| Season Number: | 1 | ||||||||
| Bgcolour: |
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| Module1: |
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| Num Episodes: | 11 | ||||||||
| Network: | Fox | ||||||||
| Episode List: | List of Hell's Kitchen episodes |
The inaugural season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on May 30, 2005, and concluded on August 1, 2005. Gordon Ramsay was the host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried was the Blue Team's sous-chef and Mary-Ann Salcedo was the Red Team's sous-chef. Jean-Philippe Susilovic was maître d'.
The season was won by professional chef Michael Wray, with fellow professional chef Ralph Pagano finishing second.
The season was filmed over three weeks in October 2004.
This season was the only season in which the teams were not divided by gender at the start. This was also the only season where Ramsay addressed the show's progress on camera to the viewers, rather than record a voice-over explaining eliminations.
This season was taped at Los Angeles's KCOP, a converted former television broadcast facility that previously hosted shows such as The Joker's Wild and Tic-Tac-Dough in the late 1970s to mid-1980s.
Twelve chefs competed in season one.
| Contestant | Age (at time of filming) | Occupation | Hometown | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Wray | 27 | Professional Chef | Fort Collins, Colorado | Winner |
| Ralph Pagano | 36 | Professional Chef | Livingston, New Jersey | Runner-up |
| Jessica Cabo | 26 | Headhunter | Huntington, New York | Eliminated before finals |
| Elsie Ramos | 40 | Mother of Six | Maywood, New Jersey | Eliminated after eighth service |
| James "Jimmy" Casey | 25 | Purchasing Supervisor | Williston Park, New York | Eliminated after seventh service |
| Andrew Bonito | 24 | Office Assistant | Livingston, New Jersey | Eliminated after sixth service |
| Christopher "Chris" North | 35 | Executive Chef | Yorktown Heights, New York | Eliminated after fifth service |
| Mary Ellen Daniels | 27 | Bartender | Belmont, Massachusetts | Eliminated after fourth service |
| Wendy Liu | 32 | Account Manager | Millburn, New Jersey | Eliminated after third service |
| Jeffery "Jeff" LaPoff | 28 | Finance Manager | Orange, New Jersey | Quit during third service |
| Jeffery Dewberry | 33 | Pastry Chef | Stockbridge, Georgia | Eliminated after second service |
| Carolann Valentino | Server's Assistant | Dallas, Texas | Eliminated after first service |
Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("least bad" as determined by Ramsay) is asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Gordon Ramsay.
| No. | Chef | Original teams | Switched teams | Individuals | Finals | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110/111 | ||||||
| 1 | Michael | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | BoW | WIN | IN | IN | IN | WINNER | ||||
| 2 | Ralph | WIN | WIN | BoW | LOSE | WIN | NOM | BoW | IN | IN | |||||
| 3 | Jessica | WIN | WIN | LOSE | BoW | WIN | BoW | NOM | NOM | OUT | |||||
| 4 | Elsie | BoW | LOSE | WIN | WIN | NOM | WIN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| 5 | Jimmy | LOSE | LOSE | WIN | WIN | LOSE | WIN | OUT | |||||||
| 6 | Andrew | WIN | WIN | NOM | NOM | WIN | OUT | ||||||||
| 7 | Chris | LOSE | BoW | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||
| 8 | WIN | WIN | LOSE | OUT | |||||||||||
| 9 | Wendy | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 10 | Jeff | LOSE | NOM | LEFT | |||||||||||
| 11 | Dewberry | NOM | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 12 | OUT | ||||||||||||||
Each episode consisted of a challenge with a reward, a service, and an elimination.