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Hell's Kitchen Seasons
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Season 6 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox between July 21 and October 13, 2009. Executive chef Dave Levey, from San Diego, California, was the winner of that season and became Head Chef at the Araxi Restaurant & Bar in Whistler, British Columbia. That marked the first time a prize was awarded in Canada.

Contestants[]

The teams were divided by gender, male contestants in the blue team and female contestants in the red team. That season began with 16 contestants, but Robert Hesse, a contestant on the previous season, eventually joined the competition. The contestants were (in alphabetical order):

Contestant Age Occupation Hometown
Ariel Contreras-Fox 27 Sous Chef Los Angeles, CA
Louie Cordio 45 Diner Owner Fitchburg, MA
Kevin Cottle 35 Executive Chef Middletown, CT
Tony D'Alessandro 30 Culinary Store Manager Chicago, IL
Amanda Davenport 27 Sous Chef New York, NY
Sabrina Gresset 34 Restaurant Manager Phoenix, AZ
Robert Hesse 30 Executive Chef Quogue, NY
Van Hurd 26 Fish Cook Dallas, TX
Andy Husbands 39 Executive Chef Boston, MA
Lovely Jackson 23 Camp Chef Chicago, IL
Dave Levey 32 Executive Chef San Diego, CA
Jim McGloin 34 Sous Chef Nashua, NH
Melinda Meaney 38 Private Chef Philadelphia, PA
Tennille Middleton 28 Executive Chef Fairfax, VA
Tek Moore 27 Line Cook Greenwich, CT
Suzanne Schlicht 24 Sous Chef Milwaukee, WI
Joseph Tinnelly 27 Former US Marine & Sous Chef Massapequa Park, NY

Contestant progress[]

At the end of each episode, one chef from the losing team is eliminated by Ramsay, sometimes after being picked by the "Best of the Worst", determined by Ramsay after the last dinner service. That season featured the first time ever that a chef was eliminated by Ramsay in the kitchen, during the post-mortem. This is the first season where the winner and runner-up finished the contest without being nominated for elimination.

# Chef Original
Teams
First
Switch
Second
Switch
Black Jackets Finals
601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615
1 Dave BoW WINNER
2 Kevin RUNNER-UP
3 Ariel BoW NOM[1] NOM OUT[2]
4 Tennille NOM NOM NOM BoW OUT[2]
5 Suzanne NOM NOM NOM OUT
6 Van NOM[1] NOM OUT[3]
7 Sabrina BoW NOM NOM NOM[4] OUT
8 Andy NOM NOM NOM[4] OUT
9 Amanda NOM NOM[4] OUT[3]
10 Robert[5] OUT
11 Jim OUT[2]
12 Tek NOM OUT
13 Lovely NOM NOM OUT
14 Tony OUT
15 Joseph LEFT
16 Melinda OUT
17 Louie EJEC
  1. 1.0 1.1 Chef had their nomination voided.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chef was eliminated by Ramsay without being nominated.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Chef was nominated by Ramsay and was eliminated.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chef was nominated by Ramsay.
  5. Robert was not initially cast for the season, but made a return once the first dinner service was over.
Final Service Brigades
Dave Kevin
Ariel Van
Robert Amanda
Suzanne Sabrina
   
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 the list of episodes of that season, with links to detailed pages.

# Image Title Airdate
01 Episode 601 thumbnail Episode 601 - 16 Chefs Compete July 21, 2009
Episode Rundown: The new contestants arrived in Hell's Kitchen, one of them did not make it through dinner service, and a former contestant got offered a second chance of winning the competition.
02 Episode 602 thumbnail Episode 602 - 15 Chefs Compete July 21, 2009
Episode Rundown: Shrimp was the main ingredient, the maitre'd almost got assaulted once again, a disastrous dinner service occurred on both sides, and at elimination, one chef did something that nobody before or after him ever did.
03 Ramsay tells Joseph to leave - Episode 603 thumbnail Episode 603 - 14 Chefs Compete July 28, 2009
Episode Rundown: An early morning wake-up call occurred, two chefs sustained fractures, and nobody was sent home because of the previous double elimination.
04 Episode 604 thumbnail Episode 604 - 13 Chefs Compete August 4, 2009
Episode Rundown: Some chefs worked with their worst enemies during the challenge, a meltdown occurred by one of them during the punishment, and a loud-mouth was put back to their place after losing the service.
05 Episode 605 thumbnail Episode 605 - 12 Chefs Compete August 11, 2009
Episode Rundown: A special welcome event happened, one team dominated the other at dinner service, and an already existing rivalry intensified when one of them refused to admit their mistakes.
06 Episode 606 thumbnail Episode 606 - 11 Chefs Compete August 18, 2009
Episode Rundown: An embarrassing punishment occurred, one chef did not participate in service for health reasons, another one fought back like nobody before or after her did, and a shocking elimination that nobody was looking forward to.
07 Episode 607 thumbnail Episode 607 - 10 Chefs Compete August 25, 2009
Episode Rundown: One of the most desired rewards occurred, one chef returned for service despite their teammates' annoyance, and a fan favorite made a deadly mistake twice during service.
08 Episode 608 thumbnail Episode 608 - 9 Chefs Compete September 1, 2009
Episode Rundown: The annual Blind Taste Test occurred, an incredible comeback by one of the most unlikely chefs during service happened, and an unexpected elimination.
09 Episode 609 thumbnail Episode 609 - 8 Chefs Compete September 8, 2009
Episode Rundown: French cuisine was the main theme, one chef suffered an injury during prep, and a walking wounded made one of the craziest performances ever during service.
10 Episode 610 thumbnail Episode 610 - 7 Chefs Compete September 22, 2009
Episode Rundown: One team mistook their main protein during the challenge, both teams created their own menus, and a total meltdown by two chefs during service.
11 Episode 611 thumbnail Episode 611 - 6 Chefs Compete September 22, 2009
Episode Rundown: The remaining chefs received black jackets, an exuberant celebration happened after the challenge, and half of the chefs let Ramsay down during a special Date Night service, leading him to do the unthinkable.
12 Episode 612 thumbnail Episode 612 - 5 Chefs Compete September 29, 2009
Episode Rundown: The individual challenge resulted with two winners, the punished chefs did compensatory work, and the biggest loud-mouth of the season was finally eliminated.
13 Episode 613 thumbnail Episode 613 - 4 Chefs Compete October 6, 2009
Episode Rundown: The chefs began the day on the best way possible, cooked for supposed vegetarians during the challenge, and one chef took too much from their injury, which would have forced them to leave the competition.
14 Episode 614 thumbnail Episode 614 - 3 Chefs Compete October 13, 2009
Episode Rundown: One chef was not confident about their dish during the challenge, the final three ran the hot plate during service, and two of them made it to the finals of Hell's Kitchen.
15 Episode 615 thumbnail Episode 615 - Winner Announced October 13, 2009
Episode Rundown: Dave and Kevin worked on their menus, participated in their final challenge, chose their brigades for the final service, and one of them was declared the winner of Hell's Kitchen.

Behind the Scenes[]

Trivia[]

  • This season features the first returning chef in the show's history.
  • This is the only season to date where both of the finalists had a physical injury during their run of the season.
  • If you compare the blue teams in other seasons, this season's blue team set the record of second most dinner service wins in a season with five, excluding joint-victories. This record is shared with Seasons 7, 15, 17, and 18.
  • This season originally started with 16 contestants, but due to addition of Robert (Season 5) after first dinner service, the total of the contestants became to 17, and made this is the second season to featured odd numbers of contestants, following Season 4.
  • Including joint-victories in other seasons, this season's red team set the record for the least dinner service wins from the red team, with one.
    • This season's red team is also tied with Season 10's blue team with the fewest service wins overall with one, including joint victories.
  • This season features the fewest number of services before a team switch occurred with one.
  • This is the first season where Ramsay walked out during service.
  • This is the first season in the show's history where two contestants got eliminated on opening night instead of one. This is also the first season where Ramsay eliminated a contestant on opening night in an unusual way.
  • This is the first season where Ramsay eliminated a contestant in the kitchen during the post-mortem.
  • This is the first season where the top two completely avoided nomination throughout the season.
  • This season holds the record for having the most contestants with no nominations, with five, and is tied with Season 7.
  • This season, and in the history of the show, the red team holds the worst record that lost for the first six dinner services (including joint-losing with the blue team).
  • This is the only season to have two versions of the opening sequence.
  • This is the first season in the show’s history where the Signature Dish Challenge was a team challenge.
  • This is the first season to feature the chef table for some VIP guests.
  • This is the first season to be made by ITV Studios (after rebranding from Granada America).
  • This is the first season which the contestant who rank 3rd place to keep their black jacket. However, this would not become a regular tradition until Season 8 onwards.
  • Future Reappearances:
    • Van and Tennille would return in Season 9 as part of a team of veterans. Van would later return for All-Stars.
    • Dave would return in Season 10 to greet the Signature Dish Challenge winners alongside Season 3 winner Rock. He would later return in Season 11 as part of a team of returning champions.
    • Kevin returned in Season 10 as part of a team of returning runner ups. He and Ariel returned for Rookies vs. Veterans.
  • This is the fourth season when a contestant won without being nominated for elimination.
Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series)
Season 1Season 2Season 3Season 4Season 5Season 6Season 7Season 8Season 9Season 10Season 11Season 12Season 13Season 14Season 15Season 16Season 17: All-StarsSeason 18: Rookies vs. VeteransSeason 19: Las VegasSeason 20: Young GunsSeason 21: Battle of the AgesSeason 22: The American Dream
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