Ben Caylor

“

Why are we fighting? Everybody just calm down and focus.

”

Hometown	Charlotte, NC
Occupation	Electrician/Former Chef
Kitchen Experience	8 Years
Culinary Education	Johnson & Wales University
Statistics
Challenges Won	2
Services Won	3
Times as BoW/Announcer	3
Times Nominated	2
Placement	9th
Episode Eliminated	9 Chefs Compete

Benjamin "Ben" Caylor was a contestant on Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 9th place.

Season 4

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 401 - 15 Chefs Compete

The contestants flew into Los Angeles to compete at Hell's Kitchen. Soon, the chefs met up on the bus going to Hell's Kitchen. What they did not know was Ramsay was in the bus with them, in disguise. Eventually, the contestants arrived at Hell's Kitchen, greeted by Jean-Philippe. After some hellos, Jean-Philippe claimed he was good at making an impression of Ramsay, which he did by calling out orders and yelling at them. After he did, Jean-Philippe asked Shayna and Jason to do their impressions themselves. After that, Jean-Philippe called up the disguised Ramsay, who spoke in his natural voice. While the chefs were initially impressed by the acting, they quickly realized that something was up. Ramsay revealed himself, which excited every contestant. Dominic admitted that he did not see it coming. After that, Ramsay instructed the chefs to create their signature dishes as he wanted to see how well they could cook as well as they talked on the bus.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Ben wondered what mess he got himself into. He was the eleventh contestant to have his dish judged by Ramsay. What he made was unknown, but Ramsay deemed it not bad despite not setting him alight. After the challenge, Ramsay asked both teams to name a team captain for the opening night. After the blue team nominated each other, Bobby was named the team captain.

Before dinner service, Ben was embarrassed that they had no clue what was going on after several members of the blue team could not recite the entrées. During dinner service, he was at the garnish station. At one point, he expressed that Bobby, who was chosen as the blue team's captain, should show some initiative by assuming that role, even if he did not know what was happening. He was also briefly seen helping Dominic with the scallops when Jason was getting yelled at for an overcooked risotto. The blue team lost the service, and Louross was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, he wanted Bobby to go due to leaving them dry and hard.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 402 - 14 Chefs Compete

After a night with very little sleep, the contestants were woken up the following morning by the Sous Chefs. They held megaphones and told them to get outside immediately. Arriving outside, Ramsay declared that any restaurant would have hit bankruptcy with all the amount of food wasted on the previous night. Ramsay called over a dump truck and ordered them to take every wasted food and put it in the cylinders to give the chefs a better understanding of what they trashed last night. After a few minutes, Ramsay told them to get back in line up the stairs and declared they should be ashamed as they put thousands of dollars in the trash during the last service. Ramsay warned them to start giving a damn and told them to clean up and change.

During the 6-Ounce Halibut Challenge, Ben gave some tips to Jason, but the latter ignored him. When the men relaxed after finishing eight minutes before the challenge was over, he thought they were redeemed from the previous night. When the score was tied at 41-each, he was called down as the blue team's representative. He went up against Corey from the red team. He was confident as he fileted most of the halibut and picked one that weighted 5.9 oz. His halibut was heavier than Corey's 4.8 oz, and the blue team won the challenge.

The blue team was rewarded with a day on a 100-foot superyacht and were transported in Rolls-Royce and Bentleys. While getting ready, Louross entertained his teammates by walking around the dorms with woman's boots and boxers. Everybody laughed, and Ben even called Louross crazy. During the reward, he said he had never ridden in a Rolls-Royce before and called it cool. While drinking champagne with Ramsay, he said it was nice speaking to the former outside the kitchen.

During dinner service, Ben was at the dessert station. At one point, he tried to calm Bobby and Jason down when the two argued over timings. When Jason's halibut came out raw, he was angry because he hated not sending out food. Later, he gave a pep talk to his team, acknowledging many communication problems going on between Petrozza and Jason. The blue team won the service. Back at the dorms, he and Bobby spoke with Corey, asking if she would take out the best.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 403 - 13 Chefs Compete

Back in the dorms, Ben gave a high-five to Corey after her gutsy move at elimination. While he did acknowledge Corey's reasoning, he believed that she played too hard early in the game.

The following day, the contestants were awakened by chickens running around in the dorms. Calling from the P.A., Ramsay told them to get up, grab a chicken, and come down to the dining room. During the Chicken Cutting Challenge, Ben scored a perfect eight. Because of Craig's poor performance, the blue team lost the challenge 22-44. They were punished by picking peppers on a 100-acre farm, wearing farmers' clothes and hats under the hot temperature of the sun. After hearing the punishment, he got pissed, said Craig sucked and wanted the latter to go home. While getting ready, he said he would throw peppers at Craig. During the punishment, he threw peppers at Craig, who did not find it funny.

Later that evening, Corey tried to flirt with Ben and lure him into the hot tub. However, he refused, saying that Corey placed a bad taste in his mouth for using her body against him. He was furious at Jason when the latter went in and told Corey and Christina everything. He felt Jason ratted out the team. The following morning, he angrily said he did not want to lose anymore, though Jason did not like his tone. Still, he knew Jason would doom them after that night and knew the women would manipulate them. He said he was not here to flirt and told Jason to work like a kamancha.

During dinner service, Ben was on the fish station. At one point, he asked Craig for the bacon, but the latter said he did not have it yet. That led him to call Craig an idiot and that he could not work his station despite working in the industry for thirteen years. When he was bringing his salmon to the pass, Sous Chef Scott saw it was burnt. That led an annoyed Sous Chef Scott to ask why he would bring up a burnt salmon if he knew it was poor. Still, he thought it was only a little burnt and not a big deal. After, Ramsay schooled him also and asked him if he could cook a salmon. He said that he could but started to give excuses, stating he was used to different cooking techniques than the ones he was using at the moment. Still, Ramsay told him to send him a medium salmon and chided his excuse. Later, he brought raw salmon to the hot plate, infuriating Ramsay, who made the entire team taste it. However, he made a nonchalant comment about it. That was the final straw for Ramsay as he brought the entire team to join the red team for a berating. Ramsay accused him of not caring and asked for the excuse he gave him. He said different techniques, so Ramsay angrily threw all the remaining tickets towards him. Both teams were named joint losers and for the blue team, Petrozza was named "Best of the Worst".

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 404 - 12 Chefs Compete

While dismissing the chefs, Ramsay called Ben a punk and useless due to his attitude that night. He mocked Ramsay's insult of punk, but thought the former was testing him and looking at his commitment to returning to the culinary world. Moments later, Ramsay spoke into the microphone and ordered them to clean the kitchens as he refused to leave them in a disgusting mess. That dismayed Corey as she was too tired to clean.

The following morning, when the chefs were lined up in the dining room in front of Ramsay, he asked the blue team who was their strongest chef. Ben was named in that position by Bobby, which the rest of the team agreed. After that, he said he wanted to be strong and see how far he would get. During the Pasta Making Challenge, he was was annoyed by Matt standing there with his arms spread, not doing anything and waiting for the pasta to be hanged on his arms. Seeing that made him feel that Matt did not man up. The blue team lost the challenge 5.48 lbs-6.57 lbs. and they were punished by prepping all the new menu items in both kitchens, ahead of Family Night dinner service.

Back at the dorms, Christina got mad at Ben because he was chewing tobacco and leaving his spit cups all over the kitchen. Christina confronted him on his mess and said it was nasty. When he got up to get it, Rosann schooled him on the fact he was leaving his dishes in the sink without washing them, claiming that even her kids would never do that. The two of them got into an argument, where Rosann said she would throw in the garbage anything she found lying on the counter, and he started mimicking her. They finished their argument with Rosann saying she was watching him. During the punishment, Sous Chef Scott asked for a volunteer, and he rose to the occasion. Sous Chef Scott took him outside and showed him the playground for the kids, including the petting zoo. Sous Chef Scott told him to shovel the animal droppings, much to his irritation as he did not know how to call himself the best chef for the men after that chore. When the women returned from their reward, they saw him cleaning the animals' pen, much to his embarrassment.

During Family Night dinner service, Ben was at the garnish station. At one point, he and Matt gave each other a high-five, motivating each other, as he was also determined to lead the men to victory. He brought his first onion rings to the pass, but they were not crispy enough, so Ramsay told him to start again. When he was caught staring at Ramsay after the lecture, the latter told him to get to work. Afterwards, he delivered acceptable onion rings. When he saw food coming out of the blue kitchen, he relaxed a little bit and congratulated Bobby and Matt. However, Ramsay sternly reminded him that the men had six tickets left compared to the women's two and suggested that they wake up. When the red team came to help the blue team, Ramsay told Jen to help him, who the former called "Chef Ben". He was embarrassed about that situation, and Ramsay schooled him on his laid-back behavior and congratulating his team. Ramsay ridiculed him, comparing him to the captain who hit the iceberg with the Titanic.

The blue team lost the service and Ramsay told Ben he was surprised by him that night. He thanked Ramsay, thinking it was a compliment, but Ramsay added he was surprised at how terrible he was as he expected more from him and told him he maybe should not have quit his day job that early. Bobby was named the "Best of the Worst". Back at the dorms, he said he thought Ramsay hated him, and Craig told him that the pasta incident was not his fault. He asked Bobby for a private talk with him, and said he did not know if he would like to be put up only because Ramsay hated him. Bobby laughed as the former recalled that he had some bad services and that he always seemed at the wrong place at the wrong time. He acknowledged that although he was a close friend of Bobby, it did not mean anything as they were trying to win a competition.

Ben was not nominated by Bobby, but when Ramsay said someone else should be called down without mentioning a name, stating he knew who he was, he immediately recognized himself and joined Craig and Matt upfront. During his plea, Ramsay told him how disappointed he was in him, but he argued that cooking was a gift from God as he wanted to work harder after his nomination. Still, Ramsay told him he should be embarrassed if he was in his shoes. After his plea, he promised to Ramsay he would give 100% daily. He survived elimination, but Ramsay warned him he was on his final straw. While being dismissed, he started to question his skills, but he refused to go home.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 405 - 11 Chefs Compete

Back in the dorms, Ben was still in shock about his nomination, everybody wondering what he fucked up during the previous service, and him saying that he did not fuck up anything, and was nominated despite that. He added Ramsay never explained his nomination. After that, he went to bed and told Bobby that the competition was harder than boot camp.

During the Fine Dining Pizza Challenge, Ben tasted Matt's pizza and did not like it, only saying it was different. Eventually, after his teammates tasted his pizza, it was chosen to compete against Jen's. During the judging, he described his pizza, which was made with duck confit, chanterelle mushrooms, caramelized onion, and cream sauce to go on the bottom. Ramsay asked the blue team who washed the mushrooms, which Ben answered he did. Ramsay told him they were not washed properly as he still had some grit down the throat. The blue team lost the challenge because of the mushrooms not being washed properly. When he apologized for letting Ramsay down, Ramsay reminded him he let his team down instead.

They were punished by prepping all the pizzas for the next service. During the punishment, Ramsay gave a little pep talk to the team, and Ben was annoyed by Louross's way of walking around the kitchen with a white towel on his head, saying they did not need a whiny ass little punk bitch walking around. Later, he and Louross got into an argument, where he called Louross a bitch, and both of them told that the other was breaking down.

During dinner service, Ben was on the pizza station. As the second part of the blue team's punishment, he was dedicated to making pizza delivery for both teams by Ramsay, in a cheap three-wheeled delivery cart. When he was ready to deliver the pizzas, he put a new hat and apron on, and went to the cart, started driving it, but could not find his way as he never went to Los Angeles before in his life. When he arrived, he had trouble parking the cart, but successfully found the correct addresses finally. When he came back to Hell's Kitchen, he helped Bobby to get desserts out and completed dinner service for the first time. Both teams were declared winners and were asked to nominate one member each.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 6

Main article: Episode 406 - 10 Chefs Compete

After Louross survived elimination, Ben comforted him by padding him on the shoulders. Later that night, he talked with Bobby about how lazy Matt was.

The next morning, the contestants were driven to Farmers Market, where Ramsay introduced the Sweet 16 Planning Challenge. During the shopping part, the blue team ignored Matt's suggestions. Back in Hell's Kitchen, Ben was the vocal leader of the team, dedicating tasks to everybody. Moments later, he was annoyed at the way Matt was slicing the asparagus, so he told him how to properly do it. During the judging, he presented the team's sweet potato mash with sautéed asparagus and shrimps for the first round of entrées. He lost the point as Melissa did not like the asparagus at all. However, the blue team eventually won the challenge 2-1 and were rewarded with a go-kart activity at Malibu Speed Zone, and fine-dining treats tasting with Ramsay, at the Simon LA restaurant.

During prep, Ben deemed the mango salsa to be elementary and easy to do, declaring he was doing this when he was 17-years-old. Shayna came in the blue kitchen to tell him how to properly cook it, but both of them got more on each other's nerves than anything else. He started mimicking her, and Shayna called him a "fucker".

During the Sweet 16 dinner service, Ben was on the garnish station. When the first chicken wings were sent to the pass, they were dry and missing the sauce. So, he scrambled to look for the sauce, while Bobby wanted to take charge but brought the sauce, and the chicken wings were sent to the satisfied customers. When he saw that, he had a little celebration with Louross. Moments later, when he saw Matt struggling on fish, he asked him for time saying they were counting on him. Near the end, when the blue team was sending their desserts, he was telling Matt how to properly plate them, much to the latter's annoyance. Both teams finished service, were named joint-winners but were asked to nominate one member each.

Ben was not nominated for elimination and gleefully said goodbye to Matt, who has just been transferred to the red team, saying he was a little bitch and that he was not needed.

Episode 7

Main article: Episode 407 - 9 Chefs Compete

Back in the dorms, Ben was on the receiving end of a heated exchange with Matt, where the latter told he was hiding behind Bobby and declaring he was the best. He laughed at his outburst and even provoked him by saying the strong were staying with the strong, referring to Bobby. After Matt left during the argument, he said that the women were not having an inclining about what he was all about.

The next morning, when the teams were lined up in the red kitchen, Ramsay asked Ben if he was missing Matt, and he answered he was not at all, even saying the blue team was glad he was gone as they were tired of looking at his face.

Then, Ramsay made the contestants taste some dishes, which were missing the main protein, unbeknownst to the chefs. During the tasting, Ben claimed he had the best palate in the world, saying he tasted a lot of food in his days. After revealing the dishes were fake, Ramsay introduced the Blind Taste Test. During the challenge, he went up against Matt, his biggest rival. For his round, Ramsay changed something as they put blindfolds on, but not headphones, and said they would have to identify ingredients from a dish he prepared. Both of them correctly identified four ingredients of the clam chowder, but with the red team already leading by four points, the men couldn't catch up. The blue team lost the challenge 5-9. He was jealous of Matt's 15 minutes of fame and did not want to talk about him.

The blue team's punishment was to clean up the dorms, from returning the beds to washing the toilet bowls. During the punishment, Ben was furious as he was cleaning the stove despite not having to cook anything on it since his arrival. Later, he picked up the phone and was dedicated to serving iced tea to the red team on the patio by Sous Chef Scott. Arrived on the patio, he saw Matt having a great time, but told he did not care because only getting rid of him was a reward of its own. While serving iced tea, and Corey and Jen asking for some extras in theirs, he told Matt how of an idiot he was looking like with his beauty mask and cucumbers on his face, only for Matt to tell him that despite that, it was feeling good. Back in the dorms, he told Bobby he was mad the latter did not see what was happening.

During dinner service, Ben was on the meat station. On the first ticket, he did not respond and Ramsay lectured him on his laid-back behavior, saying he was more laid-back than an ironing board. After that, he responded and Ramsay thanked him for it, calling him "Chef Ben". Later, he sent undercooked chicken to the pass, so Ramsay schooled him about his mistake and told the team to start communicating. After giving the excuse that he was not used to the brigade system, a disbelieved Ramsay schooled him on his laid-back behavior one more time. Later on, Ramsay asked him for a time on two Wellingtons to be ready, but he only answered that he had two Wellingtons. When Ramsay asked him one more time which of them was ready, he declared that none of them were, much to Ramsay's dismay. So, he asked for six minutes, which made Ramsay confused, but told him once again that was the time he needed. When he was struggling, he started giving excuses and even blaming Ramsay himself. When he asked Petrozza where the meat supply was because he was three lamb short, Ramsay heard that and became furious. So, he asked him to come to the pass and make him realize the order came in an hour and a half ago, before learning they ran out of lamb. He tried to reassure Ramsay that he had it, but Ramsay was still upset, even calling him a "weirdo on Dr. Phil". After some of his Wellingtons were returned for being undercooked, Ramsay got furious, calling him a schmuck and a jerk, and yelled further at him for taking the competition easy, before finally shutting the kitchen down, calling him a dick in the process.

When both teams were lined up, the blue team was declared the losers, and each member had to nominate one teammate for elimination. During deliberation, acknowledging he had his worst performance, Ben went strategic and convinced everybody he would be nominating himself, waiting for them to do the same. After a talk with Bobby, he tried to convince Petrozza to nominate Louross.

At elimination, Ben and Louross nominated each other. In the end, he was eliminated for being the worst performer of the night, his laid-back attitude, hiding behind Bobby, and refusal to admit his mistakes.

Ramsay's comment: "Ben left a manual labor job, shoveling ditches, to get back into cooking. But all he did in Hell's Kitchen was dig himself into a hole. A hole too deep to get out of."

Episode 14/15

Main article: Episode 414 - 2 Chefs Compete

Main article: Episode 415 - Winner Announced

Ben returned for the last dinner service of the season because Rosann did not. He was the second returning chef who entered the kitchen, and when he did, he was happy to see Petrozza in the finals, declaring he would love to be on his team as he did not give a rat about Christina. Also, a flashback of Ramsay yelling at him during the seventh service was shown. After Petrozza declared he was talented and strong, he was chosen as his second pick, after Bobby, with Jen being the third.

On the patio, Ben stated that Bobby, Petrozza, and himself were tight, but he was less sure about Jen as he never worked with her in the kitchen. During prep, he asked Jen how long her risotto would be ready, but he called her "sweetheart" in the process. She did not appreciate by telling her name is Jen, and then, he declared that she had been in a pissy mood all day long because she wanted to be in the finals, but reminded that she did not and that she had to get over it. Minutes before opening, he was asked by Petrozza if he was ready, and he answered that night was about him.

During dinner service, Ben was on the meat and fish stations. He was not seen very much, except at one point when he helped Petrozza plating his food at the pass while declaring he was determined to help Petrozza win, saying he was deserving it. In the end, he helped his team sending out desserts and completing service for Petrozza.

After service, Ramsay congratulated both teams for good service and everybody gave a big round of applause. Ben hugged Petrozza and wished him luck before he went back to the dorms. However, Petrozza ended up losing the finals to Christina.

Nomination History

Week 1	Safe
Week 2	Win
Week 3	Safe
Week 4	Nominated
Week 5	Safe
Week 6	Safe
Week 7	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, he returned to his previous career as an electrician, at the family business. He was the owner of Source Energy Inc.
• He is currently the Operations Manager at LuminaSun Smart Home.
• In July 2019, Ben was arrested for assault.

Trivia

• He is the first contestant to be nominated by Ramsay without his name being called.
• With the exception of when everyone was an announcer due to a vote, Ben is the first contestant to not be named "Best of the Worst", yet still call the nominees for elimination.

Quotes

• "Nobody has a damn clue of what's going on."
• (About Bobby) "Even if Bobby didn't know what was going on, at least put some damn scoot in your boot and try and get some shit done."
• (When Bobby and Jason were arguing) "Gentlemen, let's not argue."
• "I get pissed off when people can't get the food out, you know. I mean we can pretty much bend over and kiss our asses goodbye."
• (To his teammates) "Why are we fighting? Everybody just calm down and focus."
• "I think there was a lot of communication between everybody. I mean everybody's yelling. This-- It's just chaos."
• (To Ramsay after serving burnt salmon) "Just a lot of pressure, different kitchen, different cooking techniques that I'm used to."
• "Oh wow, oh wow."
• "Louross, there's no room for bitches in this game."
• "Are we done? Because if we're not I'm going to complete my station tonight, chef."
• "I thought we were close chef, but I was wrong."
• Ramsay: "Ben, what you’ve done and the ambitions, you do, seriously, surprise me. Ben: Thank you, chef, I was hoping you'd see that. I mean, I give it all I've got. Gave you a hundred and ten. Ramsay: You surprise me, of how shit you are. Ben: Oh, thank you."
• "I'm just going to keep giving you 100% chef. Every day."
• "Chef, I'm not used to the brigade system. It takes a little time to get adapted to it, and... that's it."
• (After being eliminated) "I gave 100%. I gave everything I had. I put everything to it. You know in your heart if I'm the one for your kitchen or not. And I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass to try and get there."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Ben's Intro Spot

Ben in Blue Jacket

Ben's Confessional

Ben, Craig, and Matt Nominated

Ben in Blind Taste Test

Ben Eliminated

Ben (S4) as Returning Chef

Ben's Signature Dish

Jen and Ben's Pizzas (Episode 5)

External links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-caylor-915635160/