| Season Number: | 2 | ||||||||
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| Num Episodes: | 11 | ||||||||
| Network: | Fox | ||||||||
| Episode List: | List of Hell's Kitchen episodes |
The second season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on June 12, 2006, and concluded on August 14, 2006. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried returned as the Blue Team's sous-chef and Mary-Ann Salcedo returned as the Red Team's sous-chef. Jean-Philippe Susilovic returned as maître d'.
The season was won by sous-chef Heather West, with salad chef Virginia Dalbeck finishing second.
This season was cast from late February to March 2006.
Dalbeck set the record for most nominations for elimination by a runner-up--six, having been nominated whenever she wasn't on the winning team or named "Best of the Worst".
This was the first season in which the chefs were divided by gender, which would become a tradition in subsequent seasons.
This was the last season filmed in .
Twelve chefs competed in season two.
| Contestant | Age (at time of filming) | Occupation | Hometown | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heather West | 25 | Sous chef | Port Jefferson, New York | Winner | |
| Virginia Dalbeck | Salad chef | New York, New York | Runner-up | ||
| Keith Greene † | 28 | Chef/bartender | Southampton, New York | Eliminated before finals | |
| Sara Horowitz | 31 | Deli manager | Dallas, Texas | Eliminated after eighth service | |
| Garrett Telle | 27 | Former Prisoner/Chef | Cedar Park, Texas | Eliminated after seventh service | |
| Maribel Miller | 31 | Cafeteria chef | Brooklyn, New York | Eliminated after sixth service | |
| Rachel Brown † | 39 | Personal chef | Dallas, Texas | Eliminated after fifth service | |
| Thomas "Tom" Pauley † | 43 | Former stockbroker | Belleville, New Jersey | Eliminated after fourth service | |
| Giacomo Alfieri | 21 | Pizza chef | Euless, Texas | Eliminated after third service | |
| Gabriel "Gabe" Gagliardi | 27 | Marketing executive | Chicago, Illinois | Eliminated after second service | |
| Lawrence "Larry" Sik | 38 | Fishmonger | Arlington, Texas | Hospitalized before second service | |
| Paula "Polly" Holladay | 43 | Mother of Six | Ben Franklin, Texas | Eliminated after first service |
Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("best" as determined by Ramsay) was asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two was sent home by Ramsay.
| No. | Chef | Original teams | Switched teams | Individuals | Finals | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210/211 | ||||||
| 1 | Heather | BoW | WIN | WIN | LOSE | WIN | WIN | IN | BoB | IN | WINNER | ||||
| 2 | Virginia | NOM | WIN | WIN | NOM | BoW | NOM | NOM | NOM | NOM | |||||
| 3 | Keith | WIN | LOSE | LOSE | BoW | WIN | WIN | BoW | IN | OUT | |||||
| 4 | Sara | LOSE | WIN | WIN | BoW | LOSE | NOM | IN | OUT | ||||||
| 5 | Garrett | WIN | BoW | LOSE | LOSE | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||
| 6 | Maribel | LOSE | WIN | WIN | LOSE | NOM | OUT | ||||||||
| 7 | Rachel | LOSE | WIN | WIN | NOM[1] | OUT | |||||||||
| 8 | Tom | WIN | NOM | NOM | OUT | ||||||||||
| 9 | Giacomo | WIN | NOM | OUT | |||||||||||
| 10 | Gabe | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Larry | WIN | HOSP | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Polly | OUT | |||||||||||||