Season 3

Hell's Kitchen Seasons
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Season 3
Ramsay with the cast
Airdate:	June 4 – August 13, 2007
Number of Episodes:	11
Number of Contestants:	12
Winner:	Rock Harper
Runner-Up:	Bonnie Muirhead
Season Chronology
Previous Season:	Season 2
Next Season:	Season 4
Intro Sequence
Images of Season 3

Season 3 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX between June 4 and August 13, 2007. Executive chef Rock Harper, from Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, was the winner of that season and became Head Chef at the Terra Verde restaurant in the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas, with a $250,000 salary.

Contestants

12 contestants competed during this season. The teams were divided by gender, male contestants in the blue team and female contestants in the red team. The contestants were (in alphabetical order):

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Joanna Dunn	22	Assistant Chef	Detroit, MI
Vinnie Fama	29	Nightclub Chef	Milltown, NJ
Melissa Firpo		Line Cook	New York City, NY
Rock Harper	30	Executive Chef	Spotsylvania, VA
Eddie Langley	28	Grill Cook	Atlanta, GA
Brad Miller	25	Sous Chef	Scottsdale, AZ
Bonnie Muirhead	26	Nanny & Personal Chef	Santa Monica, CA
Tiffany Nagel	27	Kitchen Manager	Scottsdale, AZ
Aaron Song	48	Retirement Home Chef	Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Josh Wahler	26	Jr. Sous Chef	Miami Beach, FL
Julia Williams	28	Waffle House Cook	Atlanta, GA
Jen Yemola	26	Pastry Chef	Hazelton, PA

Contestant progress

At the end of each episode, one chef from the losing team is eliminated by Ramsay, after being picked by the "Best of the Worst", determined by Ramsay after the last dinner service.

#	Chef				Original Teams					Team Switch		Black Jackets		Finals
					301	302	303	304	305	306	307	308	309	310/311
1				Rock		BoW		BoW				NOM		WINNER
2				Bonnie				NOM	NOM		NOM	BoW		RUNNER-UP
3			Jen				NOM	BoW	BoW				OUT
4			Julia				NOM				BoW	OUT
5			Josh			NOM		NOM		NOM		EJEC
6	Brad									NOM	OUT
7		Melissa			BoW			NOM	NOM	OUT
8	Vinnie							OUT
9	Joanna				NOM		OUT
10	Aaron						HOSP
11	Eddie					OUT
12	Tiffany				OUT
13*	J.R.				DISQ

Final Service Brigades
Bonnie	Rock
Jen	Brad
Melissa	Vinnie
Julia	Josh

Color Legend
NOM	Regular Nomination	Ramsay Nomination	Voided Nomination
OUT	Regular Elimination	Ramsay Nomination	Without Nomination
MISC	Ejected during service	Quit or Hospitalized	Best of the Best/Worst

Episodes

Here is a list of all the episodes of the season, with links for the detailed articles.

#	Image	Title	Airdate
01		Episode 301 - 12 Chefs Compete	June 4, 2007
		Episode Rundown: The chefs were introduced, the teams were divided, and one team's dysfunction suffered massively during the opening night.
02		Episode 302 - 11 Chefs Compete	June 11, 2007
		Episode Rundown: The teams competed in their first team challenge, and dinner service proved to be problematic for one of them.
03		Episode 303 - 10 Chefs Compete	June 18, 2007
		Episode Rundown: One team was on top during a special breakfast service, one chef was forced to withdraw because of their health, and a disastrous service made Ramsay wondering if one of the chefs cared about the diners.
04		Episode 304 - 8 Chefs Compete	June 25, 2007
		Episode Rundown: The annual Blind Taste Test, and a shocking move by Ramsay at elimination occurred.
05		Episode 305 - 7 Chefs Compete	July 2, 2007
		Episode Rundown: A wedding service was held, one chef’s poor leadership caused their team to alienate them, and for the first time ever, nobody was eliminated.
06		Episode 306 - 7 Chefs Compete (Again)	July 9, 2007
		Episode Rundown: A new team dynamic emerged for one team, and one chef lost their last chance to stay in the competition.
07		Episode 307 - 6 Chefs Compete	July 16, 2007
		Episode Rundown: The teams' menus were put to the test, and an early front runner was eliminated.
08		Episode 308 - 5 Chefs Compete	July 23, 2007
		Episode Rundown: Black jackets were given, one chef did not even complete dinner service, and a tearful elimination of an underdog occurred.
09		Episode 309 - 3 Chefs Compete	July 30, 2007
		Episode Rundown: Ramsay surprised the three finalists with some special judges, and each of them ran the pass one by one during service.
10		Episode 310 - 2 Chefs Compete	August 6, 2007
		Episode Rundown: Bonnie and Rock designed their own restaurants, participated in the final challenge, and reunited with their former teammates.
11		Episode 311 - Winner Announced	August 13, 2007
		Episode Rundown: Rock and Bonnie chose their brigades for the final dinner service, and one of them was declared the winner of Hell's Kitchen.

Behind the Scenes

• In a deleted scene, there was a 13th contestant, a male chef who's only referred to the initials "J.R.", that was supposed to compete, but was not seen despite some appearances in the Signature Dish Challenge. It was revealed in a Facebook post from Joanna Dunn that he was disqualified after spreading salacious rumors about her to other contestants. J.R. was disqualified sometime during the signature dish challenge.

Trivia

• This is the first season where a team won its first three challenges. This record would be broken by Season 11 and 20.
• This is the first season where Ramsay overruled the formal nominations. This is also the only season to date, where he made his own nominations after already eliminating someone at another one.
• This is the first season to feature a chef being eliminated during service.
• This is the first season to have two contestants eliminated in a single episode instead of one.
• This season featured the first episode ever where no elimination occurred at all.
• This season's red team holds the record for the least eliminations from a single team, with 2.
• This is the final season where Mary-Ann Salcedo was the red team's sous chef. This is also the final season to feature all three of the original staff in a season.
• This is the final season to have 12 contestants.
• This is the final season where contestants were eliminated walking to the loading dock, as the subsequent season do the same thing, but through the front door. However, that wouldn't happened with the contestants who were eliminated by Ramsay during service for some cases.
• This is the first season to be aired in high definition.
• This is the first season to hold a special dinner service (in this instance, a wedding).
• This is the first season where everyone who was supposed to come back for the finale, was able to do so.
• This is the first season where all the black jackets were nominated at least once.
• This is the first season where none of the black jackets had previously switched teams, it would happen again in Seasons 9 and 22.
• This season holds the shortest black jacket services, with a total of two services, tied with Seasons 15-onwards.
• This is the only season where no chefs in the final service wore a jacket for a team they were never on during the competition.
  • This is also the only season where none of the male contestants wore the red jackets.
• Future reappearances:
  • Aaron made a surprise cameo during Season 4 by running into Ramsay and the challenge winners during a reward. He later made a cameo in Season 6 by giving the new chefs tips on what not to do.
  • Rock returned in Season 4 to greet the challenge winners at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa, and in Season 5 and 6 to greet the crowned winner of those seasons. He was also a guest during Seasons 8 and 13 when Hell's Kitchen celebrated the 100th and 200th dinner services respectively, returned in Season 10 to greet the Signature Dish Challenge winners alongside Season 6 winner Dave, they also returned along with a team of returning winners to compete against the black jackets in Season 11, and was a guest judge for the Black Jackets Challenge during Season 12.
  • Bonnie made a cameo appearance in Season 6 by giving the new chefs tips on what not to do. She would later returned in Season 10 as part of a team of returning runner ups.
• This is the first season to be broadcast in 16:9 aspect ratio in high definition.