Hell's Kitchen Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This page is move protected. Winners
I'm gonna win this, Chef Ramsay. I'll put everything on the line.

Michael Wray was a contestant on Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen. He was the winner of that season and was given the opportunity to move to London to work under Ramsay and learn from him, which he accepted. However, he later declined due to family reasons, but he still took the $250,000 and kept the "Season 1 winner" title.

History[]

Season 1[]

Episode 1[]

Main article: Episode 101 - Day 1

The twelve contestants arrived in Hell's Kitchen and celebrated with a champagne glass and getting to know each other. After some time, Maître D' Jean-Philippe and Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann greeted them, revealing that their first test began now.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Michael called himself a dedicated chef and said that working with Ramsay was an opportunity of a lifetime. He was the eleventh contestant to have his dish judged by Ramsay. He served scallops with a quail egg but left the roe on the scallops, and when Ramsay asked him if he liked it, he started mumbling and did not know what to answer. So, Ramsay invited him to taste his dish with him, and when he told Ramsay that it was not bad, Ramsay told him that he had the palate of a cow's backside and that his dish was disgusting. After the challenge, he was placed in the blue team, along with Ralph, Wendy, Andrew, Mary Ellen, and Jessica.

During dinner service, Michael was on the appetizer station. When Ramsay called out the first order, he was the only one to respond to Ramsay's order. At the same time, his teammates stood in silence, and Ramsay was forced to call it out again after calling it pathetic. After one hour, he ran out of lobster spaghetti, and when he told Ramsay about it, Ramsay asked him if they still have live lobsters and pasta. When he answered that they did, Ramsay told him there was no reason to take it out of the menu. After a lot of struggle in both kitchens, Ramsay decided to shut them down. The blue team won the service, but Ramsay added that they did not win and were just safe. After elimination, he said it was an opportunity in a lifetime before planning on taking out his teammates just to get it.[1]

Episode 2[]

Main article: Episode 102 - Day 2

Back at the dorms, Michael told Jeff that he lucked out for not being nominated, with the latter saying that he had one more day to prove himself.

The next day, At 5:55 AM, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann went in the dorms with cookware and banged them together to wake up everybody, with Dewberry originally thinking it was somebody with a gun. Before the Squid Cleaning Challenge, Ramsay asked Michael if he ever cleaned squid before. When he said he did, he was forced to sit out to even the teams at five members each, although he did help his teammates by giving them instructions on how to clean squids. After hearing the reward about eating dinner with Ramsay, he called it cool as it does not happen to everybody in the world. The blue team lost the challenge 5-6, and they were punished with prepping the remaining squids for the next dinner service and cooking without air conditioning. He admitted how jealous he was that the red team was eating dinner with Ramsay while he was knees deep in crap during the punishment.

Before service began, Michael knew that cooking with no air conditioning was bad as it would get hot and stressful quickly, but he wanted to pull through that. During dinner service. He was at the fish station. When Sous Chef Scott informed the team that it was 140 degrees right now, he commented on how hot it was. Ramsay then chewed him out, saying he does not need a drama queen, and reminding him that if the blue team have won the challenge, he would not have to cook without air conditioning. Afterward, he admitted that he should not have said that as Ramsay was the monarch in the kitchen. Despite the heat, the blue team was declared the winners after serving more entrées.[2]

Episode 3[]

Main article: Episode 103 - Day 3

The next day, Ramsay switched Michael over to the red team to even up the team's 5-5. While shocked by the news, he knew that he had to embrace his new team to win. After he received a red jacket and moved into his new teammates, Ramsay said that the red team would benefit from this and told him this was a great opportunity for him to become a leader.

During the Five Course Meal Challenge, Michael was skeptical about Jeff's soup idea but quickly became a clear leader in the red kitchen. Near the end of time, he decided to carve out the Hell's Kitchen logo out of mushrooms as a tribute to the restaurant. After Jeff scored, he was impressed that the former pulled out a win. He was the fourth person from the red team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, cooked the meat entrée, and went up against Andrew. He served a grilled porterhouse as the meat entrée. When Ramsay saw that he carved the Hell's Kitchen logo in a mushroom garnish, he called him a smartass and jokingly asked him if he got it tattooed on his butt, referring to the large number of tattoos on Michael's body. Despite that, Ramsay found it delicious, and he scored that round over Andrew. The red team won the challenge after a tiebreaker at 3, and they were rewarded with a night out with Ramsay at the bar, with drinks and a darts game. During the reward, he called Ramsay cool in his personal life.

Jeff left a hot sheet on the counter during prep, and Elsie picked it up and burned her hand. During a short break, the red team, minus Jeff, gathered to discuss the latter as Michael expressed concern about how well they would work with someone they all shared animosity towards. Moments before opening, he and Chris helped Jeff, who was struggling to prep his station.

During dinner service, Michael was on the appetizer station with Jeff. When Jeff brought two lobster spaghetti dishes that had no lobster, and the other had too many, he had to reach over and help him redo the spaghetti. When his crab risotto made it to the critics that were in the dining room, it received poor reviews. After Jeff walked out of Hell's Kitchen, he took the meat station over, and the red team rallied to get more tickets served. His lamb received great reviews from the critics as they found it better than the blue kitchen. However, their effort was not enough as tables walked out, unfed, and Ramsay shut down both kitchens. The red team won the dinner service.[3]

Episode 4[]

Main article: Episode 104 - Day 4

Following Jeff's departure, Michael and the red team celebrated back to the dorms. They were relieved because Jeff was more of a problem than helping, and not having him around was what gave the red team their first service win.

During the Perfect Table Challenge, Ramsay told Michael and Chris not to throw the silverware onto the tables. The red team lost the challenge as they made four mistakes, compared to the blue team's one. They were punished by cleaning and polishing all the glassware and tableware of the restaurant for the next dinner service.

During prep, both Chris and Michael were disgusted by the smell of the pigeon, and he sarcastically thanked Ramsay. When Ramsay announced that the first team to complete their tables was the winners, he got excited by the news and was ready to do anything to make the red team the winners. Thirty minutes before service, because the red team lost the challenge, he and his team had to arrange all the tables in the dining room, which made the team lose valuable time of prep.

During dinner service, Michael was at the fish station. When Elsie had no idea what temperature the oven should be at to cook meat, he got worried as if the red team lost, he would push for her elimination. Later, the red team continued to send out main courses by showing great teamwork, and Michael, with Chris, congratulated Elsie for her good job on the meat station. The red team's great teamwork led them to finish all their tickets before the blue team and were declared the winners.[4]

Episode 5[]

Main article: Episode 105 - Day 5

Before the challenge, Chris put himself as the strongest link of the red team, even though he acknowledged Michael's talent and experience.

During the Pasta Making Challenge, Michael was rolling the machine to make the dough to the correct thickness and put the pasta on Jimmy 's arms. He felt the pressure as he spun the machine hard to the point he could not feel his arms. The red team won the challenge, managing to get 2.45 lbs. of pasta acceptable, compared to the blue team's 2.41. They were rewarded with a nice tour on a gondola, with wine and cheese. During the reward, he felt their victory was made sweet based on how close the results were, and after seeing the blue team called them out on it. He said it was the first time on a gondola and could not wait to spend time the Italian way before the red team toasted to not making pasta. Later, he and Chris joked about Ralph being covered in flour by now.

The night before dinner service, Michael began to apply his strategies by trying to manipulate the other contestants. When he returned from his reward, he talked to Jessica and tried to get her to say things about how the blue team was feeling after their loss, but she saw his plans and did not say too much. When he talked with Chris before he got to sleep, he told the latter he was his friend and that he would love to get to the finals against him. After that, he went outside to talk with himself and the billboard showing Ramsay's face, saying he had to be more concerned about himself and win it for Ramsay.

During prep, Michael was confident that the red team had no weak links. During the Pasta Night dinner service, the red team cooked during the first seating and served during the second. In the first seating, he was on the dessert station. He did not help his teammates as supposed to but instead focused on his desserts with the goal to impress Ramsay. His thinking was that if he was trying to help other people, his chances of winning the prize might slip away. However, he got his desserts accepted. Before the second seating, he gathered the red team and told them he would run them out on lasagna as he knew they were low on it, and it was a pain in the ass to make. His plan worked as a lot of orders of lasagna were piling in the blue kitchen. After Ramsay shut down the blue kitchen as the time limit was over.

The red team lost the service as both their service in the dining room and the kitchen were shocking. However, Ramsay praised Michael for his strong performance on the dessert station and in the dining room, and he was named "Best of the Worst." During deliberation, Jimmy pleaded his case to him but admitted to Chris that he was stuck on who to nominate. Chris suggested putting Jimmy and Elsie up for elimination due to their poor performances that night, but he knew that he had to nominate people that would get him further in the competition.

Michael named Elsie as his first nominee and Chris as his second. He even defended Jimmy by claiming the former had a wonderful night and worked hard. While being dismissed, he said that Chris was his biggest competition on the red team, which was why he nominated him.[5]

Episode 6[]

Main article: Episode 106 - Day 6

After Chris' elimination, Michael and Ralph were still surprised and amazed by that decision, and he said he did not want to put Jimmy in that position since he worked hard. While Jimmy appreciated that, he knew that Chris' elimination was his first blood drawn. When he asked Jimmy if he made the wrong decision, the latter did not think so.

During the Blind Taste Test, Michael was the final person from the red team to compete and went up against Ralph. He only tasted one food, which was veal sweetbreads, and got it wrong. However, because of Elsie's strong performance and Ralph getting baby spinach incorrect, the red team won the challenge 4-1. They were rewarded with a wine tasting afternoon with Ramsay.

The night before the next dinner service, Ramsay called the dorms, asked the chefs to come downstairs, and Michael had no idea what was in store for them. Ramsay announced that both teams would be creating their own menus. When the red team worked on their menu, he wrote down the ideas, knew the red team's menu must reflect what the person wanted, and agreed with Elsie to put scallops on there. During prep, he showed Elsie how to make bacon-wrapped scallops.

During dinner service, Michael was on the meat station and had his filet mignon featured on the menu. At one point, he helped Jimmy when the latter was struggling to send out acceptable scallop dishes to the pass. Because of his help, the new scallop dishes were acceptable. Later, he sent out perfectly cooked duck breasts and filet mignon. It was well-received by the customers. Ramsay eventually shut down both kitchens because too many orders came back. When he did, he was pissed by that as the red team only had four tickets left, had a heated argument with Jimmy because of the scallop dishes that were not right, and called him "fatty." The red team won the service, and he was praised by Ramsay for his outstanding work and coming out of Chris's shadow.

Back at the dorms, Michael secretly hoped that Jessica would nominate Ralph as he was the biggest competition so far and listened to Andrew's rant alongside Jimmy. After elimination, while he wanted Ralph gone that night due to being his toughness competition, he was confident he could take the latter.[6]

Episode 7[]

Main article: Episode 107 - Day 7

Following Andrew's elimination, Ralph talked with Michael, feeling that helping his team was starting to bite him in the ass. However, he would have preferred Ralph to be eliminated instead of Andrew because he was his biggest threat at this stage.

The next day, Ramsay merged both teams into the black jackets team, and Michael was the third to receive a black jacket. During the Fruit Flambé Tableside Challenge, he started rushing and dropped his mango, splattering it in the process. He was the first chef to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and although he praised the taste, the presentation was compared to Jimmy's plates because it was dirty, much to his embarrassment. He lost the challenge to Jimmy, but the latter picked him to join him on his reward, wanting to repay him for not nominating him in the past. They went on a helicopter tour of Los Angeles and were greeted by Jean-Philippe with wine and caviar on the top of a building. During the reward, he saw some potential houses he and Jimmy could live in and noticed the latter's big smile, knowing he deserved the win. When they returned from their reward, they told them what happened.

During dinner service, Michael was at the dessert station. He and Ralph got the newly formed black team off to a good start by sending many appetizers out in record time. Later in the service, the power went out in the restaurant, but he was too focused on his cooking that he did not even realize the power outage. Fortunately, it only lasted for a few seconds. Later, he saw Jessica, who was struggling to keep up with the orders of filet mignons. He ran to the back store to get some filets. Although Jessica did not think he was trying to sabotage her, she knew he wanted to win as Ramsay told her to do something. However, Jessica was lost, so he went to help her, allowing food to be sent out. After a heated argument between Jimmy and Ramsay, the latter shut down the kitchen. Ralph was named "Best of the Worst." During deliberation, he was annoyed to hear Elsie ask Ralph to nominate her due to being tired of the competition. Later, he and Jessica talked about her friendship with Ralph.

Michael was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, he knew their happiness was fake as anybody could snap.[7]

Episode 8[]

Main article: Episode 108 - Day 8

Back at the dorms, Michael, despite acknowledging that he made good friends, thought his friendships were not worth his desire to win the restaurant.

During the Leftovers Challenge, Michael tried to understand the lesson Ramsay was teaching them, but with less than a minute left, he was forced to scrap his idea of taking the bone off his chicken. He was the second person to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his pasta dish with chicken wings. The dish was deemed the opposite of Jessica as it looked good but did not taste good, and Ramsay mentioned that he left the bones on the chicken, which could be dangerous. That dismayed him as he knew his last-minute decision would come back to haunt him. He lost the challenge to Elsie and was punished by prepping the kitchen ahead of that night's dinner service. During the punishment, he got to see Elsie's appearance on "Good Day Live," making him infuriated as seeing her win every time was creating a lot of bitterness. Later, he bitterly said that they should all make chicken soup for the next challenge, and while he joked around with Ralph about ditching Elsie, he knew that everybody is responsible for the station they were on and said it was put up or shut up for her.

When Elsie returned from her reward, Ramsay asked them what they learned, and Michael and Ralph smartly said not to lose challenges if they wanted television action. Then, he told Elsie that nobody was resenting her for winning and that Ramsay had different expectations for all of them based on their skills, but Elsie did not take kindly to his passive-aggressive remark.

During dinner service, Michael was on the garnish station, as Elsie chose him to be there as her second part of the reward. Jessica needed his help on plating the refires, and after an hour into dinner service, many appetizers coming out. After, Ramsay made the whole team switch stations, and he moved to the appetizer station. When he saw Elsie struggling on the garnish station, he made the penne dish for her, as she never did it before. However, Elsie told him not to bring it to his station as she wanted to see how it was done. On the second switch, he moved to the meat station but was forced to stop cooking because Jessica could not deliver the proper time. After two tables walked out unfed, despite his attempt to rally the team, it was too little too late as Ramsay shut the kitchen down. For the first time, nobody was named "Best of the Worst," and instead, Ramsay would come up with his own decision. Back at the dorms, he felt that he might be going home for the first time in the competition but was determined to do better.

At elimination, Ramsay noticed that Michael looked distraught, and he admitted that he was frustrated over that night. However, Ramsay reminded him that he could not carry an entire kitchen on his back alone, and while he did a lot of good things in service, they were not enough. He was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, he said he had to do what he could to win.[8]

Episode 9[]

Main article: Episode 109 - Day 9

After Elsie's elimination, Michael celebrated in the dorms with some champagne with Jessica and Ralph. While Jessica and Ralph went to bed, he stayed up a little longer.

At 4 AM, the phone rang in the dorms, Michael picked it up, and Ramsay told him to get his two teammates and himself in the blue kitchen immediately for an emergency. When he told them, Ralph and Jessica did not believe him and tried to convince him to go to bed. Eventually, an impatient Ramsay sent Sous Chef Scott to the dorms to get them, and his presence finally convinced Jessica and Ralph that it was serious. Ramsay asked the trio to make bread because the baker could not provide the restaurant with bread. While he and Ralph organized the bread-making process and ran the ovens, Jessica stood around doing nothing but yawning and then laying down on the counter. He decided to send Jessica to bed because she would be more of a hindrance and felt that even without her, they could still complete their job. Four hours later, he went back to sleep for two more hours before being woke up by Sous Chef Mary-Ann playing a triangle. When Ramsay asked him what time they finished, he believed they walked out of the blue kitchen around 7:45 AM.

During the Perfect Soufflé Challenge, Michael was still tired from the bread baking that he forgot the steps. He was the final person to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented a chocolate raspberry soufflé. It was criticized for lack of sugar. He came in second place, following Ralph. When he got to choose a main ingredient for an inspirational dish to go on the menu during the next service, Ralph already chose beef, so he chose tuna.

When working on his dish, Sous Chef Scott told Michael to try and break out of the norm. He decided to go simple with a sesame crusted big eye tuna with roasted vegetables and lobster riced Pavlov. During prep, he wanted to dig deep and find the gear he has yet to hit.

During dinner service, Michael was on the appetizer station and had his sesame tuna featured on the menu. He sent many appetizers out to get the kitchen to a good start, but when entrées began, Ramsay urged him to become more assertive as it was the night to do so. He and Ralph got a good rhythm in the kitchen, but his tuna dish received mixed reviews as most of the loved ones liked it, but the other customers did not. When Jessica struggled with desserts, he took over her chicken dish and continued to send out many entrées with Ralph. Ralph had a little communication problem with him on their next order as he did not know what the filet temperatures were. When the last ticket came in, he joined Jessica, with Ralph, on desserts, was desperate to complete a service, and was getting nervous. When Jessica opened the convection oven to check on the soufflés, he told her not to, making the former feel he was demeaning. After service, his tuna dish was the least popular with 26 orders.

After service, Michael and Ralph met on the patio, with him worried as his tuna dish was not a big seller compared to the others. Despite that, Michael wanted Ralph to go home as he was his biggest threat so far. Later, he called it his toughest service yet.

At elimination, Michael was visited by his wife and his in-laws. After each family member got to reveal the dish they enjoyed the most, he finished first place with five votes for his tuna. Therefore, he became one of the two finalists, along with Ralph. After Jessica and her family left, Ramsay congratulated him and Ralph for standing before him as the finalists in Hell's Kitchen and reminded them that they were one step closer to winning their own restaurant. After, Ramsay allowed them time with their family, and as they did so, he felt Ralph had no chance against him as he would not rest until he won.[9]

Episode 10/11[]

Main article: Episode 110/111 - Day 10

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay told Ralph and Michael that the real work was about to begin as one of them would win their very own restaurant before giving the two some appreciated time with their respective. He was happy to see his wife as she instantly reassured him. Eventually, his family left, and he had no idea what the next day could bring. The next day, he and Ralph met on the patio, discussing how they each wanted to win. He said he worked himself to the bone and fought through ten people to get to the final two with the same dream as himself and said he wanted a restaurant after all the sacrifices he made.

Afterward, the phone rang in the dorms, and Ramsay told Ralph to get in the dining room with Michael in two minutes. Two minutes later, the finalists sat down at a table and had a chat with Ramsay. He congratulated for making it to the final two after a long and hard journey, and their biggest test was about to begin. Then, Ramsay noted his calmness throughout the competition but told him that there would be a day where he must become assertive, telling him to unleash the beast. After the chat, Ramsay made them stand up, one on each side of the restaurant, and a huge white blanket came down from the ceiling, splitting the restaurant in half. Ramsay announced that this was their final test, as their respective halves would serve as their own restaurants for the final dinner service. The finalist had to design their dream restaurant, write and create their own menus, and run the kitchen like Ramsay would head to head. He said he was waiting for a test like that to happen as it would show them who had the skills to run a restaurant. He had control over the red kitchen, and when he spoke with John Janavs, he wanted to keep his restaurant plain-looking as he believed in a less is more theme, along with private booths. After talking with Janavs, he said it was hard to try and get all his ideas out of his head and onto paper. With Jean-Philippe, he wanted both male and female servers in black trousers, but the former deemed it a little sad to have a unisex mentality. When working on his menu, he immediately wrote down dishes he personally wanted. The next day, he felt the reality of the changes hitting him as the process was amazing for him. When Ramsay saw the outline, he felt the restaurant looked too cold and too contemporary, but Janavs said they were balancing out with the warm color of the wood.

Before the Final Signature Dish Challenge, Michael revealed that his signature dish was a braised short rib ossobuco with roasted red garden yams. During the cooking, he wanted the short rib to be rewarded with great flavors. When Ramsay looked, he felt the dish was fine and nimble. During the judging, he believed that he could make up for the lack of Ralph's charisma with his flavors alone, which became apparent when more people voted for his dish. Although Ralph overtook him at one point, he managed to get more points. At one point, one customer said that although he liked Ralph as a person more, he liked his dish the best. He won the challenge 12-6.

When Michael came back to the dining room, he felt that the progress of his restaurant was going well. Later that night, Ramsay told the final two that they would perform a practice service and give each of them a chance to run the pass. He was the first person to run the pass but expressed nervousness going into Ramsay's shoes. When he received the first order, he was not loud enough when calling out the ticket, and Ralph believed he would have the edge over him due to the lack of vocalness. Ramsay told him he was not reading the dictionary at bedtime and had to be loud. He acknowledged his downfall, as his politeness towards the other contestants in the past was something he had to rethink when running the pass. A few minutes later, he told the line that they cooked like old people fucked, making Ramsay laugh as he never expected something like that from the former. However, he was learning the lesson very well as his newfound assertiveness was sparking energy to the kitchen. During Ralph's turn, he secretly sabotaged the risotto by deliberately forgetting to put the crab in, wanting to see what would slip past Ralph. Ralph failed to spot his sabotage, and he was amused that the former failed to see it. When the risotto came back, Ralph told him about his supposed mistake, but Ramsay reminded the former that he should have noticed that mistake from the start and acknowledged it as a clever move from him for making the latter look stupid. After service, he was reminded that he must run the staff and not the other way around, and Ralph thanked him for the sabotage. Back at the dorms, he decided to do some soul searching and become more like Ramsay. So, he repeated all the insults Ramsay made to the other contestants in the past, much to Ralph's amusement as the latter knew he was a soft-spoken person. He was worried about yelling at the chef but knew it would be an issue the following night if he did not, before going outside to the billboard and telling Ramsay that he would defy his expectations.

The next day, Michael said that he had everything he needed, but the only thing left was to work his ass off. He felt that Janavs did a good job on the construction, only for the latter to tell him the booths were not there yet. Also, the beige color of the stairs' base would not match the color of the booths, so he agreed to switch the color from beige to red. Later, he reunited with his former teammates when they came back. Because he won the final challenge, his advantage was first pick of his brigade. His first pick was Jessica, which infuriated Ralph because he felt Jessica was his closest friend, hence why he picked her. Then, he picked Jimmy as his second and Elsie as his third.

During prep, Michael stated he would have preferred professional cooks instead of returning teammates but had to deal with what he had. While he told his teammates about the menu, Jimmy expressed his support in him Afterwards, he hoped for Dewberry to become Ralph's handicap. He told his team that his dream was in their hands in the kitchen, only for Jessica to knock over a cooling rack while carrying chicken. As both kitchens began prepping for service, Art Director Helen Harwell told him that his booths were in, to his great relief. Later, he met his staff and named his restaurant "Lola Pop", referring to his wife's pet name that he gave her. When Ramsay looked at his restaurant, he liked its setting and vibe, remarking that it was a lot like California. For the staff, he was confused as to why the women were dressed like guys but deemed it sexy, only to call the men servers ballerina.

During dinner service, Michael called his first ticket, but his team did not answer immediately, so he had to tell them he needed an answer. Jessica was confused on which order of lobster was what, and he was forced to restart his order. Jimmy noticed that he was getting lost and confused, resulting in mixed-up orders. Ramsay noticed that the red team was cooking as individuals instead of a team. Despite that, he was sending out appetizers, and the customers received them well. One hour and 15 minutes into dinner service, all his customers have received their appetizers, but one discovered a piece of plastic in her salad. When it came back, he threatened to kill Elsie if she did it again. After, Jessica, still angry at not being on Ralph's team, refused his authority by snapping back at him, causing an argument between her and Elsie. He had to calm the situation down and told Jessica to stop bickering and listen to him. Three hours into service, he was pushing out entrées at a fast pace, but when an undercooked steak came back in the red kitchen, he told Jimmy to refire one quickly and that he was not happy about it. However, he knew that the mistakes were starting to make him more assertive, which was working well for the red kitchen. Jimmy managed to get his refire accepted, and Ramsay noticed that he finally got his act together. After all the tables were completed in the dining room, he was congratulated by Jessica, who said the menu was easy to execute. Then, a table came up to praise him for his work, and he gave out an explanation on how the dish worked.

After service, Ramsay revealed to Michael that every customer in his restaurant was from Los Angeles because he wanted a restaurant in Los Angeles. Then, Ramsay sent the final two back to the dorms while he looked over the comment cards. The final two congratulated each other as they made their way back to the dorms, knowing that their fate was in Ramsay's hands. He felt he deserved to win, given he represented the new generation of chefs and pushed himself in service. After discussing their night on the patio, they split off to different rooms, each hoping that they would be the winners while talking to the photos of their loved ones. Later that night, he and Ralph were led to Ramsay's office by the Sous Chefs. Once there, Ramsay asked both to stand in front of a door each and said that only the winner's door would open. After waiting nervously for Ramsay's countdown to end, both finalists turned their handles, but only his door opened. He became the winner of Hell's Kitchen and won his very own restaurant, making him feel like he was in control for the first time in his life and that he proved himself to become the head chef he was destined for. While celebrating, Ramsay told him that he had a very special talent and gave him a big offer. Ramsay invited him to come back with him to London to train under him and eventually become a world-class chef. While blown away, he accepted the offer as it was an opportunity of a lifetime, and when he does open his own restaurant, he would be better.

Ramsay's comment: "Ralph was great tonight, but Michael deserved to win because his creativity and standards are simply on a higher level, and I accomplish my goal of turning an unknown into a master chef, and that has to be the perfect way to close Hell's Kitchen, tonight. And I'm fucking out of here!" [10]

Nomination History[]

Week 1 Win
Week 2 Win
Week 3 Win
Week 4 Win
Week 5 BoW
Week 6 Win
Week 7 Safe
Week 8 Safe
Week 9 Safe
Finale Winner

Season 3[]

Episode 10[]

Main article: Episode 310 - 2 Chefs Compete

Michael came back to judge Rock and Bonnie 's dishes during the final challenge. It was revealed he was working in his restaurant named Tatou, located in Los Angeles. He gave a point to Rock's fried chicken Surf n Turf, over Bonnie's prawn fettuccine.[11]

Season 5[]

Episode 15[]

Main article: Episode 515 - Winner Announced

Michael came back for the finale of that season, along with Heather (Season 2 winner), Rock (Season 3 winner), and Christina (Season 4 winner). He was seen when Ramsay introduced the recently crowned winner Danny to them and saw the unveiling of the Hell's Kitchen "Wall of Fame." [12]

Season 6[]

Episode 15[]

Main article: Episode 615 - Winner Announced
Aside from Heather, who was a sous chef that season, Michael came back for the finale of said season, along with Rock (Season 3 winner), Christina (Season 4 winner), and Danny (Season 5 winner). He was seen when Ramsay introduced the recently crowned winner Dave to them and saw the unveiling of the Hell's Kitchen "Hall of Fame." [13]

Post Hell's Kitchen[]

  • After his appearance on the show, Michael declined the opportunity to work under Ramsay in London for family reasons.
  • He became Head Chef at The Standards restaurant in Los Angeles before opening his own restaurant called Tatou. But, when he tried to open another restaurant called HK One, he could not because of his financial problems. So, he opened his knife company called, Skull and Cleavers and teaches cooking classes.
  • Five years after his season, he got divorced, lost his infant daughter, and was briefly homeless after a drug addiction. He has since cleaned up, gotten remarried, and is currently looking into buying a food truck business.

Trivia[]

  • He is the only contestant to this date to win the first four dinner services.
  • He is the only contestant never to be eligible for nomination during the team phase of the competition.
  • Of note, he holds the record for the best Win/Loss ratio during the team phase of the competition for any contestant in Hell's Kitchen history, with five wins and one loss.
  • He participated in the first-ever all-male finals of Hell's Kitchen.
  • He is the first winner and first male winner of Hell's Kitchen.
  • He is the first contestant and winner who was never nominated throughout the entire season.
  • He is the first contestant ever who switched teams, the first who did and made it to the black jackets, as well as the first who did and won the competition.
  • He is the first contestant to wear every jacket (blue, red, black, and chef's jacket). He is also the first chef to have worn all four jackets and win the season.
  • He is the first contestant who had a longer tenure on the switched team opposite his original team.
  • He is the first contestant to be picked as a guest for a prize during the black jackets.
  • It is worth noting that his sabotage during the first season gave Ramsay the idea to institute a quality control test every season.
  • He is the first contestant to sit out of a challenge to even up the teams.

Quotes[]

  • "Damn, it's hot in here!"
  • "I'm gonna win this, Chef Ramsay. I'll put everything on the line."
  • "Don't know what tomorrow holds. I could be skydiving without a parachute. I can't wait!"
  • "You guys cook like old people fuck!"
  • (After being named the winner) "I feel, for the first time, I feel like I'm in control of my own future. I have proven myself to myself, and that's important. I think that I've really earned the right to be the head chef that I know that I am, and I am now, that's for sure."

Gallery[]

External links[]

References[]

Hell's Kitchen Season 1
Staff
Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Mary-Ann Salcedo (Red Team Sous Chef) • Jean-Philippe Susilovic (Maître d'hôtel)
Contestants
Andrew BonitoJessica CaboJimmy CaseyMary Ellen DanielsJeffery DewberryJeff LaPoffWendy LiuChris NorthRalph PaganoElsie RamosCarolann ValentinoMichael Wray
Advertisement