Gordon Ramsay has spent the last 20 years going to Hell and back to find the best head chefs in America — but there’s a new job requirement for “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 25: No applicants over 25 years old.
“These kids have grown up not just watching the show, but there’s a big advantage with food on social media because of the level of insight, the kind of creativity it creates,” Ramsay told TheWrap of his young cast. “Plus, it’s free. Look at what you get to see and understand. So, these kids are the beneficiaries of that and it shows in their cooking. But above all that, their attitude was absolutely spot on.”
As you’ll see in the season premiere Thursday on Fox, “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 25 pulls from previous iterations “Young Guns” and “Battle of the Ages” to once again test which Gen Z chef is ready to be Ramsay’s next protégé.
“When you see these raw, focused, driven individuals, it’s one of the hungriest seasons we’ve ever had because they’re desperate for that platform,” the host and EP said. “They know me, so I was brutally honest with them: ‘You’re going to love me, you’re going to hate me, but you’ll leave a much better person, a much more talented individual.’”
“Knowledge is power, right? When you tell someone something the first time and they sort of semi-ignore it because they think they know better, that’s the height of bad manners in any business,” he noted. “If you have to tell them a second and third time, you know damn well that’s going to be hard to continue coaching them. If there’s one thing you need to do in this industry on the way up, you just need to listen and you need to absorb like a sponge. There will be things that you learn that won’t come into play until further down the line, so you have no real authority to start piping up because you see something different. If you can listen, it’s a sign of a great chef.”
In this week’s new episode, the “MasterChef” judge also welcomes a majority of his previous “HK” winners onstage to celebrate the 25th season milestone.
“I’ll be honest, it was quite emotional. Any show getting to five seasons, 10 seasons is blessed, but 25 — it was just one of those moments when … I never get very nervous at all, but I walked out on that stage, and I just thought, ‘Oh my God,’” Ramsay shared. “I’m not very good at looking back, I’m always sort of plowing ahead, always future-facing; but I walked out there and I just had to take a little moment. Just like, ‘S–t, 25 seasons,’ you know? And then you look at the talent that’s been through those doors and you look at the the excitement that’s been created. I’m blessed, and the luckiest chef on the planet.”
And as the series returns to Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, to film, Ramsay even admitted he feels “like America is home” two decades after the cooking competition first premiered stateside in May 2005.
“I treat it like a live restaurant. The reservations are fully booked six months out; each and every table has a concern, whether it’s a dietary remark, a time frame … so the unpredictability is off the charts,” he explained. “The industry right now is one of the most difficult climates out there for any business in the hospitality sector. My job is to make you better; whether you’re fifth, first, tenth, I’m going to make you better. You do that, and I’ll give you 110% of what I’ve got,” the father of six added. “I look back in the kitchen halfway through the signature dish and I thought, ‘S–t.’ It’s like having my own kids in the kitchen. I’m firm, there’s no two ways about that; but I’m equally fair when it comes time to praise.”
“Hell’s Kitchen” airs Thursdays on Fox and streams the next day on Hulu.
