If you are a fan of Hell’s Kitchen, you will love this list of the best and worst contestants. It is one of the most popular shows in Fox’s long history.
Also, Hell’s Kitchen reality competition is one of those cooking shows that are full of entertainment and conflicts. Each season has a different mission: to find the best chef among all applicants.
The contestants of Hell’s Kitchen are competing to win a cash prize. On the other hand, they’re putting up with Gordon Ramsay’s rants and attacks.
So who are the best Hell’s Kitchen contestants? The worst? Who knows! We look at five of the best and five of the worst Hell’s Kitchen contestants in no particular order.
This order is not in line with the best Hell’s Kitchen episodes or even the worst. It is purely based on the people who competed.
While there are many contestants in the show, we feel Marcel Vigneron was the best contestant in Hell’s Kitchen and Josh was among the worst. Let us find out.
5 Best Hell’s Kitchen Contestants
1. Marcel Vigneron – Season 3 winner
After being runner-up two seasons prior, Marcel Vigneron won season 3 of Hell’s Kitchen. Marcel was known for his eccentric personality and ability to cook with flair. After winning the show, he starred in his cooking show, Eat This!
With Marcel Vigneron, which ran from 2010-2013 on Food Network Canada. He now hosts the web series Chefography on Cracked.com.
He can be found touring the country as a culinary performer with his one-man show The French Culinary Revolution.
2. Christina Wilson – Season 6
Christina Wilson (Season 6) was a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen Season 6. She was eliminated in episode 11, having been nominated by Ramsay for her poor performance during the first part of the challenge and for burning the risotto.
However, she was brought back in episode 12 to help out the Blue team as they were short-handed with only five chefs remaining.
She remained on the show until Episode 13, where she lost to Michael Wray in the elimination challenge. She is currently the Executive Chef at Lockwood Restaurant & Bar, located in New York City.
3. Michael Wray – season 8
Michael Wray (Season 8) was a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 and got eliminated in Episode 5 after making a mistake during service, which resulted in him being named “Not Ready.”
He returned in Episode 13 as one of three contestants brought back into the competition as part of an all-star edition of Hell’s Kitchen.
This is where he won against Carlos Silva and Josh Marks in Episode 14 and advanced to the finals against Enrique Fernandez and Bryan Voltaggio.
Here, he ended up losing by .04% or one vote to Bryan Voltaggio.
4. Season 3 – Jenn Brown
A sweet, soft-spoken woman with a lot of heart and a love for cooking. She was the first female winner, and she broke down in tears during her final service when Ramsay told her that she’d won. Brown has since become the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
5. Season 4 – Holli Ugalde
Holli was a strong competitor, winning two challenges during her time on the show. She was eliminated over an overcooked salmon dish but came back to win the red team’s final service as sous chef.
Her efforts earned her a spot as one of Ramsay’s right-hand women when he opened his flagship restaurant in London in 2006 – becoming the first female chef ever hired by him. She now runs her Porch restaurant at The Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
5 Worst Hell’s Kitchen Contestants
1. Josh Marks
Josh Marks was a contestant on season 12 of Hell’s Kitchen, and he has a very interesting story. He was formerly homeless, and he was able to turn his life around by winning $100,000 on a game show called Win Ben Stein’s Money.
He went on to open up his restaurant chain called The Meatball Shop, which now owns four locations in New York City.
He also has a cookbook called Meatballs for All Occasions: A Cookbook for Everyone from Meatball Newbies to Veteran Fans which he wrote with his wife, Erin Mosquera Marks.
As noted in the other article, Josh of Hell’s Kitchen is now married and living his life well after the excellent show he had.
2. Raghavan Iyer
Raghavan Iyer was Season 1’s chef with the worst attitude, and he was also the first chef eliminated from the show.
He tended to be very negative about almost everything and was particularly mean about his fellow chefs’ food.
The only reason he made it as long as he did was that he could cook well enough to make Ramsay happy most of the time.
However, even then, he still managed to get eliminated for making a mistake on a simple dish (making properly cooked salmon).
3. Ashley Merriman
Ashley Merriman was an absolute nightmare in Season 3 — not only did she have an awful personality, but she also showed herself to be completely unable to cook well at all.
She couldn’t even make simple dishes like pasta properly and had no idea how to handle fish or vegetables when they were presented raw (which is basically what happens every episode).
She managed to survive until episode 7 before getting kicked out of Hell’s Kitchen after making too many mistakes on her dishes and kitchen anymore after being caught stealing food from it! Even Ramsey said that Chris “wasn’t very good at all.”
4. Paulie Giganti
The self-proclaimed “Italian Stallion” was the most arrogant contestant in Hell’s Kitchen history, and even Gordon Ramsay couldn’t handle him.
He took every opportunity to brag about himself, including how his family had owned restaurants since the 1800s and how he would be rich when he got out of there.
He also referred to himself as “the handsome one,” which nobody else did because nobody thought he was handsome.
5. Jennifer Esposito
Jennifer Esposito first showed up in seasons 7 and 8 of Hell’s Kitchen as a guest chef who helped train contestants
She was so popular that producers brought her back for season 9 as a full-time judge alongside Ramsay and Chef Eric Ripert.
While she was nice enough when she was helping out on set, it was clear from her demeanor that she didn’t get along with any of the other judges or chefs during her time on the show.
This is especially not with Chef Ripert, who she seemed to hate for no reason whatsoever (except maybe because he’s French).
Michael is a freelance writer with a keen focus on sports, media trends, technology, and the general entertainment industry. When not blogging and writing trendy articles, Michael is watching soccer or out there playing football in the hood.