Hell's Kitchen (American season 15)


The fifteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen took place in October 2014 and premiered on January [|15], 2016 on Fox. The prize was a head chef position at BLT Steak at Bally's Las Vegas. Country Club Chef Ariel Malone won the competition.
Gordon Ramsay and Marino Monferrato returned as head chef and Maître d' respectively. Season 10 winner Christina Wilson was the initial sous chef for the red team while Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec, who got married, returned in episode 7 of this season. Aaron Mitrano replaced James Avery as sous chef for the blue team. Wilson is the second former Hell's Kitchen winner to return as one of Ramsay's sous chefs, the first being season [|2] winner, Heather West, who was the red kitchen's sous chef for season 6. Jason Thompson also returned as narrator for the first time since season 12.
This season holds two unique distinctions. It has neither a charity dinner service nor a Taste It, Now Make It challenge, both traditional staples of the latter half of the show. It is also the first season where every chef was nominated for elimination at least once. This season saw the return of normal single elimination before finals since season [|6], instead of the tradition double elimination before finals.

Opening sequence

Season 15's opening sequence features the chefs at a base camp. Ramsay is then shown placing the HK flag on top of the mountain. For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, the opening sequence did not play after the recap of the previous episode, but after the remaining contestants had made the way up to the dorms and just before the next morning, where they came down to face their new challenge.

Chefs

Eighteen chefs competed in season 15.
ContestantAgeOccupationHometownResult
Ariel Malone26Country Club ChefHackensack, New JerseyWinner
Kristin Barone27Line CookChicago, IllinoisRunner-Up
Ashley Nickell27Chef de CuisineOrlando, FloridaEliminated before Finals
Jared Bobkin28Line Cook/Professional Poker PlayerOak Park, MichiganEliminated after 14th Service
Amanda "Manda" Palomino30Sous ChefAtlantic City, New JerseyEliminated after 14th Service
Danielle "Dannie" Harrison30Line Cook/Amateur BoxerPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEliminated before Black Jackets
Frank Cala25Marine ChefBrooklyn, New YorkEliminated after 12th Service
Jackie Fuchs32Line CookJersey City, New JerseyEliminated after 11th Service
Chad Gelso25Sous ChefPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 10th Service
Joe Ricci31Sous ChefPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 9th Service
Hassan Musselmani24Catering Executive ChefDetroit, MichiganEliminated after 7th Service
Edward "Eddie" Jaskowiak27Sous ChefPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 6th Service
Alan Parker42Sous ChefLancaster, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 5th Service
Kevin Ridlon29Culinary ManagerWarwick, Rhode IslandEliminated during 5th Service
Melissa "Meese" Davis25College ChefUpper Darby, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 4th Service
Vanessa Soltero33Airport ChefLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated after 3rd Service
Sherkenna Buggs30Personal ChefGrand Junction, TennesseeEliminated after 2nd Service
Mark Paras27Line CookAnaheim, CaliforniaEliminated after 1st Service

;Notes

Contestant progress

Episodes

Controversy

Following his exit at the end of episode [|12], Frank, an active-duty Marine chef, stated his dislike for female chefs during his plea and claimed he never allowed any to work under him, saying "The blue team never had any drama until the females came aboard and that's when the ship sunk. And that's exactly why I get fucking female Marines and I send them back wherever the fuck they came from." Following his comments, Marine public affairs representative Bryan Nygaard stated Frank's comments regarding female Marines "are not consistent with the Marine Corps' values of honor, courage and commitment," and he would "notify my chain of command as well as Sergeant Cala's chain of command to ensure that corrective action is being taken." Several days later, Frank was removed from his position with the Commandants' staff and transferred to the Enlisted Aide Program.

Ratings

The fifteenth-season premiere of Hell's Kitchen premiered to an audience of [|3].43 million, 660,000 lower than last season's premiere, and down [|10],000 from season 14's finale.
No.EpisodeOriginal
air date		Timeslot Rating/share
18–49		U.S. viewers
DVR
18–49		DVR viewers
Total 18–49Total viewers
Source
[|1]January 15, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		1.1/43.410.61.521.[|7]4.93
2"17 Chefs Compete"January 22, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		1.3/43.611.495.11
3"16 Chefs Compete"January 27, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.4/44.[|16]0.62.0
4"15 Chefs Compete"February 3, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.5/54.600.62.1
5"14 Chefs Compete"Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.3/44.40
6"12 Chefs Compete"February 17, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.2/43.970.71.[|9]
7"11 Chefs Compete"February 24, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.3/44.23
[|8]"10 Chefs Compete"March 2, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.0/33.380.71.7
9"10 Chefs Again"March 9, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.2/43.76
10"9 Chefs Compete"March 16, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.1/43.571.445.01
11"8 Chefs Compete"March 23, 2016Wednesday
9:00 p.m.		1.2/43.54
12"7 Chefs Compete"April 1, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		0.8/32.610.61.591.44.20
13"6 Chefs Compete"April 8, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		0.8/32.66
14"5 Chefs Compete"April 15, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		0.9/32.98
15"3 Chefs Compete"April 22, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		0.9/32.96
16"Winner Chosen"April 29, 2016Friday
9:00 p.m.		1.0/43.13