Characters / Hells Kitchen Season 22

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)

General Tropes

• Multinational Team: Since the theme of the season is “The American Dream”, the cast consists of immigrants and first-generation descendants. So far confirmed:
  • Claudia is from Switzerland and recently got her citizenship
  • Carmen is a first-generation Peruvian-American
  • Ryan is Irish
  • Johnathan is Italian, while Sammi is a 1st generation Italian-American
  • Devon is Canadian with Latino roots
  • Brad is Cuban
  • Sandra is Polish

Ryan O'Sullivan

"I've got my fingers crossed, I've got my toes crossed, I've got my nuts crossed."

Occupation: Chef de Cuisine

Age: 28

Hometown: Cork, Ireland

• The Ace: Much like Johnathan and Sammi, Ryan's had very little mistakes throughout the competition, often coming up with strong dishes in challenges and being one of the strongest links throughout the competition. Additionally, chefs like Sandra, Jason, and Dahmere mention how strong Ryan is overall.
• Achilles' Heel: Ryan's a very strong chef, but if there's one thing he struggles with, it's swordfish. His first swordfish dish was criticized for having too much salt and seasoning, and later on when he tried to redeem himself, his dish had too little.
• Author Appeal: His menu is primarily based on french cuisine.
• Badass Boast: Ryan's a master of these.
  • While having participating in the last chef standing challenge:
  Ryan: You'll have to call the fire brigade to cut me out!
• Bait-and-Switch: On the receiving end of this. Despite losing out to Leigh on who would receive the final black jacket, Ramsay told him that despite his best efforts, he had some bad news...that he would have to stay longer, breaking a rule that had been in effect for ten years ever since Season 15 that only five black jackets would exist in a season, and gave him a sixth black jacket.
• Best Friend: With Johnathan.
• Big "YES!": He lets out two of these in the finale.
  • The first time, he yells this in his confessional after making it to the final two.
  • The second time comes when he's crowned the winner after the final dinner service.
• Classical Anti-Hero: While it wasn't apparent at first glance, Ryan would mention around the time of the finale that he lacked confidence in himself when entering, and had his doubts about winning. Despite all of that, he would emerge as one of the strongest chefs of the season, and went on to win.
• Crazy Enough to Work:
  • During the Black Jacket Challenges, Ryan would decide to make a pasta dish and not even include a protein in the third round. And just when it looked like Ryan would be a goner after Leigh scored the fifth black jacket, Ryan's dish was deemed strong enough for Ramsay to give him a sixth black jacket, because Ramsay felt that both Ryan and Leigh's dishes were too good for him to give only one black jacket.
  • Upon first glance at his final brigade, there were some questionable decisions he made, such as having Jason, Carmen, and Sandra on his team. Despite all of that, Ryan had a strong finale with very little mistakes from any of them, and Ryan would end up winning in the end.
• Crazy-Prepared: Right before running the pass, Ryan stated that he had practiced calling out tickets for this moment. It worked out extremely well for him, as he was praised for his leadership and actually managed to catch every single sabotage put in front of him.
• Deadpan Snarker: His reaction to Dahmere using boxed pasta for his signature dish was just him snarkily stating how bad of an idea that was.
• Distaff Counterpart: During the finale, Sammi compares him to Ramsay, saying how strong of a leader he was and how he expected perfection.
• Dork Knight: Ryan winds up as this later on in the season. In addition to being one of the most consistently strong chefs, Ryan has a few moments where he's clearly goofing around and having fun. Extra props to his planning for the finale, where he can't stop smiling and giggling as he realizes that he's actually in the finals. Considering that he's watched Gordon for years and knows much about Hell's Kitchen, it's understandable why.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Ryan mentioned that prior to entering Hell's Kitchen, he had very little money and came to America to live out his father's dream. In the end, he came out the winner.
• Endearingly Dorky: Later on in the season, Ryan seemed to loosen up a bit after mostly being serious throughout the competition, being far more jokey and willing to goof around with his fellow chefs. He even could barely keep himself from breaking out into a smile as he was writing down his final menu for his team, completely shocked he was there.
• Establishing Character Moment: When first introduced, Ryan talks about coming from Ireland, his family and admits he's been watching Ramsay since he was five years old.
• Flawless Victory: Ryan managed to win the entire competition without a single nomination to his name, and he is the latest chef to do so, after Season 1's Michael, Season 2's Heather, Season 5's Danny, Season 6's Dave, Season 7's Holli, Season 10's Christina, Season 13's La Tasha, Season 14's Meghan, Season 16's (Kimberly-Ann) Ryan, and Season 18's Ariel.
• Fighting Irish: He's the second-born Irish chef on the show, following Declan. By the end of the season, he emerged as the winner of the competition.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Johnathan in the finale.
• Funny Foreigner: He's Irish, and he can make a good quip every now and then.
• Genre Savvy: He clearly knew not to use boxed pasta, and even stated in his confessional that Dahmere was making a mistake.
• Hero-Worshipper: Downplayed example, but he's stated that his life's dream was to work for Gordon ever since he was young, even going to the extent to know his moves for over twenty years. He got his wish in the end.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Johnathan develop this bond as the Final Four, hoping they go against each other in the Finale. In Episode 14, Johnathan wins the challenge and is given the opportunity to pick his companion for the reward. They are hugging all the time while Johnathan obviously picks him, and they keep treating their hangout as a romantic date.
• History Repeats: Averted. After ten years of the final chef to receive a black jacket being the first to be eliminated, Ryan would finally be the one to break that curse as he managed to avoid elimination in the final six.
• Informed Flaw:
  • Later on in the competition, Dahmere said that while Ryan was a great chef, he wasn't as vocal as he could be. However, while it isn't to the extent of Dahmere, Ryan's been shown to be fairly vocal and able to take charge, such as when he led the filet course during the charity night dinner service.
  • Dahmere and even Ramsay himself have said that Ryan had a tendency to harp on mistakes quite a bit, leading to him getting frustrated. Really the closest one could think of when it comes to this accusation was Ryan refusing to go up for raw lamb after the third service, but outside of that, Ryan's pretty much been perfect, making this come off as a bit strange. This is, however, shown off during the Black Jacket Challenges, where Ryan is very audibly upset about the way his dish came out in the second round, and even during the final challenge, he's shown harping on it quite a bit.
  • During the second black jacket episode, both Sammi and Carmen expressed annoyance over both him and Johnathan having a supposed cockiness and ego, especially after last night. This came off as strange as outside of a small counting error, Ryan pretty much went that whole night flawless.
• Insistent Terminology: While describing his menu to his brigade, Ryan often referred the items in French terms such as velouté. It only stopped when Sammi asked him to generalize it.
• Like Father, Like Son: Ryan came from a long line of cooking families, which certainly helped as his signature dish was one of the strongest of the day. Ryan revealed in Episode 14 that he was following in the American Dream his father gave up to take care of his family when his mother was pregnant with him, and was determined to make it happen.
• Meaningful Name: Actually mentioned in-universe. While discussing his final menu, Jon took note that Ryan's menu came off as very royal. Ryan himself would mention that his name was fitting, since it meant "little king".
• Nice Guy: Granted, it's not shown to the extent of chefs like Johnathan or Dahmere, but Ryan's been shown to be a pretty affable and friendly chef. He was even willing to give Jason a chance after picking him for his team in the final service despite knowing about the latter's attitude problems.
• One-Man Army: He ended up as the last chef in the blue kitchen during the last chef standing challenge, and not only did he cook everyone's dishes, but he managed to successfully cook his own, leading to the blue team winning with a perfect score.
• Only Friend: In taking in the entire scope of the competition, he appears to be this to Jason. Unlike some of the other chefs, he's never really seen arguing with him or really getting into arguments with him. In fact, the closest he gets to really calling out Jason was when saying he needs to work on his attitude, but even then that's before he selected him second for his final brigade. Then again, he's not above poking fun at him, and to Jason's credit, he takes it well.
• The Perfectionist:
  • It's clear whenever Ryan takes great pride in his work, and whenever something goes wrong, he'll harp on it for a while. This is best shown during the final part of the Black Jacket Challenge, as much of his confessionals state how disappointed he was in his previous dish.
  • Another great example of this trope is during the finale as Ryan is meticulous about every little detail his brigade sends him, down to the water used to boil the pasta. Still, it does help Ryan win because of that.
• Post-Victory Collapse: He does this after Ramsay decides to give him a sixth black jacket.
• Power Trio: With Dahmere and Johnathan.
• Self-Made Man: After growing up poor in Ireland, Ryan traveled to the United States to live out his father's dreams. He met his wife, found a steady career in culinary, and by the end of the season, is one of the most dominant winners in the show's history. As Ramsay notes in his closing comment, Ryan epitomizes the American Dream that the season is themed around.
• Tears of Joy:
  • Ryan had these when mentioning that he's made a lot of sacrifices to be here, and hearing Ramsay express his full confidence in him made him feel it was worth it. He even mentions how hard it is to make him cry, making it that more meaningful to him.
  • He's sporting these again once he's given a black jacket despite losing out to Leigh.
• Token Minority: Of all the winners of Hell's Kitchen, Ryan is the first, and so far, only immigrant and non-American contestant to win, as he was born in Ireland.
• Troll: He delved into this hardcore during the Joshua Tree reward, constantly messing with his fellow chefs just to make them laugh.
• True Companions: With Johnathan.
• Worthy Opponent: Both Carmen and Johnathan see him as one, especially Johnathan.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Ryan says this to Devon after Devon sunk on the meat station, saying that he knew better than to send up undercooked filets.

Placement: Winner

Ryan's Winner Comment: "I’m the fucking winner of Hell’s Kitchen! I’m so proud to be Irish. I’m so proud of where I come from and so proud of what I’ve achieved. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, and determination, sacrifices. Vegas, here I come, baby!"

Ramsay's Winner Comment: "Ryan is everything I could want in a head chef. I don't think I've ever met a more passionate chef. He's also very creative and a tremendous leader. His amazing journey from Cork, Ireland is proof that The American Dream is alive and well. Ryan will be a wonderful asset to Hell's Kitchen Las Vegas."

Johnathan Benvenuti

Occupation: Executive Sous Chef

Age: 28

Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA

• The Ace: He has established himself as one of the best chefs in the competition, both in challenges and services. He has scored points in almost all of the team challenges, won the Punishment Pass for the Blue Team, is one of three chefs this season to never be put up for elimination (the other two being Ryan and Sammi), and even got the first Black Jacket immediately after Chef Ramsay tasted his halibut dish, because it was so good. Both Carmen and Sammi have acknowledged his skills when going head-to-head against him.
  • Inverted during the final six service, where he had several problems on the garnish station and nearly wound up nominated as a result.
• Basement-Dweller: Downplayed. He doesn't exactly show the qualities of the nerd side, but he did mention he still lives with his parents.
• Best Friend: With Ryan.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's shown to be a really nice guy all things considered, but after Jason nearly screwed up his course during charity night, Johnathan finally called him out during deliberation for his attitude. Moreover, he is furious when Jason brought up his name during elimination, even yelling straight up at Jason that there is no way he will run Ramsay's kitchen.
• Companion Cube: He carries around one of his daughter's toys to remind him who he's doing this for.
• Deadpan Snarker: He started to dip into this around the final eight, particularly when it came to Jason.
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet: During the ninth episode, Johnathan got a bit too excited about sending out some entrees, resulting in him loudly shouting. Ramsay would tell him off for this, saying they haven't won anything yet.
• The Dreaded: No one in the red team particularly enjoys going up against him in challenges, due to his strong track record in them. Ironically enough, when Donya mentions this, it's when Johnathan messes up on a pasta dish.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Oh boy, Johnathan did not take Ramsay jab at him dealing with a hangover very well. He was pretty much in a bad mood for the remainder of the entire episode, and it even got to the extent that Ramsay had to tell him it was only banter.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first confessional saw him state that he lived with his parents and his five year-old daughter.
• Family Man: Oh so much. Much of his confessions bring up his daughter and family.
• Fatal Flaw: If there was anything that Jason was right about, it's that Johnathan tends to get too emotional for his own good. On top of his brief feud with Jason, he took a casual jab Ramsay made at him far too personally, and let that get in the way of his performance during the first Black Jacket service. During the finale, he filled his brigade up with people he likes rather than the ones he knew well, which led to Dahmere being a disaster on meat and costing Johnathan dearly. Contrast to Ryan, who took Jason as his second pick despite being aware of his attitude since he knew Jason's strengths, and his misfit team put on a near-perfect final service that clinched the victory for Ryan.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Ryan in the finale.
• Good Parents: Is shown to be an exceptionally loving and caring dad to his daughter Saxon.
• Graceful Loser: Although he said it was tough to not see his door open, he admitted that he was happy for Ryan and took the loss with grace knowing that he will be successful in the future and having made his daughter proud.
• Has Two Thumbs and...: Says this after Ramsay mentions that Johnathan got the first black jacket during a recap of the season.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Ryan develop this bond as the Final Four, hoping they go against each other in the Finale. In Episode 14, Johnathan wins the challenge and is given the opportunity to pick his companion for the reward. They are hugging all the time while Johnathan obviously picks him, and they keep treating their hangout as a romantic date.
• Informed Flaw: During the second black jacket episode, both Sammi and Carmen expressed annoyance over both him and Ryan having a supposed cockiness and ego, especially after last night. Granted Johnathan's was a bit more justified since his final six performance wasn't great, but Johnathan didn't come off as too cocky.
• In Vino Veritas: After partying a little too hard during the Black Jacket Celebration, Johnathan was still dealing with a hangover the next morning, which caused both his cooking and his attitude to suffer.
• Irony: His first hiccup during a challenge is during a pasta competition. Despite being Italian, he loses against Donya because his pasta was uneven. He is seen struggling with pasta during the punishment, quite aware of how embarrassing it is to be Italian and screw up dough.
• It's Personal: During the first black jacket episode, Johnathan took a light jab Ramsay made at him pretty personally, and spent a lot of the episode in a pretty bad mood because of it. Thankfully by the next episode, he mellowed out after talking with Ramsay and realizing he overreacted.
• Jerkass Ball: During the final six episode, Johnathan took a friendly jab with Ramsay pretty hard, and couple that with his hungover state, Johnathan displayed a more jerkish side that episode. Ramsay even had to hold him back after elimination to ask him what even happened.
• Manly Facial Hair: He has a massive beard, but he quickly proved himself to be one of the better chefs with a 5/5 on the signature dish.
• Nice Guy: He's been shown to be one of the more pleasant chefs on the blue team, praising his team and having very little bad to say about anyone (except for Jason).
• Not So Stoic: Johnathan came off as mostly laid back and collected, but the moment Jason tried throwing him under the bus at the final eight, Johnathan pretty much blew up at him.
• Papa Wolf: He mentioned he wanted to do this for his daughter, and that he hasn't been away from his daughter for so long.
• Pass the Popcorn: After Melissa gets eliminated, Johnathan says in the confessionals that they almost forgot to leave after the elimination because they were passing the popcorn while watching the women pick each other apart.
  • He plays it straight during the Cook for Your Life challenge as he grabs a big bowl of popcorn to watch the challenge.
• Power Trio: With Dahmere and Ryan.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Despite taking his finale loss with grace, he sported these with a single tear in his last confessional.
• Rambunctious Italian: Downplayed. He's Italian, but he's very laid back.
• Shorter Means Smarter: He's one of the shorter chefs of the season, and one of the strongest overall.
• Sore Loser: He didn't take his loss in the presentation challenge well, thinking that his dish was better than both Leigh's and Carmen's, and even calling them 90's style dishes. He might have been a better loser had he not been suffering from a hangover.
  • Averted in the finale, where he takes his loss against Ryan fairly well.
• Struggling Single Father: He is the only parent of his daughter and has to live with his own parents to support each other.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Jason brought up Johnathan's name at elimination, Johnathan got downright furious at him, and gave him a pretty good one of these, saying that he couldn't believe that he's still here after five nominations, and told him that there was no way he was going to win.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Pretty much his reaction to realizing that Devon was eliminated, and now the blue team were down four to six.
• True Companions: With Ryan, he's easily the one most overjoyed when Ryan makes it into the Black Jackets, and even is the one cheering him on the most.
  Johnathan: "My biggest competition is definitely Ryan. Ryan's like a brother to me, but I'd be honored to go up against him."
• What Were You Thinking?:
  • He was very surprised when the red team sat out Donya (at her request) for the last chef standing challenge, saying they needed her. He was right, as the blue team went on to win the challenge.
  • This was Johnathan's reaction to Ryan's picks. Despite Ryan getting the first pick and getting Sammi on his team, he also picked Jason who was easily one of the weaker chefs of the competition, Carmen who tended to struggle with leadership, and Sandra who was very mistake prone. Despite this, Johnathan would lose in the end to Ryan.
• Victory Dance: He does one of these upon being the first to enter the black jacket lounge.
• Worthy Opponent: Both Carmen and Ryan consider him one.

Placement: 2nd

Johnathan's Runner-Up Comment: "My door didn’t open. And, uh, it’s…it’s tough. I just have to use it as fuel for my fire. I know I’m going to be successful. I know Saxon is going to be proud of me, and I’m happy I lost to Ryan and such a good person and a good man and a good friend.”

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Samantha "Sammi" Tarantino

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 25

Hometown: Columbus, OH

• The Ace: Like Leigh, she's shown herself to be one of the stronger chefs on the Red Team, coming up with several strong dishes and putting on multiple strong performances. After Carmen's elimination in Episode 14, she is the only female chef from the red team to make it to the final three without a single nomination.
• Deadpan Snarker: Her very first reaction to seeing the geoduck was to say it put the other men to shame.
• Distracted by the Sexy: When G-Eazy showed up, Sammi was lovestruck by him, and flirted with him before service started.
• Epic Fail: Scored 0 out of 4 in the Blind Taste Test.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • While making her dish for the fusion challenge, she realized she forgot to make a sauce with only five minutes left on the clock. Thankfully, the sauce she came up with was enough to score a point for the red team.
  • Later on, she realized with only three minutes left on the clock during the pasta challenge that she accidentally made her agnolotti into tortellini. With no time to fix it, she wound up having to present it, where she only barely won due to Jason's pasta being undercooked.
• Forgotten First Meeting: Sammi previously met Ramsay as a contestant on Masterchef Junior, and said that one of her memories of him was him praising her. Gordon admits that he doesn't remember that moment since it was so long ago, but states that he is now going to remember her cooking.
• The Generic Girl: Despite making it to the final three, Sammi didn't really stand out a whole lot compared to the more colorful personalities on the red team.
• Graceful Loser: Despite coming up just short in the final three tasting challenge, Sammi took it extremely well. She said that even though she didn't make the final two, she felt it was one of the best days ever and that she grew a lot as a chef.
• Hidden Depths: Sammi revealed in Episode 14 that she has been taking care of her father for the last two years due to the latter suffering a stroke.
• History Repeats: Like last season, the signature dish comes down to a tie, with her dish being the one to win it for the Red Team in a tiebreaker.
• In Vino Veritas: Much like Johnathan, Sammi would get drunk during the Black Jacket celebration, and it would affect her performance in the following challenge, having the lowest scoring dish of the challenge. Unlike Johnathan however, it didn't carry over to service, as she was the only one to not make a mistake that night.
• Irony: During the Pasta Challenge, Sammi says that she used to be in dance competitions, claiming she has a really good balance. In the actual challenge, she is the first to fall from the equilibrium bar and lose the time advantage for her team.
• The Leader: She ended up as this in the fifth service as Melissa refused to communicate on the garnish station alongside her, and it led to Sammi helping to complete the service. Ramsay even acknowledges her as the overall leader for the Red team.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Samantha, but she went by Sammi on the show.
• Out of Focus: For someone who made it all the way to the final three, Sammi never really got a whole lot of attention compared to everyone else.
• The Stoic: Sammi usually never raises her voice much, and is more neutral on many of the events happening in the season. This is actually lampshaded by Johnathan upon her being named one of the finalists, where he remarks "Finally! Some fucking emotion, Sammi!".
• Tempting Fate: After she started to get the red team back on track from a rough start on charity night, she started to say that the red team were like a machine and everything was going well...right before Leigh's pan burst into flames. Fortunately for her, it didn't impact her charity, and she sent out her course without any issues.

Placement: 3rd

Sammi's Elimination Comment - "You know, today has been the best day. Even though I did not get in the final two, I've definitely grown so much over this competition as a chef and individual, and I could not be at more peace."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Carmen Ibarra

"It needs some salt."

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 29

Hometown: Miami, FL

• Achilles' Heel: Leadership. She's not a bad chef by any means, being able to make it to the black jackets despite a few hiccups and her inexperience. However, once she's put into a leadership role, she becomes frantic. Admittedly though, Carmen's performance at the pass was not terrible, being decently solid at best and average at worst.
• Always Someone Better: In both of her black jacket challenges, Carmen wound up just coming short to both Leigh and Johnathan.
• Author Appeal: Loves making Peruvian food whenever she has the opportunity to do so.
• Best Friend: To Leigh.
• Birds of a Feather: With Leigh. They're both chefs who have very little experience in the kitchen, and get along very well.
• Born Lucky: Let's be honest, compared to the rest of the chefs in the black jackets, Carmen stood out as probably the weakest of them all, even being the only one to have been nominated before the black jacket portion. However, she managed to get into black jackets after getting a better combination of ingredients than Ryan and having a better dish than Leigh, and upon the first service in black jackets, she didn't crash as hard as Leigh and Dahmere did, sparing her from elimination. Carmen's luck would end when she was eliminated for having the least amount of experience compared to the other chefs.
• Break the Haughty: After having a miserable performance at the meat station in Episode 10, Carmen began to doubt her position in the competition and wonder if she came in too early in her career.
• Can't Catch Up: Ultimately the reason for her elimination. She was a good chef and strong enough to make it to the black jackets despite her inexperience. However, she was extremely hit or miss when it came to services and challenges, and her leadership was often poor. Granted while her pass performance at the final four was pretty solid, she was still heavily outclassed by the other three chefs (Johnathan, Ryan and Sammi) in skill, resulting in her elimination.
• Catchphrase: In one episode she kept saying everyone's dish needed more salt, to the point fellow contestants and even fans laughed at her insistence everyone's dishes needed salt.
  • In her final episode, she made numerous references to the fact she lived in Miami.
• The Determinator: No matter how hit or miss she was in the kitchen, she never once gave up. Even during the pass performance, she actually performed pretty well.
• Foil: Turns out that she is this to Jason. Both cemented their status as the token Insufferable Genius between their teammates, but unlike Jason, Carmen has more emotional intelligence and knows when to talk and accept her mistakes (to a certain degree). In addition, Carmen, despite a few hiccups, was able to hold her own fairly well in the kitchen, while Jason had a hard time going through one service without incurring Ramsay's ire.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While it wasn't as immediate as Jason's, Carmen very quickly became this. With an ego along with failing to take accountability for her mistakes, she wound up having very few friends on the red team.
• The Generic Girl: Whenever she isn't showing off her ego, she doesn't tend to stand out a whole lot.
• Graceful Loser: Like many chefs, she took her elimination very well, saying that she was walking out a better chef and better person.
• Heroic BSoD: She went through one of these after her dish failed to get the red team the win, and while she acknowledged that it wasn't always her fault, she often got a lot of blame (sometimes deservedly so). It was enough to make her doubt her place in the competition.
• Hidden Depths: In Episode 14, Carmen revealed that she had a corporate job before being laid off and started her own business in her car that got her into a culinary career.
• Insufferable Genius: On Day 2, she criticized everyone's dishes claiming that all of them needed more salt, while despite claiming that her dish was superior, the others thought that it was too intense. Everyone else on her team was quickly annoyed by her ego.
• It's All About Me: Shades of this. Several times throughout the competition, she's been willing to try to make herself look better at the expense of other chefs. Whenever she fails to do so, she doesn't acknowledge this.
• Leader Wannabe: She tried to be a leader so badly, but often her leadership led to confusion and people just getting mad at her. It didn't help that while she accepted she lost the breakfast service for the team, she was using empty platitudes at best while attacking other chefs.
• The Load: Like Donya, Leigh and Sammi started to feel this way about Carmen around the final eight, with Sammi pointing out that they haven't been the most consistent in the kitchen or in challenges.
• Never My Fault:
  • Somewhat Zig-Zagged. On one hand, she did admit she lost the breakfast service for their team, but on the other hand, Carmen then tried to downplay the issue and tried to throw other chefs under the bus.
  • After the red team lost the Last Chef Standing Challenge, she refused to admit that she ruined Atoye's fried rice dish by not letting the latter speak to the chefs in the kitchen, even though it resulted in their defeat.
• Out of Focus: Surprisingly, Carmen was not featured much in the final dinner service, having made no mistakes on her station compared to the other times she had problems.
• Poor Communication Kills: Carmen wound up working on both her and Atoye's dish after Atoye left the kitchen in the Last Chef Standing Challenge. Despite Atoye giving her clear instructions, Carmen would ignore her, and she would end up sabotaging Atoye's dish by telling Sandra to put Atoye's rice in her own dish.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Somewhat. For the most part she could back up her words, but at the same time she seemed to have a very inflated and self-centered opinion of herself. She constantly put herself above others, and believed she was the strongest link on the team when Donya, Sammi, and Leigh were still there.
• Spicy Latina: She's Peruvian.
• Tempting Fate: While leaving for her punishment, Ramsay stated that once more, she was so close to winning, and Carmen would state she would get them next time. There wouldn't be a next time for her.
• Took a Level in Badass: Somewhat. After several services that highlighted her often weak leadership, she actually went on to have a genuinely strong pass performance. Granted she didn't advance to the finals, but it's clear she did far better than initially expected.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the start, Carmen tended to get on other's nerves by trying to be a leader and when her leadership inevitably resulted in disaster, she would not take responsibility. As the season progressed however, she seemed to lose much of his egotistical edge, and actually managed to bond with several of the chefs on the Red team.
• Unskilled, but Strong: She revealed that she doesn't have too much experience, but for what it's worth, she's shown herself to be a relatively solid link in the red team. However, that lack of experience would be the reason why Carmen failed to make it to the final three, despite having a decent run at the pass.

Placement: 4th

Carmen's Elimination Comment - "Part of me feels like I didn't lose today. I've grown a lot throughout this competition. Coming into this competition, I felt the need to prove myself. I am new and fresh in this industry, so there were a lot of obstacles coming into this competition. It's called Hell's Kitchen for a reason. It's been so many high-highs and really low-lows. Being knocked down so many times and just bouncing back, I definitely have a thicker skin and, you know, I believe in myself. I've made it this far for a reason. Being able to cook with Chef Ramsay, those are moments I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life. I'm walking out of here a better chef and a better person. I'm proud of myself for making it this far this early in my career path, and I know that there's a lot more to come for me."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "It's always difficult to let go of any chef that makes it into the final four, but Carmen's lack of experience puts her one step behind the other three great chefs I have left."

Dahmere Merriweather

"Just bring the damn fish!"

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 29

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

• The Ace: Outside of his signature dish with boxed pasta, Dahmere has been shown to be one of the strongest overall links in the blue team, due to his strong leadership and consistency. Ramsay even points out that when the cards are down, he's the one chef in the blue team he can rely on, which, considering that he also has Johnathan and Ryan on his team, is a big indicator of Dahmere's talent.
  • Shockingly averted in his final six performance, where his struggles on the fish station resulted in his elimination.
  • And shockingly averted once again in the finale where he was the worst chef by far; having to be demoted to garnish after messing up several times.
• Badass Boast: After Gordon asks the blue team when they think the red team will finish the protein identification challenge, Dahmere's simple response is "see you in the morning."
• Epic Fail: On top of his signature dish using boxed pasta, it contained bland lobster, resulting in him scoring a one.
  • His final service on the fish station, where he continued to send up raw and undercooked fish several times. It was enough to get him eliminated in a double elimination.
• Establishing Character Moment: During the fifth episode, Dahmere got more focus when shouting at his team and instructing them during the surf and turf challenge, foreshadowing his strong leadership ability.
• Fatal Flaw: While Dahmere was an excellent leader and very well looked like one of the front-runners for the longest time, his biggest flaw was his lack of finesse, as mentioned by Ramsay during his elimination. For all his strong leadership, where he failed most was handling disasters in the kitchen, as while he could handle himself fairly well, the moment he made a mistake, he was just unable to bounce back from it. This was especially prevalent in his final service, where he sunk on the fish station despite being incredibly consistent prior to that, and not being able to display any sort of leadership that night. Then come the finale, and his problems on meat nearly sank Johnathan's kitchen, resulting in him being switched out with Donya.
• Genre Blind: 22 seasons later, and Dahmere still hasn't gotten the memo that using boxed pasta isn't a good idea.
• Genre Savvy: Dahmere revealed in a confessional he knew what the protein relay was...which only makes his decision to use boxed pasta more questionable.
• Hidden Depths: Dahmere previously played football in high school, and based on the fact he won the axe-throwing reward challenge, he still had that athletic talent.
• Hot-Blooded: He's mostly laid back when out of the kitchen, but in the kitchen, he's shown to be extremely intense, which he puts to good use as a leader.
• The Leader: Was this in the sixth episode, where he helped drive his team to complete the service. Ramsay himself took notice of his status of the leader, and after the steak night resulted in the blue team being kicked out, Dahmere was praised for being the only one to cook with passion.
• The Load: Wound up as this to Johnathan in the finale, where his problems on meat stalled the kitchen, and it resulted in him being switched over to garnish with Donya.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He seriously regretted using boxed pasta in his signature dish.
• No Indoor Voice: Probably the best way to describe his leadership in the kitchen. To his credit, his loud voice manages to get stuff done.
• Nice Guy: Like all the other guys in the room, he is disgusted by Jason's eagerness to trash-talk the women. He says in the confessional that he had enough of his own life struggles to add more toxicity to the competition. Outside of the competition overall, he's shown to be a generally pleasant and helpful individual, even to the extent he'll help out chefs on the red team despite it serving no real purpose to him. Atoye even praised him for his character.
• Pet the Dog: Knowing that Brad was struggling with his injury and getting overwhelmed, Dahmere encouraged him and helped him out.
  • Later on, he gave Atoye the words of confidence to come back around after she nearly rage-quit.
• Power Trio: With Johnathan and Ryan.
• Rousing Speech:
  • He gave one of these to the blue team, where he said everyone was there in Hell's Kitchen because they knew how to cook, but they couldn't just fall apart under pressure.
  • Later on, he gave another one to Atoye in order to get her head back in the game.
• Took a Level in Badass: For a while, Dahmere was stuck with a signature dish that contained packaged pasta, and for the first four episodes he didn't stand out too much. Come the sixth episode, Dahmere proved that he had extremely solid leadership skills, and managed to help lead out the appetizers, something that Sous Chef Jason praised him for. He takes even more of a level the following episode, where Gordon pulls him aside and says he has been keeping an eye on Dahmere and likes what he's seeing of Dahmere. He then tells him to get the two nominees, which says a lot about what he is expecting out of Dahmere. This upward trajectory would eventually culminate in Dahmere receiving a Black Jacket, making him the third person in the show's history (after Season 3's Rock and Season 16's Kimberly) who used pre-made food for their signature dish to receive one.

Placement: 5th

Dahmere's Elimination Comment - “For me, this was a life-changing experience. All the highs and lows, it was transformational. I was able to examine who Dahmere was. I stayed true to myself the entire competition. It showed me personally that I can compete with the best of them. You know, to take it as far as I did in this competition against so many talented chefs, by far not the end of my American dream. Just the beginning."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Leigh needs more experience and Dahmere needs more finesse, but they both will make great head chefs some day. It's just not today."^note Shared elimination comment with Leigh

Leigh Orleans

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 26

Hometown: Savannah, GA

• The Ace: Despite her lack of experience, Leigh's been shown to be easily one of the strongest links overall in the red team, with her even gaining the Best of the Worst title in the final nine.
  • Averted in the final six, where her problems on the meat station resulted in her elimination.
• Compressed Vice: Leigh was very strong throughout the season, and looked like a genuine pick to win. However, in her final service, she admitted she had no idea how to slice a wellington, and had been avoiding it for as long as she could. Sure enough, when it finally came time to slice one, she messed it up, forcing Ramsay to give a demonstration on the fly for her and eventually result in her elimination.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments of this.
• Fatal Flaw: Leigh's biggest flaw was her inexperience. While she was strong enough to make the Black Jackets and manage to stand a chance against the really strong talent of the season, it would only take her so far. Sure enough, her inexperience came back to bite her when she revealed she had no idea how to slice a wellington, one of the basics of Ramsay's menu.
• Happily Married: Based on how much she talks about her husband, she's this.
• Hero-Worshipper: To Aaron Franklin, as she and her husband watch his Masterchef class every morning. Needless to say that she is overjoyed for not only winning the challenge for her team, but getting a grill out of it.
• Hidden Depths: She revealed that she had given up a profitable career in finance to be a chef.
• Nice Girl: She's shown to be easily one of the nicer chefs on the Red Team, constantly encouraging her teammates and even being cordial towards the blue team.
• Never My Fault: For her signature dish, Leigh blamed the pan being too hot for her salmon dish not coming off right, although she should've checked to see if it was too hot in the first place.
• Post-Victory Collapse: She's seen doing this when she sees Ryan get a sixth black jacket.
• Skewed Priorities: In Episode 4, during the Mac 'n Cheese round, Leigh presented her dish explaining that Sage was special for her because it was the first fresh herb she managed to grow in pots on her fire escape ladder. Amused, Gordon points out that it's not very smart to block your only escape route, to which Leigh responds that she knows but she still needs fresh herbs.
• Took a Level in Badass: Leigh began the season as a middle of the road chef, but slowly became more consistent in services and stood out in the challenges in a positive way. It came to a head in Episode 10 where a strong performance on appetizers awarded her the "Best of the Worst" role for the red team.
• Underestimating Badassery: She may not have the most experience in the competition, but she's shown herself to be more than competent in the kitchen. Even Ramsay started seeing this by the time the final eleven occurred, admitting that she has performed well past his expectations.
• Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: She has been cooking professionally for roughly a year before applying to Hell's Kitchen. While her signature dish got a low score for scorching her salmon skin, she managed to present her scallops as one of the Top 3 of her team. This is seen again when Christina is impressed by her skills at carving salmon, but she tumbles during services. This eventually comes back to bite her, as she reveals she's never sliced a wellington before, and after she messes up on it, forcing Ramsay to give a demonstration on it, she's eliminated as a result of this.
• What Were You Thinking?:
  • Humorous example. During the butter churning punishment, Leigh decided to put ice in since none of the chefs had any idea how to make butter. The problem was that putting the ice in would only make it harder to churn, something that Sous Chef Christina found downright hilarious.
  • Leigh made the strange decision to cut the cap off the ribeye and leave the eye alone. While Leigh said it was to decrease portion size, she also wound up putting too much garnish on, and it cost her the chance to recieve a black jacket in the second round.

Placement: 6th

Leigh's Elimination Comment - “I wasn't as confident in the beginning because I was the chef with the least experience. I knew Hell's Kitchen would be challenging, but it definitely challenged me in ways that I didn't expect. I gave every single day my all. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and I know I proved myself. It's Making me leave with my head held high. As much as I want to stay here, God, I want to go home."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Leigh needs more experience and Dahmere needs more finesse, but they both will make great head chefs some day. It's just not today."^note Shared elimination comment with Dahmere

Jason Hedin

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 35

Hometown: Milaca, MN

• Berserk Button: Being called a liar. Hypocritical at best, considering he spends a lot of his time lying.
• Book Ends: Jason's Signature Dish was a mediocre lobster dish. His final dish in the Black Jackets Challenge was another mediocre lobster dish that got him eliminated.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: While not without talent, he has a tendency to cut corners which results in him being yelled at by Ramsay.
• Butt-Monkey: Much of Jason's edit consists of him boasting about something, before immediately failing at it and being made to look like an idiot. He often deserves to look stupid.
• Can't Take Criticism: He tends to blow off any criticism he receives, even from Ramsay himself. One of the worst examples of this is in episode 4, when he arrogantly asks Ramsay "May I speak?" as if what he had to say would change everything.
• Comically Serious: Sees himself as the Only Sane Man, as he's not at all happy with all the talking while cleaning the kitchen, and mostly goes around micromanaging during punishment, but he only manages to annoy his fellow competitors. The Comically part comes when he TRIES to crack some jokes he thinks are funny when in reality they are either awkward, lame, or offensive.
• The Determinator: As terrible as he may be in the kitchen, Jason never once gave up, something that Ramsay praised him for during his elimination.
• Did I Say That Out Loud: After losing the pasta challenge and hearing about the red team getting to do "goat yoga", Jason says that he hopes the goats shit on them...to which the red team give him a very unamused look.
• Epic Fail: A humorous version. During the fusion challenge, the chefs have to kick a soccer ball to hit a sign that says the country they'll be cooking with. Jason takes seven attempts to hit one sign, as he either keeps hitting the goal post or missing entirely.
• Everyone Has Standards: Jason, as much as he's an egotistical prick, quickly called out Jermaine for trying to throw Devon under the bus at elimination.
• Expy: He's this to Season 19's Marc. Both started out having clear talent, but were often hit or miss in challenges, and ended up rubbing their teammates the wrong way with their attitudes. While they both managed to get their behavior under control and be able to bond with their team, they eventually wound up undoing it by not taking responsibility for their mistakes, and one episode later, they were eliminated after one chef made a gambit of some kind (Cody putting himself up for elimination, and Ryan making a pasta dish to get rid of Jason).
  • He also very well could be this to Season 7's Scott. Both are chefs who suffer massively from Small Name, Big Ego, do many things in their power to avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes, and despite having glowing resumes, were more often than not one of the weaker chefs on their team. Additionally, both have moments of kindness (although Jason has quite a few more), with Scott helping Salvatore and Jason putting aside his ego for Ryan in the finale.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Right from the very start he became this. His constant refusal to take responsibility for his mistakes, on top of rubbing people the wrong way with his attitude, quickly resulted in his team losing faith in him.
• Hated by All: His egotism and tendency to downplay his mistakes quickly caused him to be shunned by both his team and the red team.
  • Particularly averted after the Cook for Your Life challenge. As the first to survive it, he gets greeted with a hug from the others.
• Hidden Depths: Jason revealed that he grew up on a farm in Minnesota, and after he left the farm at eighteen, he started travelling all over the world, living in places such as Australia, the Caribbean, and even backpacked through Europe.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Johnathan accused Jason of being his own worst enemy as the stupid mistakes he made ended up backfiring on him. Considering the amount of stupid mistakes Jason made across his time in the competition, there might be some weight to that accusation.
• Humble Pie: Melissa tried to punish Jason for his ego by using her punishment pass on him, only for it to backfire and pretty much cause her whole team to be annoyed by him.
• Hypocrite: After no one took responsibility for the burnt gnocchi, Jason would state in a confessional that nobody owns up to their mistakes. This is rich coming from the same guy who spent half the season brushing off and completely pushing aside their quite numerous amount of mistakes.
• Idiot Houdini: Despite being a pretty weak chef overall, Jason nearly made it the black jackets.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Said this as his overly serious attitude started to rub everyone the wrong way. In the second episode, he even demanded someone "let him be a douchebag".
  • After narrowly surviving elimination over Mattias, he commented how he doesn't care about being a dick.
• Jerkass Has a Point: During the black jacket episode, Jason stated that Johnathan was angry for no reason and was overreacting. While it was another case of him deflecting his mistakes, the following episode saw Johnathan in a massively bad mood after Ramsay made a joke at his expense that he took harshly, meaning that he was kind of right in retrospect.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jason has a lot of issues, from his failure to take responsibility for his mistakes, to his attitude tending to rub chefs the wrong way. However, he doesn't seem to be that bad of a person, as evidenced by his moments of trying to be cordial with his team for a while, and even when he returned to his usual jerk behavior, he was shown giving compliments and even giving Ryan a little fist bump after Ryan's dish got a good review. He's even revealed to be on good terms with Johnathan and Ryan on social media, and commonly hangs out with them on their podcast. This was evident in the finale when Jason was on Ryan's team: he may not agree with Ryan on a couple of things, but he did not want to let the latter down as he believed Ryan deserved to win over Johnathan.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: After a rocky start, Jason seemed to mellow out a little bit and managed to be civil with his teammates for a few episodes. However, this was completely undone in the charity night service, when he refused to take responsibility for his mistakes (despite claiming he always does that), attempted to blame the sous chefs for his missteps on the soufflés and then tried to nominate Johnathan, of all people. Johnathan was absolutely furious with him and everyone was shocked (and probably angry) when he managed to see another day.
• The Load: Despite nearly making it into the black jackets, Jason was easily one of the weakest chefs of the season. More often than not, his challenges left much to be desired, and when it came to service, if there was anyone who was going to screw up, it was going to be him. That, alongside Jason's massive ego, led to him being nominated quite a lot.
• Long Speech Tea Time: When asked to talk about his job history, Jason went on a long diatribe about all the places he's worked at and all the people he's served.
• The Napoleon: One of the shorter chefs on the blue team, and has a pretty bad attitude.
• Never My Fault: Oh so much. Let's be frank, whenever Jason makes a mistake or screws up, he tends to brush aside them, much to the irritation of his teammates. For example:
  • He didn't believe his dish deserved a three out of five, thinking it was way better than that.
  • Later that same episode, after Melissa confronted him about his arrogance and ego, Jason was in complete denial about it, believing that there was no problem with the way he was acting...despite both Brad and Tad having more than a few words to say about it.
  • Then in the first service, he ended up serving undercooked halibut, which Jason didn't believe was undercooked at all.
  • And in the third service, he was caught placing whole knobs of butter on the New York strips instead of merely basting them in butter as he should have done and was very flippant about it when Chef Ramsay called him out for it! Perhaps the only reason why he wasn’t eliminated for this was because Mattias was worse overall.
  • He is surprised to be selected for the Cook for Your Life Challenge, but claims that maybe he isn’t weak, but his teammates put him down to try getting rid of him.
  • Then when Dahmere says he's going to be nominated after the 10th service, Jason once again believes it's because the other chefs are intimidated by him and are trying to get rid of him for small issues. That service, he dragged on lamb and eventually went up cold wellington that was for Sous Chef Jay's wife.
  • Then during charity night, he tried to blame Sous Chef Christina for the souffles not coming out right, saying that they told him to put the egg whites on.
  • And then after charity night, he didn't own up to much of his mistakes, instead focusing on the person who didn't own up to the burnt gnocchi, and then admitting in his confessional that he felt like a scapegoat because he owned his mistakes.
  • After Johnathan pretty much blew up at Jason for trying to throw him under the bus during elimination, Jason had no idea why he was mad at him, and said in a confessional that someone like that shouldn't be running a restaurant.
  • During his elimination, he claimed that he listened to all of Ramsay's advice every time he was up there...despite being nominated five times and Ramsay himself even saying that Jason was really wearing thin on him.
• No Social Skills:
  • Jason has no idea how he comes off to people. The best example of this comes from when one chef was asking about keeping stuff, and Jason quickly replied they don't want STDs. That only got the chefs disgusted.
  • He does, however, seem to know how to gaslight quite well. After the men had to nominate people for episode 4, for example, he decided to use the men's own previous words against them when they were rightfully calling him out for his mistakes and behavior. He outright lied about having people's backs and being with the team since day one, having integrity and honor, words that the other men have used about how they're disgusted with his previous behavior.
  • As seen under The Stoic, Jason does seem to be at least somewhat aware of knowing how far is too far, and doesn't want to scare off his teammates by being too direct.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. He shares his name with Sous Chef Jason Santos.
• Pet the Dog: During the sixth episode, after Jermaine tried to throw Devon under the bus, Jason stepped up and said the two nominees were himself and Jermaine.
  • He had another one the following episode, where after Jermaine continued to struggle on garnish, Jason would help him out and with his help, no more mistakes from garnish happened.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Knowing the history of executive chefs, in that, they were usually among the strongest of the seasons, you'd expect Jason to be alongside them. However, despite making it halfway through the season, Jason was easily one of the weakest chefs there. This was even lampshaded by Johnathan after Jason continued his issues at the final eight.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Big time. He thinks he is better than his fellow competitors, has a long list of every place and celebrity he has cooked for, and completely dismisses the advice Sous Chef Jason is giving them. This is despite the fact that Jason can barely go one service without incurring the ire of Ramsay.
  • Mattias refers to him as "a glorified line cook."
• Sore Loser: Surprisingly downplayed for someone like him. Despite arguing that he should not have been eliminated in Episode 12, he conceded that it was Ramsay's decision in the end and left it alone.
• The Stoic: Ramsay regards him as this, noting that he's not very emotional and comes off as guarded. Jason himself says it's because he doesn't want to scare off his team members and that some people don't respond well to that directness. It's even notable as when chefs like Raneisha and Johnathan are yelling at him for his ego, Jason barely raises his voice at them.
• Straw Misogynist: During a talk with the blue team, he revealed he saw absolutely no talent on the red team, something that only served to put him in worse standing with his team.
  • Averted later in the season, as he welcomed Atoye to the blue team with open arms.
• Took a Level in Badass: After being hit-or-miss for a while, he got put up for the Cook For Your Life Challenge, where he managed to serve up a steak good enough to be the first of the nominees to be sent back to the dorms.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the start of the competition, Jason got a lot of flak for his egotistical and self-centered behavior. As it progressed, however, he mellowed out considerably and was shown to be much more friendly with his fellow chefs. Then he began undoing all of it by failing to accept responsibility for his mistakes.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He understands the fundamentals of cooking quite well, but he's prone to making numerous small mistakes that stack on top of each other.

Placement: 7th

Jason's Elimination Comment - “I don’t honestly think I deserve to go home tonight. I’ve been fighting every day to be here. Every time I was nominated, Chef Ramsay gave me advice. I listened, cooked good food. I definitely put up the three best dishes of the three challenges, but you know, it’s Chef Ramsay’s world, and we’re just living in it.”

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Donya Taylor

Occupation: Caterer

Age: 28

Hometown: Long Island, NY

• Achilles' Heel: Ironically enough, despite saying she was a pescatarian, it's the fish station. Her first nomination early on in the season for taking a long time to cook fish, and later on, she was nominated once more at the final nine for her issues on fish.
• Actually Pretty Funny: She found Dahmere's trash talk during the protein identification challenge pretty funny.
• Catchphrase: Several times throughout the season, she mentioned she was a pescatarian.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Donya was born addicted to drugs.
• Deaf Composer: Despite being a pescatarian, Donya is a strong asset in the meat station and has worked in a steakhouse despite not being able to taste the meat.
• The Determinator: She described herself as this, saying she had to overcome a lot of adversity when she was younger.
• Dramatic Irony: During one of the services, Gordon note that Donya was taking an excruciating amount of time to cook fish. She is clearly frustrated by this considering that it's supposed to be her specialty.
• Epic Fail: Along with Sandra, during the protein identification challenge, the two of them couldn't figure out what the halibut was, and it resulted in so much time being spent, and them even putting up lobster of all things.
• Fatal Flaw: Easily Donya's biggest flaw was being unable to seperate herself from the line. While she was a strong cook on the line and could bounce back from mistakes, once she was put into a delegation role, she just couldn't help herself and do several things on the line, leading to other chefs having to lead for her. This bit her hard in her charity night, as this led to her being seen as not as willing to take initiative to step up as a leader, and she was eliminated as a result of it.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Jermaine, as both are from New York and have both been trying to outcompete each other.
• Four Is Death: She ended up being eliminated on her fourth nomination.
• The Load: Like Carmen, Leigh and Sammi started to feel this way about Donya around the final eight, with Sammi pointing out that they haven't been the most consistent in the kitchen or in challenges.
• Non-Answer: She hesitated when Ramsay asked who the weakest chef on the red team was, before finally answering Sandra. Even though she survived over Sandra, Ramsay still takes time to scold her for hesitating on what he believed was an easy question to answer.
• Only Sane Woman: The only one of the red team with her head straight as she recognizes the failures they have. This is most seen after they lost the Last Chef Standing Challenge, recognizing that they lost due to a lack of communication and teamwork, and admitting that Atoye's frustration was warranted.
• Rule of Three: She was eliminated on her third nomination in a row.
• Took a Level in Badass: At the start, Donya had talent, but she was overshadowed by better chefs in the first service, and following that, she was nominated for problems on the fish station. After that, however, she rebounded massively, having a bunch of strong dishes and becoming one of the red team's strongest links in the kitchen.
• What Were You Thinking?: What ultimately sealed her fate was her decision to start cooking the filets early while there was a ten minute pick up, before having Sammi baste the filet to work on the mushrooms. This led to Ramsay having doubts about her leadership due her making a confusing system, and she was sent home over Jason that night despite his bombing of service.

Placement: 8th

Donya's Elimination Comment - "I was not the weakest chef in the Red Kitchen. Chef Ramsay is gonna find out very soon who is. This whole experience meant a lot to me. I first came here, trying to break a generational curse. And I learned that I didn't have to prove myself to nobody. I had to prove myself to me. So I'm more than a line cook, baby. I'm a chef now."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Donya had the drive, voice, and was a great cook. But I'm not looking for a great cook. I need a great chef."

Ashley "Atoye" Johnson

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 35

Hometown: Bowie, MD

• A Death in the Limelight: Averted. After not really getting much focus for the first few episodes, the fallout of the last chef standing challenge in the eighth episode sees her desiring to quit and wanting to see her kids at home. When she's put into the Cook For Your Life challenge, it seems that she's going wind up eliminated, but it's Devon who ends up getting eliminated over her. From then on, she gets more focus as she moves to the blue team.
• The Generic Girl: Hasn't really stood out much against the more colorful personalities, at least until the eighth episode.
• Graceful Loser: Atoye took her elimination well and hoped her daughters saw that she never gave up.
• Nervous Wreck: Wound up as this during her final service, as her struggles on lobster caused her to eventually stop communicating altogether, even with Dahmere's help. While a pep talk from Ramsay allowed her to get her head back in the game, she still wound up being eliminated that night.
• Nice Girl: Atoye's shown to be one of the nicer chefs on the red team, being comforting towards many of her fellow chefs.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Ashley, but she went by Atoye on the show.
• Pet the Dog: After the shopping challenge ended in a loss for the red team, Atoye checked in on Donya, despite the fact that earlier in the episode she said she was pretty much done with the red team for putting her in the Cook For Your Life Challenge.
• Picked Last: She was the last chef to be picked overall in the final brigade.
• Rage Quit: Nearly pulled this after the last chef standing challenge, fed up with Carmen's attitude on top of losing several times. It took a speech from Dahmere to bring her back around.
• Romantic Wingman: She served as this to Sammi as she talked with G-Eazy.
• Team Mom: Just like Raneisha, she also takes this role because she has kids and is very protective of Donya.
• Tempting Fate:
  • She claims that she can beat Ryan at making Spaghetti and Meatballs because she is a mom, therefor she is very familiar with the dish. She ends up being one of the few in that challenge who didn't get a point because she ended up doing penne with veal, which prompted Gordon to reprimand her for changing the recipe instead of just adding a spin.
  • The same happens when she offers to make Chinese Shrimp Fried Rice, because she cooks it every Friday for her family. She loses it because she didn’t coordinate with her team the timing for the rice.
  • She spends a good portion of the episode crying and complaining about wanting to see her kids at home. In the following cut, Gordon calls everyone for an individual talk, and she fears that he might have heard about her wanting to quit and regrets that moment of weakness. Fortunately for her, she manages to survive the Cook for your Life challenge.
• What Were You Thinking?: For the American classics challenge, Atoye made the dumb decision to make a penne meatball, which was a completely different recipe and didn't elevate the dish at all.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Ramsay believes this about her, saying that she's a bright pupil in the competition, and that several times she's been blamed for stuff that wasn't her fault, she just needs to lead.

Placement: 9th

Atoye's Elimination Comment - "I'm proud of myself. I came here fighting. I went out fighting. And I have two little girls. I want them to know that no matter what happens in life, you rise above it. This is not the end of the road for me. This is only the beginning."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Atoye’s passion was admirable, but you need more than just passion to be a great head chef."

Sandra Gajovsky

Occupation: Music Tour Chef

Age: 39

Hometown: Elmwood Park, NJ

• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Despite being a pretty good cook, she had trouble focusing and remembering orders.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Her filet dish during the Cook For Your Life Challenge featured a sort of ragu garnish, something that Ramsay hadn't seen before. Regardless, it was enough for her to survive the challenge.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments of this.
• Epic Fail: Along with Donya, during the protein identification challenge, the two of them couldn't figure out what the halibut was and it resulted in so much time being spent, and them even putting up lobster of all things.
• Failed a Spot Check: During the first service, she failed to take note of the chicken Atoye put in the oven, causing her to forget about it and drag.
• Flip Personality: An old lady named Gladys Keegelman.
• Glass Cannon: Sandra was a very up and down performer throughout her time in Hell's Kitchen. While she had her standout moments and could bounce back from mistakes, she was still very mistake prone in services, which led to her being nominated five times. Challenge wise, she had about an equal number of quality dishes and subpar ones.
• Graceful Loser: Sandra took her elimination very well, admitting that she was proud of how far she came, and understood why Ramsay sent her home.
• Joisey: Very much so, if her mannerisms haven't given it away.
• The Load: Despite making it all the way to the top ten, Sandra was more often than not one of the weaker chefs in the Red Team. She was extremely hit or miss in challenges, and service wise, she was pretty prone to making mistakes, leading to being nominated five times before getting the boot.
• Nervous Wreck: Sandra ended up as this during the third service, where she couldn't recall any of the tickets and went silent on the garnish station. Thankfully, a pep talk managed to clear her head.
• Never My Fault:
  • Right after being decided on as the first nominee, she immediately suggested Carmen for being the nominee instead, saying all she was doing was shouting numbers. Perhaps she would have had a better chance had she pointed out that Carmen wasn’t being an effective leader.
  • Then, after the fourth dinner service, she didn’t think she should be nominated despite screwing up at least one order of scallops and burning a salmon near the end of service.
  • Averted in her last service: after a near perfect service on the meat station, she had some trouble with the final wellington. She immediately took responsibility and nominated herself for elimination, which proved to be her downfall.
• Nice Girl: One of the friendlier chefs on the red team and got along well with the rest of the cast, in general.
• The Pollyanna: Somewhat. She's not over-the-top happy, but whenever she makes a mistake, she tends to look on the bright side of things.
• Poor Communication Kills: On the receiving end of this. Due to not being able to understand who was saying what on the red team during the Last Chef Standing challenge, she ended up accidentally putting Atoye's rice with Carmen's dish as Carmen was trying to explain her dish. This is apparently a result of her bad hearing since Sandra comments that maybe it’s a sequel of the many years she has spent with rock bands.
• Tempting Fate: During steak night, Sandra talked about how well she was doing right before she brought up two ribeye steaks when only one was needed. While they were both cooked well, one was wasted as a result.
  • Later on, while portraying Gladys, she jokingly mentions how she can't find Sandra and that she might be gone tomorrow. She wound up being eliminated that same episode.
• This Is Gonna Suck: She says this as she's about to present her dish for her fusion challenge... which quite clearly contains raw lamb. Even worse was that the dish had the makings of a good one, but it was dumbed down by the lamb.
• Too Dumb to Live: After seeing Donya say that Sandra was the weakest chef on the red team after being pressed for it, Sandra would also struggle for a bit before admitting she herself was the weakest overall. That decision alone resulted in Ramsay eliminating her despite a solid service from the red team.
• Weak, but Skilled: Sandra could certainly pull off some strong performances every once in a while. Unfortunately, she was extremely prone to making mistakes in the kitchen, which, alongside her often hit or miss challenges, resulted in her being nominated quite a bit.

Placement: 10th

Sandra's Elimination Comment - "I'm not disappointed in myself because this was an incredible experience and I'm proud of myself with how far I came. I've been up on the chopping block four times and I completely understand and respect Chef Ramsay's decision. I will always own my shit. That's it."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "If Sandra wasn't even confident within herself, how could she expect me to be? So long, Sandra."

Devon Rosenblatt

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 29

Hometown: Louisville, KY

• Achilles' Heel: The meat station seemed to be this to him. In his last two services, he had noticeable struggles on there, with his second time resulting in his first nomination. When it came down to cooking a filet mignon for the Cook For Your Life challenge, Devon wound up overcooking the filet, resulting in his elimination.
• Aesop Amnesia: He didn't learn his lesson about not slicing filets before serving them, and it cost him his spot in the race when the Cook For Your Life Challenge came around.
• Ambiguously Bi: When he is assigned to make Caesar Salads for the clients, he spends the whole preparation flirting with a young woman. He claims that he is only doing it to charm the clients, but he is also seen having fun talking to her.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Funnily enough, it's the inverse of his rival in Jermaine. Devon was solid on the line, as long as he wasn't put on the meat station and could hold his own. Challenge wise however, it was rare that he would score a point, and it's likely his less than strong performances in challenges (especially when compared to Johnathan, Dahmere, and Ryan), was what resulted in him being nominated for the Cook For Your Life Challenge.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He mentioned he was at one point jobless and homeless.
• Deadpan Snarker: He also has his quotes when dealing with Jason being a jerk.
  Devon: (after Jason wants to be a jerk and trash-talk the women) Ah, by all means. Do it for us, please. The pettier you are, the better it is for me, 'cause I don't have to do it.
• Epic Fail: His filet dish for the Cook For Your Life challenge went so wrong in so many ways. With him second guessing himself, he wound up nearly overcooking the filet, before taking it out of the pan and putting it in the oven, then taking it out and putting it back in the pan, and finally ending it by slicing it too early. This unsurprisingly resulted in his elimination.
• Failed a Spot Check: In the seventh episode, Devon forgot a new york strip for a six-top, sending up one when there were supposed to be two. This caused the table to be sent out incomplete, and by the time that strip was finally sent out, the red team were nearly complete with their service.
• Fatal Flaw: Ultimately what sealed Devon's fate was his perfectionist attitude. As a result of him wanting to do everything perfect, he tended to second guess himself, leading to him crashing and burning. In the seventh episode, his second guessing himself on meat led to the blue team being kicked out, and in the Cook For Your Life challenge, it resulted in his filet being overcooked, resulting in his elimination.
• Genre Savvy: After Dahmere admitted his signature dish involved boxed pasta, Devon was not impressed.
• Heroic BSoD: He had one of these after his awful service on steak night, and then another one after surviving elimination over Jermaine.
• Misplaced Retribution: In the sixth episode, Jermaine tried to throw Devon under the bus saying that the team elected to put him up. While he did have reasons for doing so, in that Devon sent up raw steak, he primarily blamed Devon for his nomination. However, it was Johnathan who pointed out that Jermaine didn't lead, and Devon just went along with it. Also not helping is that Devon only really sent up the raw steaks because Jason jumped the gun and didn't give Devon any notification.
• Nice Guy: When Jason starts trash-talking the women claiming that none of them have talent, he honestly admits that some of them do, and refuses to keep talking to him. He opts to give him a Stealth Insult as a refined way to tell him that nobody is going to follow him there.
  Devon: I think some of them are very talented.
  Jason: Can you let me [bleep] be a [bleep]bag?!
  Devon: (clearly exasperated) Oh my god, fine!
• Never My Fault: During steak night, Devon blamed his poor performance on Jermaine, saying that he wouldn't have had a bad service had Jermaine had everyone helping him on garnish. Justified, as Devon couldn't really get any back-up or help due to Jermaine's mistakes because the entire team save Devon worked to bail out a struggling Jermaine. In the dorms, he even admitted he knew he fucked up, so Devon really only fits under this trope because he justifiably blamed Jermaine for ruining the flow of the night.
• The Perfectionist: He describes himself as one in his elimination comment.
• Poor Communication Kills: Was on the receiving of this in the sixth episode. Jason started to cook several pieces of fish minutes ahead and didn't give Devon any time to catch up, resulting in Devon sending up undercooked steak. It nearly resulted in his first nomination, but Jermaine was nominated instead because of his case of Bystander Syndrome.
• Tempting Fate: Right before Ramsay said who would be participating in the Cook For Your Life challenge, Devon would mumble "not me". Not only would be the first announced for the challenge, but he would wind up eliminated in said challenge.
• The Rival: He became this to Jermaine in Jermaine's final two episodes, based on the belief that Devon was attacking his character and integrity.
• Token Minority: The only LGBTQ contestant this season.
• Twofer Token Minority: A self described queer Canadian Jew black man (who was raised by his Hispanic stepmother).
• What Were You Thinking?: Made the game-ending mistake of second guessing himself on the filet during the Cook For Your Life challenge. Thinking the filet wasn't cooked enough, he stuck it in the oven just to make sure, and after taking it out, he ended up putting it back on the pan. However, the filet was already on the verge of being overcooked, and him putting it in the oven, taking it out, putting it back on the pan, and then cutting it too early, sealed not only it being over-cooked, but his own elimination.

Placement: 11th

Devon's Elimination Comment - "I definitely let myself down, and I made a silly mistake tonight. I'm a perfectionist at heart. And so, when I mess things up, I get down on myself. That's my lesson here. I just didn't trust myself. And when you're in a competition like this, if you don't trust yourself about what you've been doing for years, then you're going to fail no matter what."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "If you're gonna work in my kitchen, you better know how to cook a filet. Two words Devon will never hear from me are: Well done."

Jermaine Wright

"Tad, you can't sell that as a jambalaya. Probably should have sold it as a jamba-liar!"

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 31

Hometown: Queens, NY

• All Take and No Give: It's clear that Jermaine is a strong chef, but when he was working with someone on a station with him, he tended to only do the bare minimum required of him while letting his partner take far more of the workload. This led to Mattias crashing on the meat station in the third episode because Jermaine was allowing him to handle all the heavy work, and later on his lack of willing to take control led to his first nomination in the sixth episode. The following episode however showed that by himself, he was an absolute disaster, and he was gone not long after.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Jermaine was for the most part a strong chef, but he seemed very content with allowing other people to lead stations as opposed to stepping up. Eventually, it was called out, and while Jermaine tried to defend himself saying that he was more of a learner, he was nominated regardless.
• Bystander Syndrome: After Mattias went down on the meat station, Jermaine, who was on the station with him, was called out by the team for not helping him.
  • Eventually, his lack of leadership and willingness to drive a station resulted in his first nomination.
• Captain Obvious: While describing his fusion dish, after he asked what was the rice cooked in, Jermaine replied "A pot".
• Crippling Overspecialization: Jermaine was a very strong link in challenges, often churning out high scoring dishes that benefitted the team, and even being in contention for the punishment pass on the blue team at one point. Service wise, while he wasn't awful per say, he wasn't that much help due to handling only a small portion of the workload, and the moment he was put on a station himself, he proved unable to hold his own.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has his fair share of this. Most of his comments were directed at Jason and Tad.
• Dramatic Irony: His signature dish was a mac and cheese, and later on, he was eliminated for his blunders on the garnish station, with him sending up cold mac and cheese being highlighted especially.
• Epic Fail: His final service on the garnish station saw him not able to communicate and cause garnish to get behind, resulting in him sending up several cold garnishes and requiring help from both Dahmere and Jason. It also resulted in the meat station tanking, as Devon was unable to get any help as everyone was trying to help Jermaine.
• Everyone Has Standards: Like all the other guys in the room, he is disgusted by Jason's eagerness to trash-talk the women.
• Fatal Flaw: While Jermaine wasn't a bad chef, he just couldn't work on a station alone. Everytime Jermaine was on a station with someone, he let someone else do the heavy lifting, while he mainly did some small things on top of not leading. When he was finally put on a station by himself, he absolutely crashed, and got eliminated for it.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Donya, as both are from New York and have both been trying to outcompete each other.
• Hidden Depths: His first cookbook was brought by a family member, and it was Gordon's.
• Hypocrite: He calls himself a team player right after he just tried to throw Devon under the bus at elimination. On the way back, he says he has the most integrity in the team when he, again, tries to throw Devon under the bus.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He had his moments of not owning up to his mistakes, but it was clear that Jermaine wasn't a bad guy by any means. Even when he was eliminated, he told the blue team (sans Devon), to hold their heads up high.
• Kick the Dog: Was on the end of this, as despite him saying that he couldn't choose someone who was weaker than him, Devon would choose him as the weakest link, and as a result, he would be eliminated. That said, Devon was probably right to choose Jermaine.
• The Load: A borderline case. While Jermaine wasn't a bad chef, he wasn't really that much help in the kitchen. He usually let other people lead for him, while also giving them the majority of the workload. The moment he finally was put on a station by himself, he just couldn't handle it, and ended up being eliminated for it.
• Manipulative Bastard: Tried to throw Devon under the bus at elimination by claiming the team hadn't come to a consensus. Unfortunately for him, Jason (yeah, Jason) called him out on it and got him nominated alongside Jason himself anyway.
• Never My Fault: In the third episode, Jermaine was called out for letting Mattias struggle on the meat station and handle most of the section while Jermaine just handled a small portion, with Johnathan believing that Jermaine deliberately let Mattias fall that night. Jermaine on the other hand said he had his problem to focus on, despite the fact all he did was do wellingtons.
  • During nominations of episode 7, he gave empty platitudes that he was too late to catch his stride, and then called out Devon in confessionals that Devon is not showing any type of responsibility or ownership. When Jermaine got carried by everyone but Devon and at best said they were helping him before he found his stride. When giving his elimination speech he refused to accept his placement, blaming Devon and while wishing his team well, essentially said Devon is the cancer of the blue team.
• Non-Answer: When Ramsay asked who the weakest chef on the blue team was if it wasn't Jermaine, Jermaine hesitated, and said he couldn't choose.
• Poor Communication Kills: During steak night, Jermaine had trouble communicating on the garnish station, which led to him getting behind on garnish and sending up several undercooked garnishes. While he did eventually get help from both Jason and Dahmere, it only showed he couldn't handle a station on his own, and he was eliminated that night.
• Real Men Wear Pink: During the blue team's pool party reward in the third episode, he arrives wearing gold and magenta leopard swim trunks. The men are impressed and tease him for it, much to his embarrassment.
• The Rival: He became this to Devon in his final two episodes, based on the belief that Devon was attacking his character and integrity.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Somewhat. He was a pretty strong chef, but there were definitely times when he seemed to have it in his head that he could do no wrong. One example came during the fifth episode, where he didn't see any problem with putting tinfoil wrap on the wellingtons despite Jason thinking it was a bad idea, and Johnathan himself disagreeing with this decision. This ultimately resulted in an overcooked Wellington.
• Sore Loser: What Jermaine's attitude during nominations and his elimination speech showed of him. During nominations he refused to accept that needing at most four different people to bail him out means he is going up, blamed Devon for issues Devon had because of Jermaine's failings, called into question Devon's character for Devon having issues partly because of Jermaine's failings, and in his exit speech refused to accept he was going home and saw nothing wrong with his run. In fact, while he wished both teams well, he had some choice words for Devon, calling him a snake in the grass that needs to be watched out for.
• What Were You Thinking?: During the fifth episode, Jermaine made the baffling decision to wrap wellingtons in tin foil, resulting in them being overcooked.

Placement: 12th

Jermaine's Elimination Comment - "I definitely don't deserve to be here. Devon is the only person in this competition who tried to attack my character and my integrity. Snakes in the grass are snakes in the grass. It has nothing to do with me and my character, and who I am. So, Blue Team, keep your heads held high. But just be careful about the snakes in the grass."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Jermaine couldn’t even handle the garnish station, so he ended up at the bus station."

Raneisha Conerly

"I would have let Mattias stay another day and gotten rid of that captain ass douchebag."

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 38

Hometown: Foxworth, MS

• Brutal Honesty: She's never shy in sharing her opinions, even if they're at the worst of times.
• Cool Old Lady: She's extremely passionate, and very honest whenever it comes to pointing out flaws other chefs have such as Jason or Carmen.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: In the Fusion Challenge, Raineisha makes a Poke Bowl (a Hawaiian dish) for a Japanese-French theme and thinks this is, somehow, a good idea. What baffles everyone in the room is that she thought infusing her rice with BRIE CHEESE and GRAPES was going to be great, with duck and langoustine. It's not.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Subverted. In Episode 4, Raneisha had to make a pizza for the challenge, and she had the idea of deconstructing the pizza by making it as fried pizza dough chips with a pizza sauce dip. While the idea wasn't bad, Gordon criticized that the dip had too many elements in chunks (like entire slices of pepperoni) and a layer too thick of cheese on top. Gordon gave her no points for her entry.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She's a mother of six, with other three kids being adopted after she lost her sister to COVID.
• The Determinator: Poor skill in the kitchen aside, Raneisha never gave up and stopped trying, and even after her worst moments, she was always able to bounce back. It was even something that Ramsay praised her for on her way out.
• Graceful Loser: Raneisha took her elimination incredibly well, admitting she tried her best.
• Heroic BSoD: She had this after her fusion dish came out poorly, and she thought it was going to be good.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's intense and can fly off the handle at times, but she's shown to have a good heart underneath it all and is more than civil with chefs like Leigh and Donya.
• The Load: Raneisha was unfortunately never that strong of a competitor due to her lack of experience in the kitchen. She was pretty mistake-prone during service, and several times during challenges, she thought too far outside the box and came up with poorly thought-out dishes.
• Pet the Dog: Raneisha did not hesitate to comfort Donya after she apologized for her poor performance in the second service.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gave one hell of one to Carmen after she not only screwed up the red team's chances of winning the breakfast service challenge but also failed to take full responsibility for her mishaps. Also to note was the fact she reamed her out in front of the other customers.
  • She delivers another one to Jason, calling him out for acting like an egotist and thinking he's better than everyone. She even tried to get the red team to give him a reality check when he tried to leave.
• Sassy Black Woman: Very much so at the end of the Breakfast Service Challenge and where Carmen is concerned in general.
• Team Mom: Donya admitted that Raneisha was like a second mother to her after her elimination.
• What Were You Thinking?: For her fusion dish, Raneisha made the decision to infuse her rice with french cheese and grapes, which even Johnathan found disgusting. Needless to say, she didn't gain a point, and it contributed to the red team losing once more.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Raneisha believes this about Donya, as she does consider her a strong chef, but she can't be so hard on herself.

Placement: 13th

Raneisha's Elimination Comment - "At this point, I’m really proud of myself. My cooking skills, my knowledge got me here. And it got me this far, so that’s something to be damn proud of. And I was just a small town Mississippi girl who wasn’t too long ago homeless before I came here, so I gave all of Raneisha. Everything y’all saw, that’s me every day, 365."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Raneisha had a really strong voice in the kitchen, but unfortunately, her cooking didn't speak loud enough."

Bradley "Brad" Delgado

"My dumb ass takes a bite out of the fucking garnish. I bite into the green bean, and I'm like, 'Damn! This is a fucking green bean!' You know?"

Occupation: Line Cook

Age: 25

Hometown: Miami, FL

• Crippling Overspecialization: Brad was a relatively strong link in challenges, and even his weaker showing of them weren't necessarily bad so to speak. Service wise however, he got easily frazzled and caused him to make several mistakes.
• The Determinator: After a previous surgery he had began to backfire on him and cause him pain, Brad elects to work through service. Outside of a few hiccups and getting a bit frazzled, he worked through it with no issues. Unfortunately after service, it was too much for him to take, and he was sent home out of concern for his health.
• The Ditz: During the Surf and Turf protein challenge, Brad decided to take a bite out of the green bean when he should've been tasting the protein. Almost immediately after, he brought up chicken while Jermaine brought up beef.
• Gratuitous Spanish: He is Cuban, so he says some Spanish words when talking to others.
• Hidden Depths: Brad was previously in little league as a goalie.
• Honor Before Reason: When looking for nominees for the Bottom Two, he and Tad owned up to their mistakes, knowing that any one of them could be out.
• Keet: During the Signature Dish, he kept singing all the way, claiming that while normal people tend to whistle while working, he might as well bring some flavor to Hell.
• Large Ham: From the previews alone, he's shown to be a very loud and overly hyper chef.
• Loved by All: Pretty much everyone (outside of maybe Jason, but he's shown to dislike pretty much everyone) had nothing really bad to say about Brad.
• Nice Guy: He's hyperactive and a little scatterbrain, but he's a pretty nice guy all things considered.
• The Nicknamer: He commonly calls Jason "señor".
• Non-Gameplay Elimination: Gordon ejects him out of concern after telling Gordon about a surgery he had was beginning to backfire on him.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Bradley, but he went by Brad this season.
• Platonic Declaration of Love: Tells Mattias he loves him when he gets eliminated.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Pretty much the biggest case of this in the season, as his hyperactive and Large Ham nature make for some pretty funny moments.
• Token Minority: Brad is the second chef of Cuban descent in the show's history (after Peter).
• Weak, but Skilled: Brad, as much as he was nice, was pretty hit or miss in the kitchen, and due to his high energy, it resulted in him messing up quite a bit in service. Based on his challenges however, and the fact that he actually did fairly well despite being in a lot of pain, it's clear he had some level of talent.

Placement: 14th (Medical exit)

Brad's Elimination Comment - "I’ve given all my energy to this kitchen. It’s been one hell of a ride, but something’s wrong and it’s like, I wanna be 100% and give everyone 100%, and in this moment, I physically cannot."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - No comment.

Melissa Irons

Occupation: Executive Chef

Age: 34

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

• Broken Pedestal: Melissa decides to use her Immunity Pass in Episode 4, and she explains in the confessional that she didn't want to be a part of the punishment because her team didn't back her up last time with Chef Christina. This attitude continued in Episode 5, but it only sped up her elimination.
• Bystander Syndrome: What ultimately gets Melissa eliminated. When she worked on the garnish station with Sammi, she did not speak up or try to even direct the team on tickets, leaving her partner to do all the heavy lifting. On top of that, she barely gave it her all on the station cooking wise, resulting in Sous Chef Christina and Ramsay stepping in to give her direction.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Melissa was a genuinely strong link in challenges, managing to win the punishment pass and becoming one of the most consistent links on the Red Team when it came to them. When it came to service however, while she wasn't necessarily bad, she was pretty mediocre there, and as the season progressed, she got it into her head she didn't need to try.
• Defiant to the End: Even while she was being eliminated, she remained steadfast in her belief that her team didn't have her back.
• Did Not Think This Through:
  • Melissa should have known better than to lie to Sous Chef Christina that a lone piece of confetti was tape. The red team might have not had to suffer the consequences of their punishment if she’d been honest.
  • Her decision to essentially sandbag service by putting in little effort due to frustration of the team losing challenges and not "having her back" only made her standout for said lack of effort. Which promptly got her eliminated that same night.
• Genre Blind: During the fifth episode, Melissa stated that she did not care about doing well in services as she already shined in the challenges and felt Ramsay saw that. However, as many, many know, services are what decide who's going home, and later that same episode, Melissa would be sent home.
• Hidden Depths: Melissa was at one point a cheerleader.
• Hypocrite: She complains about her team not backing her up with her lie about the confetti punishment, and about Sandra and Donya failing the challenge, then she ends up making the team lose by abandoning them during service.
• I Work Alone: Began developing this attitude in Episode 5 after feeling alienated by the red team for her lying to Christina in the Episode 3 punishment, and feeling she was better than them in challenges. But that only backfired in the end as Ramsay would eliminate her for showing no drive to work with the team.
• It's All About Me: She begins to resent her team because they didn't back up her Blatant Lies to Chef Christina, so she decides to use her Punishment Pass the following day and abandon them with Jason. She later blames her entire team for failing the challenge, prompting her to put little effort to help during the service, claiming that she is already "shining in challenges".
• Never My Fault: During her elimination comment, Melissa would claim her team didn't have her back, and said they only put her up because they saw her as a threat.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The blue team describe her reaction to the challenge loss as this, considering she had been so nice earlier, and it was odd to see her angry.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Her final opinion of her team by Episode 5 is calling them a group of people who over thought things and did not want to be associated with them.
• Team Mom: She defines herself as "a caregiver and a lover", which reflects in her cooking. She is later trying to tell Jason in the best way possible that he is coming off as arrogant and egocentric. Jason, of course, is in complete denial about it. But after the confetti incident in Episode 3, that quickly eroded.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Melissa started off as one of the nicer women in the season, but following the controversial confetti incident in Episode 3, she began resenting her team and thinking of herself. It got to the point where she refused to communicate with them in Episode 5 and forced Sammi to do her job for her.

Placement: 15th

Melissa's Elimination Comment - "The team definitely let me down. I've been very consistent on pushing no matter what station I was on. I believe they put me up because I was a threat. All my strengths were always consistent. I wish I could live to fight another day here in Hell's Kitchen just to show my team that I was a great asset to them in spite of how they feel."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Melissa's drive completely disappeared, so I made her disappear from this competition."

Mattias Butts

"I'm twenty percent water and eighty percent pizza!"

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 28

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

• Achilles' Heel: Mattias had never worked with scallops in the shell before, which worked against him quite a bit as three times he ended up puncturing them before finally getting it right, and even then he only had thirty minutes left.
• The Big Guy: The tallest chef of the season without a doubt.
• Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much his reaction to what Tad reveals what he does in his free time.
• Everyone Has Standards: He is very pissed at Jason denying that he did anything wrong, despite serving undercooked lobster and halibut, because at least Brad and Tad owned up to their mistakes.
• Genre Savvy: He knew that being the last dish to present would either give his team the win or loss.
  • He also knew that being pulled into the pantry was a bad thing, after Jason continued to send up raw lobster.
• The Load: Mattias wasn't a very useful chef in the competition. His signature dish, while solid on paper, was muddled down with burnt garnish which cost the blue team the victory, and during service, Mattias's frazzled nerves continued to be a detriment to himself, ultimately resulting in his elimination.
• Manly Tears: Sported these as he was eliminated.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He took his poor performance in the second episode pretty hard, and admitted that he was aware he was going up and wasn't going to fight it.
• Nervous Wreck: He was incredibly nervous being the last to present, as he knew that a bad score would cost them the victory or gain them the win. It actually led to a tie but Ryan from the Blue Team lost the tiebreaker so technically Mattias cost them the victory.
  • Mattias was this overall throughout the competition, as his frazzled nerves made it difficult for him to bounce back from mistakes.
• Rule of Three: While he wasn't eliminated on his third nomination (he was only nominated twice), the three services Mattias had showed him to be unfit for the competition, despite Jason's repeated mistakes.
• Unfortunate Name: His last name "Butts".
• Weak, but Skilled: Based on his solid signature dish (that was only dumbed down by burnt garnish), and his pizza dish for the American Classics challenge, it's clear that he had some talent in the kitchen. Unfortunately, said talent didn't translate over well to the kitchen, where his frazzled nerves caused him to make many mistakes, and cost him his spot.
• You Are Too Late: After his poor performance in the second service, he seemed to be on a slow uprise in terms of improvement. Unfortunately, his final service, despite not being that terrible, was still enough to send him home, with Ramsay saying he's run out of chances to impress him.

Placement: 16th

Mattias' Elimination Comment - "I feel like the wrong person went home. No matter how much more experience on paper he has than me, I think I’m still a better chef than he’ll ever be. I showed that I’m bouncing back. But at the end of the day, I did make the mistakes I made. I gotta own up to that. This is a life changing opportunity for me, and, uh I just I wanted to come home a winner."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Mattias has had three services to impress me. Unfortunately, he struck out."

Claudia Diawara

"America! Earth!"

Occupation: Private Chef

Age: 41

Hometown: Zurich, Switzerland

• Bystander Syndrome: Essentially the reason for her nomination. While Donya had her problems on the fish station, Claudia pretty much didn't slide in to try and help out. That, along with her sending up raw lobster and her overall ditzy attitude, resulted in her elimination.
• The Ditz: Absolutely. After Gordon literally calls out Sandra for raw chicken, Claudia's immediate response was to ask how long for the same chicken. The following episode, when Gordon asks what planet she's on, she responds with "America". She only lasted one service longer than Tad.
• Funny Foreigner: Claudia is originally from Switzerland. She only became an American last year, and she has a habit of giggling.
• Hidden Depths: In the first episode, she revealed she spoke four languages.
• Mirthless Laughter: Right after being called out for asking for chicken, she ends up nervously laughing.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Averted. She was easily the weakest chef on the red team.
• Token Minority: The first chef of Swiss descent in the show's history.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Outside of her ditziness, she didn't really stand out too much.

Placement: 17th

Claudia's Elimination Comment - "I'm upset that I'm out. I'm the first to go from my team. I just really wished I could be part of Hell's Kitchen in Vegas. That would have been really one of my American dreams, if not the ultimate American dream."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Claudia can speak four languages. But cooking definitely isn't one of them."

Terry "Tad" Walters

"I'm a professional quidditch player."

Occupation: Sous Chef

Age: 28

Hometown: Houston, TX

• Cassandra Truth: Several people, including Ramsay himself, had a hard time believing that Tad was serious about being a professional Quidditch player. He was.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He was a tad too eager to talk about his Quidditch career.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: For some reason, he elected to add strawberry jam and lemon to his signature dish of sausage biscuits and gravy.
• The Ditz: Oh, so much. From his awful signature dish to his love for Quidditch (to which later he admits that he never read any of the Harry Potter books), everything about him screamed this. To no one's surprise, he was the first boot. To add to this, he even missed the door on the way out.
• Epic Fail:
  • His signature dish of pork biscuits was pretty much doomed from the start, with an awful presentation, too much paprika on it, and using strawberries of all things in there. It was no surprise he got one.
  • Then there was his service on meat, where he messed up communication and sent up raw steak and chicken. It was enough to send him home that night.
• Establishing Character Moment: Upon meeting Ramsay, he admitted that he was a professional Qudditch player, cementing him as the chef no one was ever going to take seriously.
• Flat "What": This was pretty much everyone's reaction to Tad saying he was a "professional" Quidditch player.
• Good Ol' Boy: He comes from the South and wants to represent them as best he can. Unfortunately, he’s too inept to represent them well.
• Graceful Loser: Despite being the first chef eliminated, Tad took his elimination incredibly well.
• Honor Before Reason: He didn't hesitate to own up to his raw chicken and accepted the nomination for the Bottom 2.
• The Load: Essentially the reason for his elimination. Throughout his entire stay, Tad was easily the weakest chef on the blue team and of the season overall, and despite him wanting to improve, Gordon saw no hope in him.
• Nice Guy: Poor skill in the kitchen aside, Tad wasn't a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination. He didn't take any jabs at his love for Quidditch personally and was more than happy to show off what the sport was like.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: The moment he mentioned being a professional Quidditch player, all hopes of him being taken seriously were swept out the window, and Gordon constantly made jabs at his love for the sport.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Terry, but he went by Tad in the season.
• Poor Communication Kills: His one service saw him fail to communicate with his team properly, which only served to eliminate him faster that night.
• You Are Too Late: Despite Tad admitting to Gordon that he wanted to get better, he had already ruined his chances with his poor signature dish and awful performance in service, not to mention his ditziness.

Placement: 18th

Tad's Elimination Comment - "Growing up, I felt so much self-doubt, so much insecurity. But, while being here in Hell's Kitchen I did the best I could. I'm really hoping at some point down the line you'll see something different from me. You'll be like, 'Holy shit, this guy, uh, isn't uh, isn't just a professional Quidditch player, you know. He actually has something about him.' I really hope that happens one day in the future."

Ramsay's Elimination Comment - "Tad not only believed Quidditch is a real sport, but also that he's a real chef. Neither is true."