Season 1
- Jeff was massively hated for repeatedly mouthing off to both Chef Ramsay and Sous Chef MaryAnn, and was also the first contestant to use his inexperience as an excuse for his incompetence. Notably, he was the only Season 1 contestant to pull this excuse, even though two-thirds of that season's contestants had no professional experience.
Season 2
- Sara, full stop, for repeated sabotaging and being thoroughly unpleasant towards Virginia especially. Even detractors of Virginia were happy when the former received her immunity back in the middle of the Elimination Ceremony, if only because it meant Sara would be eliminated.
- Tom is also this for being incompetent and talking down to the other chefs, despite being worse than the majority of them. That being said, many fans still enjoy his moment where he burnt a duck (it helps that this was what got him eliminated), and his status did die out a bit once fans learned that he passed away.
Season 3
- The infamous "Hell's Bitches", Melissa, Joanna, and Tiffany.
- Tiffany is hated for her harsh bullying of Julia, especially with her infamous "She works at a fucking Waffle House" as an excuse to get rid of the latter.
- Joanna was hated for constantly trying to deflect blame and also joining in with bullying Julia (knowing that she was fully innocent but joined with Tiffany to "make her look bad"). Her final episode earned her more ire from the fans when she was caught cooking with rancid crab and rather than admit she made a mistake, she tried to downplay by throwing Jen under the bus for almost (key word being almost) serving trashed pasta.
- Melissa didn't start off too hated, being seen as reasonable enough, but soon after became incredibly abrasive and became needlessly bossy and even talked back to Ramsay.
- Vinnie is hated for constantly arguing back to Chef Ramsay, and for his consistently poor performances. However, some fans did appreciate him stepping up for Rock in the final service.
- Josh is hated for being a delusional Elimination Houdini, as well as getting a Black Jacket over the way more competent Brad despite having no strong performances in services. What irked people more was that he ignored Rock's constructive criticisms, believing them as bullying, and tried to step up as the leader of the Blue Team when he had no ability whatsoever. Many fans were actually happy to see Ramsay kick him out in the final five service as it was clear he stayed for too long.
- Despite not getting to compete beyond the signature dishes and being mostly edited out, JR was hated once it was discovered he took Joanna's story of needing money and a place to stay as her having an affair with her boss in an attempt to gain an advantage of her, as well as behaving unprofessionally and making off-color remarks.
Season 4
- Rosann started off fairly likable, but upon the eliminations of Sharon and Vanessa, she started to rule the Red Team to a high school-esque clique, which allowed her to get further than she should have. It didn't help that she was part of the group that continually tried throwing Christina under the bus, and eventually managed successfully to do the same to Shayna.
- Jen is hated for her extremely bitchy and two-faced personality, where she would act innocent, but in confessionals talk trash about her fellow chefs. Her attempting to rig the nomination votes to eliminate Christina, and her belittlement of Louross didn't help.
- While starting out as a potential favorite of the season, Ben quickly became hated for his arrogance and refusing to own up to his mistakes, as well as trying to blame his incompetence on "different techniques". Like Jen, Ben also was hated for trying to throw Louross under the bus multiple times. His actions outside the show didn't help him in the slightest.
- Craig was incompetent to the point where he single-handedly cost his team the third challenge, and in the following episode, would be non-communicative only to suddenly scream like a demon just seconds later.
- Matt only ever seemed to smile whenever someone else (usually Ben) was getting punished and was a weak performer who was lasting too long. It got really bad in his one Black Jacket episode, where he suddenly acted deranged and had his worst service yet. It didn't help that he survived over the much more popular Louross.
- However, no one this season could compare to Jason, who is widely considered one of, if not, the most notorious chef to ever appear in the show's history. While only being around for three episodes, he proved to be laughably bad in service. In the first one, he had to be brought down by Chef Ramsay because he was busy smoking and proceeded to fail at risottos for three hours before finally sending one out to a table that had just left. The only reason he managed to survive elimination that night was because both Dominic and Bobby were considered to have a worse service. In his last service, he struggled to make souffles, then baffled Ramsay when he suggested rubbing cocoa and sugar around the rim, which he should have started by doing. However, what made him extremely infamous was his unrelenting and unapologetic sexism towards women, with almost every confessional he had involving derogatory and sexist comments towards the Red Team, and with the reveal that he was very much like this off the show, it only cemented his position as being the most hated chef in Hell's Kitchen history.
Season 5
- Andrea was disliked for being incredibly inconsistent and never owning up to her mistakes, and Carol was disliked for her bitchiness, attempted sabotage, and even threatening violence on Andrea. Their feud only served to make both even more unpopular.
- Seth was a short-lived example, as he was horribly incompetent and appeared to not even be taking the competition seriously, angering his teammates.
- Lacey tends to get a lot of hate, as she was extremely whiny and lazy, and she was another chef who hid behind inexperience. Her also nearly quitting the competition before the first service and her sleeping through punishments, as well as her poor attitude in the finale only added to her infamy.
Season 6
- Louie, the shortest-lived Scrappy yet, for his misguided signature dish, extreme levels of ineptitude in the following service, and awful and sexist attitude.
- Lovely for being extremely lazy and selfish; she managed to be a scrappy on The Next Food Network Star as well for similar reasons.
- Andy, as lot of fans found him one of the biggest examples of an Elimination Houdini, where he managed to survive to 8th despite being one of the weaker chefs of the season, which would often result in him being helped out by Dave, usually resulting in Dave injuring himself even further. This came to a head in his final service, when he cut himself and claimed he couldn't cook, resulting in the aforementioned and far more injured Dave bailing him out. Him surviving over Jim and especially Robert didn't help matters.
- Sabrina also tends to get some hate, mainly for her deluded and arrogant personality where she believed she was one of the best chefs, but in reality, was one of more inconsistent chefs of the season.
- But no one this season could possibly top former Marine Joseph, who threatened to fight Chef Ramsay, only to back down when the latter answers the call, and was openly against the rewards.
Season 7
- Scott tends to get a lot of hate for his horrible ego problems that got worse after moving to the Red Team, as well as sabotaging his teammates. He also gained a lot of hate for believing he was the strongest chef in the competition, where almost every sentence that came out of his mouth was about how great a chef he is and how the Blue/Red Team would "die" without him, despite him being one of the worst chefs of the season.
- Benjamin started out fairly decent, but after his move to the Red Team, he ended up taking a level in jerkass, and became incredibly snobbish, particularly towards Siobhan. He's also not liked for his excessive Gratuitous French.
- Other examples of scrappies include Fran for being an incompetent Elimination Houdini, Andrew for his bizarre and mentally unhinged behavior that led to him storming out mid-service, and Maria for never shutting up and clearly not taking the competition seriously.
Season 8
- Russell is easily the most unpopular finalist for his increasingly dickish behavior and even threatening violence on Trev. He gained additional hatred when instead of taking his loss in the finals graciously due to the majority of his team not wanting to work with him, he instead blamed his team for his loss, and elected to blackball them. While he did apologize for his actions, it does nothing to help his status.
- Sabrina is extremely unpopular for her diva-like behavior, emotional outbursts and constant attempts to throw the other contestants under the bus.
- While not as hated as Russell or Sabrina, Melissa also tends to get hate for her Informed Ability of being a great chef, when in reality she was a consistently poor performer. She also gets hate for her often-condescending attitude towards Chef Ramsay.
Season 9
- Elise and Carrie, with their infamous rivalry and almost constant arguing, can render this season nigh unwatchable at times.
- Elise, the all-time Scrappy queen, for her unrepentant and selfish attitude, to say the least. When Elise returned in All Stars, she was described by the others in whispers as "the most hated Hell's Kitchen contestant ever," not an inaccurate statement.
- Carrie isn't that much better than Elise herself, as much like Elise, she believed herself to be a great chef, despite being terribly inconsistent and mediocre at best, often being the main cause of her team's losses in both challenges and services. Both are also despised for surviving over the more popular Jamie.
- Brendan, though mercifully, only briefly, for his egotistical attitude towards Paul and lying to Chef Ramsay on his last night.
- Chino is also hated for his extreme incompetence and his abrasive attitude towards Natalie, even to the extent that he made her cry.
- Steven also got flack for his Small Name, Big Ego attitude, with him talking back to Ramsay and insisting everything he cooked was perfect.
- Although starting out well liked, Jonathon eventually fell into here due to his refusal to admit his mistakes and making excuses, and him sitting out a punishment due to a supposed "neck injury", claiming he couldn't work even though others (namely Season 6's Dave) worked through worse. This status died out a bit after his death, though.
Season 10
- Royce is one of the most disliked male chefs, for his ego problems and constant referring to himself in the third person.
- This season also has the infamous Terrible Trio of the Red Team, Robyn, Kimmie and Tiffany, all three of whom are hated for different reasons.
- Robyn is very much hated for being at the centre of almost every conflict this season, her refusal to admit her mistakes, which cost her allies and her awful behavior towards Barbie, who was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap over time.
- Kimmie also gets a lot of hate for her abrasive and emotional attitude, as well as being a major bully towards chefs like Christina and the aforementioned Barbie.
- Tiffany in particular gets a lot of hatred for being lazy and sloppy, her willingness to let other chefs take the blame for her mistakes, sowing the seeds of conflict that resulted in Kimmie's bullying of Christina, Dana, and Danielle, and her near mentally-unhinged bullying behavior towards Barbie that resulted in her throwing things in the dorms.
- While starting off fairly well liked, Dana became a Scrappy in the latter half of the season when she started screaming in her confessionals... you know, where other people can't hear her anyway?
- Chris was a short-lived one, mainly due to his sexism.
- Tavon was an even more short-lived, yet more infamous example. He is a strong contender for worst competitor in the series in terms of performance, having a signature dish that reeked of vinegar, shredded the Blue Team's entire supply of scallops to the point of unusability, and laughed when called out by Chef Ramsay for his utter incompetence. All of this in spite of being an executive chef at 22, which itself has been scrutinized post-show as a possible scam.note
Season 11
- Susan is by far the least popular Black Jacket chef for taking 15 episodes to properly cook lamb, which many point to as proof she lasted too long.
- Nedra is extremely loud and confrontational, uses "bitch" as punctuation, and worst of all manipulates the Red Team into not nominating her. Luckily, when she was transferred to the Blue Team, her new teammates were not willing to play her game and showed her the door.
- Dan for his terrible attitude towards everyone else, refusing to cooperate with others, shoving his skills in everyone else's faces, and bad-mouthing Jean-Philippe and waiters in general after he spoke about how tough working as a waiter is. He got major Scrappy points in the final service, constantly acting like the jerkass he was, though at the end, when it's revealed that Ja'Nel won the season, he goes to Mary (he was picked last for her team) and apologizes for his actions, but it still doesn't do anything to his Scrappy status.
- Jeremy for being one of the most incompetent chefs ever and refusing to own up to his very glaring mistakes. Nobody felt sorry for him when he got cut from the winning team for serving a sample plate.
- Danielle, for constantly whining about having never worked in a brigade before despite being an executive chef.
- Gina is disliked for being incredibly annoying with her puppet, as well as being condescending to her teammates and is overall widely likened to a female Raj, but without the unintentional hilarity.
- Zach started out okay, if a bit cocky, but at around the midway point his skills dropped and his ego got bigger, which made just about everyone hate him, the fans included, especially with his successfully sabotaging Ray and being very gleeful about it. He eventually reached new heights of hatred once he managed to survive elimination over the far more popular Anthony.
Season 12
- Ralph is hated for his refusal to own up to his mistakes, and his tendencies to throw other chefs under the bus, with one instance resulting in the elimination of the far more well liked DeMarco.
- Mike tends to get a lot of hatred for being extremely unprofessional and refusing to own up to his very glaring mistakes, insisting the Blue Team had it out for him. He gained additional hatred for refusing to shake Ramsay's hand upon his well-deserved elimination.
- Much like Mike, Nicole is hated for being extremely disrespectful and a major Sore Loser, as well as lacking any kind of passion and emotion, with the only time with her showing any sort of other emotion involving her being extremely defensive.
- Gaurav was not very well-liked during his first and only service, where after he stuck his fingers in a risotto and Ramsay scolds him for it, he acted nonchalant about it and claimed that everyone does it.
- Sandra definitely started out as this, being unnecessarily hostile and defensive, but grew out of it, calling out the Red Team for nominating Rochelle solely because the latter wanted a family (while not really putting up a fight to stop herself from being nominated), and accepting her elimination in Episode 12 with class, as she knew it was her own fault. She grew back to being a Scrappy with her behavior in the finale, by being lazy, attempting to sabotage the VIP table, and generally showing a poor attitude. Much like Jonathon, however, this status fizzled out a bit upon fans hearing the news of her passing.
- While starting out fairly well liked, Anton quickly rose to become one of the more disliked contestants due to his ego, constant excuses, and sexist attitude, to the extent he got into an argument and was subsequently torn apart by Sous Chef Andi. His poor service that same night saw him eliminated, where he promptly declared he was still the winner anyway and was looking forwards to the day when he would be opening a restaurant next to Ramsay's.
- While considered a great chef, Joy tends to get a lot of hatred for her attempts to keep the far-weaker Kashia in the competition, which usually resorted to throwing fan-favorites Rochelle and more notoriously, Scott under the bus. The latter is particularly egregious because Scott was nothing but kind to her, which made Joy look like an Ungrateful Bitch. There's also her mocking of Jessica during her elimination and her sexist and hateful attitude towards the men of the season. To say nothing of her Rage Quit in Episode 18 after a relatively minor mistake only cemented her position.
Season 13
- JR and JP (or, as Chef Ramsay calls them, "Just Ridiculous" and "Just Pathetic") were short-lived examples with the Never My Fault trait sticking on them.
- Most fans also find Roe one for being a weak chef yet somehow sticking on and also having a pretty poor attitude.
- Fans also disliked Steve and Aaron, along with Santos (who was eventually Rescued from the Scrappy Heap), when they conspired to sabotage the rest of the Blue Team to make themselves look better. Aaron in particular is disliked for his arrogance and being an extremely poor team player, as well as believing that he was one of the strongest chefs on the Blue Team, all while constantly making excuses and being mediocre at best; with Steve's medical exit and Santos fixing his attitude after that leaving him as the sore spot further highlighting this. Him quitting during the elimination ceremony didn't help matters, as it appeared that he was likely to be eliminated anyways, and wanted to go out on his own terms, rather than be eliminated normally.
- Other short-lived examples included Denine for her It's All About Me attitude and Kalen for her Never My Fault attitude and being a pretty weak performer in general, on top of appearing to lack any sort of passion.
Season 14
- Monique became this for many viewers after the first episode, thanks to her mouthing off at Chef Ramsay when he called her out for using the pre-made sauce in her signature dish (pre-made foods are a huge no-no in that challenge), along with constantly picking fights with her teammates.
- Cameron was a short-lived example, with many disliking him due to his Small Name, Big Ego trait where he bragged about stuff he allegedly knew, although it was clear he was talking out of his ass.
- While initially not being paid much attention to due to him being seen as an early boot, Michael fell into this category due to him putting a hot pan that was seconds away from bursting into flames next to the cold fish pans (which is extremely dangerous, and could've caused third degree burns to either Josh or Bret had they picked it up), and acting nonchalant about it and refusing to take responsibility for it.
- Although they started out fairly popular, Josh and Milly grew into this. Milly lost fans by sabotaging Randy and ultimately getting him sent home, but that's nothing compared to Josh. In the beginning, he was one of the nicest, most entertaining, most easygoing guys on the Blue Team, but he lost about half of his fanbase in Episode 10 when he looked down on Nick's background (though YMMV on how much was jerkass and how much was accurate), and lost almost all of the other half in the following episode when he was transferred to the Red Team where he simultaneously shot down in talent and shot up in ego (Anton, anyone?).
Season 15
- Frank is heavily disliked by the fans due to his general bad attitude, his constantly blaming others for his mistakes and his shameless dislike and sexist attitude towards women in general. His showing this same disdain towards female Marines in his last episode earned him even more hatred and got him relieved of his Marine duties. Frank is not the first Marine on Hell's Kitchen to become a Scrappy (looking at you, Joseph).
- Dannie had a very apparent egotistical personality by frequently saying that she was clearly the best chef on the Red Team despite Ariel, Ashley, and Kristin all consistently outperforming her as chefs, and she also had a tendency to start drama with her teammates for no good reason. She solidified her status as a Scrappy in the finale, where her Screw This, I'm Outta Here attitude pretty much turned everyone against her. Basically, she walked out during Ariel's service due to being called out for not being able to cook the meat, and even went about complaining that she "didn't want to be there."note Most took this as a sign that she was still salty over getting eliminated in 6th place. Her clashing with and eventually surviving over Hassan didn't help matters.
- Meese wasn’t very well-liked for starting so much drama and managing to clash with several of her teammates in the span of only four episodes before she finally got eliminated due to bad communication skills.
- Alan was also not very well liked, due to many fans finding him annoying rather than funny and disliking his boastful personality.
- Ariel may be the most hated winner in the series, due to her Never My Fault attitude that resulted in Chad's elimination, her manipulative personality, with her putting up Kristin for very little reason, and being argument prone.
Season 16
- The Blue Team is very infamous for being comprised of awful personalities and incompetence, with only a few exceptions.note They are the main reason this season is not viewed in a particularly fond light.
- Andrew. Any fans he might have had began to be completely lost when he started flirting with Heather constantly, despite allegedly being engaged to be married in a few months. His immature and bullying behavior towards contestants such as Devin and Kimberly, and his refusal to take responsibility for his mistakes doesn't help either.
- Matt, due to being a jerk to anyone who criticized him. Him being a bigger Sore Loser than even Johnny and Koop did not help his case. Despite him adjusting his attitude after his near quit in Episode 3, he gained more hatred for being the primary reason for Aaron's elimination, stating that he was weakest overall despite Aaron having a good service. In his last two episodes, he eventually degraded back to his arrogant self, resulting in his elimination. His actions outside the show note didn't help him one bit, leading him to becoming one of, if not, the most hated chef in the show's history.
- Although he started out fairly popular, Paulie eventually became one due to his increasing arrogance, inability to take criticism, and loud-mouthed Jerkass behavior, especially towards Ryan. His attitude when Devin and Wendy went home and declaration that he would only look him out for himself also reflected poorly on him, and many fans felt he should have gone instead of them. Like Jonathon and Sandra, though, this status died out a bit after he had passed away.
- However, no one on the Blue Team this season could compare to Johnny. Like Paulie, he started out fairly likable, however, his temper tantrums and his bullying and sexist behavior towards the women of the Red Team, openly admitting that he loves doing such things quickly caused fans to sour on him. His mediocre cooking skills and constantly throwing his teammates under the bus didn't help at all. This resulted in many people declaring him worse than Season 4's Jason and even Elise.
- Gia from the Red Team is heavily disliked by fans for being overly whiny, bitchy and dramatic all the time. Her attempt at lying about an injury didn't help, and many were glad to see her get eliminated soon after.
Season 17 (All Stars)
- Elise naturally. The show itself referred to Elise as the most hated contestant in the show's history and she proved hell-bent and determined to beat out every other example to the point expecting a stabbing was not unreasonable.
- Barbie started off fine, but soon Took a Level in Jerkass in her final episodes.
- Josh due to his sheer level of incompetence, bragging about only working 3 hours a day, and trying to return to the kitchen after Ramsay threw him out.
- Despite being an Ensemble Dark Horse in Season 15 and not starting off that bad, managing to catch Ben before he fell and seriously injured himself, Jared fell all the way into here for his weird comments involving kissing his sister, lying about a cut on his last night, and overall acting more dramatic than before.
- Near the end of his run, early frontrunner Milly turns into this by not pitching in during punishments or service, and when called out by his teammates over his lack of finesse and fine-dining experience, insisting in the confessional that their opinion towards him has "nothing to do with cooking".
Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans)
- Jen was an early one for the first three episodes as she did not improve on her attitude after ten years off the show, and it resulted in her accusing Ramsay of sabotaging her on garnish. That obviously led to an early exit.
- Scotley slowly but surely became this after Jen's elimination, thanks in part to both his inconsistency in the kitchen and asshole nature to his team (Trev in particular). When he survived the Cook For Your Life challenge over Gizzy (even after Ramsay savaged his choice of dish), fans were not happy.
- Both Trev and Bret were alright at the start, but by the second half, they were not being well received with haters of Trev disliking his whining and Never My Fault attitude, and haters of Bret finding his emotional outbursts to be past their welcome.
- Much like Trev and Bret above, T started out alright, and after Kevin's elimination she was labeled as the biggest favorite to win. One episode later however, her Small Name, Big Ego attitude flared up, and she gained a Never My Fault attitude, which quickly soured fans of her. Her bullying nature towards Heather and especially Kanae didn't help.
Season 19 (Las Vegas)
- Marc became this after the fourth episode, with his dictatorial behavior, angry (sometimes unprovoked) outbursts, picking fights with Declan, and giving off a Napoleon complex. Some people even started comparing him to Elise. However, he has mellowed out by Episode 6 after realizing that arguing with the Blue Team would not help him, and by Episode 8 he was fully Rescued from the Scrappy Heap. Sadly, Episode 9 brought him back here when he reverted to his old behavior, with Adam getting eliminated over him certainly not helping.
- Amber is hated for constantly making herself look like a victim and the Blue Team is out to get her, when in actuality the Blue Team tries to work with her but she keeps shooing them away. She then blames them for her mistakes and reports their so-called behavior to Kori, causing the latter to not have a high opinion on the men later in the season. The fact that she spent more time on the Blue Team than the Red Team yet never missed an opportunity to complain about not being on the Red Team as well as getting a Black Jacket over Nikki didn't help.
Season 20 (Young Guns)
- Brynn became this due to her repeated emotional outbursts and sudden rage issues whenever her team loses a service. Her hate increased after surviving over Steve, and when she was eliminated an episode later, many people celebrated.
- Josie became one after multiple instances of refusing to taste her food the moment animal products are involved. Many are baffled that she, a vegan, is trying to win an executive chef position at GR Steak. She's also hated for constantly targeting Keanu for unfounded reasons, eventually nominating her for the Cook For Your Life, where she was eliminated.
- Matthew was a short-lived example, as he was one of the most incompetent chefs ever to compete, up there with Tavon and Louie, kept laughing when Chef Ramsay called him out on a mistake, and kept trying to use "fast pacing" as an excuse. Is there any wonder why Ramsay refused to hear his plea before kicking him out?
- Alex was another short-lived example. He was another incompetent chef only a rung above Matthew who infamously blamed three other people for his chicken mistakes on his second service, as well as requesting a "breather" in the following service.
Season 21 (Battle of the Ages)
- Billy can be too loud and boisterous for most viewers, his frequent use of Pretty Fly for a White Guy manner of speech is pretentious, and every single time he's nominated for elimination or criticised he assumes it's because the others consider him a threat, and not because, you know, he actually needs to work on his culinary shortcomings. Doesn't help that he's a massive Elimination Houdini either.
- Alyssa isn't well-liked either, due to her Lazy Bum attitude and starting arguments with Sommer and Ileana during service.
Season 22 (The American Dream)
- Jason quickly became a Scrappy for being another Small Name, Big Ego chef and for having a toxic personality all around. Being an Elimination Houdini doesn't help either.
- Carmen while being able to back up her ego isn't very well liked for her Never My Fault attitude by claiming her team's mistakes are more impactful than her own.
