Hell's Kitchen was the name of a cookery-based reality show first broadcast in the UK on ITV in 2004, featuring chef Gordon Ramsay and presented by Angus Deayton. The show, which ran nightly for two weeks, placed ten celebrities in a specially constructed London restaurant kitchen with the task of catering for a clientèle of famous people. The celebrities were Edwina Currie, Abi Titmuss, Matt Goss, Belinda Carlisle, Al Murray, Dwain Chambers, Tommy Vance (who replaced Roger Cook), Jennifer Ellison, James Dreyfus, and Amanda Barrie. Jennifer Ellison was declared the winner after a series of public elimination votes (as per Survivor or Big Brother).

The second series featured ten members of the public competing for a prize of £250,000 with which the winner could start their own restaurant. They were split into two teams of five, one red - tutored by Gary Rhodes, and the other blue - led by Jean-Christophe Novelli. A new and much larger restaurant was built to accommodate the fact that there were now two kitchens. The only things that remained the same in the second series were the music and the presenter, who was still Angus Deayton. Elimination was still down to voting.

US version

The US version of Hell's Kitchen, also starring Gordon Ramsay, is broadcast on the FOX television network. The first season of the show, shown during the summer of 2005, featured 12 ordinary people (some with chef and restaurant experience, some without) competing to own a "million-dollar restaurant" of their own.

The show's first season was taped at a converted former television broadcast facility (KCOP - UPN 13) located on the corner of La Brea Avenue and Willoughby Avenue in Los Angeles, California.

The format of the program was the same as the UK version, with a red team and a blue team competing in various cooking challenges. The restaurant's maitre d’, Jean Philippe, came from Petrus, one of Ramsay's London restaurants. Jean Phillipe was also the maitre d’ for the first UK series of Hell's Kitchen. Each team also had the services of one of two sous chefs: Maryann and Scott.

FOX has ordered a second season of Hell's Kitchen, and the production company began casting in November, 2005. No details have been released on an air date, however.


Season one
Season one featured the following contestants; on the red team, Carolann, Elsie, Dewberry, Jeff, Chris and James; on the blue team, Ralph, Michael, Mary Ellen, Wendy, Jessica, and Andrew. Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("best" as determined by Ramsay) is asked to nominate two of their fellow teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Gordon Ramsay.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Episode 1
Original airdate: May 30, 2005. 
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Carolann and Dewberry. Carolann was eliminated. 

Episode 2
Original airdate: June 6, 2005. 
Team challenge: Cleaning squid. The team that could clean and prep the most squid received a dinner with Ramsay. The red team won, and the losing blue team had to prepare squid while the dinner was taking place. The losing team also had their kitchen's air conditioning turned off during the next restaurant service period. 
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Jeff and Dewberry. Dewberry was eliminated. 

Episode 3
Original airdate: June 13, 2005. 
Michael was transferred to the red team in order to even out the number of contestants on each team. 
Jeff, a member of the red team, walked off the show. Ramsay still eliminated a contestant from a team, meaning that two contestants left during this episode. 
Team challenge: Ramsay asked the teams to cook him a five-course meal of original dishes. The catch was that they only had 10 minutes of shopping time at a local supermarket, and only $100 per team to spend at the market. The red team won the team challenge, winning an evening out at a pub with Ramsay while the losing blue team stayed behind to clean the dorm. The red team also won the next service period. Although both teams had difficulty preparing meals on time, the food critics in the restaurant preferred the meals prepared by the red team. 
Nominees for elimination: The blue team's Wendy and Andrew. Wendy was eliminated. 

Episode 4
Original airdate: June 20, 2005. 
Team challenge: Ramsay passed the two teams to JP, his maitre d', for a lesson in how to properly set a dining table. The teams then had to replicate a sample table containing over 90 items within a 5 minute time period. The blue team won the team challenge and received an afternoon of spa treatments, while the red team had to clean/polish all the glass and silverware. An additional penalty was that the red team had to take time away from their food prep to set all 100 tables in the restaurant before the next service period. 
Both teams learned how to cook pigeon and frog legs. 
During the service period, Ramsay promised that the first team to complete all of their orders, no matter how long that takes, would be safe from elimination. Despite their handicap of starting their food prep later than the other team, the red team pulled ahead and won the service period. 
Nominees for elimination: The blue team's Andrew and Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen was eliminated. 

Episode 5
Original airdate: June 27, 2005. 
To shake things up, Ramsay threw out the entire previous menu and created a new menu featuring pasta dishes. 
Team challenge: As Ramsay changed the menu of the restaurant to feature pasta, the two teams had 10 minutes to turn raw dough into as much spaghetti as possible, judged by suitability for serving in the restaurant and total weight. The red team won the team challenge and received an afternoon in Venice, California dining and drinking in a gondola. 
The service period was split into two two-hour sessions. In each session, one team would wait on tables in the restaurant, take and deliver the orders; while the other team would work in the kitchen preparing the orders. As the red team won the previous challenge, they chose to cook first. Although the blue team did not complete as many dishes during their cooking time, the red team's lack of quality in food and service was enough to cost them the day. 
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Chris and Elsie. Ramsay selected Chris for elimination, as Ramsay explained that someone who boasts about their skills needs to step up and meet that expectation or else be eliminated. 

Episode 6
Original airdate: July 11, 2005 
Always one to shake things up, Ramsay threw out the entire menu yet again, and asked each team to create menus of their own. The two teams were going to compete head-to-head, with diners choosing to eat from the Red menu or the Blue menu. 
Team challenge: Team members were blindfolded/earmuffed and then asked to identify various foods on taste alone. Each participant had to identify 4 different food items. The red team won the challenge and received an afternoon of wine tasting with Ramsay, while the losing blue team had to clean all the cookware used in the previous night's service. A further penalty was that their storeroom would be secured by a combination lock during the next service period, forcing the team to enter the complicated code every time they needed supplies. 
The service period was not divided into Red tables and Blue tables as diners were able to select an entire Red or Blue menu of selections created and cooked by the team. Although the blue team served more dishes during the period, they had a higher number of main dishes returned to the kitchen, causing Ramsay to select them as the losing team. Jessica was not involved in the preparation of the rejected entrees so Ramsay selected Jessica as the night's winner. 
Nominees for elimination: Jessica nominated Andrew. Ramsay nominated Ralph. Andrew was eliminated. 

Episode 7
Original airdate: July 11, 2005 
Ramsay assigned the remaining five contestants to a single kitchen team, wearing black, where each contestant was now going to compete as an individual. 
Challenge: Ramsay demonstrated how to make tableside fruit flambe. Based on Ramsay's opinion of presentation and taste, Jimmy and Elsie placed 1st and 2nd respectively. Jimmy received a helicopter trip over L.A. and was allowed to bring someone along; he chose Michael. 
Jimmy nominated Elsie to prepare tableside caesar salad and fruit flambe during the next service. During service, Ramsay requested Ralph work alongside him at the hotplate. Based on performance in the kitchen, Ramsay selected Ralph as the day's best. 
Nominees for elimination: Although Elsie had asked Ralph to send her home, Ralph decided to nominate Jessica and Jimmy. Based on Jimmy's poor performance and an in-kitchen confrontation during the service period between Ramsay and Jimmy, Ramsay eliminated Jimmy. 

Episode 8
Original airdate: July 18, 2005 
Challenge: Ramsay gave the final four contestants 15-minutes to each create an original dish out of a tray of 15 different leftovers from the previous evening's service. Among the ingredients were macaroni, parsnips, chicken, beef, raspberries, and a lemon. Elsie made chicken soup. Michael made a side dish of grilled chicken wings. Jessica made a raspberry dessert. Elsie won the challenge as Ramsay said that she used the most ingredients as well as having a hearty, tasty soup that he would order in a restaurant. As a reward, Elsie accompanied Ramsay to a taping of Good Day Live, where they demonstrated how to make risotto. 
The next service period did not have any twists. Elsie was asked to assign the team members to various tasks on the line. During the service, Ramsay reassigned the team twice as he felt that there was inadequate communication between the team members. 
At the end of service, Ramsay did not select a leader to nominate somebody; he nominated Elsie and Jessica as the weakest performers that night. Ramsay then eliminated Elsie. 

Episode 9
Original airdate: July 25, 2005 
Having been woken up at 4 AM unexpectedly, the three remaining contestants are told that they have to bake bread for the night's service. Jessica, who had had a lot to drink that night, went back to bed. Michael and Ralph did the majority of the work. 
Challenge: On very little sleep, the three finalists were then asked to create a soufflé. Ralph's was the winner, followed by Michael's, then Jessica's. As a reward, Ralph got to choose which dish he would be creating that night: beef, chicken, or tuna. Ralph chose beef, Michael tuna, and Jessica was left with chicken. 
Unbeknownst to the contestants, members of their families were seated in the restaurant for the service. They had a chance to try each of the specialty dishes and select their favorite, not knowing who had made each one. 
When the time came to choose one contestant to leave, their family members appeared. Ramsay tells them to vote for each's favorite dish. Michael's tuna got the most votes, followed by Ralph's filet mignon. Jessica's chicken only got one vote. 
Ramsay told Jessica that "you know in your heart you aren't as good as Michael and Ralph," and asked her to leave. 

Episode 10
Original airdate: August 1, 2005. 2-hour finale. 
Michael and Ralph are informed that Hell's Kitchen is going to be split in two for the final service, with each contestant decorating their own restaurant, choosing the service uniforms, and creating the menu. 
The two finalists were able to renovate Hell's Kitchen however they liked. Michael went with an LA-modern style theme named Lola Pop (named for his wife, Lola), while Ralph decided to go with more of a New York style Steakhouse he called Frank & Lulu's (named for dogs owned by himself and a friend). 
All previously eliminated contestants return to help Michael and Ralph compete in the big challenge. 
After the service, Ramsay praised both of Michael and Ralph, saying that all of the customers loved their food and atmosphere, but one thing helped him make his decision: the number of customers who would return. While one scored 90% on this question, the other scored 94%. Ramsay declared Michael the winner. Ramsay then made Michael an offer: the original prize of his own restaurant, or an invitation to join Ramsay in London to work and learn alongside him at one of his restaurants. Michael accepted the offer to work in London. 
As a side note, Reality News Online claimed that whichever finalist had to take Dewberry for his side would lose. 

Epilogue
Winner Michael is in the UK, learning under Ramsay. He hopes to open his US$2 million restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007 at either The Palms or the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. 
Runner-up Ralph opened his own restaurant in Sag Harbor, New York, called Fat Ralph's Deli.