Characters / Hells Kitchen Season 19

Main: Hell's Kitchen

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Kori Sutton

"Five minutes is legit like an hour kitchen time!"

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 37

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

• Cool Old Lady: Downplayed example since she's only 37, but she is, to date, the oldest female winner of Hell's Kitchen and the second oldest winner overall, only behind Season 21's Alex.
• Irony: Despite coming from a Mexican family, Kori's two dishes in the Mexican challenge failed to impress Aaron Sanchez. Especially awkward after how much she emphasized her family would never let her hear the end of it if she failed.
• Horrible Judge of Character: While Kori might be a nice woman, there are some moments where she makes questionable decisions. For example:
  • She was one of the few women who backed Amber up in nominating Nikki due to the latter's lack of experience. Though to be fair, after Ramsay berated the Red team for making a petty decision, she admitted that she made the wrong choice.
  • Due to Amber's constant complaints about the blue team, Kori sees the men as bullies and never once asks Cody and Declan for their side of the story. Hell, she wanted to nominate Cody after the first black jacket night despite not performing poorly because of that wrongful misconception.
  • Then in the final service, Kori thought the best person to be on meat was Jordan, despite seeing several nights of the latter having miserable performances. Ramsay actually called Kori out on that stupid decision and ordered her to put Declan in Jordan's place.
• In the Name of the Moon: She liked to use stabbing as a go to threat to others and herself. Used more when she was angry, like when she shouted it because she got punished for someone else's failings during the Blind Taste Test.
• Never My Fault:
  • She refused to own up to messing up Nikki and Jordan's ticket orders on Episode 7 even though it was clear she gave them improper instructions. What's even more confusing is that Ramsay somehow agrees with her as he voided her nomination that night, and told the red team off. Although he might have voided her nomination simply because he thought that Jordan was worse than Kori, which was true enough.
  • Happened once more during the pass service, where due to Kori leaving the meat station in a complete mess, it resulted in Cody struggling to get the meat station back on track. When Cody brought this up, Kori argued it was his responsibility once he took over.
• Nice Girl: Is courteous, kind, and offers help to anyone even if they're down. There's a reason why most fans were claiming her as a winner early on.
• Team Mom: Encourages Jordan not to relapse when she mentions the temptation, and formed good bonds with her fellow contestants.

Placement: Winner

Kori's Winner Comment - "Wow. I won! I won. I did it. I stayed focused, I stayed determined, I kept my head down, and just kept on pushing through and I pushed right through the door!"

Ramsay's Winners Comment - "Kori is everything I could want in a head chef. She is decisive, level-headed, and most importantly, passionate. From the moment she stepped into Hell's Kitchen, she was an instinctual and natural-born leader. She'll be a great asset to Hell's Kitchen in Lake Tahoe."

Mary Lou Davis

"Let me figure it out. I'm gonna fix it and I'm gonna make it better, 'cause I bet if I give him like some raw steak again, he'd throw it back in my face and be like: "Bloody Hell! You purple-haired witch, why did you give me this steak?!" and I'd be like: "NO Chef!""

Occupation: Chef de Cuisine

Age: 28

Hometown: San Antonio, TX

• The Ace: Another addition to the runner-ups who were never nominated for elimination, joining Season 6's Kevin, Season 7's Jay, Season 9's Will, Season 14's T, Season 16's Heather, and Season 17's Benjamin.
• Achilles' Heel: Rice is this for her as she acknowledges and demonstrates in the challenges where it's involved.
• Dye Hard: She dyed her hair purple in honor of her mother who was a hairstylist.
• Genki Girl: She's very energetic and expressive, as can be seen in her confessionals.
• Graceful Loser: Like all runner-ups not named Russell, she accepted her loss gracefully.
• Heroic BSoD: Had one after costing the red team the win in Episode 11's team challenge, especially after seeing how close they were to winning Vitamix blenders.
• Ms. Fanservice: Many fans find her incredibly attractive, and many fellow contestants (in confessionals) talked about how attractive and nice she was. Is shown in her swimsuit at the start of episode 7 and has her nipples shown.
  Mary Lou: Everyone who saw my Fun Muffins: ya'll owe me $20!
• Nice Girl: While a Deadpan Snarker, she's lacked most of the negativity present in her teammates and tries to support her teammates in more crucial situations. Most of her deadpan snarking is more of a "Well, that stinks" variety than a "You suck" variety.
• Ship Tease: With Cody.
• Tempting Fate: She was hoping not to have to work with rice. Three guesses as to what starch she gets from the slot machine...
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Starts off underconfident in her abilities, but eventually gets enough moxie to reach the finals. While she didn't win, she came a long way.

Placement: 2nd

Mary Lou's Runner Up Comment - "It's a bittersweet moment right now. I mean, if I'm gonna lose to anybody, it would definitely be Kori. I've grown so much, and I've learned so much. Yes, my door didn't open, but there are other doors that are gonna open for me. My mom, I mean, she's always been proud of me, but now it's like, now I can be proud of me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Declan Horgan

"All I'm hearing is: "Blah, blah, blah, blah, I am here to win, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." You barking at me is like a little chihuahua barking at a grizzly bear. Sit down."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 42

Hometown: Washington, DC

• Cool Old Guy: At 42, he's the oldest contestant this season, and hot-headedness aside, generally gets along with and is well liked by the other chefs (with the exception of Marc). He is one of the very few contestants age 40 and up across the entire series to qualify for black jackets, alongside Season 1's Elsie, Season 4's Petrozza, Season 10's Clemenza, Season 17's Benjamin^note And only from Season 17, since Benjamin was only 33 back in Season 7., and Season 21's Alex.
• Dramatic Irony: In the protein identification challenge, Declan costs the blue team the win after grabbing proteins that had already been tried before. Later on, he's the only chef to score perfectly on the Blind Taste Test.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Though he doesn't see it, Declan was called "Big D," in the past. Ramsay and the girls joke at his expense while Drew uses it as a nickname to his testament.
• Epic Fail: Cost his team the challenge in episode 7 when he decided to grab monkfish instead of snapper, despite monkfish already being revealed as an incorrect ingredient.
• Flawless Victory: Gets a perfect score on his signature dish and in the blind taste test, something brought up in his first nomination.
• Fighting Irish: Of the cooking kind as he is the first chef in the show that came from Ireland.
• Gentle Giant: Pretty much turned into this when he saw his parents for the first time after two years.
• Informed Flaw: Some contestants who wanted to nominate him thought of him as too hot-headed to professionally lead a brigade, in spite of never really losing his temper that much unless he was dealing with Marc, whom everyone else also tended to get angry at.
• Manly Tears: When he sees his parents after a two year absence, he shed some tears for them.
• Prescience by Analysis: Stated that Eliott and Kenneth would be out first based on their signature dish performances. He was correct.
• The Rival: Becomes this with Marc in episode 4, as Declan finds Marc to be extremely annoying and not backing up his talking.
• Surrounded by Idiots: He occasionally gets quite fed up with the Blue Team's lack of cohesiveness.
  Declan: My blood boils, why do I have to be standing around these turkeys when I'm trying to soar like an eagle?!

Placement: 3rd

Declan's Elimination Comment - "I am heartbroken, but this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Chef Ramsay, I've done my best for you. It's such an honor to work for you. I left being proud of myself and the job I did."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Cody Candelario

"Woooooow... you're gonna call out Amber? You're gonna call her toxic? I think the only thing you need is a motherfucking mirror, man!"

Occupation: Executive Sous Chef

Age: 26

Hometown: Sherman Oaks, CA

• Alliterative Name: Cody Candelario.
• Animal Lover: When Syann chooses Cody to take her place in the punishment of grooming and cleaning up after farm animals, he admits that he doesn't mind that much because he loves animals, which shows when he and Mary Lou are grooming piglets.
• Batman Gambit: Took a big one in Episode 10. Despite being the only one on the blue team that made no major mistakes in dinner service, Cody decided to nominate himself in the hopes that Marc finally went home. And it actually worked!
• Crazy Enough to Work: His aforementioned plan to get rid of Marc; normally, chefs that have come both before and after him ended up getting eliminated if they nominated themselves and admitted as such to Chef Ramsay (with only Petrozza being an exception up until that point), but the disparity in cooking talent, skill, and attitude between him and Marc after the latter had several bad services resulted in Marc being kicked out instead.
• Chick Magnet: He's able to get girls to ogle at him during the club challenge, and developed a flirtmance with Mary Lou.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has his moments, more often than not saved for Marc.
  Cody: I will hold your little hand and walk you like an infant child.
• Dramatic Irony: Despite being very upfront about his abilities, Cody's run at the pass saw him get very quiet, resulting in his elimination.
• Handicapped Badass: Despite suffering from a sickness that affected his palette, he managed to get a 2 out of 4 in the blind taste test and catching food sabotages at the pass.
• Hot-Blooded: Definitely, and a more positive example. He shows excitement and passion for cooking from day 1 and feels very strongly about teamwork. He gets pissed at Marc for pointing fingers instead of owning up to his mistakes and calls Lauren out for standing around doing nothing during the punishment.
  Cody: My biggest fear, if I'm being 100% honest... (Beat) is absolutely NOTHING! I can't wait for this!
• Jaw Drop: Had one of these once it looked like Gordon was about to eliminate Amber, only to send her back and eliminate Josh instead.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Was very hesitant to call out Mary Lou for her overcooked salmon while running the pass, and from then on, everything went wrong for him.
• Only Sane Man: He seems to be the voice of reason in the blue team, telling Declan and Marc that their arguing would hinder them in the long run, and all his reasons for nominations were legit. Despite saying he was called "Cocky", he was more this.
• Ship Tease: With Mary Lou. Not surprisingly, he was her first pick for the finale.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Downplayed. Cody admits in the first episode that people hate him because they think he's cocky, and while he has had a few slip-ups, he's also shown the skill to back up his confidence. If anything, Cody wants the team to do well.
• Took a Level in Kindness: The first episode showed him to be cocky and a little arrogant, but he soon mellowed out and became one of the nicest members on the blue team. Even Mary Lou took notice of that in Episode 5.

Placement: 4th

Cody's Elimination Comment - "Although it is bittersweet that I am leaving today, I can't tell you what this experience has done to me. I came here confident and unapologetically mean, but the lows were definitely there, and I've definitely gotten my ass kicked a few times. However, I've grown so much since I've been here, and the highs are definitely unforgettable. This is something I will never forget for the rest of my life. I've met so many great chefs and a bunch of really great human beings who I plan on being friends with for a really long time. One thing I do know is that I will never stop climbing. My confidence has been reestablished. It's only greatness from here."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Throughout this competition, Cody was never shy about his abilities. But when it came to running the pass, he was just a bit shy, so unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye."

Amber Lancaster

"Kori is just leading the team through a successful service... my god I miss the Red Team."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 30

Hometown: Chicago, IL

• Bait-and-Switch: When Amber is switched to the Blue Team, she seems upset. Sad piano music plays in the background as the guys try to reassure her, until she retorts, "I'm not into losing."
• Can't Take Criticism: Whenever Amber was called out on for her attitude problems, her first reaction was to deny it, and then complain to the red team about it.
• Deadpan Snarker: How she responded to a lot of the Blue Team in confessionals. One notable example being when she had to work with Marc for a challenge. She mentions she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't do something he wanted to do, and then when it didn't work out as Marc wanted... she snarked that she still won't hear the end of it.
• Deaf Composer: At the beginning of the surf n' turf identification challenge, she reveals her allergies to shellfish.
• Fatal Flaw: While Amber could have some strong performances, what ultimately sunk her was her ego. She constantly believed that she was the strongest chef overall, and unfortunately for her, she didn't deliver herself, which caused her to faulter under pressure. On top of that, any sort of fair criticism about her was taken personally, and with Amber refusing to try and change her ways, that only resulted in her being heavily disliked by not only the blue team, but some members of the red team as well. That meant that even if she somehow made it into the finals, she would more than likely be curb-stomped by the other finalist.
• Four Is Death: Was eliminated after being nominated for the fourth time.
• Glass Cannon: Amber could have some pretty solid performances, but for the most part she could not handle the pressure very well, which lead to her being a common choice for nomination.
• Graceful Loser / It's All My Fault: She finally admitted her being stuck in her own head was her undoing, rather than resorting to finger-pointing like she had in previous episodes and Marc continued to do when he was eliminated.
• His Own Worst Enemy: As mentioned above, this was Amber's biggest issue. She constantly talked herself up due to her successes outside the competition, and looked down on the other chefs and saw them as weaker than her. Whenever she would make a mistake, she would get flustered and have a hard time bouncing back, and then refuse to take any sort of responsibility.
• History Repeats: Like several chefs before her, she received the final black jacket and was the first of them eliminated.
• Jerkass: She was not sympathetic towards Nikki's lack of experience, bragging about how she was an executive chef at 25 years old. Then, after moving to the Blue Team, she immediately worries about losing.
  Declan: What the fuck?
  • She was relatively annoyed when Kori picks Jordan to be a part of her brigade for her second pick. Even after the teams were chosen and she declared it was the former's loss for losing out on her for her brigade, she CONTINUES to give her a hard time about the decision.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She might be a jerk, but she was probably right to be upset with Fabiola, Jordan, and Mary Lou for making jokes during the first punishment, especially since those three were already on Sous Chef Christina’s bad side.
• The Load: Was the weakest member of Mary Lou's team in the final dinner service, serving up raw chicken twice and gets stuck in her own head. This forces Mary Lou to switch her with Cody.
• Never My Fault: She refuses to admit to her mistakes, and when the Blue Team try to nominate her for those mistakes, she accuses them of being scared of her skills. Prior to being on the blue team, she refused to believe she should ever be nominated with a rookie like Nikki around, even telling Nikki she had no chance of winning. Finally averted when she was eliminated, ending her elimination statement by saying she was stuck in her head and could have won otherwise.
• Only Sane Man: Becomes this in episode 10. While the whole Blue Team was squabbling after Marc's elimination, she was trying to turn down the tension and steer the Red Team from the fire.
• Pet the Dog: She refused to let Josh down in the sixth episode, as it was his birthday. It was one of the few times that Amber actually wanted to do right by a member of the blue team.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Only in relation to the competition. While outside of the competition she thrived as a chef prior to (and after) joining, in Hell's Kitchen everyone is on equal standing at first. For a lot of Amber's run, she looked down on her fellow competitors and didn't deliver much herself. Her ego continued to hurt her further as she cracked under the pressure due to her failure to deliver and never my fault tendencies. Many chefs tried to tell her this, one big example being the entire Red Team when Amber belittled Nikki, but she refused to accept that.
• "Stop Having Fun" Guys: She didn't like how Fabiola, Mary Lou, and Jordan were making jokes during the Red Team's punishment, especially since Sous Chef Christina was already mad at them for losing in the first place.
• They Just Dont Get It: Throughout the majority of the competition, Amber was told many times that the only reason she wasn't liked on the blue team was because she didn't like the others and didn't want to work with them. One would think that at some point, Amber would actually try working with her team (similar to how Marc did at one point, which, while it didn't stop him from nomination, he was treated much more kindly by the blue team), but no, Amber just consistently kept on refusing to work with the blue team.

Placement: 5th

Amber's Elimination Comment - "I'm disappointed in myself because this is the first thing I've ever lost in my entire life. This is a bummer because, in the beginning of the competition, I was definitely the strongest. Everything was going great on the red team. And then, surprise! Switching from red to blue was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. When I first got to the blue team, they did not have a leader. All the boys were just a hot mess. It was complicated, to say the least. That's why everything got in my head. But, to come here and to be noticed by Chef Ramsay, it really honestly means a lot. I just got in my head. If I'd gotten out of my head, I would've won. 100%."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Amber came here expecting to beat the competition, but her biggest obstacle ended up being herself."

Nicole "Nikki" Hanna

"I don't need twenty years of experience, I have two, and that's gonna do me just fine."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 25

Hometown: Wolfeboro, NH

• Consolation Prize: Despite not even making the Black Jackets, Nikki impressed Ramsey so much that he offered to fly her to any of his restaurants if she wanted to work for him.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Lived in a homeless shelter with her family until she was ten, and stated that cooking is what allowed her to escape her life.
• Epic Fail: She failed to score a single point in the Blind Taste Test, which eventually led to the red team losing.
• Expy: To season 4's Christina where just like her she was nominated for her lack of kitchen experience which Gordon saw through. Bonus points both of them had only two years of professional experience by the time they entered the show.
  • Also to Season 3's Julia, in that both entered with less than stellar resumes yet ended up becoming one of the strongest members of the team. Bonus points for Gordon acknowledging their hard work.
• Identical Stranger: She looks very similar to Melanie from Season 12 (albeit MUCH taller).
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Nicole, but she went by Nikki during the show.
• So Proud of You: During one good dinner service, Gordon takes her aside to mention how impressed he is by how much she's grown in the competition, and how well she is handling herself that night.
  • Upon her elimination, he also offers her a generous consolation prize and lets her keep the jacket as a show of respect.
• Statuesque Stunner: The tallest member of the red team, and is also taller than a few of the guys.
• Took a Level in Badass: AND HOW. Despite having a few early struggles, she would start improving quite a bit, even to the extent Ramsay noticed it and in a rare moment, took her to the pantry room to personally compliment her.
• Two First Names: Nicole Hanna.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Similar to Kenneth, she's aware of her lesser years of experience in the kitchen compared to the other chefs, but has yet to give up. Chef Ramsay has noticed her small improvements. It helps that she wasn’t the weakest chef on her team, unlike Kenneth. In the Black Jacket Challenge, while she didn't win, she did cook a lot of good dishes and went toe to toe with Amber. Amber, who had a lot of accolades outside of the competition and didn't think Nikki would make it very far.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Like Denine from Season 13, she was upset the red team nominated her for elimination based on her lack of culinary experience being a potential problem over her performance in episode 3's service being non-problematic. Unlike Denine, Ramsay agreed with this.

Placement: 6th

Nikki's Elimination Comment - "Every day that I woke up here in Hell's Kitchen, I had to pinch myself. My very first service was less than desirable. Every single person here had at least ten years of experience on me, so I was constantly having to prove myself. I grew exponentially in my time here. This is the most incredible experience I've ever had. I built up this amazing resilience that I didn't even know I was developing. I accomplished something here regardless of the outcome tonight. This is just really validating to know that he sees something in me. These are like, good tears too cause that was just...amazing."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Jordan Savell

"For most people, Hell's Kitchen will break you at some point. It's trying to drive me to drink, and I'm almost six months sober. This is rough."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 29

Hometown: Fort Worth, TX

• Achilles' Heel: The meat station is her worst station as every time she is on it, she performs poorly at it. It resulted in her getting nominated twice in those episodes.
• Butch Lesbian: Says she has a wife in the first episode.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Was an alcoholic and was six months off of sobriety. She says that she was scared to lose because she'd relapse, something that her teammates try to assure her won't happen. In episode 11, she said her mother was in prison during her school years.
• Graceful Loser: Played with. While she's understandably upset about being eliminated, she also took it well, saying she would one day be a "general".
• Hot-Blooded: She gets riled up whenever she makes mistakes or is slighted by Ramsay's yelling. She even admits that it's hard to calm down when she gets like this.
• Identical Stranger: Looks remarkably similar to Robyn. Even her consistency and constant nominations throughout her tenure mirror her counterpart! Although her personality is much nicer.

Placement: 7th

Jordan's Elimination Comment - "Leaving here like this sucks. Just wasn't ready to go. I gave it everything I have, and I gotta make peace with that. Like chef said, I'm a soldier. Maybe one day I'll be a general."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Jordan soldiered through many battles here in Hell's Kitchen. But tonight, she lost the war."

Marc Quinones

"Chef Ramsay wants a leader. I'm a natural leader, and there's no way I'm taking a backseat to anybody."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 37

Hometown: Albuquerque, NM

• Can't Take Criticism: Brushes off anything negative against him as "politics".
• Dynamic Akimbo: More often than not makes this pose when up for elimination.
• Genki Guy: Has a lot of energy and expression for being in Hell's Kitchen, to his teammates’ frustration. Josh finds him intense, while Declan's responses are far less... neutral.
• Hated by All: Once Marc's jerkish side was let loose, everybody on the Blue Team disliked him. In Episode 5 it's shown that the Red Team trash talks him behind his back. This however starts to go away in Episode 6, only to return in Episode 9 after he smooth-talked his way out of being eliminated over the much more well-liked Adam. Eventually, being nominated five times in a row finally convinced Ramsay that he was the cancer of the Blue Team, and eliminated him promptly. Much rejoicing was made after his elimination.
• Hypocrite: When determining a nominee for elimination in Episode 5, he yells at Cody and accuses him of cutting him off... cutting Cody off in the process.
• Jerkass: Can be quite petty and hyper-controlling, which rubbed his teammates the wrong way.
• The Napoleon: His small stature is matched by his intensity and aggression, with his teammates accusing him of having a Napoleon complex.
• Never My Fault: Basically his whole attitude to any mistakes he made. If it wasn't "Politics", it was because they weren't listening to him.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Marc had a habit of not respecting people's space or peace. A couple of times throughout the season, Declan wanted to be alone to decompress. Marc refused to let Declan have space and kept trying to initiate conversation. Another example is how he would cut people off when they wanted to talk.
• Picked Last: Ended up on Kori's team after Mary Lou chose Lauren (probably because she didn’t want to have to deal with his behavior). While a bit shocked, he ultimately handled it quite well.
  Marc: To be picked last is irrelevant. I'm gonna cook my heart out for Kori.
• The Rival: Becomes this with Declan in Episode 4, who believes Marc can't deliver as a leader.
• Sore Loser: Storms out after he's eliminated and flat out talks about how he lost hope in his team from the beginning. Yeah, he's not quite the team player...
• Spear Counterpart: To Elise, with whom he shares many similarities, which has not gone unnoticed by fans. Although, unlike Elise, he at least realized that arguing with the Blue Team was a detriment... for a couple of episodes.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After being confrontational in Episodes 4-5, Marc decided to calm down by Episode 6 as he realized arguing with the Blue Team was only going to hurt them further. Sadly, this was undone in Episode 9.
  • In the final dinner service, he manages to communicate well from the garnish station, and he is not seen arguing with any of his teammates. This leads to him becoming a key contributor to Kori's team.

Placement: 8th

Marc's Elimination Comment - "I came in here with the mission to be authentic, and those individuals in that house just couldn't stand my energy. My spirit was too much for them. They were out to get me from the beginning. My team let me down a long time ago."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Marc is a big talker and a decent cook. But I'm looking for someone who can lead a brigade. Marc couldn't even win over his own team."

Adam Pawlak

"I don't even care, man... I'm a savage."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 28

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

• Accentuate the Negative: Amber thinks this of him, in one episode saying he has an attitude and that he has a shitty personality. Somewhat of an informed flaw, however.
• Chick Magnet: Remarks that after Syann flirts with him that he's pretty popular with women like her.
• Deadpan Snarker: Heavy emphasis on the deadpan part, but he had his moments of this.
• Erudite Stoner: Strongly implied through his mellow attitude and slower speech patterns.
• Graceful Loser: Even though he was eliminated over Marc (who most fans thought should've been eliminated), he was incredibly calm about it and respected Gordon's decision.
• Noble Bigot: Very Downplayed example. While one of the more well-liked chefs this season, his comment about Kori speaking "Mexican" raised a few eyebrows. He would later explain in a comment that it was a microaggression.
• Tears of Joy: Let a few out after Aaron Sanchez deemed his dish the best in the Mexican cuisine challenge.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Possibly the reason why Adam was eliminated before Marc. In the episode where Adam was eliminated, he says that he's trying to hide his skills to avoid being seen as a threat until it's too late to get rid of him. Unfortunately, that kind of tactic works on Survivor, not on this show. For someone who claimed to have seen every episode, he really didn't think that through.

Placement: 9th

Adam's Elimination Comment - "Tonight was the one time I slipped up. It was just the wrong time to slip up. I felt like I fought my ass off here, and I did a lot of great stuff. I was a huge asset to the blue team. I'm just disappointed in Chef Ramsay's decision, but you know, in the end, that's, uh... it's his call."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Adam started off the competition strong. But unlike his beard, Adam stopped growing."

Lauren Lawless

"Everyone calls me Flawless Lawless, from the way I dress to the that way I present food."

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 30

Hometown: San Diego, CA

• Alliterative Name: Lauren Lawless.
• Brutal Honesty: Is cold and condescending to anyone or any situation that pisses her off, and isn't afraid to call people out whether they deserve it or not.
• Bystander Syndrome: Barely does anything during the farm animal punishment as pointed out by Cody and service that night.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Because of needing reliance from her teammates in challenges, and her lack of experience on the line, she was not liked by the red team (at least, not as bad as compared to Marc, who was hated by both teams).
• History Repeats: Lost an elimination type challenge failing to win an apron in Masterchef, and she would be eliminated during a similar challenge in the Cook For Your Life challenge.
• Ironic Nickname: She says that people call her Flawless Lawless due to her perfect cooking and stunning looks. While there's no denying that she looks good, her cooking was anything but flawless.
• The Load: The red team considered her to be this due to her constantly needing help in challenges and never being a standout performer in service.
• Never My Fault: See below.
• Poor Communication Kills: In episode 3, she failed to listen and support both Brittani and Jordan in both challenges and service. When nominated, she did not take it well and accused the team of ganging up on her without letting them explain that she didn't help her teammates out because "she's the pretty girl.”
• You Look Familiar: As mentioned above, she competed in Masterchef Season 8. Too bad she lost her apron battle.

Placement: 10th

Lauren's Elimination Comment - "This definitely isn't the way I wanted to leave Hell's Kitchen tonight, going out for having an underdone steak with two minutes more to go, it really sucks. But I'm gonna keep holding my head high. I came in here as 'Flawless Lawless,' I'm still leaving as 'Flawless Lawless.' Nobody can take that away from me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "If you can't fit in with the pack, you better be the top dog. But Lauren was bringing up the rear."

Syann Williams

"South always wins! Period."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 26

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

• Epic Fail: Her dish for the modernization challenge had her make a tortellini with wonton wrappers. Not only did it not look like a traditional tortellini dish, but the judges failed to taste the seafood inside the dish, getting more cheese than protein. It was clearly the worse dish of the challenge, netting Syann the 3 out of 9 minimum.
• Experimented in College: She revealed in her last episode she was initially a lesbian before changing orientations.
• Graceful Loser: She took her elimination well and promised Ramsay that she will keep her head up high.
• Irony: Her original dish would have been cauliflower steak, but when she gets it for an ingredient for her new signature dish, she ends up serving it raw.
• Only Sane Woman: Was this in the third episode, where she clearly disagreed with the women's idea of nominating Nikki based on her experience, and even admitted that Nikki had performed well that night.
• Ship Tease: Had this with Adam.

Placement: 11th

Syann's Elimination Comment - "Although I may not be ready right now for Lake Tahoe, my journey was amazing. I fought every day, Chef Ramsay told me to keep my head up, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Period."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Sy's winning personality and determination were enough to take her far. But her lack of experience made me say Sy-onara."

Josh Oakley

"Really? Three huh? That's how my birthday is going to start today? It's not how I wanted it to go."

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 28 (Episodes 1-5) / 29 (Episode 6)

Hometown: Denver, CO

• A Birthday, Not a Break: Sadly, his 29th birthday didn't really end too well for him. While the Blue Team did win the challenge, Josh didn't do too well in it or the dinner service and was sadly eliminated that night.
• Birthday Episode: It's his 29th birthday in Episode 6.
• The Ditz: In Episode 4's punishment, he puts pearl decorations on both the pink and the purple cupcakes when only the former was supposed to have them.
  Declan: There's no pearls on them dude!
• Dumb Blonde: See above.
• Humiliation Conga: Zigzagged. On his birthday, he would have a poor dish during the challenge, but the blue team would win the challenge and celebrate Josh's birthday that way. During service however, Josh would end up having a weak performance and end up being eliminated due to it.
• Ironic Birthday: Was eliminated on his 29th birthday.
• The Generic Guy: Compared to the rest of the most outspoken chefs, he never really stood out.
• The Quiet One: This is what unfortunately would cost him, as Josh never found his voice in Hell's Kitchen on a team with several louder personalities.

Placement: 12th

Josh's Elimination Comment - "I've never failed before in my life so today does hurt. I'm disappointed in myself because Chef Ramsay tried to pull something out of me, and I just didn't have it. This sucks 'cause out all days, it is my twenty-ninth birthday, and I'll be spending it alone."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Tonight, when Josh blows out the candles on his birthday cake, he should wish for one thing: a stronger voice."

Peter Martinez

"You know, if this is what it takes to be an executive chef, then the facts are there: I am not ready."

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 38

Hometown: Palisades Park, NJ

• Crippling Overspecialization: Usually performed very well in challenges, but come service, he'll usually end up struggling.
• The Generic Guy: Outside of his quit, he didn't really stand out much.
• Know When to Fold Them: Realizing how brutal Hell's Kitchen is, Peter admitted to Ramsay in the middle of dinner service that he did not have the capabilities to become his next Executive Chef. Ramsay eliminated him on the spot in response.
• Manly Tears: Sported these during his final confessional, saying it wasn't worth the money to deal with the amount of stress the competition had.
• Non-Gameplay Elimination: He is one of the handful of chefs to be eliminated by quitting via self inflicted mid-service ejection.
• Token Minority: The first chef of Cuban descent in the series.
• Took a Level in Cynic: At the start, Peter was on the same page with everybody about wanting to become Ramsay's next Executive Chef. But sometime during his elimination episode, he started to grow disillusioned with the competition due to the heavy stress, claiming that the position and the salary was not worth all this pressure. This, along with being homesick and missing his family, was the reason he self-admitted to Ramsay he was not ready to become his next Executive Chef in the middle of dinner service.

Placement: 13th (Self-inflicted mid-service elimination)

Peter's Elimination Comment - "You know, if this is what it takes to be an executive chef, then the facts are there. I am not ready. I don't believe that every executive chef that's established in the world has gone through all this mental pain and, like, negativity. No amount of money is worth that stress. I just need to get back home; I miss my family."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Brittani Ratcliff

"I got two points motherfucker! ...Oh, sorry nanny, don't watch this! Oh good lord, I can hear her right now: "Oh my stars Brittani!""

Occupation: Executive Sous Chef

Age: 30

Hometown: Morehead, KY

• The Determinator: Claims that she was this towards learning despite her inexperience. While Ramsay praised her for that, she was still eliminated.
• The Load: Never really had a standout performance in either challenges or service.
• Out of Focus: Only notable roles she had in the first four episodes was her Signature Dish, which was not well received, and her poor performance on fish in her last episode.

Placement: 14th

Brittani's Elimination Comment - "I was hoping a little bit more to the table, and I fell short. It's heartbreaking. The whole experience I'm gonna take back with me. You learn more from failing than you do from winning. If I can get some fresh fish in Kentucky, then I'm gonna practice it every day. My family's gonna be tired of eating fish."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Brittani floundered on the fish station and sank her team, which left me with one option: cut bait."

Drew Tingley

"There's two things we do as being fathers: we tell bad jokes and we grill meat!"

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 30

Hometown: Millmont, PA

• Bumbling Dad: As the above quote says.
• Non-Gameplay Elimination: He suddenly has bad cramps and dizziness at the start of episode 4, landing him in the hospital and taking him out of the competition. He later revealed on social media that the cause of these problems were due to rhabdomyolysis: a condition in which skeletal muscles would break down rapidly, meaning that if he hadn't gone to the hospital any sooner, his condition would've been possibly lethal.
• Plumber's Crack: Ended up exposing his butt-crack during the third episode's service to Declan and Gordon Ramsay's annoyance and the V.I.P. table's pleasure. Ramsay had to give him a belt after nominations were over.
• Tempting Fate: The above quote saw him say that right before being on the meat station, where he messed up quite a few rimes and got nominated for it.

Placement: 15th (Medical exit)

Drew's Elimination Comment - "You know the one thing going through my mind right now is my kids. I'm cooking with one of my idols Chef Ramsay, even though this is my dream that I've wanted for so long. I'm just trying to stay really focused on my own overall heath and my children."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Fabiola Fuentes

"Breathe, Fabiola. Breathe."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 32

Hometown: Indio, CA

• Alliterative Name: Fabiola Fuentes.
• Mercy Elimination: Given that her health was deteriorating before her final service, her elimination may well be this.
• Spicy Latina: Averted. She's Hispanic but tries to keep a calm and positive attitude.
• Trauma Conga Line: The road to her elimination does not go well. First, after the red team returns winning a challenge, her health starts deteriorating and needs medical attention for a panic attack. Then as she asks her team to help her to the bed to recover, some of her teammates suspect she's faking it but powers through for service. In service, she messes up the flatbread twice before getting it right the third time. And finally, her elimination ends with her lamenting her efforts with the paramedics attempting to help her.

Placement: 16th

Fabiola's Elimination Comment - "I wish my health was in better...and that's me. I tried to fight for myself as much as I could. I knew I'd fail, and I knew that I'd bounce back, and I was extremely embarrassed."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "To be my head chef, you need to have passion, leadership, and great skills. Fabiola had passion and not much else."

Eliott Sanchez

"The answer is no, chef."

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 23

Hometown: Jersey City, NJ

• Bystander Syndrome: He didn't really do anything in the first service, and was called out by Ramsay as being completely lost. Unsurprisingly, this led to him being nominated and quickly sent home.
• Epic Fail: His whole stay:
  • Him coating his first dish's salmon in brown rice instead of keeping its skin on resulted in scoring a two.
  • His shrimp dish saw the shrimp get largely overshadowed by the greasy vegetables that went with it.
  • He didn't do shit in service, not responding at all when people were clearly reaching out to him.
  • His elimination plea made no sense (he couldn't focus on anything despite not having done anything).
  • And the worst? He first tried talking about "skills in different areas" instead of answering if he was better than fellow nominee Drew, then eventually said he was not better than Drew. That got him eliminated immediately.
• Non-Answer: When Ramsay asked Eliott if he was a better cook than Drew, his first answer was "We have skills in different places". That annoyed everyone.
  Ramsay: "What the fuck does that mean?"
• Too Dumb to Live: When asked who's the stronger chef between him and Drew, he hesitates and admits that he's the weaker of the two. He gets eliminated immediately after, with Gordon saying he made the choice easy.
• What Were You Thinking?: He thought blitzing his brown rice and coating it around the salmon would be a good idea. Ramsay was not happy.

Placement: 17th

Eliott's Elimination Comment - "Coming into this competition, I knew it was going to be an ass-kicking, didn't necessarily realize it would be that bad. It's kind of a knife to the heart, really sucks. But I'm only just getting warmed up. Love me or hate me, you're gonna see this face again. I guarantee it."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Eliminating a chef this early is usually quite hard. But tonight, I didn't have to eliminate a chef, I had to eliminate Eliott."

Kenneth McDuffie

"Yo, I know the difference between a potato and parmesan cheese, but it looked just like a potato."

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 35

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

• Epic Fail: In the two challenges he participated in, he was easily the worst performer, getting the only 1 in the first challenge for scorching his chicken and leaving in a massive chunk of parmesan cheese in his shrimp dish. Unfortunately for him, the second challenge turned out to be Cook For Your Life, and he was sent home before the first service.
• Face Palm: When it was revealed that he left a large chunk of parmesan in his shrimp dish in Episode 2 (which he initially mistook for potato when Gordon showed it to him), you could see the rest of the blue team collectively facepalming in the background.
• Graceful Loser: He was not at all bitter about being the first chef eliminated, calling it a learning experience and knowing that he did his great grandmother proud.
• Shocking Elimination (In-Universe): While he was clearly the weakest chef on the blue team, no one expected him to get sent home after a Cook For Your Life challenge before the first service even started.
• Too Dumb to Live: Finished his signature dish with time remaining on the clock and doesn’t bother trying to refire it. Unsurprisingly, he got a 1 for his dish.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Only appeared in two episodes and was eliminated before the first service began.

Placement: 18th

Kenneth's Elimination Comment - "Coming to Hell's Kitchen, I had a lot to prove. I thought I was going to make it further in the competition than what I did, but it's a learning experience. At the end of the day, I feel that my great grandmother is smiling down, I really did her proud. I made it this far. Really I don't have anything else to say."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.