Main Series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Amateurs: 1 | 2
Season 1
Shane Bhatoa
"Even if I don't win, I did my part. I'm happy with myself."
Occupation: Line Cook
Age: 25
Hometown: St. Louis, MI
- Epic Fail: Shane was a phenomenal chef...save for his signature dish that had raw chicken.
- Fire-Forged Friends: While he got along with everyone, he particularly got along well with Angie come the black jackets. The two were easily the top picks of the season, which meant that them facing off in the finals was a Foregone Conclusion.
- Humble Hero: His victory speech upon winning was more about thanking his team than praising himself.
- The Leader: He often shared this role alongside Bobby for the red team.
- The Load: He ended up as this in the winner's return service in Season 7, screwing up several times on fish.
- Long Speech Tea Time: Shane often had a habit of over-explaining his dishes or going into great detail about them. This of course led to the other chefs poking fun at it.
- Motor Mouth: Shane was a very...talkative individual, particularly when it came to defending himself.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the final five, he was given the option to send home either Dee, Jake, or Elise, who all had bad services. After he selected Jake and sent him home as a result, he instantly felt awful about it, since Dee and Elise had resumed their drama and Jake was one of the friendliest chefs of the season.
- Nice Guy: Out of everyone on the red team, Shane stood out as being the easiest going of all of them, being willing to help whoever needed it.
- Power Trio: With Bobby and Dee.
- Took a Level in Badass: Initially, he started out kind of rough, with a poor signature dish and not exactly having the greatest of times in service. After being called up for nomination however, Shane started to make several strides in service, becoming more confident as a leader and as a chef. This eventually resulted in him winning the season.
Placement: Winner
Shane's Winner Comment - "I have to thank absolutely everyone for this win, I couldn't've done it without absolutely everyone here. I've met some of the best friends I could've had on this journey, they not only inspired me to be better, but helped me every step of the way to get to the end of this journey. You're all fucking legends."
Ramsay's Winner Comment - "Shane has everything I want in a head chef: creativity, passion, a good attitude, and most importantly, leadership. With that leadership, he propelled himself to the finale and led his brigade to victory. I have no doubt that Shane is going on to do big things in the future not only at my restaurant, but the culinary industry in general."
Angie McKinnon
Dee Cavinder
"I’m a professional at the end of the day, and I hold my character above this."
Occupation: Executive Chef
Age: 35
Hometown: Flint, Michigan
- Dark and Troubled Past: During an argument with Elise, he hinted he grew up on the streets.
- Graceful Loser: He took his elimination pretty well, saying his opportunity hasn't come yet.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Dee was trollish and did get more jerkish in the later stages of the competition, he did still have a good heart, even if it was sometimes misguided. The best example was when he attempted to save Jake at the final five by throwing Elise under the bus.
- Never My Fault: During the final five, he tried to blame Elise for the carrots...even though he was the one who actually cooked it.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After the final five, Dee would attempt to suggest to everyone to put up Elise instead of Jake, solely to save him. However, there only came two problems with this. First, Elise, as bad as she performed, wasn't the worst that night, and second, Jake had his Heroic BSoD and was acknowledging the fact he messed up. In the end, all this accomplished was Jake still being eliminated and him essentially losing all respect from his teammates.
- The Rival: Was this to Elise, which really amped up during black jackets.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Despite his trollish-behavior, he didn't start out terribly. Around the black jackets however, he started to get more sulky when he lost challenges, and even started to get into more arguments.
- Troll: Several times throughout the competition, Dee would try to get under some chef's skin. Granted the majority of those chefs weren't exactly pleasant to begin with.
Placement: 3rd
Dee's Elimination Comment - "Looks like my journey in Hell’s Kitchen has finally come to an end. When I first got here, I didn’t know how long I would actually last, but I ended up flourishing. I met so many great people and I mostly stayed out of trouble. Because of this, I am a better chef and man. My opportunity just hasn’t come yet, but y’all better watch out because you haven’t seen the last of me."
Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Elise and Dee are clearly amazing chefs, but when it comes to leading, they have a lot more to learn."
Elise Joyson
"As usual, Angie slays on her meat."
Occupation: Executive Chef
Age: 31
Hometown: Orlando, FL
- Drama Queen: Elise was very prone to burst into tears at any moments, especially in the later stages of the competition.
- The Determinator: During one service, she managed to complete service despite burning herself.
- Epic Fail: Her pass performance, which saw her rival Jon for the worst pass performance of all time.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Elise could be abrasive and overemotional, she did have a good heart, and was clearly passionate about the competition.
- Pet the Dog: At the final five, she offered Jake a job after his elimination.
- The Rival: To Dee, which really amped up in the black jackets.
- Took a Level in Badass: At the start of the competition, Elise was an incredibly weak link in the red team. After her switch to the blue team however, she started to improve massively.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Angie. During the final four, the two of them got into an argument, leading to them breaking off their friendship. Come the final service however, it's subverted as Elise genuinely puts in a good effort for Angie.
Placement: 4th
Elise's Elimination Comment - "You know, when I came into this competition, I had low expectations of myself. I fucked two services in a row, and I didn’t think I was going to make it, but then I started to standout and be an asset to the team. Sure, I had my ups and downs, but I’m happy to say I’m a better chef now than before I came on the show. At the end of the day though, I came here for my boyfriend and my two kids. They’re everything to me and while it sucks to come back home to them empty handed, I’ll be glad to see them again and give them the biggest hug."
Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Elise and Dee are clearly amazing chefs, but when it comes to leading, they have a lot more to learn."
Jacob "Jake" Marshall
"Hey, don't worry, if they give you shit, I'll have your back."
Occupation: Game Developer
Age: 35
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
- Achilles' Heel:
- While Jake was fairly consistent for the most part, he very noticeably struggled with the fish station, particularly in his final service.
- Additionally, while he was more talented than he let on, he often struggled with making complex dishes.
- Jake also had a problem with leadership, where he never really had a lot of big leadership moments.
- All-Loving Hero: Jake didn't have a mean bone in his body, being easily one of the friendliest competitors of the season. It's even to the extent that Elise and Dee genuinely liked his company. In fact, the only one he wasn't that big on was Flynn, and even then he never really talked back towards him.
- The Cameo: He made a special appearance during the Hell's Kitchen reunion dinner.
- Celebrity Resemblance: To Andy Samberg.
- Cool Old Guy: Downplayed example since he's 35, but he was one of the friendliest chefs of the season. He's also the oldest black jacket of the season.
- Epic Fail: His final night on fish, where he failed to cook salmon multiple times and was unable to call back orders. It was so bad that he even admitted he knew he was screwed.
- Establishing Character Moment: His confession cam where he explains he's a game developer who wants to get back into the kitchen.
- Fatal Flaw: Unlike his fellow competitors, Jake was dealing with rust from being away from the kitchen for so long, on top of a lot of inexperience. While it did allow him to get to black jackets, his rust and inexperience came back to bite him in the final five.
- Fire-Forged Friends: While he got along with pretty much everyone, he easily got along the most with Mae, as the two were underdogs who managed to surprise everyone.
- Graceful Loser: Accepted his elimination without any sort of fuss, admitting he had a bad day.
- Heroic BSoD: He went through this in his final service, where he got flustered on the first station and pretty much admitted he was screwed.
- Nice Guy: Probably one of the nicest chefs in the competition, and generally got along very well with his teammates.
- Older Than They Look: He's 35, despite the fact he looks a good ten years younger.
- Took a Level in Badass: While he was a solid chef, he was easily weaker than chefs like Shane or Angie. Flash forwards a couple of years, he returns to Hell's Kitchen in Season 26 for one service in a team made of past black jackets. While his team didn't win, he managed to prove himself as a strong chef and probably had the best performance out of everyone on that team, including Kiibo.
- Underdogs Never Lose: Despite placing fifth, Ramsay was so impressed by him that he offered to hire him because he saw so much potential in him.
- Underestimating Badassery: He may be a game developer, but pretty much everyone was blown away when he managed to get a 4/4 on the blind taste test.
- Weak, but Skilled: What he lacked in experience, he made up with hard-work and a level head. When he's eliminated, Ramsay comments that he's made a lot of strides despite his inexperience and offers to have him at one of his restaurants.
Placement: 5th
Jake's Elimination Comment - "It really sucks that I left when I did...I thought I actually had a shot. Unfortunately, I misfired tonight, but that's okay. I know that my inexperience truly hurt me in the long run, and I met some amazing people while there. All I can do is just take it on the chin and live with it. That's life you know."
Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Jake is an amazing chef with a great palate and lots of potential, unfortunately his lack of experience is why he isn't the one to win Hell's Kitchen."
Bobby Newman
Mae West
Lifedollars
Corey "Corny" Smithsen
Undead
Toast
Daisy Andrews
- Does Not Like Men: Throughout the season, Daisy had a particularly poor opinion of the men, in particular Shane. It even got to the extent she tried to form an alliance with the women.
Flynn Castellanos
Roman Simmons
"Chef, I think I should stay because I'm a fighter."
Occupation: Line Cook
Age: 34
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
- Bystander Syndrome: The rest of the team accused him of this, saying he never once stood out in service.
- The Load: Roman was never a great competitor, often needing to be helped by his teammates and never really putting in a good effort during challenges.
- The Quiet One: Roman had only one quote throughout the entire competition.
- Out of Focus: By far the chef with the least amount of focus, even to the extent he never even had a confessional.
- We Hardly Knew You: Due to being eliminated relatively early and being Out of Focus, he never really stood out.
Placement: 14th
Roman's Elimination Comment - No comment.
Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Roman was a fly on the wall during his stay, unfortunately, he couldn't hide any longer, so I had to swat him out of Hell's Kitchen.''
