Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 1
| Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 1) | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | May 30 – August 1, 2005 |
| Season chronology | |
This article contains contestant information and episode summaries from Season 1 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen. Season 1 aired starting on May 30, 2005 and concluded on August 1, 2005. Michael Wray from Fort Collins, Colorado, won the first season of Hell's Kitchen, thus winning his own restaurant in Los Angeles named Tatou (he was offered to go to London to work under Gordon Ramsay, but later declined due to family reasons).
The show was taped in Los Angeles at KCOP, in a converted former television broadcast facility that previously hosted shows such as The Joker's Wild and Tic-Tac-Dough in the late 1970s to mid 1980s.
Sous chefs and Maître d'hôtel
- Sous chefs – Scott Leibfried and Mary-Ann Salcedo
- Maître d'hôtel – Jean-Philippe Susilovic
Contestants
The 12 contestants were initially divided into the Blue team and the Red team, but not based on gender as in all the following seasons. The contestants were:
| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Bonito | 24 | Office Assistant | Livingston, New Jersey |
| Jessica Cabo | 26 | Headhunter | Huntington, New York |
| James "Jimmy" Casey | 25 | Purchasing Supervisor | Williston Park, New York |
| Mary Ellen Daniels | 27 | Bartender | Belmont, Massachusetts |
| Jeffrey "Dewberry" Dewberry | 33 | Pastry Chef | Stockbridge, Georgia |
| Jeffrey "Jeff" LaPoff | 28 | Finance Manager | Orange, New Jersey |
| Wendy Liu | 32 | Account Manager | Millburn, New Jersey |
| Christopher "Chris" North | 35 | Executive Chef | Yorktown Heights, New York |
| Ralph Pagano | 36 | Professional Chef | Livingston, New Jersey |
| Elsie Ramos | 40 | Mother of Six | Maywood, New Jersey |
| Carolann Valentino | 33 | Server's Assistant | Dallas, Texas |
| Michael Wray | 27 | Professional Chef | Fort Collins, Colorado |
Contestant progress
Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("least bad" as determined by Ramsay) is asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Gordon Ramsay.
| Original teams | Switched teams | Individual | Finals | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Chef | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110/11 | |||
| 1 | Michael | WIN | WIN | BoB | WIN | BoW | BoB | IN | IN | IN | WINNER | |||
| 2 | Ralph | WIN | BoB | BoW | LOSE | WIN | NOM[n 1] | BoW | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP | |||
| 3 | Jessica | WIN | WIN | LOSE | BoW | WIN | BoW | NOM | NOM[n 1] | OUT | ||||
| 4 | Elsie | BoW | LOSE | WIN | BoB | NOM | WIN | IN | OUT[n 1] | |||||
| 5 | Jimmy | LOSE | LOSE | WIN | WIN | LOSE | WIN | OUT | ||||||
| 6 | Andrew | WIN | WIN | NOM | NOM | WIN | OUT | |||||||
| 7 | Chris | LOSE | BoW | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||
| 8 | Mary Ellen | WIN | WIN | LOSE | OUT | |||||||||
| 9 | Wendy | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 10 | Jeff | LOSE | NOM | LEFT | ||||||||||
| 11 | Dewberry | NOM | OUT | |||||||||||
| 12 | Carolann | OUT | ||||||||||||
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- Notes
Episodes
Each episode consisted of a challenge with a reward, a service, and an elimination.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Day 1" | May 30, 2005 |
| 2 | 2 | "Day 2" | June 6, 2005 |
| 3 | 3 | "Day 3" | June 13, 2005 |
| 4 | 4 | "Day 4" | June 20, 2005 |
| 5 | 5 | "Day 5" | June 27, 2005 |
| 6 | 6 | "Day 6" | July 11, 2005 |
| 7 | 7 | "Day 7" | July 11, 2005 |
| 8 | 8 | "Day 8" | July 18, 2005 |
| 9 | 9 | "Day 9" | July 25, 2005 |
| 10 11 | 10 11 | "Day 10" | August 1, 2005 |
Notes
Epilogue
Michael was the Executive Head Chef at The Standard in Los Angeles, California. His original plan was to go to the UK to learn under Ramsay, but as a newlywed wanting to start a family, he decided it was the wrong time to move. He made an appearance in the third season finale where he, along with other cooks, judged Rock's and Bonnie's dishes.
Ralph had a protege, Royce Wagner, competing in Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen. Chef Ramsay called Ralph to get Royce motivated which generated his best performance after the phone call. Ultimately, Royce did not come close to meeting the success of his mentor and came in at 10th place.