History ShockingElimination / HellsKitchen

** Nilka. Up until that night, she had been a solid performer. But during that dinner service, she inexplicably fell apart. Her performance was so bad that Chef Ramsay actually kicked her out of the kitchen mid-service. She tried to step back in, which led to Ramsay being forced to asking the other chefs to get her out.

** Santos's elimination in the first black jacket service, in that service, his only mistake was a minor overseasoning of salad, while Roe served a raw steak (to clarify, ''[[EpicFail the steak dish she created]]''. Plus, it was Santos's third nomination, while it was Roe's fifth.

** Eddie. He did mess up a bit in his last service, but otherwise had been consistent throughout the show. (While some other chefs had made many mistakes before.)

** Alison. Not so much in terms of that particular episode, as she near single-handedly tanked the Red Team's service so badly that the Blue Team had to be called in to rescue them. Overall however, Alison had only made one or two very minor mistakes prior to that episode, with some fans feeling that she should have been given a second chance, and Josh should have been eliminated for yet another poor performance (albeit one that was nowhere near as bad as Alison's).

* Season 1: Mary-Ellen's elimination over Andrew. Granted, her performance in her final service ranks as one of the worst in the entire history of the show, but prior to that she had actually been the blue team's most consistently good performer after Michael and Ralph, the two professional chefs. Moreover, she was put up against Andrew, who had been both consistently bad in the services and repeatedly disrespectful towards Chef Ramsay. It even shocked Jessica & Ralph as well.
* Season 2: Gabe, not in terms of his performance, as he was absolutely terrible in that service. But he was the first chef to ever get the boot despite not being nominated, which was very much an unexpected twist. What makes it more so was the fact that whilst his service was problematic, it was mainly Giacomo and Tom that tanked the service.

** Brad; he had been the only consistently decent performer out of the men (apart from eventual winner Rock), but after two below-par services, Chef Ramsay chose to eliminate him over the consistently terrible Josh.Though when Brad was bad, he was really bad. (For instance, trying to scrape the bottom of a burnt Wellington only to be caught by Ramsay and giving Ramsay an extra risotto when it wasn't ordered.) Plus, Brad's elimination was partly due to the fact that he deliberately tried to screw Josh over during that service, by refusing to help him when he was screwing up on the meat station. If Brad hadn't done that, then chances are it would have been Bonnie or Josh who was eliminated.
** Julia. Made more prominent that Josh was eliminated that same night prior, but Ramsay stated that someone had to go. To twist the knife further, the other person up for elimination that night was Rock and Ramsay himself was struggling as to whether eliminate the one who showed so much potential and was determined to get to the high point of his career against the one who made the biggest amount of progress in a short amount of time.
** Jen. Depending on whether you look at just her last service or her overall performance. While she did make some screw-ups both running the pass and cooking for Rock and Bonnie, they were pretty minor ones, and prior to the black team she had been much better overall than Bonnie.

** Shayna. That very episode, Rosann sent raw steak to the birthday girl while Matt sent dried fish to the birthday girl's mom and gets his station replaced by Bobby. During elimination, all three were nominated. After a heated exchange with Ramsay, Matt concludes that he would rather work with the red team because the whole blue team hates him. Shayna was eventually eliminated for just being slow. And then Ramsay agreed with Matt and put him on the red team, much to the surprise of Corey. (This was probably ExecutiveMeddling. The producers probably wanted to milk the Matt vs. Ben conflict for all it was worth. Shayna was pretty much invisible during the season.)
** Bobby, who was on the chopping block only ''once'', was eliminated instead of Jen, who was on the chopping block more times than Bobby and had a much worse service than him. Strangely enough, this is the second time someone is eliminated through Ramsay asking the person nominating the two on who should be eliminated. Christina preferred Jen to go home, but Ramsay disagrees.
** Similarly, the first time this happened, Petrozza was asked whether he wants Louross or Jen to be out. Petrozza chose fan-favourite Louross to be out because he screwed up on meat that night (this is only Louross's ''second'' bad service, by the way). Ramsay agrees, meaning that Jen, again, was safe.
** It should be noted that Jen was the prototype of the RealityTV bitch, so was kept on the show [[RuleOfDrama to keep things interesting]] and by the time of Bobby's elimination Ramsay quite likely had his mind set on either Christina or Petrozza.

** Charlie, again when he was put up for elimination against Seth. Despite Seth having been involved in the aforementioned filet butchering incident that week, Charlie was seemingly eliminated for being a bad ''waiter'' rather than having made any fatal mistakes in the kitchen.
** Basically any time in season five when the elimination came down between Seth or Lacey and someone else and the person that wasn't Seth or Lacey stayed. Both contestants were useless; Seth consistently messed everything up and set the blue team back in multiple instances. Lacey was lazy, skipped her team's punishment on at least one instance, and was generally irresponsible and a terrible cook. She inexplicably started doing a lot better for a couple episodes after she was switched from the red team to the blue team and the blue team actually started ''winning'' with her, but then went back to being terrible shortly thereafter. Seth was probably kept on as a Ratings Hook via ExecutiveMeddling. People would continue to watch to see just how low Seth would sink and how much of a kissass he would act toward Ramsay.
** When Carol, Andrea and LA were called up for elimination, LA was eliminated for failing in mashed potatoes, Carol and Andrea had far worse performances than her.

* Jim from Season 6. He had never been an especially impressive performer, but he generally wasn't too bad either, so it came as something of a shock when Ramsay suddenly eliminated him for being too laid-back, even though he hadn't been nominated that week. A shame, since he was one of the [[DeadpanSnarker funniest contestants]] to appear on the show.

** Siobhan. She did mess up, but it was a little surprising considering she was up against Fran who had arguably done a lot worse that night and had been nominated several times before.
** Nilka. Up until that night she had been a solid performer. But that dinner service, she inexplicably fell apart. Her performance was so bad that Chef Ramsay actually kicked her out of the kitchen mid-service. She tried to step back in, and Ramsay had to resort to asking the other chefs to get her out.

** Curtis. A borderline example, since he was more directly at fault for the blue team's second service going down in flames with his horrible performance on the sushi, which collapsed the team before Raj's station (sides) could ever come into play. However, Raj ''still'' managed to get thrown out of service for making sides which hadn't been ordered, and then nearly provoked his team-mates to violence with his condescending remarks after the service, which for most people was proof that Raj was just too much of a nutjob to succeed in the contest.
** Raj. Eliminated out of the blue despite his team winning. In fairness, he ''was'' a complete lunatic who got on with no one, couldn't follow simple instructions and almost provoked a brawl during prep. Oddly enough, in a post-show interview with Sabrina (the manipulative diva of season 8), she stated she kept in touch with him after the show was over.

** Gina. She was eliminated despite not being nominated, while she certainly had made mistakes during service, Monterray's performance that night was arguably worse and it was his 2nd time up for elimination.

** Bobby, who was in the chopping block only ''once'', was eliminated instead of Jen, who was in the chopping block more times than Bobby and had a much worse service than him. Strangely enough, this is the second time someone is eliminated through Ramsay asking the person nominating the two on who should be eliminated. Christina preferred Jen to go home, but Ramsay disagrees.

** Nilka. Up until that night she had been a solid performer. But that dinner service, she inexplicably fell apart. Her performance was so bad that Chef Ramsay actually kicked her out of the kitchen mid-service. She tried to step back in, but Ramsay had to resort to asking the other chefs to get her out.

** Finally, Brian became one in the last service before black jackets; despite absolutely TANKING on the meat station that night(he was so bad that Barbie had to step in and do his job), he had been one of the more consistent chefs on his team (plus he got 3 out of 4 on the palate test, which is important to Ramsay and is rare). Robyn hadn't technically been as bad that night, but she was worse in terms of consistency. However, in all fairness Brian's goofiness (which made him a fan favorite for some) contributed to his elimination, as Ramsay doesn't like it when chefs make jokes during service or don't take him seriously, and Brian had a knack for doing both, which combined with his terrible performance that night, pretty much sealed his fate.

** Nilka. Up until that night she had been a solid performer. But that dinner service, she inexplicably fell apart. Her performance was so bad that Chef Ramsay actually kicked her out of the kitchen mid-service.

** Rochelle. While she was weaker in leadership than both Jason/Scott, many viewers felt Rochelle should have been in the final for her consistency.

** Chris. He struggled on the pizza station, but Scott made the situation worse, while Ralph was unable to admit his faults on the meat station.
** Richard. It was Richard's second nomination, but it was Gabriel's fifth nomination. While he was eliminated for lacking Gabriel's desire to succeed, he had been more consistent than Gabriel overall.
** Kashia. Kashia struggled on fish, but it was the seventh time Scott had been nominated for elimination (though half of his nominations were [[ButtMonkey solely because his team hated him]]), and he even talked back to Chef Ramsay that night.

** Rochelle. Despite being weaker in leadership than both Jason and Scott, many viewers felt Rochelle should have been in the final for her consistency.

** Scott and Jason being in the final. Many viewers felt Rochelle should have been in the final for her consistency, despite her being nervous as a leader.

** Chris's elimination. He was a member of the pizza station, which did terrible that day, but Scott (also from the pizza station) wasted a lot of dough (which they eventually ran out of) and Ralph couldn't admit his huge faults in the meat station.
** Richard's elimination. Sure, Richard was not the best chef on the blue team, as he was up for the second time. However, Gabriel was up for the fifth time, and for good reason: he repeatedly served raw meat. While Richard was one of the more consistent chefs on his team, Gabriel wasn't, serving everything from raw mushrooms to raw chicken. Richard's elimination was mostly due to the fact that he was the most experienced chef on the Blue Team, and it is well known that Ramsay has higher expectations of contestants with more kitchen experience. However, Gabriel was himself an Executive Chef, and he'd had an equally bad service that night.
** Kashia's elimination over Scott in the first black jacket service. True, Kashia made some mistakes that night and was struggling under the pressure at that stage of the contest, but Scott was far worse in terms of consistency, being nominated for the SEVENTH time that night (though to be fair, half of his nominations were [[ButtMonkey solely because his team hated him]]). Also, he talked back to Chef Ramsay during service that night, which was ultimately what got Giovanni eliminated over Andrea in Season 5 on the same first night as black jackets.
** The following episode saw one of the shocking in the show's entire history, not least because it was a self-inflicted example. After being incredibly consistent and making virtually zero mistakes throughout the entire season, Joy completely broke down after Chef Ramsay chewed her out for not being able to time the orders correctly, causing her to lose it, tell Ramsay to fuck off and then toss off her chef's jacket and storm out of the service, and thereby the competition. Even Ramsay himself admitted it may have been the most shocking thing he'd seen in all his years of doing the show.
** Ramsay's decision to have Scott and Jason as the final two. ''Many'' viewers felt it should have been Scott and Rochelle as the final two, citing constant strong performance and Jason's attitude issues and general belligerence, and were also annoyed that was eliminated before Melanie - and that Melanie got to keep her jacket while Rochelle didn't, citing Rochelle's much stronger performance running the kitchen, not just that night, but throughout the entire season. Note that Jason ''was'' about as consistant as Rochelle, and the fact that Jason was more experienced probably is what kept him in the finale. Also, Rochelle's habit of giggling probably didn't help her.

** Randy. Was eliminated in Episode 11 for seemingly having declined in recent services & caving under pressure, even though the Blue Team had won that night. What makes it more so is that Randy was eliminated for poor leadership. While he was able to complete his course, Josh had to have his course taken over by Ramsay because he overcooked the red team's entire supply of tuna and had declined in recent services like Randy.

** Randy. Was eliminated in Episode 11 for seemingly having declined in recent services & caving under pressure, even though the Blue Team had won that night.

** Santos's elimination in the first black jacket service, in that service, his only mistake was a minor overseasoning of salad, while Roe served a raw steak (to clarify, ''[[EpicFail the steak dish she created]]''. Plus, it was Santos's third nomination, while it was Roe's fifth.

** The second was Roshni in the next episode; while she also had trouble on the meat station, Patrick, on fish, sent up cold lobster twice. The fact that Roshni was on the chopping block for the fourth time, while Patrick was only on his second, is likely what kept them alive for another night.

** Kashia's elimination over Scott in the first black jacket service. True, Kashia made some mistakes that night and was struggling under the pressure at that stage of the contest, but Scott was far worse in terms of consistency, being nominated for the SEVENTH time that night (though to be fair, half of his nominations were [[ButtMonkey solely because his team hated him]]. Also, he talked back to Chef Ramsay during service that night, which was ultimately what got Giovanni eliminated over Andrea in Season 5 on the same first night as black jackets.

** Kashia's elimination over Scott in the first black jacket service. True, Kashia made some mistakes that night and was struggling under the pressure at that stage of the contest, but Scott was far worse in terms of consistency, being nominated for the SEVENTH time that night. Also, he talked back to Chef Ramsay during service that night, which was ultimately what got Giovanni eliminated over Andrea in Season 5 on the same first night as black jackets. Not to mention that it wouldn't have been surprising if Kashia had been kept around as ExecutiveMeddling to keep things interesting, as she was pretty much this Season's version of Jen from Season 4.

** Fernando being eliminated over Roe. Both made the same mistake that night (not bringing up enough food for all twelve plates and being relatively weak leaders for their courses), yet Fernando was eliminated because Ramsay "felt that he wasn't ready to be a leader" even though Roe had been far less consistent overall. In that episode Sade was arguably worse, being a poor leader while serving burnt fish, while Santos didn't even cook anything when it was his turn to lead.

** Ramsay's decision to have Scott and Jason as the final two. ''Many'' viewers felt it should have been Scott and Rochelle as the final two, citing constant strong performance and Jason's attitude issues and general belligerence, and were also annoyed that was eliminated before Melanie - and that Melanie got to keep her jacket while Rochelle didn't, citing Rochelle's much stronger performance running the kitchen, not just that night, but throughout the entire season. Note that Jason ''was'' about as consistant as Rochelle, and the fact that Jason was more experienced probably is what kept him in the finale.

** Ramsay's decision to have Scott and Jason as the final two. ''Many'' viewers felt it should have been Scott and Rochelle as the final two, citing constant strong performance and Jason's attitude issues and general belligerence, and were also annoyed that was eliminated before Melanie - and that Melanie got to keep her jacket while Rochelle didn't, citing Rochelle's much stronger performance running the kitchen, not just that night, but throughout the entire season.

** Ashley. Was eliminated after only her first nomination, over Roe, Aaron (both nominated for the 2nd time), and Steve (nominated for the third time). She'd done better throughout the competition than they did, but in fairness, she WAS the catalyst for the red team being kicked out of service.

* Season 1: Mary-Ellen's elimination over Andrew in Season 1. Granted, Mary-Ellen's performance in her final service ranks as one of the worst in the entire history of the show, but prior to that she had actually been the blue team's most consistently good performer after Michael and Ralph, the two professional chefs. Moreover, she was put up against Andrew, who had been both consistently bad in the services and repeatedly disrespectful towards Chef Ramsay.
* Season 3: Brad; he had been the only consistently decent performer out of the men (apart from eventual winner Rock), but after two below-par services, Chef Ramsay surprisingly chose to eliminate him over the consistently terrible Josh.Though when Brad was bad, he was really bad. (For instance, trying to scrape the bottom of a burnt Wellington only to be caught by Ramsay and giving Ramsay an extra risotto when it wasn't ordered.) Plus, Brad's elimination was partly due to the fact that he had deliberately tried to screw Josh over during that service, by refusing to help him when he was screwing up on the meat station. If Brad hadn't done that, then chances are it would have been Bonnie or Josh who was eliminated.

** When Carol, Andrea and LA were called up for elimination, LA was eliminated, even though Carol and Andrea had far worse performances than her.
** Carol herself, as it was the first time that Ramsay eliminated a member of the winning team. It would happen again with Salvatore in season 7 and Raj in season 8.

* Nilka from Season 7. Up until that night she had been a solid performer. But that dinner service, she inexplicably fell apart. Her performance was so bad that Chef Ramsay actually kicked her out of the kitchen mid-service.
* Raj from season 8. Eliminated out of the blue despite his team winning. In fairness, he ''was'' a complete lunatic who got on with no one, couldn't follow simple instructions and almost provoked a brawl during prep. Oddly enough, in a post-show interview with Sabrina (the manipulative diva of season 8), she stated she kept in touch with him after the show was over.

** Jamie being eliminated over Carrie and Elise. Jamie had some early struggle during service, burning a garnish and having a hair in the food, but was able to fight back. Carrie and Elise had both been bad enough to be sent up to the dorms, Carrie even having the gall to talk back to Ramsay before leaving. The rest of the team were clear on the nomination, pointing out to Ramsay how Carrie and Elise were bad for the team in general. Elise could at least truthfully claim being a better cook than Carrie, who had been consistently terrible for several challenges and services... only for Ramsay to send them both back in line, and to the shock of everyone throw out Jamie, claiming she was in over her head despite that being far more applicable to Carrie. ExecutiveMeddling, the producers wanting to milk Carrie and Elise fighting for all it's worth, is the ''only'' way to explain this one.
** One must always take into account that Chef Ramsay despises people that don't fight back. One of the worst things to be seen doing is remaining mute in the face of adversity. Both Carrie and Elise vehemently defend themselves versus Jamie who sulked and hung her head in shame. See also Elizabeth's elimination when both Jennifer and Elise argue with one another. Ramsay despises quiet people.
** Natalie being eliminated over Elise, especially after it was proven that Elise has a terrible attitude that makes her unsuitable for any leadership position, much less a head chef. True, Natalie was clearly struggling under the pressure at that point in the competition, but Elise outright lied to Ramsay's face and he called her on it. This was an offense that got Brendan kicked off the very same episode in which he tried it. Instead, Elise gets to stay to compete for another day. For many fans complaining about the show being plagued with ExecutiveMeddling, this episode was the final nail in the coffin.

* Anthony in season 11. Despite being one of the most consistent chefs of the season, Anthony ended up in only 7th place after one nomination, while Zach, who was nominated for the FOURTH time, survived, even though Zach had done so badly on the meat station that Ramsay ''took over'' and did his job for him. Anthony had fallen apart in his last 36 hours on the show, but he was still widely considered better than Zach. Also, Zach's obnoxious ego was something the fans have been long-awaiting to see go home. Michael's elimination as well to a lesser extent, as he was kicked out for one bad day. Guess who he lost to? Zach.

** The following episode saw one of the most shocking eliminations in the show's entire history, not least because it was a self-inflicted example. After being incredibly consistent and making virtually zero mistakes throughout the entire season, Joy completely broke down after Chef Ramsay chewed her out for not being able to time the orders correctly, causing her to lose it, tell Ramsay to fuck off and then toss off her chef's jacket and storm out of the service, and thereby the competition. Even Ramsay himself admitted it may have been the most shocking thing he'd seen in all his years of doing the show.

** Fernando being eliminated over Roe. Both made the same mistake that night (not bringing up enough food for all twelve plates and being relatively weak leaders for their courses), yet Fernando was eliminated because Ramsay "felt that he wasn't ready to be a leader" even though Roe had been far less consistent overall.

** Fernando being eliminated over Roe. Both made the same mistake that night (not bringing up enough food for all twelve plates and being relatively weak leaders for their courses), yet Fernando was seemingly eliminated for lack of overall leadership qualities even though Roe had been far less consistent.

** Fernando being eliminated over Roe. Both made the same mistake that night (not bringing up enough food for all twelve plates), yet Fernando was seemingly eliminated for lack of leadership qualities even though Roe had been far less consistent.

** Ramsay's decision to have Scott and Jason as the final two. ''Many'' viewers felt it should have been Scott and Rochelle as the final two, citing constant strong performance and Jason's attitude issues and general belligerence, and were also annoyed that was eliminated before Melanie - and that Melanie got to keep her jacket while Rochelle didn't, citing Rochelle's much stronger performance running the kitchen, not just that night, but throughout the entire season.

** [[spoiler:Jamie]] being eliminated over [[spoiler:Carrie and Elise]]. [[spoiler:Jamie]] had some early struggle during service, burning a garnish and having a hair in the food, but was able to fight back. [[spoiler:Carrie and Elise had both]] been bad enough to be sent up to the dorms, [[spoiler:Carrie]] even having the gall to talk back to Ramsay before leaving. The rest of the team were clear on the nomination, pointing out to Ramsay how [[spoiler:Carrie and Elise]] were bad for the team in general. [[spoiler:Elise]] could at least truthfully claim being a better cook than [[spoiler:Carrie]], who had been consistently terrible for several challenges and services... [[spoiler:only for Ramsay to send them both back in line, and to the shock of everyone throw out Jamie, claiming she was in over her head despite that being far more applicable to Carrie]]. ExecutiveMeddling, the producers wanting to milk [[spoiler:Carrie and Elise fighting for all it's worth]], is the ''only'' way to explain this one.
** One must always take into account that Chef Ramsay despises people that don't fight back. One of the worst things to be seen doing is remaining mute in the face of adversity. [[spoiler: Both Carrie and Elise vehemently defend themselves versus Jamie who sulked and hung her head in shame. See also Elizabeth's elimination when both Jennifer and Elise argue with one another. Ramsay despises quiet people.]]

** First was Guy's]] elimination over Clemenza; while Clemenza had struggled that night, his station was swamped with orders, so the fact that he got through the night without being kicked off the station probably played a factor in his survival. On top of that, Guy, while he had been fairly consistent before, had many problems on the meat station, which didn't receive half the workload of the fish station. Finally, Clemenza's passionate survival plea, which earned a standing ovation from the red team, is likely what kept him alive (he has since made it to black jackets).

** Basically any time in season five when the elimination came down between Seth or Lacey and someone else and the person that wasn't Seth or Lacey stayed. Both contestants were useless; Seth consistently messed everything up and set the blue team back in multiple instances. Lacey was lazy, skipped her team's punishment on at least one instance, and was generally irresponsible and a terrible cook. She inexplicably started doing a lot better for a couple episodes after [[spoiler: she was switched from the red team to the blue team and the blue team actually started ''winning'' with her]], but then went back to being terrible shortly thereafter. Seth was probably kept on as a Ratings Hook via ExecutiveMeddling. People would continue to watch to see just how low Seth would sink and how much of a kissass he would act toward Ramsay.

** [[spoiler:Natalie]] being eliminated over [[spoiler:Elise]], especially after it was proven that [[spoiler:Elise has a terrible attitude that makes her unsuitable for any leadership position, much less a head chef]]. True, [[spoiler:Natalie]] was clearly struggling under the pressure at that point in the competition, but [[spoiler:Elise]] outright lied to Ramsay's face and he called her on it. This was an offense that got Brendan kicked off the very same episode in which he tried it. Instead, [[spoiler:Elise]] gets to stay to compete for another day. For many fans complaining about the show being plagued with ExecutiveMeddling, this episode was the final nail in the coffin.

** First was [[spoiler: Guy's]] elimination over [[spoiler: Clemenza]]; while [[spoiler: Clemenza]] had struggled that night, his station was swamped with orders, so the fact that he got through the night without being kicked off the station probably played a factor in his survival. On top of that, [[spoiler: Guy]], while he had been fairly consistent before, had many problems on the meat station, which didn't receive half the workload of the fish station. Finally, [[spoiler: Clemenza's]] passionate survival plea, which earned a standing ovation from the red team, is likely what kept him alive (he has since made it to black jackets).
** The second was [[spoiler: Roshni]] in the next episode; while they also had trouble on the meat station, [[spoiler: Patrick]], on fish, sent up cold lobster twice. The fact that [[spoiler: Roshni]] was on the chopping block for the fourth time, while [[spoiler: Patrick]] was only on their second, is likely what kept them alive for another night.
** Interestingly, the third was [[spoiler: Patrick himself]]; on meat, they misread an order, and sent up a raw piece of meat, getting them kicked out (although they had gotten some food out prior). While this would ordinarily be enough, the fact that the red team's bickering actually STOPPED service, leading to ''all'' of them being kicked out. Despite [[spoiler: Tiffany]] saying that on a scale of 1 to 10 how much she cares, she was "like, a 9", as well as taking her sloppiness and laziness into account, [[spoiler: Patrick]] was sent home, probably because Ramsay expects better from executive chefs like [[spoiler: Patrick]].
** Finally, [[spoiler: Brian]] became one in the last service before black jackets; despite absolutely TANKING on the meat station that night(they were so bad that Barbie had to step in and do their job), they had been one of the more consistent chefs on his team (plus they got 3 out of 4 on the palate test, which is important to Ramsay and is rare). [[spoiler: Robyn]] hadn't technically been as bad that night, but they were worse in terms of consistency. However, in all fairness [[spoiler: Brian's]] goofiness (which made him a fan favorite for some) contributed to his elimination, as Ramsay dosen't like it when chefs make jokes during service or don't take him seriously, and [[spoiler: Brian]] had a knack for doing both, which combined with his terrible performance that night, pretty much sealed his fate.
* [[spoiler: Anthony]] in season 11. Despite being one of the most consistent chefs of the season, [[spoiler: Anthony]] ended up in only 7th place after one nomination, while [[spoiler: Zach]], who was nominated for the FOURTH time, survived, even though [[spoiler: Zach had done so badly on the meat station that Ramsay ''took over'' and did his job for him. Anthony had fallen apart in his last 36 hours on the show, but he was still widely considered better than Zach.]] Also, [[spoiler: Zach's]] obnoxious ego was something the fans have been long-awaiting to see go home. [[spoiler:Michael's]] elimination too to a lesser extent, as he was kicked out for one bad day. Guess who he lost to? [[spoiler:Zach]].

** [[spoiler: Richard's]] elimination. Sure, [[spoiler: Richard]] was not the best chef on the blue team, as he was up for the second time. However, [[spoiler: Gabriel]] was up for the fifth time, and for good reason: he repeatedly served raw meat. While [[spoiler:Richard]] was one of the more consistent chefs on his team, [[spoiler:Gabriel]] wasn't, serving everything from raw mushrooms to raw chicken. [[spoiler: Richard's elimination was mostly due to the fact that he was the most experienced chef on the Blue Team, and it is well known that Ramsay has higher expectations of contestants with more kitchen experience.]] However, [[spoiler: Gabriel]] was himself an Executive Chef, and he'd had a pretty equally bad service that night.
** [[spoiler: Kashia's]] elimination over [[spoiler: Scott]] in the first black jacket service. True, [[spoiler: Kashia]] made some mistakes that night and was struggling under the pressure at that stage of the contest, but [[spoiler: Scott]] was far worse in terms of consistency, being nominated for the SEVENTH time that night. Also, [[spoiler: he talked back to Chef Ramsay during service that night]], which was ultimately what got Giovanni eliminated over Andrea in Season 5 on the same first night as black jackets. Not to mention that it wouldn't have been surprising if [[spoiler: Kashia had been kept around as ExecutiveMeddling to keep things interesting, as she was pretty much this Season's version of Jen from Season 4]].
** The following episode sees one of the most shocking eliminations in the show's entire history, not least because it was a self-inflicted example. After being incredibly consistent and making virtually zero mistakes throughout the entire season, [[spoiler:Joy (padding to help prevent spoilers)]] completely breaks down after Chef Ramsay chews h[[spoiler:er]] out for not being able to time the orders correctly, causing h[[spoiler:er]] to lose it, tell Ramsay to fuck off and then toss off h[[spoiler:er]] chef's jacket and storm out of the service, and thereby the competition. Even Ramsay himself admitted it may have been the most shocking thing he'd seen in all his years of doing the show.
** Ramsay's decision to have [[spoiler:Scott and Jason]] as the final two. ''Many'' viewers felt it should have been [[spoiler:Scott and Rochelle]] as the final two, citing [[spoiler:Rochelle's constant strong performance and Jason's attitude issues and general belligerence]], and were also annoyed that [[spoiler:Rochelle was eliminated before Melanie - and that Melanie got to keep her jacket while Rochelle didn't]], citing [[spoiler:Rochelle's]] much stronger performance running the kitchen, not just that night, but throughout the entire season.

* Season 1
** Arguably Mary-Ellen's elimination over Andrew in Season 1. Granted, Mary-Ellen's performance in her final service ranks as one of the worst in the entire history of the show, but prior to that she had actually been the blue team's most consistently good performer after Michael and Ralph, the two professional chefs. Moreover, she was put up against Andrew, who had been both consistently bad in the services and repeatedly disrespectful towards Chef Ramsay.
* Season 3
** Brad; he had been the only consistently decent performer out of the men (apart from eventual winner Rock), but after two below-par services, Chef Ramsay surprisingly chose to eliminate him over the consistently terrible Josh.
*** In fairness, when Brad was bad, he was really bad. (For instance, trying to scrape the bottom of a burnt Wellington only to be caught by Ramsay and giving Ramsay an extra risotto when it wasn't ordered.) Plus, Brad's elimination was partly due to the fact that he had deliberately tried to screw Josh over during that service, by refusing to help him when he was screwing up on the meat station. If Brad hadn't done that, then chances are it would have been Bonnie or Josh who was eliminated.

** Shayna. That very episode, Rosann sent raw steak to the birthday girl while Matt sent dried fish to the birthday girl's mom and gets his station replaced by Bobby. During elimination, all three were nominated. After a heated exchange with Ramsay, Matt concludes that he would rather work with the red team because the whole blue team hates him. Shayna was eventually eliminated for just being slow. And then Ramsay agreed with Matt and put him on the red team, much to the surprise of Corey.
** This was probably ExecutiveMeddling. The producers probably wanted to milk the Matt vs. Ben conflict for all it was worth. Shayna was pretty much invisible during the season.
** And from that very season, Bobby, who was in the chopping block only ''once'', was eliminated instead of Jen, who was in the chopping block more times than Bobby and had a much worse service than him. Strangely enough, this is the second time someone is eliminated through Ramsay asking the person nominating the two on who should be eliminated. Christina preferred Jen to go home, but Ramsay disagrees.

** Basically any time in season five when the elimination came down between Seth or Lacey and someone else and the person that wasn't Seth or Lacey stayed. Both contestants were useless; Seth consistently messed everything up and set the blue team back in multiple instances. Lacey was lazy, skipped her team's punishment on at least one instance, and was generally irresponsible and a terrible cook. She inexplicably started doing a lot better for a couple episodes after [[spoiler: she was switched from the red team to the blue team and the blue team actually started ''winning'' with her]], but then went back to being terrible shortly thereafter.
** Seth was probably kept on as a Ratings Hook via ExecutiveMeddling. People would continue to watch to see just how low Seth would sink and how much of a kissass he would act toward Ramsay.

* Arguably Jim from Season 6. He had never been an especially impressive performer, but he generally wasn't too bad either, so it came as something of a shock when Ramsay suddenly eliminated him for being too laid-back, even though he hadn't been nominated that week. A shame, since he was one of the [[DeadpanSnarker funniest contestants]] to appear on the show.

** [[spoiler: Richard's]] elimination. Sure, [[spoiler: Richard]] was not the best chef on the blue team, as he was up for the second time. However, [[spoiler: Gabriel]] was up for the fifth time, and for good reason: he repeatedly served raw meat. While [[spoiler:Richard]] was one of the more consistent chefs on his team, [[spoiler:Gabriel]] wasn't, serving everything from raw mushrooms to raw chicken.
*** [[spoiler: Richard's elimination was mostly due to the fact that he was the most experienced chef on the Blue Team, and it is well known that Ramsay has higher expectations of contestants with more kitchen experience.]] However, [[spoiler: Gabriel]] was himself an Executive Chef, and he'd had a pretty equally bad service that night.
** Arguably, [[spoiler: Kashia's]] elimination over [[spoiler: Scott]] in the first black jacket service. True, [[spoiler: Kashia]] made some mistakes that night and was struggling under the pressure at that stage of the contest, but [[spoiler: Scott]] was far worse in terms of consistency, being nominated for the SEVENTH time that night. Also, [[spoiler: he talked back to Chef Ramsay during service that night]], which was ultimately what got Giovanni eliminated over Andrea in Season 5 on the same first night as black jackets. Not to mention that it wouldn't have been surprising if [[spoiler: Kashia had been kept around as ExecutiveMeddling to keep things interesting, as she was pretty much this Season's version of Jen from Season 4]].
** The following episode sees arguably the most shocking elimination in the show's entire history, not least because it was a self-inflicted example. After being incredibly consistent and making virtually zero mistakes throughout the entire season, [[spoiler:Joy (padding to help prevent spoilers)]] completely breaks down after Chef Ramsay chews h[[spoiler:er]] out for not being able to time the orders correctly, causing h[[spoiler:er]] to lose it, tell Ramsay to fuck off and then toss off h[[spoiler:er]] chef's jacket and storm out of the service, and thereby the competition. Even Ramsay himself admitted it may have been the most shocking thing he'd seen in all his years of doing the show.