History BaseBreakingCharacter / HellsKitchen

* Mia has become this. People can agree that she was the most consistent of the Rookies, and there's many people who find her attractive. However, some people find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). Her tendency to [[NeverMyFault push the blame around]], such as with Chris on opening night can rub people the wrong too. In particular, the time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes on fish after Tilly Ramsay's birthday service didn't help.

* Mia has become this. People can agree that she was the most consistent of the Rookies, and there's many people who find her attractive. However, aome people however find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). Her tendency to [[NeverMyFault push the blame around]], such as with Chris on opening night can rub people the wrong too. In particular, the time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes on fish after Tilly Ramsay's birthday service didn't help.

* Mia has become this. People can agree that she was the most consistent of the rookies, and there's many people who find her attractive. However, aome people however find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). Her tendency to [[NeverMyFault push the blame around]], such as with Chris on opening night can rub people the wrong too. In particular, the time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes on fish after Tilly Ramsay's birthday service didn't help.

* Mia from Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans) has become this. Some people can agree that she was the most consistent of the rookies, and there's many people who find her attractive. Other people find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). The time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes on fish after Tilly Ramsay's birthday service didn't help.
* Motto. Initially starting as an EnsembleDarkhorse due to his NiceGuy personality and his quit being seen as graceful, some fans have started to point that that Motto likely wasn't going to make the finals, and felt that he quit to save face. Additionally, there are a few fans that believe that he wasn't as nice of a guy as fans make him out to be, as he did join in on bullying [[ButtMonkey Trev]], although in all fairness, Trev had been burning his bridges lately.

* Melanie. She has many fans for her [[MissFanservice good looks]] as well as her talent and mostly consistent services. However, she has quite a few detractors who feel like she could be annoyingly cocky at times, and also dislike her habit of sitting out punishments that involve manual labour, making her teammates do those jobs while using the excuse of "being weak". Her being allowed to keep her Black Jacket over the far more popular [[EnsembleDarkHorse Rochelle]] didn't help.

* Dafne additionally. She has many fans for her [[MsFanservice attractiveness]], but also a number of detractors for being seen as generic and lacking in personality, as well as being an EliminationHoudini, with one example involving fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkHorse Mindy]] being put up over her despite Mindy doing nothing wrong all night. She only ended up getting more detractors when she threw Cheyenne under the bus, and many fans started fearing that she was destined to win. [[spoiler:Thankfully for some, she lost to Alex in the finale.]]

!!Season 17

!!Season 18

!!Season 19

!!Season 20

!!Season 21

* Meghan, as while some people like her for her no-nonsense attitude and consistency throughout the show, to the point where she is often considered one of the most dominant winners in the entire series, others dislike her for her arrogance and demeaning attitude towards [[EnsembleDarkHorse Michelle]], especially when she decided to put Michelle up for elimination instead of Milly in Episode 14, despite the fact that former didn't do anything wrong during service while the latter had a rough night on the fish station. Although, given just how much of a dominating force she proved to be throughout the season, it's definitely fair to say the Meghan at least has the skills to back up her ego.

* Meghan, as while some people like her for her no-nonsense attitude and consistency throughout the show, to the point where she is often considered one of the most dominant winners in the entire series, others dislike her for her arrogance and demeaning attitude towards [[EnsembleDarkHorse Michelle]], especially when she decided to put Michelle up for elimination instead of Milly in Episode 14, despite the fact that former didn't do anything wrong during service while the latter had a rough night on the fish station. Although, given how much of a dominating force she proved to be throughout the season, it's definitely fair to say the Meghan at least has the skills to back up her ego.

* Meghan, as while some people like her for her no-nonsense attitude and consistency throughout the show, to the point where she is often considered one of the most dominant winners in the entire series, others dislike her for her arrogance and demeaning attitude towards [[EnsembleDarkHorse Michelle]], especially when she decided to put Michelle up for elimination instead of Milly in Episode 14, despite the fact that former didn't do anything wrong during service while the latter had a rough night on the fish station. Although, one could argue that her arrogance is not without justification, given just how well she performed in the competition.

* Meghan, as while some people like her for her no-nonsense attitude and consistency throughout the show, others dislike her for her arrogance and demeaning attitude towards [[EnsembleDarkHorse Michelle]], especially when she decided to put Michelle up for elimination instead of Milly in Episode 14, despite the fact that former didn't do anything wrong during service while the latter had a rough night on the fish station. Although, one could argue that her arrogance is not without justification, given just how well she performed in the competition.

* Both Season 1 finalists, Michael and Ralph, suffer from this, especially Michael. His fans see him as one of the most badass chefs in the show's history, his detractors accuse him of being a KarmaHoudini and ManipulativeBastard who had no right to win the season. Ralph also gets this due to being a man with major SmallNameBigEgo problems, albeit an attitude he backed up in spades when in the kitchen. The fact that both sabotaged fan favorite Elsie doesn't help matters.
* Also from Season 1, Chris. His fans say that he was one of the better chefs of the season (although not as good as Michael and Ralph), and many felt he was [[ShockingElimination screwed over by Michael]]. His detractors on the other hand dislike his pretentious and contemptuous attitude towards his teammates.
* Season 2's Keith and Virginia. Keith was actually fairly popular for most of the season, but a lot of his fans jumped ship when he TookALevelInJerkass after accusing Ramsay of having favoritism for Virginia, although some fans did side with his accusation. As for Virginia, fans either saw her as cute and endearing or as a weak chef who didn't deserve to go as far as she did, and the biggest CreatorsPet the show has had -- most fans don't begrudge her staying in the competition long enough to outlast her ArchEnemy, Sara, but her surviving over Keith was a step too far for some. It didn't help that she also managed to survive over the much more popular Rachel, albeit largely because she actually ended up as the Best Of The Worst in the week when Rachel was eliminated.
* Also from Season 2, Garrett. Some fans dislike him for his sexist comment towards Heather (albeit he was provoked and it was mainly to get under her skin), and his blow-up at Keith when he didn't select him to go on a reward with him. However, others do enjoy him being a {{Determinator}} and his interesting past of being a reformed criminal.
* Jen from Season 3. While most will agree that she was the most consistent female chef that season, as well as one of the more level-headed, there is a not insubstantial group of fans who will never let her live down the pasta bin incident.
* Corey from Season 4. Fans either saw her as entertaining and providing one of the show's greatest rivalries with Christina, as well as one of the greatest [[DefrostingIceQueen redemptions]], or they saw her as petty and too bitchy, even after she started being nicer.

* Colleen from Season 5. Many people found her one of the worst chefs in the entire show, despite being a culinary instructor. However, many liked her for her being a {{Determinator}} and tenacity, as well as her refusal to give up, which softened a lot of people's opinions on her.
* Amanda from Season 6. You either find her ditziness cute or incredibly annoying and obnoxious. Her being the [[TheMillstone main reason that Kevin lost]] didn't help much, although some fans were happy due to it allowing the far more popular [[EnsembleDarkhorse Dave]] to win.
* Suzanne and Tennille from Season 6. Unlike Carol and Andrea from the previous season, who both proved to be unlikable on their own, Suzanne and Tennille were both decent people on their own. They had their own fans taking a side in their conflict, with everything coming down to [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation viewers' outlook]].
* Autumn from Season 7. Some fans found her personally annoying or condescending, such as in the egg frying challenge. However, many fans were also rooting for her due to her status as TheFriendNobodyLikes, and thought she was treated very unfairly by the other chefs and was much better than they gave her credit for (especially when compared to most of this season's Red Team).
* Also from Season 7, Holli. Her fans find her one of, if not the most [[MsFanservice attractive]] winner in the show's history, as well as praising her for being one of the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Women]] alongside Nilka. On the other hand, others find her one of the blandest winners in the show's history, and find that her DarkHorseVictory wasn't deserved over the more popular [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jay]]. Her showmance with him is also rather divisive as well, with fans finding it either charming or abrupt.
* Curtis from Season 8. Some people think that he was one of the worst chefs in the show's history, due to him never having a stand-out performance in either challenges or services, as well as managing to get [[EnsembleDarkhorse Boris]] nominated over him. Others believe that Curtis was robbed, as he was put on a station that he was clearly weak on, and think that Raj and Vinny had more glaring issues during the service he was eliminated in. [[labelnote:Context]]Raj was being [[TheLoad Raj]], while Vinny told people not to order sides, pretty much making the garnish station useless.[[/labelnote]]
* Raj from Season 8. Some people think his incompetence is endearing and is an effective comedy relief, while others think he was not fit at all for the show. That said, he was popular enough to get [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CgqudioHmTE a video of his "highlights," if you can even call them that, on the show]] on the official ''Hell's Kitchen'' Youtube channel.
* Rob from Season 8. Some fans find him to be decently funny (although, not to [[FatIdiot Raj's]] level), while his detractors found him to be a [[TheLoad pretty weak chef in general]], where he only got to the top eight due to the chefs before him being far lower quality chefs. He also has detractors due to his ItsAllAboutMe attitude in the second service, where he refused to help out Curtis on the sushi station, ultimately resulting in Curtis's elimination, and then turning around and [[{{Hypocrite}} complaining about not receiving help from his teammates]] in later services.
* Also from Season 8, Trev. Some fans dislike his jerkish and often whiny attitude, as well as his [[NeverMyFault refusal to own up to his mistakes]]. On the other hand, some fans point out that Trev does deserve to have a bit of an attitude towards the Blue Team, as he was primarily the ButtMonkey of the group, and one of the biggest in the show's history. Many fans also appreciate how he at least tried to work with Raj, and how more often than not, he was probably the sanest person on the Blue Team that season only behind Louis. His confessionals also gained him a good number of fans, with many people loving his DeadpanSnarker tendencies.
* Jillian from Season 8 as well. Some think she was one of the most consistent chefs, while others think she just got lucky in a season that had noticeably lower quality chefs. Her being the OnlyFriend to [[TheScrappy Sabrina]] also doesn't help, as well as her primarily being on the appetizers and garnish stations.
* Nona from Season 8. While some fans like her for calling out Sabrina's immature behavior and Russell for threatening physical violence on Trev, solid leadership in the finale and having a solid palate (such as when she scored 3 out of 4 in the Blind Taste Test and won the always difficult Taste It, Now Make It challenge), others dislike her for her inconsistent performances, and she is often seen as one of, if not the weakest winner in the series because of it. Her [[TookALevelInJerkass diva-like behavior]] when she returned as part of a veteran team in Season 11 didn't help.
* Paul from Season 9 is an interesting case, as while he was generally well-liked in that season and was undoubtedly a strong chef, many people [[spoiler: believe the far more popular and talented Will should've won over him]]. His Season 11 and 12 appearances where he became an InsufferableGenius didn't help much.
* Krupa from Season 9. While she is one of the nicest chefs of the season, and was considered of the favorites, she did up losing half her fans due to [[TheMillstone her poor performance]] in the finale, costing [[EnsembleDarkHorse Will]] the victory.
* Clemenza from Season 10. While he was fairly well liked throughout the season for his LargeHam attitude and being [[JerkassWithAHeartOfGold abrasive, but willing to comfort others]], as well as his RousingSpeech that not only saved him from elimination, but gained him many fans in the process, he ended up losing many fans after he was picked last for the final service, resulting in him nearly walking out on Justin. Although to be fair, chefs like Patrick (who failed as a leader), Royce (who was notoriously inconsistent), and Robyn (who had a horrible temper) were chosen before him, and they all ranked lower than him in the competition, which does make his reaction somewhat justified.
* Sebastian from Season 11. Some fans believe that he didn't deserve to be eliminated first solely due to personality issues, especially over the [[TheLoad far worse Jeremy]], who also was [[NeverMyFault trying to avoid blame]], and his [[MemeticMutation "Zacky Wacky" line]], which became a very popular quote in the season. Others believe his elimination was entirely fair, as he was [[TooDumbToLive kicked out of the kitchen and attempted to return several times]], and others found him trying too hard to be [[FunnyForeigner funny]], which resulted in some fans finding him [[WallOfBlather annoying]].
* Barrett from Season 11. While he is clearly [[NiceGuy one of the nicest chefs of the season]], he has some detractors due to his [[TheLoad severe incompetence]], with his final few services literally containing two examples of his cooking [[LethalChef nearly ''killing'' someone]].
* Ray from Season 11. While he does have his fans for [[CoolOldGuy being the oldest chef in the competition to date]] to the extent that fans were angry when [[spoiler: [[TheScrappy Zach]] sabotaged and managed to get him sent home]], others dislike him for his more immature behavior despite his age and [[NeverMyFault not being able to accept responsibility for his mistakes.]]
* Also from Season 11, Michael. Some people lump him in with Jon and Anthony as being one of the more competent chefs on the infamous Blue Team. Others however, dislike his HairTriggerTemper and his comment about him making sacrifices, where he admitted he didn't take his son home out of the hospital and worked instead.
* Jason, the runner-up of Season 12, has a mixed reputation in the fanbase. Many fans love him for his fun, LargeHam personality, consistency in the kitchen, and a beard worthy of a Viking. Other fans don't like his moments of arrogance, and there was his [[NeverLiveItDown infamous blowup with Sandra]] (though he did at least apologize). And, similarly to Season 2's Keith and Virginia, there is a lot of debate over whether he or Rochelle should've been in the finale.
* Kashia from Season 12. Some fans like her sweeter moments and believe that she can cook. On the other hand, she had her fair share of detractors due to her HairTriggerTemper whenever she gets called out, especially in the later stages in the competition, and her NeverMyFault attitude, although she grew out of it by the time she was eliminated. Like Joy, she also gained some flak for constantly trying to throw Scott under the bus.
* Melanie as well from Season 12. She has many fans for her [[MissFanservice good looks]] as well as her talent and mostly consistent services. However, she has quite a few detractors who feel like she could be annoyingly cocky at times, and also dislike her habit of sitting out punishments that involve manual labour, making her teammates do those jobs while using the excuse of "being weak". Her being allowed to keep her Black Jacket over the far more popular [[EnsembleDarkHorse Rochelle]] didn't help.
* Bryant from Season 13. While some fans do believe that he's certainly talented and a far more likable finalist than someone like [[TheScrappy Russell]], others dislike his HairTriggerTemper and acting like a SoreLoser whenever he lost challenges, although this was thankfully averted when he lost to La Tasha in the finale. There's also some people who think that Sade should've been in the final two over him.
* Also from Season 13, Jennifer. Her fans enjoy her for being a DefrostingIceQueen who slowly mellows out throughout the course of the season, as well as being a {{Determinator}} who was hospitalized twice in the season and still came back to have a good service, while her detractors still saw her as having a HairTriggerTemper (although not to Bryant's extent), and still found her too aggressive.
* Additionally, there's Santos from Season 13. Initially starting out [[TheScrappy hated]] for teaming up with the similarly hated Steve and Aaron to sabotage their teammates. While some fans admit that Santos did get better and started taking accountability for his mistakes, he still has some detractors as some still not forgive him for what he attempted to do, and being considered one of the most forgettable black jackets in the show's history. Him also receiving one over chefs like [[EnsembleDarkhorse Fernando and especially Sterling]] didn't help matters.

* Nick's appearance in Season 14 was very much this. Fans did enjoy his DeadpanSnarker tendencies, as well as his friendship with Michelle to the extent that he was the only person who called out Meghan when she tried to nominate Michelle due to "process of elimination". [[note]] In other words, T had done well and she didn't want to nominate Milly.[[/note]] On the other hand, fans pointed out his more bitchy side that tended to come out, as well as his more rude moments. Thankfully in All-Stars, he toned this down, and [[EnsembleDarkHorse became much more well-liked]].

* Meghan from Season 14, as while some people like her for her no-nonsense attitude and consistency throughout the show, others dislike her for her arrogance and demeaning attitude towards [[EnsembleDarkHorse Michelle]], especially when she decided to put Michelle up for elimination instead of Milly in Episode 14, despite the fact that former didn't do anything wrong during service while the latter had a rough night on the fish station. Although, one could argue that her arrogance is not without justification, given just how well she performed in the competition.
* [[{{Joisey}} Jackie]] from Season 15 has her fans for bringing such a goofy and [[LargeHam hammy]] personality to the show, making her very entertaining to watch. Her friendship with Ariel was also seen as heartwarming to many, especially in the finale episode where she seemed to be Ariel’s strongest and most vocal supporter, clearly more determined than anyone to help her win during the final challenge, and can even be heard cheering for Ariel the loudest when she won. However, she also gets a lot of hate for her subpar-to-mediocre skills in the kitchen, [[SmallNameBigEgo terrible]] [[NeverMyFault attitude]], [[ItsAllAboutMe crass behavior]], and extremely confrontational personality, with even Sous Chef Christina calling her cancer for the Red Team at one point. The moment where she ''dumped an ashtray on Kristin'' did not help at all and had many viewers arguing that she should have been eliminated on the spot. She was also kept around farther than some less dramatic and roughly similar or better skilled contestants.

* Genaro from Season 16 is disliked by some for his exceeding lack of passion, but others sided with him over Johnny yelling at him, finding the latter to be overreacting. Other factors in his favor include Johnny becoming a scrappy in the following episodes, along with Genaro's untimely death at 32.

* Also from Season 17 (All Stars), Robyn. While she was [[TheScrappy hated]] in her previous season, and started off hated here, she did have an attitude improvement when she was switched to the Blue Team, and fans did find her friendship with [[EnsembleDarkHorse Jennifer]] endearing. However, some fans believed that her cooking ability took a nosedive, and many fans were not happy when she managed to survive in [[ScrappyMechanic elimination challenges]] over Jennifer and Giovanni. She also lost some fans by being TheLoad that kept messing up during the final service, but she got to stick around due to Benjamin being too much of a NiceGuy to truly kick her out of the kitchen. Thus, a lot of people blame Robyn as the sole reason for Benjamin not winning.

* Also from Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans), Motto. Initially starting as an EnsembleDarkhorse due to his NiceGuy personality and his quit being seen as graceful, some fans have started to point that that Motto likely wasn't going to make the finals, and felt that he quit to save face. Additionally, there are a few fans that believe that he wasn't as nice of a guy as fans make him out to be, as he did join in on bullying [[ButtMonkey Trev]], although in all fairness, Trev had been burning his bridges lately.
* Kori from Season 19 (Las Vegas). Some people lump her in with [[EnsembleDarkhorse the rest of the final four]] in terms of talent and likeability, most notably encouraging Jordan to not relapse on her alcoholism and her and Cody buying Vitamix blenders for Mary Lou and Declan after they lost a challenge. However, others believe she had a mean streak that primarily consisted of sabotaging and not owning up to her mistakes, citing Syann's last service and the final 4 service as examples.
* Trenton from Season 20 (Young Guns). While many people do agree that he is skilled, and appreciate that he was the one who broke the female winning streak, others dislike his moments of arrogance and his harsh leadership in the finale, especially when compared to [[EnsembleDarkhorse Megan]], who some believe should've won.
* Vlad from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) very quickly became this. Many of his detractors dislike his loud and cocky attitude, while others point out that he can back up his ego, with his Signature Dish getting a perfect 5 out of 5, and also point out him helping out Ileana when he didn't need to during the Signature Dish Challenge.
* Tara from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) as well. Initially starting out as an EnsembleDarkhorse for being one of the only competent 40-Somethings of the season, she would reach Base-Breaking status after Mindy was eliminated. While some fans felt bad that Tara was being targeted due to her age, others pointed out that she was making legitimate mistakes, which gave the younger chefs a decent excuse to put her up.
* Dafne from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) additionally. She has many fans for her [[MsFanservice attractiveness]], but also a number of detractors for being seen as generic and lacking in personality, as well as being an EliminationHoudini, with one example involving fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkHorse Mindy]] being put up over her despite Mindy doing nothing wrong all night. She only ended up getting more detractors when she threw Cheyenne under the bus, and many fans started fearing that she was destined to win. [[spoiler:Thankfully for some, she lost to Alex in the finale.]]

* Ariel from Season 15. While most people agree that she is actually a pretty good chef and a leader, and applaud her for being the second chef to win the competition despite having an injury, her detractors dislike her manipulative personality, especially when it comes to nominations and sabotaging her teammates, most notably Chad.

* Season 2's Keith and Virginia. Keith was actually fairly popular for most of the season, but a lot of his fans jumped ship when he TookALevelInJerkass after accusing Ramsay of having favoritism for Virginia, although some fans did side with his accusation. As for Virginia, fans either saw her as cute and endearing or as a weak chef who didn't deserve to go as far as she did, and the biggest CreatorsPet the show has had -- most fans don't begrudge her staying in the competition long enough to outlast her ArchEnemy, Sara, but her surviving over Keith was a step too far for some. It didn't help that she also managed to survive over the much more popular Rachel, albeit largely because she actually ended up as the Best of the Worst in the week when Rachel was eliminated.

* Rob from Season 8. Some fans find him to be decently funny (although, not to [[FatIdiot Raj's]] level), while his detractors found him to be a [[TheLoad pretty weak chef in general]], where he only got to the top eight due to the chefs before him being far lower quality chefs. He also had detractors due to his ItsAllAboutMe attitude in the second service, where he refused to help out Curtis on the sushi station, ultimately resulting in Curtis's elimination, and then turning around and [[{{Hypocrite}} complaining about not receiving help from his teammates]] in later services.

* Vlad from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) very quickly became this. Many of his detractors dislike his loud and cocky attitude, while others point out that he can back up his ego, with his signature dish getting a perfect 5 out of 5, and him helping out Ileana when he didn't need to during the signature dish challenge.
* Tara from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) as well. Initially starting out as an EnsembleDarkhorse for being one of the only competent 40 somethings of the season, she would reach Base-Breaking status after Mindy was eliminated. While some fans felt bad that Tara was being targeted due to her age, others pointed out that she was making legitimate mistakes, which gave the younger chefs a decent excuse to put her up.
* Dafne from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) additionally. She has many fans for her [[MsFanservice attractiveness]], but also a number of detractors for being seen as generic and lacking in personality, as well as being an EliminationHoudini, with one example involving fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkHorse Mindy]] being put up over her despite Mindy doing nothing wrong all night. She only ended up getting more detractors when she threw Cheyenne under the bus, and many fans would start fearing that she was destined to win. [[spoiler:Thankfully for some, she lost to Alex in the finale.]]

* Dafne from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) additionally. She has many fans for her [[MsFanservice attractiveness]], but also a number of detractors for being seen as generic and lacking in personality, as well as being an EliminationHoudini, with one example involving fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkHorse Mindy]] being put up over her despite Mindy doing nothing wrong all night. She only ended up getting more detractors when she threw Cheyenne under the bus, and many fans would start fearing that she was destined to win.

* Dafne from Season 21 (Battle of the Ages) additionally. She has many fans for her [[MsFanservice attractiveness]], but also a number of detractors for being seen as generic and lacking in personality, as well as being an EliminationHoudini, with one example involving fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkHorse Mindy]] being put up over her despite Mindy doing nothing wrong all night.

* Season 2's Keith and Virginia. Keith was actually fairly popular for most of the season, but a lot of his fans jumped ship when he TookALevelInJerkass after accusing Ramsay of having favoritism for Virginia, although some fans did side with his accusation. As for Virginia, fans either saw her as cute and endearing or as a weak chef who didn't deserve to go as far as she did, and the biggest CreatorsPet the show has had. It didn't help that she managed to survive over the much more popular Rachel.

* Nona from Season 8. While some fans like her for calling out Sabrina's immature behavior, solid leadership in the finale and having a solid palate (such as when she scored 3 out of 4 in the Blind Taste Test and won the always difficult Taste It, Now Make It challenge), others dislike her for her inconsistent performances, and she is often seen as one of, if not the weakest winner in the series because of it. Her [[TookALevelInJerkass diva-like behavior]] when she returned as part of a veteran team in Season 11 didn't help.

* Bret from Seasons 14 and 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans). Many fans love his passion for cooking and confidence in the show and sympathized with him over his past and his injury forcing him out of the competition, due to him being seen as a major front-runner. However, others found him arrogant and disliked his abrasive and extremely emotional attitude, which some state gets old after a while. His return in Season 18 resulted in him becoming even more polarizing, particularly when he called himself an [[NWordPrivileges emotional ass n-word]], leaving many fans shocked.

* T from Seasons 14 and 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans). During her initial appearance she was one of the more popular contestants for almost never putting a foot wrong in service or challenges, and for consistently calling out chefs with terrible attitudes (such as Monique) or who were just unqualified to be there (such as Chrissa). However, towards the end of that season she started to become a little more divisive for her {{jerkass}} behavior toward Michelle, perhaps the most universally popular contestant from the season. Season 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans) rendered her a ''lot'' more divisive, as she appeared to have TookALevelInJerkass while becoming a far less consistent chef in the intervening years, and she ended up exiting the competition at a relatively early stage, doing perhaps the most damage to the reputation of any of the chefs who came back for Seasons 17 or 18.

* Bret from Seasons 14 and 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans). Many fans love his passion for cooking and confidence in the show and sympathized with him over his past and his injury forcing him out of the competition, due to him being seen as a major front-runner. However, others found him arrogant and disliked his abrasive and extremely emotional attitude, which some state gets old after a while. His return in Season 18 resulted in him becoming even more polarizing, particularly when he called himself an [[NWordPrivileges emotional ass n-word]], leaving many fans shocked.

* T from Seasons 14 and 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans). During her initial appearance she was one of the more popular contestants for almost never putting a foot wrong in service or challenges, and for consistently calling out chefs with terrible attitudes (such as Monique) or who were just unqualified to be there (such as Chrissa). However, towards the end of that season she started to become a little more divisive for her {{jerkass}} behavior toward Michelle, perhaps the most universally popular contestant from the season. Season 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans) rendered her a ''lot'' more divisive, as she appeared to have TookALevelInJerkass while becoming a far less consistent chef in the intervening years, and she ended up exiting the competition at a relatively early stage, doing perhaps the most damage to the reputation of any of the chefs who came back for Seasons 17 or 18.

* Heather from both Season 16 and 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans). Most people agree that she is actually a fairly solid chef, typically holding her own in services and doing well in challenges (remarkably getting a 5 on her signature dish in both seasons). However, her detractors dislike her fairly crass attitude and mannerisms, and her moments of being a {{Hypocrite}} and NeverMyFault, especially in Season 18 (Rookies vs. Veterans). Her showmance with Andrew in Season 16 (despite him being engaged) also cost her much popularity with both the audience and even other contestants. On the other hand, her supporters point out her moments of being a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, especially towards Aaron's elimination and Kimberly winning a Black Jacket over Andrew in Season 16. Her biggest offense typically comes from surviving elimination over other contestants who are much more well-liked and popular (Heidi in Season 16 and Kanae in Season 18).

* Nona from Season 8. While some fans like her for calling out Sabrina's immature behavior, solid leadership in the finale and having a solid palate (such as when she scored 3 out of 4 in the Blind Taste Test and won the always difficult Taste It, Now Make It challenege), others dislike her for her inconsistent performances, and she is often seen as one of, if not the weakest winner in the series because of it. Her [[TookALevelInJerkass diva-like behavior]] when she returned as part of a veteran team in Season 11 didn't help.

* Bryant from Season 13. While some fans do believe that he's certainly talented and a far more likable finalist than someone like [[TheScrappy Russell]], others dislike his HairTriggerTemper and acting like a SoreLoser whenever he lost challenges, although this was thankfully averted when he lost to La Tasha in the finals. There's also some people who think that Sade should've been in the final two over him.

* Mia from Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans) has become this. Some people can agree that she was the most consistent of the rookies, and there's many people who find her attractive. Other people find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). The time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes with fish didn't help.

* Mia from Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans) has become this. Some people can agree that she has been the most consistent of the rookies, and for people who find her attractive. Other people find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season would be rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale). The time she blamed [[EnsembleDarkHorse Kanae]] for her mistakes with fish didn't help.

* Mia from Season 18 (Rookies Vs. Veterans) has become this. Some people can agree that she has been the most consistent of the rookies, and for people who find her attractive. Other people find her arrogant to a fault, and feared that the season was rigged for her to win (though this was ultimately {{subverted}} when she faced off and lost against Ariel in the finale).

* Curtis from Season 8. Some people think that he was one of the worst chefs in the show's history, due to him never having a stand-out performance in either challenges or services. Others believe that Curtis was robbed, as he was put on a station that he was clearly weak on, and think that Raj and Vinny had more glaring issues during the service he was eliminated in. [[labelnote:Context]]Raj was being [[TheLoad Raj]], while Vinny told people not to order sides, pretty much making the garnish station useless.[[/labelnote]]