Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 16)
| Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 16) | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | September 23, 2016 – present |
| Season chronology | |
The sixteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on September 23, 2016 on Fox. The prize will be a head chef position at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at The Venetian Las Vegas. In addition to Gordon Ramsay, who returned as host/head chef, Marino Monferrato and Aaron Mitrano returned as maitre d' and blue kitchen sous chef respectively while Andi van Willigan-Cutspec resumed her role as sous chef for the red team after Season 10 winner Christina Wilson filled in for her in the previous season while she got married. This was also the first season since Season 13 to take a hiatus due to Fox's coverage of the 2016 World Series in addition to the holiday breaks. The remaining episodes of the season were moved to Thursday nights on January 5, 2017 as part of the network's midseason schedule.
This season's red team set a new record for the most number of outright dinner service wins by a team in a single Hell's Kitchen season (discounting season finales) with nine, surpassing the Season 14 blue team's record of six. Also, this season's blue team broke Season 10's blue team and Season 14's red team for the record of being kicked out of service, with seven ejections (episodes one, two, four, five, eight, nine, and ten). This marks the third season in a row and third season overall where the final three chefs are all female. This is the first time the final three chefs all made it to the top three without any previous nominations. This is the first time since season 9 where black jacket chefs were kicked out of service. This is also the fifth season where the finale has two female chefs (following seasons two, eleven, fourteen, and fifteen). This is also the fourth season in a row to have a female winner. This is also the second season in a row where no chef withdrew from the competition.
A slow motion sequence features the chefs causing multiple accidents in the kitchen.
Eighteen chefs compete in season 16.
The 18 chefs arrive in Los Angeles to begin the season. The chefs are excited to see Hell's Kitchen, but Chef Ramsay surprised the chefs by telling them they are not heading into Hell's Kitchen... at least, not yet. The chefs' first destination is the U.S. Army's training facility. Upon arriving, Ramsay pops out of a military tank and reveals why they are not in the kitchen. "Before you can enter Hell's Kitchen, I need to make sure that all of you have the discipline needed to survive," Ramsay explained. The sergeants directed the chefs to get into their military uniforms and begin the obstacle course. Ramsay originally tasked them to climb a 45' wall before entering, but the wall fell on top of him that revealed Hell's Kitchen and a group of people which then leads to the chef's very first challenge.
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