When it comes to Hell's Kitchen, it's the drama and the chef's personalities that really set the cooking competition apart from all the other cooking shows out there. Though people flock to Gordon Ramsay's many famed restaurants for a taste of his delicious food, they come to HK to watch as the chefs get schooled (and, hopefully, to hear Ramsay call someone a "donkey" or a "doughnut"). Therefore, it's unsurprising that the secret sauce of Fox's hit series is the casting.
The ultra-rich and successful Gordon Ramsay is a master in the kitchen and behind the camera. His ever-growing collection of TV shows and restaurants (35, worldwide) landed the celebrity chef on the Forbes Top 100 in 2020, and he was the only chef on the list. His cooking and hosting skills make him the embodiment of lightning in a bottle. The show looks for people who can take Ramsay's heat, which is the reason why the chefs don't have to cook a single dish during their auditions.
In a recent interview with Mashed, Red Team sous chef and season 10 winner Christina Wilson opened up about the whole auditioning ordeal. She went through three rounds of in-person auditions with producers and never cooked one dish. She auditioned in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles. As for why producers didn't ask her to cook, Christina says, "I think they do that on purpose, so people that are like, 'yeah, I'm an executive chef. I'm the best [in] Philly.' Okay, fine. We'll see it for the first time in front of Gordon. We'll all see it for the first time."
Essentially, producers encourage contestants to tout their experience and talents and then put them all together in front of Chef Ramsay. That's when they get to cook their signature dishes. This is why Ramsay is (more often than not) seen spitting their signature dishes out into the trash. Contestants basically audition for Ramsay with their culinary offerings after the real Hell's Kitchen auditions end.
Christina was part of the group auditioning for seasons 9 and 10. She says she likes to believe that when the producers were looking at her, "they had all the crazy spots filled," so they let her join. She feels very fortunate to have been selected for season 10 instead of 9. Though the grand prize is always that coveted $250k and an executive chef position, season 10's executive chef position was extra special, as it was for Gordon Ramsay's first-ever Las Vegas restaurant, Gordon Ramsay Steak, which is just one jewel in Ramsay's crown.
Christina won that spot and it was life-changing. She went on to oversee Gordon Ramsay Steak, as well as his next Vegas eatery, Gordon Ramsay Burger. Today, Christina is the Corporate Executive Chef, U.S. Division, Gordon Ramsay Group. Hell's Kitchen might have put her through three auditions and never once asked her to cook a thing, but it didn't matter, because Christina had the chops.
Hell's Kitchen airs Thursdays at 8pm ET on Fox
Source: Mashed
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