Hell's Kitchen (American season 16)


The sixteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on September 23, 2016 on Fox. Gordon Ramsay returned as host/head chef, Marino Monferrato and Aaron Mitrano returned as maitre d' and blue kitchen sous chef respectively while Andi van Willigan-Cutspec resumed her role as sous chef for the red team after Season 10 winner Christina Wilson filled in for her in the previous season while she got married. This was also the first season since Season 13 to take a hiatus due to Fox's coverage of the 2016 World Series in addition to the holiday breaks. The remaining episodes of the season were moved to Thursday nights on January 5, 2017 as part of the network's midseason schedule. This is the first season to have episode titles other than the usual " Chefs Compete" and "Winner Chosen". This season was filmed between November to December 2014, shortly after the completion of the previous season, about two years before the season aired.
This season's team stage is the most one-sided in the show's history; the red team won a record eight dinner services, while the blue team was thrown out of service a record-worst seven times. This is the fourth time, after seasons 6, 7 and 14, that neither the winner nor runner-up was nominated once all season, as well as the first time that none of the top three were ever nominated.
Event Chef Kimberly-Ann Ryan from Traverse City, Michigan won the competition and a head chef position at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at The Venetian Las Vegas.

Opening sequence

A slow motion sequence features the chefs causing many accidents in the kitchen, while Ramsay says a bunch of orders.

Chefs

Eighteen chefs compete in season 16.
ContestantAgeOccupationHometownResult
Kimberly-Ann Ryan29Event ChefTraverse City, MichiganWinner
Heather Williams26Sous ChefEaston, PennsylvaniaRunner-Up
Heidi Parent33Executive ChefAuburn, MaineEliminated before Finals
Paul "Paulie" Giganti, Jr. †34Executive ChefBrooklyn, New YorkEliminated after 13th Service
Kimberly Roth34Sushi ChefOntario, New YorkEliminated after 13th Service
Andrew Pearce27Sous ChefProspect Park, PennsylvaniaEliminated before Black Jackets
Devin Simpson33Assistant Restaurant ManagerMount Pleasant, South CarolinaEliminated after 12th Service
Wendy Mendez32Line Cook/Pastry ChefBronx, New YorkEliminated after 11th Service
Matthew "Matt" Hearn27Sauté ChefLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated after 10th Service
Shaina Hayden28Banquet ChefLong Island, New YorkEliminated after 10th Service
William "Koop" Wynkoop28Kitchen ManagerCarey, OhioEliminated after 9th Service
Johnny McDevitt29Burger ChefPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 8th Service
Aziza Young34Kitchen ManagerHarrisburg, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 6th Service
Aaron Smock22Culinary StudentFrankenmuth, MichiganEliminated after 5th Service
Rajeeyah "Gia" Young31Catering ChefQueens, New YorkEliminated after 4th Service
Jessica Boynton32University ChefRaleigh, North CarolinaEliminated after 3rd Service
Genaro Delillo26Sous ChefLebanon, PennsylvaniaEliminated after 2nd Service
Pat Tortorello47Culinary InstructorBelleville, New JerseyEliminated after 1st Service

;Notes
On April 20, 2017, Paulie Giganti passed away after an accidental overdose on an unknown drug.

Contestant progress

Episodes

Ratings

U.S. Nielsen ratings