiple times throughout the season, he was still kind towards his fellow chefs. He even went as far as to console Joy during her Heroic BSoD and consoled Kashia when she missed her family, two chefs who have done nothing but throw him under the bus in order to keep the latter in.
• Older Than They Look: Looked to be in his late 20's but was actually 36, making him the third oldest winner to date, behind Season 19's Kori and Season 21's Alex.
• The Perfectionist:
  • When he took his turn leading the pass in Episode 19, he sent dishes back over the smallest things (like the garnish having too much garlic). While it annoyed the other chefs, Chef Ramsay approved of his dedication and the diners loved the quality of their food as a result, which helped Scott advance to the finale.
  • In the finale, he kicked Jessica out when she didn't meet his standards on garnish, though it was less that she didn't meet his standards and more that she didn't meet basic standards, such as forgetting to even mix the garnish.
• Poor Communication Kills: Scott early on had problems communicating in the kitchen. Ironically enough, his strong leadership was what won him the season.
• Real Men Eat Meat: And cook it, too. Meat dishes were his specialty.
• The Rival: To Anton. Scott constantly railed on Anton's poor presentation and having no finesse with his cooking, as well as his gruff leadership.
  Scott: Anton is a total douchebag.
• Seen It All: Remarks this after Anton blaming his slip on the floor to some oil that Scott dropped.
• Stacy's Mom: A rare male version of this, Scott is widely considered one of the most attractive winners in the show's history, and has a daughter.
• The Scapegoat: Scott became this as his record seven nominations show. While some of his nominations were valid, the others were definitely the other chefs using him to deflect their own mistakes onto. This was most apparent with Joy refusing to ever nominate her friend Kashia.
• Spear Counterpart: To Season 4's Christina. Both Scott and Christina were nominated several times throughout their season, but it was often for very petty reasons. Despite that, they would both manage to pull off the win in the end.
• Stepford Smiler: Throughout the season, Scott had gotten pushed around from Anton to Joy and Kashia, and it never seemed like it bothered him that much. In the final six episode however, he admitted that all his mistakes and being pushed around had been gradually wearing down on him, and eventually he snapped...at Gordon Ramsay.
• Took a Level in Badass: Chef Ramsay noted that he had the classic "underdog" story; he started off pretty weak, but his passion and determination for cooking kept him improving all the way through until he finally won.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Scott's story is this: a guy who started off weak and constantly picked on by everyone around him, but he never gave up and won the season.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Holy cats!"
• Unwanted Assistance: In-Universe; this is how some of the other chefs felt about his attempts to make sure they were cooking well.
• Vocal Dissonance: He's 36, but his voice is surprisingly light.

Placement: Winner

Scott's Winner Comment - "Oh my God. I just- I just fucking won. I can't believe it. I'm still in fucking shock. I pushed really hard, I gave everything I've ever had. It's been a tough road, and it hasn't been without some blood and tears. You know, there's no question this is the hardest thing I've ever done. My whole life is my wife and kids, and now, my kids are growing up on a beach."

Ramsay's Winner Comment - "Scott won tonight because he has all the qualities I'm looking for in a head chef: he's passionate, determined and a true leader. He's an artist plating food and has a phenomenal palate. There's no doubt in my mind that he's got a great career ahead of him."

Jason Zepaltas

Also Season 9

"Go back to the grocery store, motherfucker!"

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 31

Hometown: Chicago, IL

• Accentuate the Negative: This is how Jason would be put up for nomination. After both teams lost, Rochelle and Melanie would nominate him due to his attitude, despite him not making a mistake that night. He would ultimately survive nomination due to Gabriel's earlier ejection.
• Acrofatic: He's not fat per say, but he was big, and actually could move pretty fast in the kitchen.
• Cant Hold Their Liquor: He and Scott won a challenge and earned a wine-tasting trip, and while Scott was fine the next day, Jason was so hungover that he was late to prep and pretty sluggish when he arrived. Fortunately, he did pretty well in service to make up for it.
• Country Matters: Pretty infamously referred to Sandra as this during service.
• Crippling Overspecialization: During service, he was without a doubt the strongest link, with his sole nomination only coming due to his attitude. With challenges however, Jason was pretty hit or miss.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Chef Ramsay said this morning's gonna start off with a bang and I don't think we're going to, like, an illegal firework factory."
• Department of Redundancy Department: "The problem with Anton is he's a stupid idiot."
• Epic Fail: Despite being one of the strongest chefs in the competition, he tanked on the classic Blind Taste Test challenge, not getting even a single one right and being a big reason why the Blue Team lost.
• Evil Laugh: Had a hilariously over-the-top one after the pork challenge in Episode 11. The show even added black-and-white filter and lightning just to make it even funnier.
• Expy: Of Russell from Season 8 in both looks, cooking ability, arrogance, and frequency of F-bombs. Both of them reached second place. Fortunately for Jason, though, unlike Russell, Jason was a Graceful Loser that spared him from extra fan hate.
• Fanboy: Of Stan Lee when he came to dine in Hell's Kitchen in Episode 18, with Jason saying that the X-Men were his favorite comic characters when growing up. In a bizarre twist of fate, Joy, whom Jason had repeatedly referred to as his strongest competitor, ended up pulling a Screw This, I'm Outta Here when Ramsay called her out for messing up Lee's order of halibut.
• Fiery Redhead: Not only in the Confession Cam but any moment he happens to be fired up.
• Foil: He became this to Rochelle come the final four. While both of them were the most animated on their teams and had some pretty solid pass performances, where they differ is in their attitude towards their teammates. Rochelle is kind, quirky, and overall pleasant to be around while Jason has a temper and is more than willing to get into scraps with them. There's also their leadership styles, as Jason is more casual and not very serious whilst Rochelle is a bit more frantic with her style. Bonus points to them both saying the other shouldn't move on into the finals due to their flaws.
• For Want Of A Nail: Jason was expected to win over Scott in the finals due to him being more consistent than him, but his lax leadership would cost him.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Scott in the finale.
• Graceful Loser: Almost averted at first, as his initial reaction was that he was disappointed to lose, obviously. But unlike Russell from Season 8, he was happy for Scott, admitting he earned his victory and even cheered for him in the aftermath.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Definitely had one, seen in Episode 3 when he blew up at Mike trying to defend himself.
  • In the next episode, Ramsay ordered the Red Team (who had already completed their service) into the blue kitchen to help them, and he was joined by none other than Sandra, and after she called him out for having raw chicken (which he hadn't cooked yet), he exploded at her, calling her a "dumb little [BLEEP]". Ramsay chewed him out for this, but he appeared apologetic, and from that point on, worked together with her with no further issues.
• He-Man Woman Hater: This tended to be zigzagged. He did occasionally make sexist statements in the Confession Cam and the example above with Sandra, but aside from that, he didn't come off as overly sexist towards them, unlike the similarly named Jason Underwood from Season 4.
  • Averted with Rochelle; he stated in Episode 13 that he and Rochelle "ARE the Blue Team at this point".
  • He seemed to have stopped this with the arrival of the women on the Blue Team. With both Rochelle and Melanie on the Blue Team, Jason was quite happy that the Blue Team finally became cohesive and he enjoyed working with them.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After he and Scott won the tailgating party challenge and they received a wine-tasting tour for the challenge prize:
  Jason: I want the alcohol.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jason certainly had more than a few Jerkass moments, but there was just as many times where he was way more charming and kind, with him appreciating having Melanie and Rochelle on the blue team being a big example.
• Large Ham: It's painfully clear that he had an absolute blast being on the show and it made him popular. This is most particularly evident in the Confession Cam and again in the tailgate challenge.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After it was revealed that Richard would be forced to compete in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge as a result of most of the men naming him the weakest member of the Blue Team, Jason seemed visibly upset. He implied in the following episode that he was actually divided as to whether Richard or Ralph was the weakest, and regretted choosing the former.
  • He also displayed shades of this after screaming at Sandra when she came in to help the Blue Team out. He seemed apologetic after being called out on it by Ramsay though.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Returned this season after being forced to drop out in Season 9 before taking part in a single service. Unlike Robert, the last contestant to drop out and return in another season, Jason was one of the strongest chefs and finished second in the competition.
• No Indoor Voice: As one of the viewers put it, "Jason always sounds like he's challenging Hulk Hogan to a wrestling match!"
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Jason was a very strong chef, but unfortunately compared to Scott, when put in a leadership position, Scott absolutely curb-stomps him.
• Pet the Dog: He had one of these after Rochelle had a emotional breakdown after service, which prompted Gabriel and Richard to consider nominating her. Jason refused on the grounds that she still kicked ass that night.
• Squee: This was his reaction upon seeing Stan Lee.
  Jason: "I remember reading all of his comics when I was a kid. I am in awe. AHA!!!"
• The Big Guy: One of the bigger chefs of the season.
• The Unintelligible: In Episode 2, as he cheered for his teammates, there were times when he got so pumped up that he shouted out incomprehensible gibberish.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the same time, he appreciated having Rochelle and Melanie on the Blue Team.
  • Episode 16 undoes this when he nominated Rochelle, saying he did not understand how she got so far when she never worked in a restaurant before, that she's not a strong cook and that catering, which is her line of work, is "shit work". This came after a dinner service where Rochelle didn't make any mistakes. This then turned into Laser-Guided Karma when Melanie and Rochelle immediately decided to nominate him instead for his attitude, though given his consistency, it may have been a strategic move.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Anton; he was quick to call out Anton's mistakes and seemed to butt heads with him a lot, but they always worked well together in service, and Anton was even Jason's first pick for the final service, where Anton kept his mouth shut and worked his hardest for Jason. Jason revealed in interviews that he and Anton developed a deep respect for each other.

Placement: 2nd

Jason's Runner-Up Comment - "I really thought my door was gonna open, I really thought that I had it. But Scott deserves it. He's got cooking skills up the wazoo, and I am truly very happy with Scott right now."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Melanie Finch

"I wanna show Chef Ramsay that I fucking have a voice. WATCH ME."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 24

Hometown: Woodland Hills, CA

• Achilles' Heel: Leadership. Whenever Melanie is put into a leadership position, she crumbles. She was unable to properly lead the Red Team in Episode 6, and out of the final four, her turn at running the pass was the weakest.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: There's one episode where she is very blatantly flirting with Anton.
• Child Prodigy: Ramsay considers her to be one, stating that she was "born to cook" and that he hopes to see her again in a few years. He even let her keep her Black Jacket when she was eliminated.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mainly in the Confession Cam when someone does anything she deems as either strange or stupid.
• Epic Fail: In Episode 14, and just like Jason, she failed to get any correct items in the Blind Taste Test and only contributed to helping the Blue Team lose.
• Failed a Spot Check: Minor example, but during the ravioli challenge, she accidentally plated her ravioli on the wrong size plate, failing to to score a point.
• Foil: She serves as this to Scott once they reach the top four. While Scott received the most nominations of the season, tying the record for most in one, he was probably the strongest leader in the show's history. On the other hand, Melanie was far more consistent than him (notably being the only in the final four to completely avoid nomination), but she often cracked when put under a leadership position, which is what eventually cost her. Bonus points to them both saying the other shouldn't move on into the finals due to their flaws.
• Ms. Fanservice: A strong contender for the show's best-looking contestant EVER; she's shown changing in the dorms several times and in Episode 4 we were treated to her in a bikini.
• Never My Fault:
  • In Episode 6, Melanie was named the leader of the Red Team for that night's service, but she completely shut down on her team on both leadership and on the fish station. While this would have led to a nomination, she denied being the problem, instead pushing for overall performances.
  • In Episode 7's pizza challenge, both teams had to choose one of their four pizzas to leave out, and Melanie insisted that they exclude Kashia and Bev's pizza because she thought it was burnt, to Kashia's chagrin as she felt it was good. The Red Team went on to lose the challenge, and Ramsay asked to taste their pizza, and said it may have given the women the win. When Kashia confronted Melanie about it during punishment, she argued that the former should have spoken up more, and even said that she never said it looked burnt, this after saying everybody voted to veto Kashia and Bev's pizza, while we are shown footage of Melanie deciding the choices herself

Placement: 3rd

Melanie's Elimination Comment - "I came into this competition with a lot of confidence. I was one of the youngest ones here, and sometimes, I got thrown on my ass, but I always gave 175 million percent of myself. And I learned being a head chef is more than just putting out good food. Getting this far in this crazy-ass competition, I'm so much stronger, and I know what I'm capable of. I can only grow from here, I can only get better as the years go on. So, I mean, yeah, I lost tonight, but you'll see me in a couple years somewhere else."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Rochelle Bergman

"OK, I guess I can make polenta now!"

Occupation: Catering Chef

Age: 27

Hometown: Riverside, CA

• Badass Adorable: You just wanna hug her, yet she's been complimented time and time again as one of the strongest chefs this season.
• Beginner's Luck: In Episode 5, she was told to make polenta, which she admitted to never having done before. Ramsay went on to say it was delicious, leading to the above quote.
  • Happens again in Episode 9. She ended up having to cook lobster in the Dome Challenge, and she admitted that she had never cooked lobster before. Despite that, her dish was delicious and earned the Red Team a point. (Interestingly, she included polenta in THIS dish, too.)
• Boring, but Practical: Episode 9's Dome Challenge had her cooking lobster with polenta. Richard served Lobster with pasta and a chorizo cream sauce. While both dishes were good, the lobster and polenta combination secured her a point.
• Cerebus Retcon: It's mentioned early in the season (Episode 5) that she got engaged. Come about six episodes later, when Andi talks about sacrificing a lot in order to get to the top, there's visible concern on her face since she wants to start a family and the Red Team wanted to put her up for elimination solely because of that.
• Character Tic: Her laugh, which usually happened when she was excited or nervous. She lampshaded this in the first episode.
  Rochelle: I think I laugh a little bit when I'm nervous.
• Determinator: Accidentally cut her thumb during punishment in Episode 18 but she knew that she had two choices: either give up or rebound. She chose the latter.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Her response to Scott and Jason picking male chefs first in the finale. Also got a bit of it when she was eliminated before Melanie despite being a more consistent chef, and as such was denied the third-place honor of being allowed to keep her Black Jacket.
• Establishing Character Moment: Her laughing during the Signature Dish Challenge, in front of a live audience no less, and explaining that she had it whenever she was nervous. This even caught on to her Confession Cam.
• Expy:
  • Let's see... a dorky, slightly chubby nice girl, who rarely swears, is in her mid-twenties, with relatively little experience in comparison to her fellow contestants, that defied Chef Ramsay's prediction that she'd only last a few services? Yep, she's an almost exact replica of Season 11's Mary, apart from having a much more normal-sounding voice and the fact that she didn't make the final two... which would make her similar to Season 11's Jon for also being a fan-favorite that many wanted to win and was a Graceful Loser overall.
  • Her sadness of killing lobsters also relates to Season 3's Bonnie.
• Fingore: She cut her thumb during a punishment, but returned to pull off another great service, with the only change being a bandage on her thumb.
• Foil: She became this to Jason come the final four. While both of them were the most animated on their teams and had some pretty solid pass performances, where they differ is in their attitude towards their teammates. Rochelle is kind, quirky, and overall pleasant to be around while Jason has a temper and is more than willing to get into scraps with them. There's also their leadership styles, as Rochelle is a bit more frantic with her style whilst Jason is more casual and not very serious. Bonus points to them both saying the other shouldn't move on into the finals due to their flaws.
• Foreshadowing: During the wedding reception episode, it's mentioned that Rochelle recently got engaged. Six episodes later, while Red Team is doing punishment and Andi mentions the sacrifices that need to be made to get to the top, there's visible concern on Rochelle's face; she wants to start a family and it results in most of the Red Team turning on her.
• Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Throughout her respective season, she was only bleeped out once.
• Graceful Loser: She thanked Ramsay for the experience and hoped to one day sign up to work at one of his restaurants (and also promised to keep her laughing under control). She took the loss a lot better than her fans did, at any rate.
• Handicapped Badass: Accidentally cut her thumb during punishment in Episode 18, but returned just in time for dinner service, and wasn't even slightly slowed down by having her thumb bandaged up and virtually immobilized.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffered a minor one in Episode 13 (which played host to the Red Menu vs. Blue Menu service), but came back with a vengeance at dinner service after receiving a pep talk from Kashia.
• Meaningful Name: Rochelle is based off the French word for "rock", representing her consistency throughout the show.
• Nice Girl: Tried to calm down a freaking out Joy in Episode 1, states that she's happy to be assigned to the dessert station in Episode 2 as she can be a floater and help out whoever needs it, and held Jessica's hand after she competed in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge. She showed herself to be the nicest of the women, doing her best to work hard, stay out of the drama, and help whoever needs it.
  • In Episode 9, after she ends up having to cook lobster in the Dome Challenge, she feels really bad about having to kill the lobster.
  • This is actually gradually deconstructed as the show moves along: the Red Team nominated her in Episode 11 because she wanted to have a family (implying that she wasn't committed enough to the competition), and in Episode 12, she ended up having the deciding vote over whether Gabriel or Richard would be nominated, and it clearly hurt her to make such a decision. Regardless of performance, it seems like each episode throws more challenges at her.
• No Indoor Voice: Both averted and played straight. Averted outside of dinner services, where she has a normal, and at times rather quiet tone of voice. Once a dinner service starts, however, she has one of the loudest voices in the whole kitchen.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Always the happy, nice girl and optimistic, when it came to her Heroic BSoD in Episode 13, it was really depressing to see.
• Plucky Girl: Optimistic, cheerful and willing to help in the kitchen. When she was eliminated, Ramsay noted that he had never seen someone so energetic and that she would have a very bright future ahead of her.
• The Rival: To Richard, due to them having their dishes tasted at the same time, and also due to Richard's resentment of her taking care of the garnish station at his last dinner service.
• Signature Laugh: Had one whenever she was excited or nervous, which she even stated during the Signature Dish Challenge in Episode 1. This was noted by Ramsay during her elimination, who even told her to hand him her jacket without giggling. Also highlighted in her elimination flashback montage.
• Unskilled, but Strong: She's considered to be the least experienced chef of the season, yet she had little trouble proving herself as a formidable opponent over the course of the competition. To quote Ramsay when he sees her perfectly cooked beef wellingtons, she cooks as if she's had at least five years experience.
• Worthy Opponent: At the end of Episode 14, Gabriel states that she's the competitor to beat, and also refers to her respectfully as Chef Rochelle. Jason also notes that she's done remarkable services since she's been on the Blue Team.

Placement: 4th

Rochelle's Elimination Comment - "One of my biggest fears, coming in here, was the fact that I didn't have the experience as everybody else. There were definitely times where thoughts of doubt popped in my head, but I was able to push and push through it. Even being a catering chef, I stood my ground. I've learned so much, and it's been such an amazing journey. Chef Ramsay, thank you so much for this opportunity, and I feel like, in your next restaurant, I might be applying. And I won't laugh as much!"

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Joy Parham–Thomas

"One thing I don't do is give up, and one thing I can't do is work with someone who is gonna give up."

Occupation: Kitchen Supervisor

Age: 25

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

• Best Friend: Was this with Kashia, and even directly called her this in her exit comments. Her elimination would contribute to Joy's Despair Event Horizon in Episode 18, in which she makes her first service mistakes since the season's start, culminating in a Rage Quit after Ramsay gets on her case, despite the mistakes being relatively minor and Melanie receiving a much more severe thrashing from Ramsay in the same service.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Much like Jessica, Joy used to be homeless.
• Deadpan Snarker: This quote:
  Ramsay: Who made that?
  Joy: Me chef.
  Ramsay: Who made the pasta?
  Joy: Me chef.
  Ramsay: What did Beth do then?
  Joy: Support it chef.
• Despair Event Horizon: Crossed this in Episode 18, where she walked out of the kitchen, and therefore the competition, after a bad performance on fish and an argument with Chef Ramsay, and ultimately gave up on asking Ramsay for a second chance.
• Does Not Like Men: She looks down on the men, even the men she hasn't worked with, with obvious contempt and disdain. Case in point, nominating Scott over Kashia in Episode 14 when he had a perfect service on the appetizer station while Kashia had some struggles on fish; she justified his nomination by him bringing Anton's raw chicken to the pass, which he insisted wasn't his fault (he should have noticed, yes, but then again Anton should have just cooked it right...). Throughout the episode, she was quick to rail on the men on the Red Team while conveniently ignoring Kashia's faults.
• Downer Ending: Her time in Hell's Kitchen, where after she had her Rage Quit, debated on whether or not to ask Ramsay for a second chance. She decided not to, knowing that it was too late to fix her past mistakes. Though it becomes less of one if you read her post-show interview, where she reveals that she did apologize to Ramsay offscreen for her behavior.
• Expy: To Season 4's Corey, as both would be among the strongest chefs of the season, yet would be equally as willing to throw their fellow chefs under the bus. Bonus points for their main rivals (Christina for Corey, Scott for Joy), both going on to win their respective seasons.
• Glass Cannon: Joy was a very strong chef, but unfortunately the moment she starts making mistakes, she starts to get emotional and fall apart.
• Fatal Flaw: Her skill and consistency in the kitchen may actually have contributed to her downfall. Outside of her first and last episodes, Ramsay never once yelled at her or even said anything especially negative about her cooking. When Ramsay finally yelled at her for something that was unquestionably her fault, she completely lost it and stormed out of the competition.
  • Additionally, there's the fact that once she makes a mistake or realizes something's wrong, she will immediately get emotional. Her reaction to her supposedly undercooked pork dish is an example, as soon as she plated it, she complained it didn't turn out right.
• Foreshadowing: Said in the beginning of Episode 18 that whenever she comes close to success in her field, "something" always happens that holds her back. Later that episode, we found out what that "something" was: she's a quitter.
• Heroic BSoD: Had one in Episode 15, when she thought her pork was undercooked.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kashia, who she tried to shield from being put up for elimination at virtually every opportunity. She even admitted as such after the first Black Jacket service where she said there was no way she was going to nominate Kashia, least of all over Scott.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: She had been one of the strongest chefs all season and looked like the overwhelming favorite to win. Then, Joy Rage Quit the competition all over a simple mistake that she overreacted to.
• Ice Queen: Comes off as this sometimes, like in Episode 11 when she voted for Rochelle to be nominated because she wants a family and being completely unsympathetic to Jessica crying as she was eliminated, considering that she had a similar backstory to her.
• Irony: At one point, Joy wanted a woman to win the competition, but at the end of the season, it was a man who won it. For massive irony, that person was Scott, the person she was trying to get rid of.
  • There's also her quote above, referring to Nicole in the first service. Come the final five, Joy rage quits after being yelled at by Ramsay, doing the very thing she said she doesn't do.
• I Resemble That Remark!: The quote at the top of her entry was said in the first episode of the season, with regard to Nicole. Despite her disdain for Nicole's attitude (and also Simone when she did something similar in Episode 3), Joy became only the third-ever chef to quit the show mid-service.
• Jerkass to One: Of the Crueler to One variety. She didn't like or get along with anyone not named Kashia, but was particularly antagonistic towards Scott after his transfer to the Red Team. She would constantly throw him under the bus, nominate him over others who made worse mistakes, and just condescend to and demean him in general. This despite Scott showing her nothing but respect, even consoling her during her Heroic BSoD in Episode 15. It was to the point that she outright states she would have preferred his elimination over Anton, a proven sexist Jerkass who openly detested being forced to switch to the Red Team, unlike Scott.
• Lack of Empathy: Was completely unsympathetic when Jessica was crying as she was being eliminated, despite having a similar backstory to her.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Unfairly nominated Scott and Rochelle to protect Kashia and mocked Jessica for her breakdown during her elimination. She ended up performing a Rage Quit during service, and the chef she looked down upon the most, Scott, won the season. Karma really is a bitch.
• Law of Disproportionate Response: It would be one thing if she had snapped after being repeatedly yelled at (like Season 1's Jeff and Season 7's Andrew, the other contestants who bailed out on the show mid-service), but the criticism she got from Ramsay was the first time she had been yelled at since the very start of the season, and Melanie had already received a worse yelling-at earlier in that very episode. Joy still walked out and even yelled abuse at Ramsay on her way back to the dorms for good measure.
• Manipulative Bitch: Constantly tried to manipulate nominations to protect her friend Kashia, by throwing Scott and Rochelle under the bus. It doesn't work, as Kashia ends up eliminated before either, and Scott goes on to win the season.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Appeared to have this reaction after she stormed out of the kitchen in a rage in Episode 18. But by then, she knew it was too late to go back.
• Never My Fault: Though she was certainly screwed over to some degree by Sandra and Nicole in the first service, she certainly showed her share of this behavior herself. Notably, she forgot to cook the lobster for the first order at one point, and rather than admitting her error she claimed she could cook a whole lobster tail from cold in 45 seconds. No prizes for guessing how that turned out. She started showing this behavior again in Episode 18, this time with fatal consequences for her time on the show.
• Only Friend: To Kashia, who she would always defend against nominations, instead passing the buck to someone else (usually Scott), regardless of if their mistakes were worse or not.
• The Perfectionist: Has shades of this, most notably in Episode 16, when she freaked out when she found out her pork was undercooked and again two episodes later, which led to her storming out mid-service.
• Pet the Dog: Despite her enmity towards Scott and mocking Jessica, there were times when she treated both kindly:
  • Called Kashia out after she shouted at Scott for nominating her for elimination after the first black jacket service.
  • Accepted Scott's hug after he won a Black Jacket and was happy for him.
  • When paired with Jessica in the pizza challenge, they worked together reasonably well.
  • Joy also said Scott played his part in helping the Red Team win during the challenge where he consoled her over her pork dish.
• Put on a Bus: Didn't return for the finale, leaving Bev to take her place. Though it's not hard to see why.
• The Rival: She appeared to be this to Scott, as she constantly targeted him for elimination. Despite this, the rivalry was more one-sided on her end, as Scott was still pleasant to her.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After being one of the best chefs of the season (if not the best), she stormed out during the middle of service in Episode 18 after repeated mistakes on the fish station — even though Melanie had arguably screwed up worse earlier in the same service — leaving Ramsay and the other Black Jackets utterly bewildered.
• Shocking Elimination (In-Universe): Nobody could believe what was happening when she stormed out the kitchen. Even Chef Ramsay was shocked.
• That Came Out Wrong: One can only assume that this is what happened when she tried to suck up to a visiting magazine editor who was serving as a challenge judge, by saying that the magazine was her favorite "bathroom literature." Presumably, Joy meant it was her favorite thing to read while in the bath, as it's difficult to imagine why Joy thought it'd be a good idea to say she enjoyed reading it while sitting on the toilet.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: She didn't start out badly, with her first instance of getting emotional being due to Nicole's and Sandra's performances sabotaging her own, and she managed to bounce back relatively quickly. Around the final thirteen however, with her being a strong cook, she started to freely trash-talk some of the other chefs on her team such as Jessica and Rochelle. Of course, that's not even to mention how much she constantly threw Scott under the bus.
• Two First Names: Joy Thomas.
• Ungrateful Bitch: Even after Scott consoled her during her breakdown over a dish that came out wrong, she continued to try and throw him under the bus at every moment. She even claims she would have rather had Scott eliminated over Anton, despite Scott showing nothing but kindness to her, brushing off her hostility towards him, and Anton's much more abrasive behavior and openly sexist attitude.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Admittedly calling Joy a hero when she did throw people under the bus is a stretch, but Ramsay called her out for selfishly quitting after one minor mistake during the final five service. However, Joy was so heated by that point she refused to hear him out.
• Worthy Opponent: Jason considered her one, expecting that it would be him vs her in the finals.

Placement: 5th (Quit)

Joy's Elimination Comment - "It's too late. I can't apologize. I feel like I let Chef Ramsay down, and I didn't think about anybody but myself when I walked out that kitchen. I was really hungry, I really wanted it, but the closer I got to the end, the more I started doubting myself, and I should've never did that, because my doubt is what drove me to just walk away. Now that I sit back and think about everything that's went on here, I realize I've come along way. Ever since my first service, my worst service, I've only moved forward. I grew a lot in the kitchen and outside of the kitchen. I made a best friend while I was here, and I was the first one to get a black jacket. I really did blow one of the biggest opportunities I've had in a long time. It was everything I asked for, and I threw it all away. I threw it all away, and that's just something I have to live with."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Joy's quitting was one of the most shocking things I've ever experienced in Hell's Kitchen, but her lack of maturity tonight proved she is not ready to be a head chef, because leaders never quit."

Kashia Zollicoffer

"I’m very flustrated. I am very flustrated, I’m tired of looking like shit."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 23

Hometown: Carthage, MS

• Best Friend: With Joy, who even calls her such in her exit comments. Kashia's elimination would contribute to Joy's subsequent Despair Event Horizon and making service mistakes for the first time since the season's beginning, culminating in her Rage Quit when Ramsay gets on her for it.
• Baby Of The Bunch: Was the youngest chef of the season, and had the temper to match as well.
• Fangirl: For Season 3's Rock, which leads to a very amusing moment where she practically falls all over herself while giving him her dish to judge.
• Fatal Flaw: Ultimately, Kashia's downfall was her inability to control her temper when the pressure was on her and her final service proved that.
• Genius Ditz: She has had moments of greatness on the show, but she has also made borderline unrealistic mistakes, like when she asked Melanie in Episode 11 what her dish was missing in terms of taste, and Melanie flatly said "salt." Melanie was left scratching her head.
  • Later that episode, she had trouble cooking risotto. The reason? Her gas wasn't on.
  • In Episode 14 she shows again how easily distracted she gets when she first delivers an order of scallops without noticing that she's missing one scallop for one of the plates, then later serves braised fish, which isn't even on the menu, but she solved the scallop issue quickly and the rest of her fish were cooked the proper way.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Became increasingly obvious in the latter stages of the competition, where she constantly blew up at her teammates and even Chef Ramsay over minor things, even when she was the one at fault.
• Jaw Drop: Upon learning of the Red Team's reward in Episode 15 (a $1000 shopping spree), this was her reaction. Ramsay nearly tripped over his own laughter at this point.
• Never My Fault: Freaked out at Jessica for not helping with the chicken, when she was just as much to blame. Though to be fair, Kashia did keep working to remedy the situation while Jessica became flustered and froze up for a while.
  • Zigzags this in Episode 12. She rages at Melanie not helping her properly with her dish despite Kashia helping Melanie (and it can be argued whether Melanie was truly unhelpful or not), but at the same time she accepted that she had to be put up for elimination.
• Oh, Crap!: In one of the challenges when she found out squid was one of the ingredients she had to work with.
• Only Friend: To Joy. It got to the point where Joy would always attempt to nominate someone else (usually Scott) instead of Kashia, even if her mistakes were worse. Her elimination would also contribute to Joy's Despair Event Horizon and Rage Quit the very next episode.
• Sassy Black Woman:
  • Showed this during her arguments with Nicole and Melanie. She also showed this when Melanie and Sandra's pizza failed and when Ramsay tasted Kashia and Bev's pizza and deemed it far superior. It nearly came to a head in Episode 14 when she for some reason boiled the salmon in stock instead of pan-searing it; Ramsay's reaction was more one of bewilderment than actual anger, but Kashia completely lost it and openly railed at and cussed out Ramsay in front of everyone else in the kitchen. Fortunately for her, Anton showed an attitude ten times worse than hers that same night.
  • Her temper went haywire again during Episode 17, and even though Ramsay was more pissed off at Scott's attitude than Kashia's (though in fairness to Scott, it was out of frustration over getting picked on by everyone), it resulted in her making several mistakes and ultimately being eliminated.
• Took a Level in Kindness: When Kashia returned for the final service, she cooled down immensely and became one of the stronger links that helped Scott win.

Placement: 6th

Kashia's Elimination Comment - "I came into this with no culinary education. This was a roller coaster ride from the beginning, but I didn't realize how strong I was until I got here. I've made some friendships that I will keep, and I've got so many stories to go home and share with my family. You know, the underdog prevails sometimes. I'm not someone who gives up. When one door closes, I think about the next four that can open for me. This will not be the last time America sees Kashia."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Kashia is a great line cook with an incredible attitude. Unfortunately for her, she's just not ready to run her own brigade yet."

Michael Gabriel

"You take advice from Chef Ramsay. I don't give a fuck if he tells you how to wipe your ass. He might know how to do it a little bit better."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 26

Hometown: Spring, TX

• Badasses Wear Bandanas: Wore one every service.
• Crazy Enough to Work: During the 4th episode, he started cleaning plates in front of customers to keep them busy, and relayed the time he burned his hair off trying to make banana fosters.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Really the only station Gabriel didn't struggle on was the appetizers station. Everywhere else he was very mistake prone.
• Epic Fail:
  • In the King of the Hill Challenge, Gabriel presented a stuffed chicken leg dish, and forgot to plate the chicken! That failure gave Gabriel the dishonor of being barred from the chair, which does not sound too bad, except he was the first one to present his dish.
  • In the Black Jackets Challenge, Gabriel served a rack of lamb dish that only had two chops on the plate, and the ones he did serve were overcooked. It resulted in the lowest score of the day: a zero!
  • In Episode 16, he screwed up on salmon not once, not twice, but three times. This led to him getting eliminated in the middle of service. And as to ram it in harder, Ramsay had him go out the front door instead of back to the dorms like the other chefs who were eliminated like he was.
• Hidden Depths: Before the Cook for Your Life challenge, Ramsay said he saw both an inconsistent chef and a chef that was showing the potential to bloom as an individual.
• Hypocritical Humor: In Episode 14, after seeing Rochelle accidentally serve up slightly undercooked chicken (which she fixed up very quickly), he notes that it is a bad idea to do so. This is coming from the same guy who served that twice earlier in the season.
• Kick the Dog: Instead of calling himself the second nominee as suggested by the team, he would say Ralph was the second one, even after Ralph worked while sick. This would result in Ralph's elimination.
• Leader Wannabe: He wanted to take the leadership role during the sixth episode, but Anton and Richard felt he wasn't capable due to his poor consistency.
• The Load: One of the more inconsistent chefs that season, he sent up a lot of bad dishes and was nominated a hell of a bunch.
• Medal of Dishonor: Gabriel has the unfortunate dishonor of being the first chef to be kicked out through the front-doors after being ejected.
• One-Steve Limit: Like DeMarco, his first name is Michael, but is going by his surname to avoid confusion with Mike.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Noted in Episode 14, where he's shown to be solemn and quiet by the Blue Team.
• Running Gag: Had one in Episode 12, where he failed to properly count up food (for both cooking and plating) four times.
• Too Dumb to Live: Serves raw chicken twice in Episode 2. Usually, this is a death sentence for Ramsay, but Gabriel was lucky that Nicole was even worse.
• Took a Level in Badass: After finally realizing that he was on thin ice, he stepped up immensely in Episode 14, where he helped keep the Blue Team on track with orders (Rochelle was getting lost while Melanie and Jason were becoming quieter and slowing down) and delivered a perfect performance on garnish; Ramsay even singled him out after service for his redemption. Subverted next service where his failure on the fish station got him eliminated during service.
• Two First Names: Gabriel is actually his last name; his first name is Michael.

Placement: 7th (Eliminated mid-service)

Gabriel's Elimination Comment - "It just didn't go my way tonight, it was just one bad service too many. Instead of getting a black jacket, they took my- took my blue jacket. My fucking heart hurts right now, man, because... I was this fucking close."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "With Gabriel causing such a disaster in the kitchen tonight, it was hard to tell who else I should send home. So, I gave everybody the thrill of a getting a Black Jacket, but somebody will definitely be going home after the next dinner service."

Anton Testino

"Don't think I'm gonna let some little girl get in my face, start ripping a new asshole because you had issues on being a woman in the kitchen! You will not break me, and I'm just gonna piss you off more, on purpose."

Occupation: Head Chef

Age: 39

Hometown: Butler, NJ

• Blatant Lies: Claims in Episode 6 that he has more experience than anyone else on the Blue Team, hence why he is chosen to be the team captain. Cue Richard's (who is both older and has more experience) shocked face and You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! comments in a Confession Cam moment.
• Boring, but Practical: When Anton was chosen to lead the blue team during the sixth service, he decided to put himself as a float. Not the best position to be in, but it did allow him to help his teammates when they struggled. It was thanks to being in that position the blue team won their first service.
• Bullying a Dragon: His sexist attitude made him think he can talk back Sous Chef Andi. She quickly put him in his place.
• He-Man Woman Hater: His confession cam had him admit that he dislike taking order from a younger woman, which made him snap at Sous Chef Andi. He even projects that she has problems being a woman in the kitchen so she snaps at him. He was quickly eliminated after.
• Honor Before Reason: In Episode 13, he considered letting Melanie flounder on the fish station, since he considered her strong competition, but he decided to help by getting scallops from the blue kitchen. Granted, his main motivation was to be on the winning side, but considering that he initially wanted to see Melanie fail, it still counts.
• Manly Tears: Shed these in Episode 7; he felt that he had to do well in the pizza challenge since his family made their way in America with their pizza shop and he had to live up to them. His (and Richard's) pizza was declared the best of the day, giving the Blue Team the win, and he went off to be alone and wept, feeling that he made his family proud.
• The Rival: To Scott; Anton is constantly irritated by Scott's attempts to help, which Anton thinks is just doing more harm than good.
  Anton: Scott, my little HEMORRHOID...
• Small Name, Big Ego: Anton touted himself as a big deal in the kitchen and thought he would win Hell's Kitchen. In reality, he was a decent chef that became inconsistent as the competition continued and he was eliminated before the Black Jacket phase. Ramsay lampshaded this in his elimination comment, citing that the early success Anton got made him think highly of himself.
• Too Dumb to Live: He really thought he could get away with talking back to Sous Chef Andi. He would end up going home that night.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jason.

Placement: 8th

Anton's Elimination Comment - "I think Chef Ramsay might have taken tonight as arrogance, but I know my abilities. One day, Chef Ramsay and I will meet again. Maybe next time, it'll be his restaurant next door to mine. I didn't walk away with the crown, but I was the best out of everybody in there. So that makes me the winner of Hell's Kitchen in my opinion."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Anton let the little success he had in Hell's Kitchen inflate his ego. It was time to let the air out of that balloon."

Richard Mancini

"Anton the super-chef. I'm sure you got your cape in the closet. I don't know if you fly around at night while we're all sleeping? I have no fucking clue!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 48

Hometown: Bloomingdale, IL

• Berserk Button: Really didn't like it when other people—particular the women—had to take care of his station.
• Cool Old Guy: He's 48 years old, and has so far avoided the stigma that plagues most older chefs who compete on this show (from Raj's incompetence to Gina's insanity, to Ray's inconsistency). One of his teammates even commented on this in Episode 3. The only older chefs who could be considered stronger than him would be Season 4 runner-up Petrozza and Season 21 winner Alex.
  • His maturity came through in almost every service; after surviving the "Cook For Your Life" challenge, he was understandably upset for being forced to compete in the first place, but in the following service, he kept his head down and was the only chef (other than Jason) to not get yelled at by Ramsay. In the following service, he performed well on the meat station, but his Wellingtons couldn't be served thanks to Gabriel messing up the garnish. He admitted to being frustrated in the confessional, but it didn't show during service apart from an eyeroll.
• Deadpan Snarker: In the confessionals, as shown by the above quote.
• Duel Boss: With Jessica in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge. He won.
• Graceful Loser: In his elimination statement, he said that he enjoyed his time in Hell's Kitchen and if he could do it all over again, he would.
• Grumpy Old Man: As the season moved along, he became this whenever things didn't go his way, namely whenever the Blue Team loses, and of course, when the Blue Team nominated him as the weakest chef.
• Manly Facial Hair: Had a thick mustache for the first half of the season. Notably after he shaved it, he would start struggling badly.
• Put on a Bus: Didn't come back for the final service, leaving Chris to take his place.
• Rule of Three: He was eliminated on his third nomination.

Placement: 9th

Richard's Elimination Comment - "I'm 48 years old. I wasn't supposed to be here, and I did everything anybody else, who was 28, did, as good or better. I wanted to be there at the end, but am I gonna go pout and cry about it? Fuck, no. It's been a great experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd do it at 49 and really piss people off."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Richard had more experience than anyone here, but it's not experience I'm looking for, it's talent."

Sandra Flores^note This contestant died from unknown causes on January 22, 2022.

"My team keeps scum bagging me! FUCK YOU! That's exactly how I feel right now."

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 36

Hometown: Queens, NY

• Crippling Overspecialization: She often performed extremely well in the challenges, but in services, her poor communication often resulted in her being a common nominee for elimination.
• Graceful Loser: Took her elimination reasonably well after her poor performance cooking the lamb during the charity dinner service, and thanked Chef Ramsay for the experience.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: She started out with this, with her being extremely prone to arguments and being very frustrated whenever someone messes up.
• Hidden Depths: She was noticabley saddened by Jessica's elimination, saying that she felt bad for her.
• Pet the Dog: Despite having arguments with Jessica in the kitchen, she appeared to be one of the most upset that she was leaving.
  • In Episode 11, she was nominated for a pretty sloppy performance on fish, along with Rochelle because the other women were worried her passion was elsewhere.^note During the Red Team's punishment earlier that episode, the Red Team were having a discussion with Sous Chef Andi and Sous Chef James, who told them that to be a great chef, you have to put your life on hold, which Rochelle seemed worried about due to being engaged and wanting a family ASAP. In a borderline Out-of-Character Moment, Sandra didn't try and dispute her nomination, but said in the Confession Cam that nominating Rochelle was stupid.
• Picked Last: Scott leaving her with Jason was probably not an accident. During the final service, she was completely apathetic and uncaring, and made a lot of lazy mistakes which caused Jason to threaten to throw her out of service (but he never did, even though Scott threw Jessica out).
• Poor Communication Kills: She had pretty bad problems communicating in service, which often resulted in arguments between her and other teammates. Perhaps the worst example of these came with Jason.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Played straight when it came to her team. She did not want to be on Jason's team, and made every effort to show it and put in very little effort during his finale. His decision to not kick her out very likely cost him.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Started the season as probably the meanest person, but overtime became more mellow and less confrontational, and she took her elimination reasonably well, accepting her shortcomings, taking responsibility and making a classy exit.
  • The finale undoes this, with Sandra attempting to sabotage Jason multiple times and generally showing a poor attitude.

Placement: 10th

Sandra's Elimination Comment - "I definitely feel like something slipped away. I had it in my fingers, and I feel like I dropped the ball tonight. I know in my heart I'm a better chef than a lot of the people in there. Tonight was just not my night, but I've done a lot of great things here. I don't have anything to hang my head low about at all. Not at all."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "It may have been charity night in Hell's Kitchen, but when it comes to Sandra, I wasn't in a charitable mood."

Ralph Johnson

"My name is Ralph, I'm special because I have a spark in my ass."

Occupation: Chef de Partie

Age: 28

Hometown: Boston, MA

• Deadpan Snarker
• Hypocritical Humor: He says something to this effect:
  Ramsay: Why do you think you should stay in Hell's Kitchen?
  Ralph: I don't make mistakes, chef!
  Ramsay: But what about your performance on the meat station?
  Ralph: Just a few silly mistakes, chef.
  Ramsay: Oh, really? I thought you didn't make them!
• Mirthless Laughter: While up for elimination in Episode 10, Ralph made the mistake of chuckling a bit when Ramsay asks him if he "should've talked to the fish" after he messed up fish and chips that night. That only got Ramsay upset with him, and it likely contributed to his elimination that night.
• More than Meets the Eye: Ralph displayed a large amount of heart, apologizing to Ramsay after the second dinner service while everyone else was leaving. Ramsay affirmed this in his comment after Ralph's elimination.
  Ramsay: (elimination statement) Ralph has a lot of heart, but when it comes to cooking, he comes up a little short.
• The Napoleon: Not to the same extent as Season 1's Jeff or Season 4's Craig, but he gets pretty fiery pretty easily in service.
• Never My Fault: Had a pretty bad habit of throwing people under the bus, with one example resulting in DeMarco's elimination.
• That Came Out Wrong: Seemed to have this reaction after saying his above quote. Ramsay's response?
  Ramsay: (laughing) You should get somebody to look at that!
• Took a Level in Badass: He actually performed strongly in the final dinner service.
• Working Through the Cold: In Episode 10, Ralph started to come down with a fever due to the lack of sleep (no thanks to Gabriel who snored very loudly). While he decided to perform in service, his performance was badly affected by his fever, and was eliminated.

Placement: 11th

Ralph's Elimination Comment - "Where I come from, you don't rat people out, you take it on the chin, and you go forward. Gabriel choked tonight, and it'll catch up to him. His time will come. I'm definitely not the worst chef in that kitchen. Chef Ramsay, you just made the wrong decision tonight. I feel bad because, you know, I could've showed you a lot more."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Ralph has a lot of heart, but when it comes to cooking, he comes up a little short."

Jessica Vogel^note This contestant died from ulcerative colitis on July 30, 2018.

"Thank God we won that challenge, because otherwise my ass was gonna get chewed the fuck OUT for that tuna."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 29

Hometown: Sparta, NJ

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • Desperately pleaded to Ramsay to send her back in line after being eliminated in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge. Her teammates, and even some of the Blue Team members, looked emotional, but it didn't work.
  • Jessica would do it again when Scott decided to kick her out in the final dinner service, but like before, it did not work and she accepted her fate.
• Badass Decay: She actually started off pretty strong to the point Melanie considered herself and Jessica two of the strongest memembers on the Red Team, however, after the sorority service and her first nomination, her skills took a nosedive and she was eliminated after the Cook For Your Life Challenge.
• Bystander Syndrome: In the Sorority Anniversary service, she stood around doing nothing to help Kashia instead of helping her out on the fried chicken, leading them to send out raw portions. It was enough to lead to her nomination.
• Drama Queen: In Episode 8, when she was nominated for the first time, she proceeded to have a complete mental breakdown.
• Duel Boss: With Richard in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge. She lost.
• The Load: Jessica was easily the weakest member of Scott's brigade in the finale as she was the only chef to struggle on her station (the only exception could be Chris, but it was more of a seasoning error that was corrected quickly). After too many struggles and serving soggy fries, Scott had no choice but to kick her out.
• Only Sane Woman: In Episode 6, Ramsay asked the red team which one of their nominees should go home: Sandra or Beth. While most of them said Sandra (mostly because they disliked her attitude), Jessica was the only one that voted for Beth due to the latter's overall poor performance. Beth ended up going home that night.

Placement: 12th

Jessica's Elimination Comment - "This is my dream, and it just is so crushing. I have so much passion, and I know I'm the person that is right for the job. I deserve to be here. I know I do. I know I do."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Beverly "Bev" Lazo-Gonzalez

"JP, he's just so cute on these little tricycles! He looked so happy, I just wanted to pinch his cheeks!"

Occupation: Food Truck Chef

Age: 42

Hometown: Whittier, CA

• Crippling Overspecialization: Bev was a very strong chef when it came to challenges. Service wise however, while she had bright moments, her services ranged from bad to pretty mediocre.
• The Generic Girl: For better or worse, she never really stood out next to the bitchier or more drama-prone members of the Red Team.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Beverly, but she went by Bev during the show.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Inverted. She was one of the weakest contestants on this season's Red Team, but fortunately for her she seemed to turn in her worst performances in weeks when her team actually won... until the sorority dinner, where she completely tanked on the garnish station and let Rochelle take it over, leading to Bev being eliminated.
• Sore Loser: Reacted with anger over being eliminated, believing that she should have stayed over a crybaby like Jessica.

Placement: 13th

Bev's Elimination Comment - "Chef Ramsay, you made a very big mistake tonight. You're willing to keep a bunch of crybabies, who are emotional all the time? Really, you want these people to run your restaurant? How about someone who didn't fucking cry or never gave up? How about that?!"

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Bev may be a good food truck chef. Unfortunately for her, Hell's Kitchen doesn't have wheels."

Christopher "Chris" Eversole

"Mike is an idiot, I can't fix stupid."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 27

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

• Accentuate the Negative: He actually didn't do badly in the third episode. However, the fact he was with Mike on the fish station, and the majority of mistakes that night happened on that station, he wound up being nominated, although he was not called down.
• Badass Decay: Started off as a potential favorite of the season due some strong performances, but come the seventh episode, and he was sent home after a poor performance on the pizza station.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Mike is an idiot. I can't fix stupid."
• Distracted by the Sexy: The Blue Team all fell in love with the yoga instructor in Episode 7's reward, but Chris did the most.
• Epic Fail: His performance in Episode 7, where he was on the pizza station and proceeded to send twenty-five of them straight into the trash, which lead to his elimination.
• The Generic Guy: Aside from a few moments, he never really stood out much.
• Never My Fault: Blamed Scott in Episode 7 for his own failure on the pizzas, but it wasn't enough to keep him from being nominated and eliminated.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Christopher, but he went by Chris during the show.
• The Rival: To Mike. Chris seemed to have a special enmity for him, being irritated when Ramsay did not eliminate him in Episode 3.
• Took a Level in Badass: Had a strong performance in the finale, proving himself a worthy asset to Scott's team after being picked first.

Placement: 14th

Chris' Elimination Comment - "My creativity in the kitchen goes far beyond what these fools can do. I made a mistake relying on my teammates, and it ended up being my demise. It's the heat of Hell's Kitchen. You can win or you can lose. You can get burned, and I got burned."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "I like to think every chef has a talent. Chris needs to keep looking for his."

Elizabeth "Beth" Taylor

"I know how to cook a fucking egg, shut your god damn mouth, and do your fucking job."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 43

Hometown: Independence, LA

• Abhorrent Admirer: To Richard. She kept badgering him to see if he wanted her to cook him anything (despite his repeated refusals) and hitting on him - and when he told her he was divorced, she said "Oh, you just haven't met someone like me yet!" Even the other chefs were laughing at her inability to take a hint.
  Richard: Don't get me wrong, I like Beth - she's a sweetheart - but holy shit, that's just out of control!
• A Death in the Limelight: After several episodes that mostly featured other chefs, she started to gain a bit more focus in the sixth episode. Unfortunately for her, it would also be her last episode.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: On the night of her elimination, she pleaded with Ramsay to give her another chance. Unfortunately for her, Ramsay had given up on her, and sent her home.
• Bystander Syndrome: She was this in the ravioli challenge, where her partner, Joy, did all the work.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Much in the vein of Season 2's Virginia, Beth was a good cook and did very well in the challenges (which a few members of the Red Team noted in Episode 6), but when it came to dinner services, she would get very flustered and scatterbrained, ending up with mostly poor performances.
• The Ditz: Served a raw lobster tail in Episode 2, and CONSTANTLY made mistakes cooking eggs in Episode 5. Also, during the Creative Memory Challenge in Episode 5, she kept standing around, looking confused for a good 15 seconds or so while her teammates told her, several times, which covered dish to pick.
• Drama Queen: Any time things weren't going her way, she would suffer an emotional breakdown. In Episode 6 she tried to desperately beg Ramsay for another shot, but he didn't bite.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Elizabeth, but he went by Beth during the show.
• Southern-Fried Genius: She's from the south, and at least where challenges were concerned, she was a strong link.
• Two First Names: Beth Taylor.
• Weak, but Skilled: Based on her signature dish gaining a point, she had some level of competence. Unfortunately, that competence didn't really help in the long run.
• Younger Than They Look: She was 43 during her brief time on the show, yet looked to be in her mid to late 50s.

Placement: 15th

Beth's Elimination Comment - "I wouldn't change coming here for $1 million, but I'm worried that I'm never gonna be better than I am at this moment, and it scares the shit out of me. Right now, all I want to do is go home... and cry to my mama."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Beth thinks the reason she hasn't advanced in the culinary industry is the fact that she's a woman in the South. I think it's because she can't cook."

Michael DeMarco

"I gave myself the nickname "Culinary Jesus" because I'm perfect and awesome and I have many followers in the kitchen."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 29

Hometown: Scranton, PA

• Butt-Monkey: Not undeserved, given his poor performances in challenges and services. He currently holds the record for the most consecutive nominations of any Hell's Kitchen contestant at five, tied with Josh from Season 14.
• Chew Toy: Again, his five consecutive nominations. Unlike Season 14's Josh though, who made it to Black Jackets and only had his nominations pile up towards the end of his much longer run, DeMarco was nominated in every single service he participated in up to his elimination. He holds the dubious "honor" of having the longest tenure of all contestants that were nominated in every single service they participated in.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: While he wasn't an outright fantastic chef, he had no problem being the very first to attempt to break up a potential fight between Jason and Mike, both of whom were bigger than him, and the latter being a former soldier.
• Disappeared Dad: It's clear that he's especially bitter about this, and for this he was all the more determined to prove himself.
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: Judging by the quote above, he appeared to have some confidence in himself, but it never translated to the kitchen.
• Lesser of Two Evils: About the most charitable consideration the Blue Team had for him. Despite constantly nominating him and deeming him The Load, they at least preferred him over Mike due to feeling the latter was a poor team player who never took responsibility for his performance issues, which at least DeMarco did. They were all collectively relieved when Mike was eliminated over him in Episode 4.
  • Unfortunately, once Mike was eliminated, there was nowhere left for DeMarco to hide, and the Blue Team were none too reluctant to give him his fifth nomination the very next episode, resulting in his elimination.
• The Load: His five consecutive nominations speak for themselves. Unlike Mike though, it was not so much by lack of effort or passion as it was whatever inability he had getting it together in the kitchen. Sadly, he was not able to redeem himself as Gordon could see he simply wasn't improving.
• One-Steve Limit: Like Gabriel, his first name is Michael, but is going by his surname to avoid confusion with Mike.

Placement: 16th

DeMarco's Elimination Comment - "The blue team had it in for me from the beginning, no matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. My team took away the chance for me to be head chef, and it kills me, but this isn't the end. I know I can cook, and I have a lot to prove to a lot of people."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "DeMarco. Demented. Demoted. Denied."

Michael "Mike" Aresta

"I'm a little insulted, it's not like it's packaged dog food."

Occupation: Chef Instructor

Age: 38

Hometown: Keyport, NJ

• And There Was Much Rejoicing: The Blue Team were positively ecstatic when he was eliminated over DeMarco (who was on his fourth consecutive nomination) in Episode 4.
• The Dreaded: But most certainly not because of his skill; the Blue Team saw him as a liability due to his lack of commitment, and when he requested being sent to the Red Team thinking he'd be "more appreciated" there, they all shook their heads in disbelief. Both were relieved when Gordon chose to send him home instead.
• Epic Fail: During the season's third challenge, the one time the Blue Team put any faith into his cooking, he presented a dish that was seasoned with far too much rosemary, destroying its flavor. Chef Ramsay called out the Blue Team for not tasting it before bringing it up, and it cost them the challenge.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even Mike of all people seemed to think it was a bad move when Jason blew up at Sandra during the fourth dinner service, right in plain view of Gordon no less. Perhaps he recalled how well that worked out for him during the Signature Dish Challenge.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Quickly became this after his stunts during the Signature Dish Challenge and the punishment. This ultimately never really wavered in the four episodes he was in.
• Handshake Refusal: Ramsay offered him a handshake when he was eliminated, but Mike ignored it.
• Hate Sink: Was this for the entire Blue Team, who were sick of his lackadaisical and Never My Fault attitude. It culminated in Episode 3 where the entire Blue Team were positively ganging up on him while discussing nominations. The vitriol towards him from his team is comparable to that of Raj from Season 8. Chris even labelled him as a "cancer" on the team. Needless to say, they were NOT happy when he was spared from elimination that night due to Simone voluntarily quitting.
• The Load: The Blue Team saw him as this, and wouldn't let him help out during service. Ramsay ordered Ralph (his station partner during Episode 4) to let him help with the lobster ravioli... and he forgot the lobster.
• Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: He's a chef instructor, and yet he failed to demonstrate much skill in the kitchen when left to his own devices. That's to say nothing of having the audacity to use only pre-packaged ingredients in your signature dish.
• Never My Fault: He thought nothing of serving up frozen tortellini and canned tomatoes to Gordon in the Signature Dish Challenge, and felt that the Blue Team had it out for him even though he never applied himself in the kitchen.
• One-Steve Limit: He is one of three Michaels this season, but DeMarco and Gabriel are going by their last names to avoid confusion with him.
• Retired Badass: Subverted; He mentioned serving in the Army, but said badassery never transitioned to his time in the kitchen.

Placement: 17th

Mike's Elimination Comment - "I definitely feel like I was the fall guy. I'm gonna have fun watching the guys go down, because they're a bunch of backstabbing bitches. There's no camaraderie there. I will definitely forget about these guys as quickly as they've chosen to forget about me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "There once was a cook named Mike. He couldn't cook fish, or any other dish, so I told him to take a hike."

Simone Hammond

"Whenever he yells at me, I'll say to myself 'teddy bear, teddy bear, teddy bear...'"

Occupation: Buffet Cook

Age: 43

Hometown: Henderson, NV

• Beginner's Luck: She did manage to serve up a Signature Dish that Gordon legitimately liked, only losing to Anton because it had a clunky presentation. Unfortunately, she began tanking hard almost immediately thereafter.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Said that if Gordon ever gets angry at her, she'll picture him as a giant teddy bear (hence the quote).
• Mirthless Laughter: She made the very big mistake of laughing when Gordon called her and Jessica "the worst cooks to ever grace the fish station". That resulted in Gordon calling everyone up to see the problems, and throwing both her and Jessica out of the kitchen. It also resulted in Simone being nominated that night, and her quitting the competition.
• Nice Girl: Despite the fact that the Red Team did not like her, she was very soft spoken, polite, never cursed and she never really antagonized anybody, at least not on purpose.
• Playing Sick: She spent the prep portion of one episode claiming a dizzy spell and shortness of breath. Made all the worse when compared to her teammate Rochelle, who is also sidelined during prep with a deep and painful cough; some of the other ladies complain to the confession cam that they believe Rochelle is genuinely ill, but Simone is just giving up. Considering she quit that same episode, she likely was giving up.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A rather quiet example: when she, DeMarco, and Mike faced elimination in Episode 3, as Ramsay prepared to eliminate someone, Simone volunteered to be eliminated, to the bewilderment of everyone. However, Ramsay did not question it and allowed her to leave.

Placement: 18th (Quit)

Simone's Elimination Comment - "I'm normally really energetic and lively, and since I haven't been feeling well, I think I've come across as very soft and not someone who can fight. And even the biggest, most wonderful things sometimes don't turn out to be the best for you."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Hell's Kitchen is about making someone's wish come true. Simone wished to leave Hell's Kitchen, that is an easy one. Wish granted."

Nicole Rutz

"Boring? Fuck you. You don't even know me."

Occupation: Baker

Age: 33

Hometown: Morganville, NJ

• Apathy Killed the Cat: Nicole often came out as very apathetic and unpassionate whilst on the show.
• Emotionless Girl: For the most part she showed very little passion or emotion while on the show, which Chef Ramsay even called her out on during the Signature Dish Challenge. The only times she showed any emotion (anger) was during a couple of arguments with Kashia and during her elimination, and even then she came across as more a robot than anything.
• Epic Fail: Her entire time spent on the show was this, seeing how she made no effort to demonstrate her skill in the kitchen. By the end of Episode 1 Gordon was openly questioning whether she even cared to be there, and in the following episode he was quick to eject her from the competition despite not even being nominated for elimination.
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: Failed to express much of the former, but completely owned the latter despite being a culinary graduate.
• The Load: Was seen as this by both the Red Team and Chef Ramsay, who quickly became fed up with her lack of passion in the kitchen. It's best illustrated by the fact that Joy's one truly bad performance in the season (her eventual elimination being the result of her pulling a Rage Quit over a minor mistake) was when she had to share a station with Nicole.
• Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: She was a culinary student, but her lack of commitment will certainly make one question whether she had any legitimate ability. If so, she never made any effort to prove it.
• Rage Quit: At least as much rage as her quiet, emotionless self could show, where in the first dinner service, she becomes so frustrated with repeated failures on cooking scallops that she doesn't want to deal with them anymore. Her teammates manage to talk her out of it, though, but she doesn't get any better.
• Sore Loser: Big-time, when she was eliminated; she angrily gave Ramsay her jacket, cussed him out behind his back, saying she didn't need his opinion, and as she walked down the hall out the door, she flipped the camera off. She was also particularly nasty with her elimination statement, saying the quote above, giving a smooch, and finishing with "Bye, Chef Ramsay." Given that she acted like she didn't even want to be in the competition in the first place, she seems less angry about leaving, and more annoyed that she was eliminated without being nominated.

Placement: 19th

Nicole's Elimination Comment - "I'm not gonna cry like a little bitch. I don't give two flying fucks what he thinks and what he says. He can kiss my big fat ass. Bye, Chef Ramsay."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "I'm not looking for a line cook, but if I were, I still wouldn't have hired Nicole. She was useless."

Gaurav Navin

"We all have put finger in the food! We AAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL have done it!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 34

Hometown: East Stroudsburg, PA

• Apathy Killed the Cat: This was his reaction to Ramsay criticizing him for sticking a finger in his risotto. He didn't even seem to grasp what was so wrong about it, even on the way out the door.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He commented that "After taking the first bite of my dish, he's going to be in that orgasm, like the Zen mode." Cut to Chef Ramsay saying that his dish tastes like crap.
• Defiant to the End: Even when he was being eliminated, he saw no problem with tasting food with his fingers.
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: He certainly had great confidence in his Signature Dish, which was a fast flop with Chef Ramsay. Whatever talent he may have had was overshadowed by his apathy towards the risotto incident, failing to grasp that it was unsanitary.
• Ironic Name: Gaurav means "Someone who brings pride to his family". Well, considering that he was the first eliminated...
• The Load: The entire Blue Team called him out on the risotto incident, which made him a fast liability in their eyes. It didn't help that Ramsay pretty much had him pegged for elimination the instant he made that move.
• What Were You Thinking?: While he was a weak chef, he was pretty much pegged for elimination once he stuck his finger in a risotto and licked it.

Placement: 20th

Gaurav's Elimination Comment - "I definitely do not think that I'm the worst chef in that group of 20 people, definitely not. I understand that I tasted the food by my fingers, but everybody does it."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "There's so many things about India that I love. It's a shame Gaurav isn't one of them."