Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 5 - Hell's Kitchen
Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 5 - Hell's Kitchen
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00:00Over the years, Hell's Kitchen has become a beacon of hope for young chefs hungry for
00:12success.
00:13In 2004, multiple Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay burst out of the U.K. with a hot new
00:20show Hell's Kitchen, where chefs battle it out in the hope of becoming Ramsay's next
00:26protégé.
00:28It's like the first show that really was like a cooking competition.
00:32One of my things in life was to work for Gordon Ramsay.
00:34If you got picked for this, it was a very big deal.
00:38Ramsay's relentless perfectionism and infamous short temper are the show's secret sauce that
00:43make Hell's Kitchen the main course in Fox TV's reality lineup.
00:47Why are you wiping the plates?
00:48Chips, darling.
00:49What's he doing there, that jerk?
00:52In order to become a great chef, you have to be a dick.
00:55What in the f**k is going on in here?
00:58It's definitely something that has kind of become ingrained in the restaurant industry.
01:04Chefs know how to verbally disembowel people.
01:06You're trying to cook and you're getting yelled at.
01:09It's on the same table out there.
01:11I know what I can and cannot do.
01:13Yeah, that really sucked.
01:17With a format that's barely changed in over two decades, the show has been franchised
01:21in more than 20 countries and helped Ramsay build an estimated $200 million fortune.
01:27There's money to be made in being an asshole, and he's probably the best asshole out there.
01:33Shut your fat mouth and throw me in the kitchen!
01:35He's created a monster, and once you create a monster like that, you can't, like, go back.
01:42My reputation's on the line, and I didn't come to America to look second best.
01:47All that matters is getting to the finish line.
01:50To the hopefuls taking part, what are the costs of suffering through Ramsay's no-compromise approach?
01:56I know this is about the dark side of reality shows, but it's just the dark side of f**king reality, period.
02:02It's actually taking a thing that exists in reality and normalizing it.
02:06Ahhhh!
02:08Get out, you f**king donkey!
02:11I'm busting my balls out here!
02:13Get off my station!
02:14Just shut the f**k up for a minute and f**king relax.
02:17Help me out here!
02:19He looks like the Jerry Springer of cooking shows.
02:22It's f**ked.
02:23He's playing the devil in the kitchen.
02:32I get it, you have a short man's complex.
02:34You can barely reach over this f**king table, right?
02:36This is why you have the tattoos and your cool little scars.
02:39In 2022, TV audiences were mesmerized by the FX network's The Bear.
02:45You are bullshit.
02:46You are talentless a**hands.
02:48A panic-inducing tale of a young chef licking his wounds after being tortured by a tyrannical perfectionist.
02:56Hands!
02:57There's a lot of people that I know in the restaurant business that will not watch the show The Bear because of that.
03:04Because the whole, like, yes-chef culture is too real.
03:09The Bear is based on real-world kitchens and one notorious chef in particular.
03:15I read this book, Marco Pierre White's book, and there's this photo of him on the front of the book.
03:19He's got all this long hair, and so I was like, I really want to grow my hair out and kind of have a little nod to Marco Pierre White.
03:27Can you get your a** together, boys, for f**k's sake?
03:29Come on, you, get up.
03:30In 1989, British prodigy Marco Pierre White became one of the first to allow cameras uncensored access to his kitchen,
03:38cementing his reputation as the first bad boy TV chef.
03:42This gorgeous babe with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
03:46Marco Pierre White was the youngest chef to ever get three Michelin stars.
03:51As well as his incredible talent, the show also reveals Pierre White's blunt force personality.
03:57Marco Pierre White, he is very much kind of the godfather of the dickhead chef.
04:03At the end of the day, we've got to get results, and I don't care how we get them.
04:06I don't care how many boys we've got to go through together.
04:09Marco was an a**hole through and through. He made no bones about it.
04:13That was his brand. Before we had brands, that was his.
04:17A difficult guy to work with, though.
04:19Impossible, I would say. I mean, obviously, you've got to be a very special person to work alongside someone like that.
04:24Someone who's very eager to learn.
04:26Apprenticing under Marco is an ambitious young line cook named Gordon Ramsay.
04:31I mean, we're finished. I didn't realize it. We've gone through twice.
04:35A shadow of the chef he will become, Ramsay learns two things from Marco.
04:39How to cook at the highest level, and how to thrive in an abusive kitchen.
04:43He pushed you to the extreme.
04:45How did he do that?
04:46Because, you know, he drummed it in.
04:49You know, if you're going to do it, do it to your best.
04:52And if you don't want to do it to your best, get the f**k out of here.
04:55You're getting structured. You're getting hungry. You're getting knowledge.
04:59And all of a sudden, you're becoming a beast because of the monster he created.
05:03And the monster you're working for.
05:07By 1998, Ramsay's out from under Marco's wing and on the way to conquering London's fine dining scene.
05:13He opens his first restaurant to rave reviews.
05:19This was his first opportunity to strike out on his own.
05:24Marco Pierre White is not his daddy anymore.
05:27In that same year, Ramsay gets his own series, Boiling Point.
05:31Boiling Point was viewers' first real taste of Gordon Ramsay at his best.
05:38And when I say best, I mean, like, being a flaming asshole.
05:42Why aren't you wiping the plates?
05:45What's he doing with that jerk?
05:48What's he talking about, Marco?
05:52You get the feeling when you watch Boiling Point that this is just kind of like, he's just abusing people for fun.
05:58Did you see the times?
06:00It's not a very nice piece.
06:02It just mentions bully boy tactics and, you know, psychological barriers about bad bosses.
06:09I mean, f***ing arsehole.
06:12Audiences and the press are outraged by Ramsay's behavior.
06:15But reality TV producers see an opportunity.
06:18In 2004, ITV spins Boiling Point into the very first Hell's Kitchen UK.
06:23Where Ramsay uses his so-called bully boy tactics to train British celebs.
06:28In a real kitchen environment with seriously volatile results.
06:32Does this make you feel better shouting in front of the bleachers?
06:34I'm not shouting in front of anybody.
06:36Is that you have to show off?
06:37I'm... How bloody f***ing dare you?
06:40Don't be stupid. Don't be so stupid.
06:42I'm not showing off. I am tired.
06:44It takes just one season of the UK show for Fox TV to see the potential in unleashing Ramsay on America.
06:51Reality show producers were like, this is like lightning in a bottle.
06:56Let's work as a f***ing team.
06:58We don't got to tell this guy anything.
07:00He just tears the shit out of everyone that crosses his path.
07:05People love him.
07:07Regardless, it's ratings gold.
07:10In 2005, production begins on the US version.
07:14It's billed as a way for aspiring Ramsay wannabes to showcase their talents.
07:20The Last Chef Standing will win $250,000.
07:24Eager contestants from across the country answer the casting call.
07:29I was number two chef at White Lotus on Coinga in Hollywood.
07:32They're in Los Angeles and they were doing auditions on Vine Street.
07:35So it was like, you know, five minute walk.
07:37I just had to walk down an alley and across the street.
07:39There must have been a thousand people out here.
07:42I think it was like five layers I went through until I finally hit their producers upstairs.
07:47Because they found out that like one of my things in life was to work for Gordon Ramsay.
07:52I'm Michael Ray and I was a contestant on season one of Hell's Kitchen.
07:58For Michael, the show presents the opportunity of a lifetime.
08:01But producers also want to shake things up.
08:04Casting cooking enthusiasts with no professional expertise.
08:08I didn't consider myself a chef at all.
08:11I was a home cook.
08:12Ow!
08:13I need a bandaid over here. Are you okay?
08:15Yep.
08:16I'm Elsie Ramos and I was a contestant on season one of Hell's Kitchen.
08:21My friend approached me and said, hey listen, I think you have a really good story here.
08:25She's like, you know, you're practically running a bistro in your house.
08:29Why don't you come and audition for this new show?
08:32And I said, you're crazy.
08:33I was like, I have no culinary experience.
08:35To take someone with absolutely no kitchen experience and put them in a situation like Hell's Kitchen.
08:41Would be like taking an innocent baby and putting them through Navy SEAL training.
08:47Like it's just impossible.
08:51It's an obvious ploy to create drama.
08:53But even the producers know that to survive Gordon Ramsay, the amateurs are going to need a little help.
08:59When I arrived in LA, they actually drove me to a restaurant.
09:03And they put me in the kitchen and they said, look, you know, just watch, observe.
09:08So that you have some idea of what a kitchen and how it looks like.
09:14Being in a hot kitchen, it's 200 degrees.
09:17Orders are being yelled at.
09:19People are screaming.
09:20Dishes are being slammed.
09:22I was there two nights and I wanted to shoot myself.
09:26With the cast in place, Hell's Kitchen is ready to shoot.
09:29Each episode will feature challenges to test the contestants cooking chops.
09:34Building to a finale where Ramsay selects one participant as the winner.
09:38Why do you deserve, young lady, to stay in Hell's Kitchen?
09:43Gordon Ramsay, one of the finest chefs in the world, came to America on a mission.
09:48Guaranteeing he would mold one of these 12 people into a master chef.
09:53The one of you who excels the most can win your dream restaurant.
09:57It's a complete culture shock.
09:59It was so scary at first.
10:00And bringing you out there, all of a sudden, it's just like you're in the middle of a TV set.
10:05There's no time to settle in as they're given an immediate chance to impress the Michelin starred master chef.
10:10Sous chefs come in and they're like, you're going to cook your signature dish for him right now.
10:16The kitchen's right behind you.
10:17I was like, what? My feet are killing me. I'm in heels.
10:22For their first task, pro chef and enthusiast alike must each present Ramsay with a dish of their own creation.
10:29That was, that was, that was messed up.
10:32You know, this person's making scallops and the other one has like little lamb chops and I'm like, f**k.
10:38It was crazy. And the dish that I selected.
10:42Whose is this?
10:43Michael.
10:44It was one of his dishes.
10:45Let me tell you something.
10:46Yes, sir.
10:47You've got a palate like a cow's backside.
10:49That is disgusting.
10:51Only thing you should ever utter if you want to win Hell's Kitchen is, yes, chef.
10:56My signature dish, because I made it a thousand times for my boys,
10:59was turkey tacos.
11:01We were all lined up. I just got like really, really faint.
11:05There was just this overwhelming like, oh my God, I made turkey tacos.
11:10Here comes Gordon Ramsay.
11:12Whose are these?
11:15Big guy. Very intimidating as hell.
11:18I was like, man, he looks really mean and he's really scary.
11:23Who are these for?
11:24My children.
11:25Your children?
11:26They're still alive?
11:28She served like paste picante sauce on her tacos on the first night,
11:32you know, with like pre-shredded cheese and stuff.
11:34But it was good and Gordon liked it.
11:36It's not bad.
11:37Okay.
11:38Not bad.
11:39Which is not great, but it's not bad.
11:41All right, everybody, follow me.
11:42We're going to take you over to the dorms right now.
11:44Having survived their introduction to Ramsay,
11:47the contestants are shown their Big Brother style living quarters.
11:50So they take us to the dorm, but I was like,
11:54So they take us to the dorm, but I was like,
11:56wait a second, but this is the restaurant.
11:58The dorms are like right there.
11:59There was like two beds in each room.
12:02And like, this is where you're going to be staying.
12:05How they had us like housed up, you know,
12:07you're living with somebody you don't know.
12:09Just met.
12:10You're going to spend the next 30 days in a competition with them.
12:13They're creating environments where what they want to happen is going to happen, I think.
12:18There was nothing that was going to happen there that they didn't know about.
12:22The 12 contestants are now trapped in a pressure cooker, and they seal the lid.
12:28Their cell phones were taken away.
12:30So it's not like I could call my husband and just like,
12:32Oh my God, you won't believe this. You can't believe this.
12:34Like where I'm staying.
12:36When you're in a reality show, it's like being part of a cult for 30 days.
12:42Like your brain works different.
12:45You have zero connection to the outside world.
12:47The only connection they allow you is, is what you're doing.
12:52Pro chef Michael Ray is one of the more experienced contestants,
12:55and this should give him an advantage.
12:57But behind the scenes, he's carrying a secret that could derail him at any moment.
13:03So when I was 18, I had scoliosis.
13:07And so I had a procedure done, like where they go in and they fused like my whole T-spine.
13:12You know, that's traumatic.
13:14And I think like within the first week and a half of being outside of surgery, I overdosed on morphine.
13:21I'd go to the doctor and they're just like, Oh, you know, here's pain medication.
13:25Oxycontins at the time were new.
13:27Like they were a big deal.
13:28And like I had great insurance and I had a really good reason to get pain medication.
13:33And I completely took advantage of that.
13:35Like I got really addicted.
13:38To cope with competing on a high stakes TV show, Michael leans more and more on his supply of pain pills.
13:45Popping Ritalin, taking painkillers throughout the day.
13:47The day's over, pop some Ambien.
13:52I was consuming medication like that every day.
13:57Are they going to kick me off the show?
13:59Like there's a lot of money on the line.
14:02Like I was scared shitless.
14:03I was like, God damn, I'm going to run out of meds.
14:15Are you ready?
14:17Hell's Kitchen, season one, week one.
14:20And Gordon Ramsay is turning up the heat by dividing contestants into red and blue teams with vastly different levels of experience.
14:28Once I started to hear, yeah, I'm an executive chef and the other one is managing a restaurant.
14:33Oh yeah, and I've worked in a restaurant all my life.
14:36You know, right away I was like, either I was set up or I'm in big trouble.
14:42Elsie, what the f*** is that?
14:45It was just like, oh my God.
14:47Just hold on, hold on.
14:49Come on, f*** now.
14:51I'm down.
14:52The difference between Elsie the amateur and the rest soon becomes painfully obvious.
14:56Do we know I'm going to lose already?
14:58But let's just put her in there anyway for fun and see how much she f***s up.
15:03The casting's weird.
15:04Like some people, they did not belong there.
15:07And I think they put them there just to get them out early.
15:10I would not want to be on that show with zero culinary background.
15:13They weren't at the level that I felt they should be on to be on Hell's Kitchen.
15:17If you can't answer a question I'm asking you,
15:19how do you expect to stand up to Gordon Ramsay?
15:22The contestants ship gears as they prepare for that evening's service,
15:25with the studio operating as a fully working restaurant.
15:29It was always a meat, a fish, and a poultry or something like that.
15:33And then we were all assigned a different station.
15:35You just had to kind of wing it.
15:37But this is reality TV, not the real world.
15:40Dinner service on Hell's Kitchen does not operate like it should.
15:44Dinner service on Hell's Kitchen does not operate like any kind of regular service.
15:49No restaurant is prepping for that day's service a couple hours into it.
15:56Don't tighten this too tight because it'll pinch right through.
15:58And then he's like,
15:59JP!
16:00Open the doors to Hell's Kitchen.
16:02Open Hell's Kitchen please.
16:04They'll bring a hundred people in there at one time and sit them down at once.
16:08That's not how a real restaurant works.
16:10It's a reality TV version of a kitchen, meaning it's not like reality at all.
16:18Can I have a rag?
16:19Can you have a rag?
16:20Can you f*** off?
16:21Yes, chef.
16:22Yeah, and stop asking me for things.
16:24As the guests are seated, Ramsay kicks into boss mode,
16:27displaying the behavior that helped him earn three Michelin stars.
16:31It was complete mayhem.
16:34F*** yourself. Get in the bin.
16:36I'm confused. I don't know what I'm doing.
16:38Thank you for coming back.
16:39You never, hello, desert your section again.
16:41Do you understand?
16:42You stand there like a man and you face it.
16:44Because I'm standing here in front of customers taking s***.
16:46Because they were busting out these orders
16:48and there's like five and six and seven and ten coming in at the same time.
16:51Damn, it's hot in here.
16:53Yeah, you're alright, Michael.
16:54Right now I don't need a big drama queen in my hands.
16:56You know that.
16:57Yeah, of course it's hot.
16:58That's what I did. You know that.
16:59Just look at that board there, Michael.
17:00Yes, chef.
17:01Yeah.
17:02I feel like it's his way of sort of inspiring
17:04and creating, you know, great chefs
17:07through the pressure cooker method, if you will.
17:10Like a pirate ship.
17:11Like he's in charge.
17:12It's not a democracy.
17:13They're on this show for a quarter million dollars
17:15to lift their cribs.
17:16And so I can't then turn around and say,
17:19oh, s***, the camera's watching.
17:20Oh, can you hear me?
17:21I'm going to give it to them.
17:23I'm going to absolutely let rip.
17:25And maybe that's just the way I am.
17:27That's the way I'm taught.
17:29So upset.
17:31That's nicely cooked.
17:32That's nicely cooked.
17:33That's nicely cooked.
17:34And what are they for?
17:35They're black.
17:36I just know, you muppet,
17:38get your s*** together or f*** off.
17:40How can I serve that and that on the same table?
17:42Take!
17:44Sorry, chef.
17:45I'm so embarrassed.
17:47What's the matter with you, madam?
17:49Half the dining room have got their entrees.
17:52You're half are standing staring.
17:54Every mistake is ridiculed
17:56and the humiliation is captured in excruciating detail.
17:59This may not be important for you, madam.
18:01Hey, but madam, this is f***ing serious and you're sh**.
18:04Nobody's tuning in to watch Hell's Kitchen
18:07to see a bunch of cooks performing well.
18:10Do it again, okay?
18:11Caroline, get on the stove and help.
18:13Did you hear my question?
18:14Answer it.
18:15It was just so outrageous.
18:17It was...
18:18You f***ing donkey.
18:19...a lot of cursing, a lot of insults.
18:22The chicken is pinker than your f***ing lipstick.
18:25Yes, chef.
18:26I said, this can't possibly be normal.
18:31Oh my God!
18:33It's Elsie's first experience of a professional kitchen
18:36run by a ruthless head chef
18:38and it's all being televised.
18:40This poor f***er doesn't have a chance.
18:42It's just like throwing babies into a lion's mouth.
18:46Everybody was scared.
18:47Let's just put it that way.
18:48Everybody was afraid.
18:49Come on!
18:51It should be gone by now.
18:53Chefs know how to verbally disembowel people.
18:56Start the table again.
18:57I did not expect to see that fiery bully.
19:03What is that?
19:04It's f***ing raw. Raw!
19:06Any of these guys that came on the show
19:08that never really worked in a kitchen before,
19:10they all took it the same way.
19:11They took it personal.
19:12You don't care, do you?
19:14At this point, no, I don't.
19:15You don't care?
19:16No.
19:17You're useless, you know that?
19:18I am. Goodbye.
19:19Dewey! Dewey! Dewey!
19:22You know, Gordon, he told me, like,
19:23you never tell your employees that they're doing a good job.
19:26The instant you tell them that is when they stop trying.
19:29When you're in karate class,
19:30is your karate sensei a bully or is he your teacher?
19:34It's the same thing.
19:35Come here, you. Come here. Come here.
19:36If you don't like me, I don't know what to tell you.
19:38Move your ass!
19:40Give me your jacket.
19:41You're leaving Hell's Kitchen.
19:42Those who don't quit on the spot
19:43face elimination at the end of every episode.
19:46Elsie, the home cook,
19:47cast because of her lack of experience,
19:49somehow survives seven eliminations
19:51and is one of the last four standing.
19:54The person winning the challenge today is Elsie.
19:57So as far as, like, any of the chefs that weren't chefs,
20:00Elsie was really good.
20:02That's delicious.
20:03Thank you, chef.
20:04A real hearty and warm, substantial soup.
20:09That night, he says, Elsie, be ready with your knives.
20:12We're gonna do something really, really special.
20:14You're gonna be cooking on live TV.
20:17I thought, wow, this could be my really big break, you know?
20:20Like, you know, it's like your five minutes of fame,
20:23like, it was pretty awesome.
20:25I won yesterday's challenge.
20:26Way to go, Elsie!
20:28And then I get to the kitchen, and it's total silence.
20:31You're gonna carry her tonight?
20:32Nope.
20:35I think some of the contestants used that towards the end
20:38to sort of pressure her out.
20:41And why are you doing Elsie's penne, Michael?
20:43Because I don't know how to do it.
20:44I'm taking the penne.
20:45I'm gonna put it at my station so you don't have to worry about it.
20:47No, I don't want you to put it at your station.
20:48Just show me one time how to do it.
20:49I don't want to just...
20:50Like I said, everything I put in here was all you needed.
20:52I've never done it.
20:54That dinner service was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
20:58I was completely, completely lost.
21:01Oh, come on, Els.
21:03Give me some feedback.
21:04I was, you know, upset.
21:06It took starters.
21:07Two bis, one veloute.
21:08OK.
21:09I was scared.
21:10It's on the same table, Elsie.
21:12OK, sir.
21:13I'm gonna plate it right now.
21:14I called it out.
21:15You said yes.
21:16I'm a mess.
21:17What can I tell you?
21:18Hello?
21:19Hello?
21:20I called out the order.
21:21You know what I can and cannot do?
21:22Hurry up.
21:23This is one thing I can't do.
21:24I was like, but we were friends.
21:28No.
21:29I feel like a total outsider.
21:31And no one said a word to me the whole night.
21:36And so, ultimately, I was eliminated.
21:39They just pushed me to the side.
21:43I don't want to talk anymore.
21:49It was crazy.
21:50You know, it was sad, but then that's when I started to, like,
21:53really understand what I had just done.
21:56To think that I made it that far, I was like, you go, girl.
22:02It's been great.
22:03Hey.
22:05Keep smiling.
22:06I will.
22:08Ramsay and his producers have squeezed all the drama they can
22:11out of Elsie's time on the show.
22:13It ultimately comes down to two professional chefs,
22:16including Michael Ray.
22:18But his dependency on painkillers is creating a personal crisis.
22:24I had a lot of things going on with trying to stay soberish
22:28with my medication.
22:30I was getting a month's worth of medication every week.
22:33I brought in, like, an extra 500 pills.
22:36I had the pills that I gave to production,
22:38and I still ran out, like, halfway through the show.
22:40Like, it was, they saved my ass.
22:42They actually went to my doctor, picked up my script for me.
22:45And I don't think the medication gave me any sort of advantage
22:48over anybody else because, to be honest with you,
22:50waking up with withdrawals and just, like,
22:52it was more of a crush because I had to hide this little thing, you know?
22:55You guys cook like old people, f***.
22:58Siding table 12, two short rib, one lobster, one steak.
23:02Michael is barely keeping his addiction at bay
23:05as he battles his way to the final showdown.
23:09Don't be, you know, not trying to make a big impression in the beginning,
23:12and then I think I really turned on the heat.
23:14You really have to, like, be like a professional athlete or something
23:17and just seize that moment.
23:20He's one step away from winning $250,000
23:23to put towards his own restaurant
23:25that comes with the endorsement of his idol.
23:28There was two doors, one open, one's locked.
23:32Anybody who's familiar with TV, they know how this, like...
23:35All right, guys, one.
23:36One.
23:38Two.
23:39Three.
23:40Four.
23:41Five.
23:42Six.
23:43Seven.
23:44Eight.
23:45Nine.
23:4610.
23:4711.
23:4812.
23:4913.
23:5014.
23:5115.
23:5216.
23:5317.
23:5418.
23:5519.
23:5620.
23:5721.
23:5822.
23:5923.
24:0024.
24:0125.
24:0226.
24:0327.
24:0428.
24:0529.
24:0630.
24:0731.
24:0832.
24:09I started my show by, you know, having to be dependent on drugs.
24:16You've got to be that guy you were when you were on the TV show.
24:21And I was not that guy.
24:32Michael Ray, an experienced sous chef,
24:35is the first ever winner of Hell's Kitchen's $250,000 prize.
24:39But Gordon Ramsay surprises Michael
24:41by offering him a job at one of his acclaimed London restaurants
24:45in addition to the cash.
24:47I personally would like to invite you
24:50to come back with me to London
24:53to be part of one of the most famous restaurants in the world
24:58and work alongside me
25:01to become a top world-class chef.
25:06Am I going to go out there with a giant addiction?
25:08It's just I had that pressure of that choice finally hit me.
25:12I just wasn't in control of my life enough.
25:14I just...
25:16I had to say no.
25:19It was such a hard thing to say.
25:22It's such a...
25:24a turning point in my life.
25:27I think that I pissed him off.
25:29And I'm f***ing out of here.
25:31I've never talked to him to this day.
25:34Michael walks away from his dream job.
25:38For Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen season one is a wild hit,
25:42averaging 7 million viewers an episode.
25:44It makes him a global superstar.
25:47And as the show's popularity grows,
25:49there's no shortage of contestants
25:51willing to suffer Ramsay's insults
25:53for the chance to change their lives forever.
25:56Unbelievable. Bloody hell. Here I go again.
26:02A lot of people who are younger come up the ranks
26:04and they go to culinary school and they think,
26:06I'm going to be the next Gordon Ramsay.
26:08And then people think that being on Hell's Kitchen
26:11is going to be my ticket to stardom.
26:14A 1 in 16 chance of winning it,
26:16doing the one thing that you're absolutely best at,
26:20that was a no-brainer.
26:22It was going to be this amazing opportunity
26:25for me to showcase my talent.
26:27My name is Tech and I was a contestant
26:29on season six of Hell's Kitchen.
26:31I'm looking at these people floundering
26:33and I said, how hard can it be?
26:38When I went to audition for Hell's Kitchen,
26:40I was working at a five-diamond hotel restaurant in Dallas.
26:44We were just listening to the radio one day in the kitchen
26:47and they said, Hell's Kitchen's coming to Dallas.
26:50And I was like, told my boy, we gotta go do this.
26:53My name's Van Hurd.
26:54I was on season six and season 17 of Hell's Kitchen.
26:57I grew up around wrestling.
26:59My mom was Luna Vachon.
27:01She was a professional wrestler, WWE, ECW, WCW.
27:05Van Hurd sees Hell's Kitchen as his way to achieve
27:08what his mom did in wrestling and more.
27:11The fortune and the glory, you know?
27:13The money and the fame.
27:15That's what Hell's Kitchen's all about.
27:17For me, I didn't have any reservations.
27:19I wasn't scared.
27:20Like, I don't get scared easily.
27:21I'd already been to prison.
27:22For a burglary, grand theft, fleeing, and eluding.
27:25I'm not worried about going to L.A.
27:27and being on a reality show.
27:30Van, come here.
27:31Straight away.
27:32Two threes or what?
27:33Two threes?
27:34Two times three.
27:35Two threes.
27:36Two threes or what?
27:37I can count, yes.
27:38Yeah, that's six.
27:39So you give me seven.
27:40I gave you an extra.
27:41I'm sorry.
27:42It won't happen again.
27:43Dumbo.
27:45Gordon continues to berate his protégés
27:47just like he did in his boiling point days.
27:50His signature style is now all too familiar.
27:53Hell's Kitchen is like the real world
27:56of restaurant kitchens on steroids.
27:59The volume is turned up for the entertainment value,
28:02but you can't keep doing the same routine
28:06over and over and over again.
28:09Contestants allege that to heat up the drama in the kitchen,
28:12producers would sabotage them during challenges.
28:16It's like whack-a-mole of problems,
28:19but you don't realize that it's by design.
28:22The mind-blow is just the situations they put you in
28:25to see how you're going to react.
28:27I feel like they were playing with our ovens.
28:29They were playing with our pilot lights.
28:32They were making shit happen just for TV.
28:35The blindfolded taste test,
28:37I feel like they were fooling me on that.
28:39I feel like they dipped it in some fish oil or something
28:42because I had tasted fish and it was like a vegetable.
28:46You'd be doing prep all day long
28:48and then come back and all your prep's gone.
28:51That's not fair.
28:53The machinations of reality show producers
28:56to get their desired effect are well known to everyone.
29:00Hell's Kitchen is such a construct.
29:03You know, it's a clown car stuffed with clowns,
29:07and Gordon Ramsay is the ringmaster.
29:10Competitors also have to be willing to put up
29:13with televised humiliation
29:15to get a chance to win a quarter of a million dollars.
29:18We were cleaned up.
29:20I'm in a hazmat suit.
29:22They literally dumped the dumpsters out,
29:25and we had to clean it up and put it back in.
29:28But the stunt lead's van heard to discover
29:30just how much of the show seems to be preordained.
29:33And I found a bunch of paperwork and stuff.
29:36There's a whole storyboard before you even get there.
29:39Like, there was an upcoming live fire challenge.
29:43I didn't want anybody to see me reading it.
29:45I should have kept it.
29:47I thought that Hell's Kitchen was about cooking.
29:5190% game show and 10% cooking.
29:55You, you, you!
29:57It told me it was faker than wrestling.
30:01It's not real.
30:03TV, don't believe anything you see on TV.
30:06The claims of shenanigans behind the scenes on Hell's Kitchen
30:10doesn't, that, like, doesn't surprise me in the least.
30:14Because as we have established so far,
30:18Hell's Kitchen is a f***ing joke, right?
30:22It's a painful joke, but it's a joke nonetheless.
30:26When you're communicating in the kitchen,
30:28we're going to learn how to do it better.
30:30Hell's Kitchen has become a parody of its premise
30:33to mold contestants into master chefs.
30:35However, not everyone is in on the joke.
30:38Unbelievable.
30:39One simple request, who and why,
30:41and you make a big f***ing song and dance about it.
30:44I ain't no f***ing bitch, chef. I don't give a f***.
30:47I ain't no bitch.
30:48Joseph Tinnelli, a young line cook from Chicago...
30:51What?
30:52...has had enough and calls BS on Gordon Ramsay.
30:56I ask the f***ing questions, you give the f***ing answers.
30:59F*** that shit, dog. I ain't here for that.
31:01You want a f***ing jacket? You want to talk some shit?
31:04Let's go step outside and f***ing play out.
31:07You want to talk about f***ing fighting?
31:08Oh, wow.
31:09You want to get f***ing rough?
31:10Do you think I'm scared? Huh?
31:11Look at you.
31:13You just blow f***ing all cameras.
31:15Yeah, f*** the cameras.
31:16Yeah?
31:17Yeah. I'm standing here.
31:28F*** that shit, dog.
31:29Through 66 episodes of verbal abuse and producer trickery...
31:33Let's go step outside.
31:34...no one has lost it on Gordon Ramsay.
31:37Until now.
31:38I asked you one simple question, and you couldn't f***ing answer me.
31:41And then you want to get all tough and up close and personal.
31:44F*** you.
31:45There you go.
31:46I wanted somebody to swing.
31:48Like Gordon wasn't scared.
31:50Passive aggression, then just aggression, aggression.
31:53It just happened quickly.
31:56You ain't no but a bitch.
32:00You got no respect.
32:01No respect.
32:02Now get out.
32:03F*** you.
32:04You f***ing bitch.
32:06F*** all y'all.
32:07You heard him?
32:10Watch the step.
32:11What an idiot.
32:13He was tired of the pressure, but I think he let the pressure get to him.
32:16He was a tough guy anyway, and somebody's got to eventually got to take a swing at Gordon.
32:21It's a rare moment of authenticity in what has otherwise become a game show,
32:26with Gordon Ramsay reveling in the lead role of fiery host.
32:31I just feel like he turns it on.
32:33I've been around wrestlers my whole life, and I know when somebody's like being real
32:38and somebody's playing a character.
32:40All right, a risotto.
32:42Be delicious.
32:45You've got it right now.
32:47Continue with it, yes?
32:48Hallelujah.
32:49Because if you watch any of his other shows, he's sweet as pie.
32:52For me, working with MasterChef Junior is a dream.
32:55I'm like their perfect soccer coach.
32:57He accents it with these other shows where it's like,
33:00oh no, he's really just a reasonable guy.
33:03Like, oh look, look how caring he actually is.
33:07It is necessary for him to make it bigger and make it broader
33:11in order to keep the audience entertained.
33:13It is a character.
33:14He's playing the devil in the kitchen.
33:16He's making too much money to be done with it.
33:19His performance has made Ramsay one of the richest chefs in the world,
33:23and it's a role he just can't step away from.
33:27I swear to God, I'd rather you just all f*** off out of here.
33:30Chef, we can all pick it up.
33:31You can pick it up.
33:32You need to untuck your f***ing head out your ass.
33:34By 2016, there have been 15 seasons of Hell's Kitchen.
33:38Shit!
33:39Each new competitor has had fair warning
33:41that it's little more than TV entertainment.
33:44And yet, the prize money and the draw of working for Ramsay
33:48still attracts ambitious hopefuls,
33:50believing it could be their ticket to success.
33:54I didn't go on Hell's Kitchen to be a celebrity.
33:58Like, I went on Hell's Kitchen to catapult my career
34:01to get a higher-paying job as an executive chef.
34:04My name is Ariel Malone,
34:06and I was a contestant on season 15 of Hell's Kitchen.
34:10Congratulations.
34:12Amazing, amazing, amazing.
34:13Absolutely incredible.
34:15With their eyes fixed clearly on the prize...
34:18Oh, my God.
34:20...Ariel, who weeks ago was a mere line cook,
34:23outlasts her rivals and makes it to the final two.
34:27Good luck.
34:28Thanks, Chef.
34:29You too.
34:30Yeah, we have to, like, both put our hands on the handle
34:32at the same time, and then he's, like, on the count of three.
34:34Turn your handles.
34:36I just, I didn't think my handle was going to turn.
34:40One.
34:41Two.
34:44Three.
34:45And then, like, I could see out of the corner of my eye,
34:47I could see, like, Kristin kind of, like,
34:49push her handle down, and I was like...
34:53Yes!
34:54Oh, my God.
34:56And just, like, opened the door, and, like,
34:58it was just in total shock that I had won.
35:02Ariel's dream is now reality.
35:05She's about to become a full-time Ramsay protégé,
35:08a role that comes with a $250,000 salary.
35:12At least, that's what she thinks.
35:15My understanding was that I would be the executive chef
35:17of BLT Steak in Las Vegas.
35:20When I got there, it was mostly they wanted me
35:22to kind of, like, be on the floor.
35:24They didn't want me in the kitchen.
35:25They wanted me just to, like, take pictures
35:27and kiss babies and that kind of thing.
35:29And I'm like, no, I'm a chef.
35:31And they're like, no, you're paid talent.
35:34Go take a picture.
35:36And then when it was like, you know what I mean?
35:37I did all this work.
35:38I prepped the kitchen.
35:39I'm ready to go for service.
35:40They'd be like, just kidding.
35:41He's going to run service.
35:42That whole position that they're offering
35:45and that they're dangling,
35:46it's almost like the actual position itself
35:48was just to promote whatever establishment
35:52was opening that wanted their name
35:53repeated over and over and over again.
35:55Never again, I swear to God.
35:57Liz, shut up.
35:59Over Hell's Kitchen's first 22 seasons,
36:01only one winner, season 10's Christina Wilson,
36:04has ever managed to stay with Ramsay long-term.
36:07I think that there is a danger there
36:09that a show like Hell's Kitchen can misrepresent
36:12what the restaurant world is really like
36:15and draw people into it with false promises.
36:18They might unlock some career opportunities.
36:22But again, it's really, to me, feels like a false promise.
36:25And it feels like people think that this is going to be
36:27like the way your ticket in.
36:29And in reality, it's like, it's not.
36:32She is an out-of-the-box thinker
36:34who will make a great head chef at BLT Steak.
36:37I was extremely disappointed in the reality
36:41that I was not going to be the executive chef
36:44They already have Chef de Cuisine,
36:46and they don't want you coming into their restaurant
36:49just because you were on some reality show, you know?
36:53So just take the money and run.
36:55The contestants are disposable.
36:57Tech, give me your jacket and leave Hell's Kitchen.
37:00That quarter million dollars per season
37:03that they're giving out away, he's making per episode.
37:07So does he care about any of the people that are on it?
37:13I don't know.
37:14I know that there are contestants from this reality show
37:16and other reality shows that have, like, killed themselves.
37:19So it's like, at some point,
37:20is somebody going to care about the human beings
37:23that you're making money off of?
37:25The thing about Hell's Kitchen that sucks
37:27is actually taking a thing that exists in reality
37:31and normalizing it
37:32for millions and millions and millions of people.
37:35The yelling and verbal abuse
37:37that has become a Hell's Kitchen trademark
37:39is all too common in real-world kitchens.
37:42Only there, it has real-world consequences.
37:46We are dealing with an epidemic of mental illness
37:50in our industry.
37:51And it's something that people are afraid to talk about
37:53or confront or take care of themselves.
37:56A lot of people don't understand how to deal
37:58with people that have anxiety, depression,
38:02because they don't know what to say.
38:04I feel like with chefs and abuse that it's always,
38:07I think it's hereditary,
38:09and you see that as being the template
38:11for how you are supposed to act in order to have excellence.
38:15Oftentimes, these chefs embrace that.
38:17How can I serve that and that on the same table?
38:20Sorry, chef!
38:21This is f***ing serious, and you're shit!
38:23The industry itself is really one of the most punishing
38:29and thankless jobs one can have.
38:33High rates of addiction and suicide
38:35are common among workers in the restaurant industry,
38:38and Hell's Kitchen contestants aren't beyond this kind of trauma.
38:42After winning Hell's Kitchen,
38:44go through having the money,
38:47I kind of just imploded.
38:50So I gave up being a chef.
38:52I ended up becoming homeless.
38:55I lived under the Burbank underpass
38:59for like four months.
39:02I just stole the fentanyl patches that I was on,
39:05and then I took off up into the high desert.
39:09I ended up trying to kill myself with a knife.
39:22In the years since winning Hell's Kitchen's first season,
39:25Michael Ray's life has been spiraling towards rock bottom.
39:30I ended up becoming homeless,
39:33and then I took off up into the high desert.
39:37I ended up trying to kill myself with a knife.
39:39I was like, I thought there was ghosts in my blood.
39:43A car found me.
39:45They got me to the hospital.
39:47I was able to get off of hardcore opiate abuse.
39:53I ended up working at the rehab place that helped me,
39:56and that's where I actually met my wife.
39:58Cooks and chefs like Michael share their stories
40:00of mental health and addiction
40:02to expose the toxic nature of many kitchens.
40:06Recently, there's hope that the industry
40:08is changing for the better.
40:10Eric Ripert, one of the most famous chefs in the world,
40:13made a big announcement several years ago
40:15that they no longer yell in their kitchen.
40:18It doesn't make for a conducive environment.
40:21Well, nowadays, there's no more screaming and yelling,
40:25especially with all the anxiety and stuff
40:27that these kids have these days.
40:28It's got to be cool. You got to be chill.
40:30Like, you can be stern, and you can be disciplined,
40:33but, like, screaming and yelling and throwing stuff,
40:36like, that's an HR nightmare.
40:38I think that there's been a reckoning
40:40in the entire industry
40:42that you don't necessarily have to shit all over somebody
40:47just to get them to respond.
40:50The more that we can celebrate chefs
40:52that treat their staff with respect,
40:56I think the better off the industry will be.
40:58But unfortunately, that doesn't make good television.
41:02How much did you think about your TV persona?
41:06I didn't.
41:07Not at all?
41:08I didn't give a shit.
41:09So even when you were saying outrageous stuff
41:11or dropping in the odd swear word,
41:13that wasn't...
41:14I just...
41:15You weren't thinking, how can I have the most impact?
41:17Take it professionally, not personally.
41:20Really important.
41:21I can't stress how important that is.
41:23Getting told off is f***ing good.
41:27Really healthy.
41:28But take it professionally.
41:30Don't take it personally.
41:32Today, Hell's Kitchen is down in the ratings,
41:34but the contestants keep signing up,
41:36still believing in the promise
41:38that Gordon Ramsay and the show can change their lives,
41:41despite the experiences of those who came before.
41:45I feel like coming off of the show,
41:47I really needed to prove that I wasn't as bad of a cook
41:51as I had appeared,
41:53and it was important to me that I continue rising.
41:57So I stuck to it,
41:59and I ended up working my way up to an exec job
42:02and running a couple really nice restaurants.
42:05Come on, Alfie!
42:06I've never been yelled at like that.
42:11Ever.
42:16After the show, a publisher reached out to me and said,
42:19Hey, listen, I watched the show, loved you in it.
42:22We want to do a cookbook.
42:24So, you know, I mean, I was on top for a little bit,
42:26and it felt really, really good.
42:28And then when it's just, it just stops.
42:31It was traumatic.
42:32Took me a long time to get over that.
42:34Second-guessing yourself.
42:36Because food knows when you're scared.
42:38It's not going to work out for you.
42:40I still got a few more years.
42:41I'm going to be like you one day.
42:43Hey, keep it cool.
42:45And let your food do the talking.
42:47Yes, chef.
42:49I'm an executive chef running a restaurant.
42:52I don't scream and yell at people.
42:54I don't kick garbage and throw spoons.
42:58You know, I'm cool.
43:01Cool.
43:02I think if I didn't win,
43:04I probably would be like a little bit more cynical.
43:07But I won.
43:08It changed my life for the better
43:10because of the validation that I didn't know that I needed.
43:14I have three beautiful children
43:16and, like, still have a career in the culinary field.
43:18How people define success kind of, like, depends on them.
43:21I work on a long-range sport fishing boat.
43:24But it's, like, it's all about cooking, though.
43:27Cooking saved my life.
43:28Wanting to be a chef has saved my life.
43:31Being a chef defines me.
43:32Not being on a stupid reality show,
43:34I'm really happy with where I'm at.
43:36I'm happy that I can cook better than most people
43:39and that I still enjoy doing it, you know.
43:42I found that passion in it, and I still hold on to that.