Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 5
Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 5
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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 UK 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?
00:49What'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*** 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, Elsie.
01:11I know what I can and cannot do.
01:13Yeah, that really sucked.
01:15Raw!
01:16Ah!
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.
01:50But to the hopefuls taking part, what are the costs of suffering through Ramsay's no-compromise
01:55approach?
01:56I know this is about the dark side of reality shows, but it's just the dark side of f***ing
02:00reality, period.
02:01It's actually taking a thing that exists in reality and normalizing it.
02:07Get out, you f***ing donkey!
02:10I'm busting my balls out there!
02:13Get off my station!
02:14Just shut the f*** up for a minute and f***ing relax.
02:17Help me out here!
02:19It's like the Jerry Springer of cooking shows.
02:21It's f***ed.
02:23He's playing the devil in the kitchen.
02:32I get it.
02:33You have a short man's complex.
02:34You can barely reach over this f***ing table, right?
02:36Is this 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.
02:47F***ing ants.
02:49A panic-inducing tale of a young chef licking his wounds after being tortured by a tyrannical
02:55perfectionist.
02:56Hands!
02:57There's a lot of people that I know in the restaurant business that will not watch the
03:02show The Bear because of that.
03:04Because the whole, like, yes-chef culture is too real.
03:10The 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
03:19of the book, and he's got all this long hair, and so I was like, I really want to grow my
03:22hair out and kind of have a little nod to Marco Pierre White.
03:27Can you get your ass together, boys?
03:28For f***'s sake.
03:29Come on, you, get up.
03:30For f***'s sake.
03:31In 1989, British prodigy Marco Pierre White became one of the first to allow cameras uncensored
03:36access to his kitchen, cementing 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.
03:52As 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.
04:02At 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.
04:10Marco was an asshole through and through.
04:12He made no bones about it.
04:14That was his brand.
04:15Before we had brands, that was his.
04:17A difficult guy to work with, though.
04:19Impossible, I would say.
04:20I 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.
04:30I mean, we're finished.
04:32I didn't realize.
04:33Have we gone through twice?
04:34Yes.
04:35All right.
04:36A shadow of the chef he will become, Ramsay learns two things from Marco.
04:40How to cook at the highest level and how to thrive in an abusive kitchen.
04:44He pushed you to the extreme.
04:45How did he do that?
04:46Because, you know, he drummed it in.
04:50You know, if you're going to do it, do it to your best.
04:53And if you don't want to do it to your best, get the f*** out of here.
04:56You're getting structured.
04:57You're getting hungry.
04:58You'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.
05:06By 1998, Ramsay's out from under Marco's wing
05:10and 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, like, 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?
05:44Chips, darling.
05:45What's he doing, Mark, that jerk?
05:49Is he talking there, knuckle?
05:50No.
05:51F***.
05:52You get the feeling when you watch Boiling Point that this is just kind of like
05:56he's just abusing people for fun.
05:58Did you see The Times?
06:00It's quite a very nice piece.
06:02It 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 behaviour,
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...
06:38How bloody f*** did I do?
06:40Don't be stupid.
06:41Don't be so stupid.
06:42I'm not showing off.
06:43Don't be so stupid.
06:44I am tired.
06:45It takes just one season of the UK show for Fox TV to see the potential
06:49in 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 gotta tell this guy anything.
07:00He just tears the shit out of everyone that crosses his path.
07:05People love him regardless.
07:08It'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, a 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.
07:57For Michael, the show presents the opportunity of a lifetime.
08:01But producers also want to shake things up, casting cooking enthusiasts with no professional expertise.
08:08I didn't consider myself a chef at all. I was a home cook.
08:12Ow!
08:13I need a bandaid over here. Are you okay?
08:15Yep. I'm Elsie Ramos and I was a contestant on season one of Hell's Kitchen.
08:20My friend approached me and said, hey, listen, I think you have a really good story here.
08:25She was like, you know, you're practically running a bistro in your house.
08:28Why don't you come and audition for this new show?
08:31And I said, you're crazy. I was like, I have no culinary experience.
08:34To take someone with absolutely no kitchen experience and put them in a situation like Hell's Kitchen
08:40would 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, but even the producers know that to survive Gordon Ramsay,
08:56the amateurs are going to need a little help.
08:59When I arrived in L.A., they actually drove me to a restaurant and they put me in the kitchen
09:05and they said, look, you know, just watch, observe, so that you have some idea of what a kitchen and how it looks like.
09:14Being in a hot kitchen, it's 200 degrees, orders are being yelled at, people are screaming, dishes 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, and 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.
10:10Two 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.
10:21For 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.
10:33You know, this person's making scallops, and the other one has, like, little lamb chops, and I'm like, f**k.
10:39It was crazy, and the dish that I selected...
10:43Whose is this?
10:45Michael.
10:46It was one of his dishes.
10:47Let me tell you something.
10:48Yes, sir.
10:49You've got a palate like a cow's backside.
10:51Yes, sir.
10:52That is disgusting.
10:53The only thing you should ever utter if you want to win Hell's Kitchen is, yes, chef.
10:58My signature dish, because I made it a thousand times for my boys, was turkey tacos.
11:04We were all lined up. I just got, like, really, really feigned.
11:08It was just this overwhelming, like, oh my god, I made turkey tacos.
11:13Here comes Gordon Ramsay.
11:15Whose are these?
11:18Big guy. Very intimidating as hell.
11:21I was like, man, he looks really mean, and he's really scary.
11:26Who are these for?
11:27My children.
11:28Your children.
11:29They're still alive?
11:31She served, like, paste picante sauce on her tacos on the first night, you know, with, like, pre-shredded cheese and stuff.
11:37But it was good, and Gordon liked it.
11:39Not bad.
11:40Okay.
11:41Not bad.
11:42Which is not great, but it's not bad.
11:44All right, everybody, follow me. We're going to take you over to the dorms right now.
11:48Having survived their introduction to Ramsay, the contestants are shown their Big Brother-style living quarters.
11:53So they take us to the dorm, but I was like, wait a second, but this is the restaurant. The dorms are, like, right there.
11:59There was, like, two beds in each room, and, like, this is where you're going to be staying.
12:05How they had us, like, house it up, you know?
12:07You're living with somebody you don't know.
12:09You just met. You're going to have 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.
12:17There was nothing that was going to happen there that they didn't know about.
12:21The 12 contestants are now trapped in a pressure cooker, and they seal the lid.
12:27Their cell phones were taken away, so it's not like I could call my husband and just, like, oh, my God, you won't believe this. You can't believe this.
12:33Like, where I'm staying.
12:35When you're in a reality show, it's like being part of a cult for 30 days.
12:41Like, your brain works different. You have zero connection to the outside world.
12:47The only connection they allow you is what you're doing.
12:52Pro chef Michael Ray is one of the more experienced contestants, and this should give him an advantage.
12:57But behind the scenes, he's carrying a secret that could derail him at any moment.
13:02So, when I was 18, I had scoliosis.
13:06And 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, and, 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.
13:44Popping Ritalin, taking painkillers throughout the day.
13:47The day's over, pops my 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.
14:04I was like, god damn, I'm going to run out of meds.
14:16Are you ready?
14:18Hell'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.
14:29Once I started to hear, yeah, I'm an executive chef, and the other one is managing a restaurant.
14:34Oh, yeah, and I've worked in a restaurant all my life.
14:37You know, right away, I was like, either I was set up or I'm in big trouble.
14:44Elsie, what the f*** is that?
14:46It was just like, oh my god.
14:48Just hold on, hold on.
14:50Come on, f*** now.
14:53The difference between Elsie the amateur and the rest soon becomes painfully obvious.
14:58Do we know I'm going to lose already, but let's just put her in there anyway for fun and see how much she f***s up?
15:05The casting's weird.
15:06Like, some people, they did not belong there, and I think they put them there just to get them out early.
15:12I would not want to be on that show with zero culinary background.
15:15They weren't at the level that I felt they should be on to be on Hell's Kitchen.
15:19If you can't answer a question I'm asking you, how do you expect to stand up to Gordon Ramsay?
15:24The contestants ship gears as they prepare for that evening's service, with the studio operating as a fully working restaurant.
15:31It was always a meat, a fish, and a poultry or something like that.
15:35And then we were all assigned a different station.
15:37You just had to kind of wing it.
15:40But this is reality TV, not the real world.
15:43Dinner 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.
15:55Don't tighten it too tight because it'll pinch right through.
15:58And then he's like, JP, open 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.
16:09It'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?
16:21Yeah, stop asking me for things.
16:23As the guests are seated, Ramsay kicks into boss mode, displaying the behavior that helped him earn three Michelin stars.
16:31It was complete mayhem.
16:34Get in the bin.
16:35I'm confused, I don't know what I'm doing.
16:37Thank you for coming back.
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 shit.
16:46Because they were busting out these orders and 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 all right, Michael.
16:54Right now I don't need a big drama queen in my hands, you 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.
17:01I feel like it's his way of sort of inspiring and creating, you know, great chefs through the pressure cooker method, if you will.
17:09Like a pirate ship, like he's in charge, it's not a democracy.
17:13They're on this show for a quarter million dollars to lift their cribs and so I can't then turn around and say, oh shit, 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 and maybe that's just the way I am.
17:27That's the way I'm taught.
17:29So upset.
17:31That's nicely cooked, that's nicely cooked and what are they for?
17:34They're black.
17:35I just, no, you muppet.
17:38Get your shit together or f*** off.
17:40How can I serve that and that on the same table?
17:43Sorry, chef.
17:45I'm so embarrassed.
17:47What's the matter with you, madam?
17:49Half the dining room have got their entrees, you're half are standing staring.
17:54Every mistake is ridicule and the humiliation is captured in excruciating detail.
17:59This might not be important for you, madam, but madam, this is f***ing serious and you're shit.
18:04Nobody's tuning in to watch Hell's Kitchen to 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.
18:19A lot of cursing, a lot of insult.
18:21The chicken is pinker than your f***ing lipstick.
18:24Yes, chef.
18:26I said, this can't possibly be normal.
18:30Oh my God.
18:32It's Elsie's first experience of a professional kitchen run by a ruthless head chef and it's all being televised.
18:39This poor f***er doesn't have a chance.
18:42It's just like throwing babies into a lion's mouth.
18:45Everybody was scared.
18:47Let's just put it that way.
18:49Everybody was afraid.
18:50It's gone.
18:51It should be gone by now.
18:53Chefs know how to verbally disembowel people.
18:56Start the table again.
18:58I did not expect to see that fiery bully.
19:03What is that?
19:04It's f***ing raw.
19:06Raw.
19:07Any of these guys that came on the show that never really worked in a kitchen before, they all took it the same way.
19:11They took it personal.
19:13You 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.
19:19Dewey! Dewey! Dewey!
19:22You know, Gordon, he told me that you 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, is 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 face elimination at the end of every episode.
19:46Elsie, the home cook cast because of her lack of experience,
19:49somehow survives seven eliminations and 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, Elsie 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 going to do something really, really special.
20:14You're going to be cooking on live TV.
20:17I thought, wow, this could be my really big break.
20:20You know, like, you know, it's like five minutes of fame.
20:23Like it was 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 going to carry her tonight?
20:32Nope.
20:35I think some of the contestants used that towards the end to 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 going to put it in my station so you don't have to worry about it.
20:46No, I don't want you to put it in your station.
20:48Just show me one time how to do it.
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.
21:02Give me some feedback.
21:04I was, you know, upset.
21:05Six starters.
21:06Two bis, one veloute.
21:08I was scared.
21:09It's on the same table, Elsie.
21:11Okay, sir.
21:12I'm going to plate it right now.
21:13I called it out.
21:14You said yes.
21:15I have a list.
21:16What can I tell you?
21:17Hello?
21:18Hello?
21:19I called out the holder to go to the side.
21:20Shut up.
21:21I know what I can and cannot do.
21:22Hurry up.
21:23This is one thing I can't do.
21:24I was like, Michael, we were friends.
21:28No.
21:30I feel like a total outsider.
21:32And 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, really 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.
22:08Ramsey and his producers have squeezed all the drama they can out of Elsie's time on the show.
22:13It ultimately comes down to two professional chefs, including 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 with 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, and I still ran out, like, halfway through the show.
22:40Like, it wasâthey 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 over anybody else.
22:49Because, to be honest with you, waking up with withdrawals and just, likeâ
22:52It was more of a crutch because I had to hide this little thing, you know?
22:55You guys cook like old people.
22:58Siding table 12, two short rib, one lobster, one steak.
23:03Michael is barely keeping his addiction at bay.
23:05As he battles his way to the final showdown.
23:09Don't beâyou know, I'm trying to make a big impression in the beginning,
23:11and then I think I really turned on the heat.
23:13You really have to, like, be like a professional athlete or something and just seize that moment.
23:19He's one step away from winning $250,000 to put towards his own restaurant
23:24that 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 thisâ
23:35All right, guys. One.
23:36One.
23:38Two.
23:39Three.
23:45My door opened.
23:47Gordon said, hey, Chef Mike, I'd like for you to come out to England and come work for me.
23:54My dreams had come true.
23:56Like, where I was at my career and what I was wanting to do,
23:59this reality show, like, it put me right there.
24:05But that's when I got scared.
24:07You know, I lived through that show by, you know, having to be dependent on drugs.
24:16You gotta be that guy you were when you were on the TV show.
24:21And I was not that guy.
24:30Michael Ray, an experienced sous chef, is the first ever winner of Hell's Kitchen's $250,000 prize.
24:37But Gordon Ramsay surprises Michael by offering him a job at one of his acclaimed London restaurants in addition to the cash.
24:45I personally would like to invite you to come back with me to London
24:52to be part of one of the most famous restaurants in the world
24:56and work alongside me to become a top world class chef.
25:03Am I gonna go out there with a giant addiction?
25:06It's just, I had that pressure of that choice finally hit me.
25:10I just wasn't in control of my life enough.
25:12I just, I had to say no.
25:16It was such a hard thing to say.
25:19It's such a turning point in my life.
25:24A turning point in my life.
25:26I think that I pissed him off.
25:29I don't f***ing know, man.
25:31I've never talked to him to this day.
25:33Michael walks away from his dream job.
25:37For Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen season one is a wild hit, averaging 7 million viewers an episode.
25:44It makes him a global superstar.
25:46And as the show's popularity grows, there's no shortage of contestants willing 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 and they go to culinary school
26:06and they think, I'm gonna be the next Gordon Ramsay.
26:08And then people think that being on Hell's Kitchen is gonna be my ticket to stardom.
26:13A 1 in 16 chance of winning it, doing the one thing that you're absolutely best at, that was a no-brainer.
26:21It was gonna be this amazing opportunity for me to showcase my talent.
26:26My name is Tech and I was a contestant on season six of Hell's Kitchen.
26:30I'm looking at these people floundering and I said, how hard can it be?
26:37When I went to audition for Hell's Kitchen, I was working at a five-diamond hotel restaurant
26:41in Dallas. We were just listening to the radio one day in the kitchen
26:46and they said Hell's Kitchen's coming to Dallas. And I was like, told my boy, we gotta go do this.
26:52My name's Van Hurd. I was on season six and season 17 of Hell's Kitchen.
26:57I grew up around wrestling. My mom was Luna Vachon. She was a professional wrestler.
27:02WWE, ECW, WCW.
27:05Van Hurd sees Hell's Kitchen as his way to achieve what his mom did in wrestling and more.
27:09The fortune and the glory, you know? The money and the fame.
27:13That's what Hell's Kitchen's all about, for me.
27:16I didn't have any reservations. I wasn't scared. Like, I don't get scared easily.
27:20I'd already been to prison for a burglary, grand theft, and fleeing and eluding.
27:24I'm not worried about going to L.A. and being on a reality show.
27:28Van, come here. Straight away. Two threes or what?
27:32Two threes? Two times three.
27:34Two threes. Two threes or what?
27:36I can count. Yes.
27:37Yeah, that's six. I gave you an extra. I'm sorry. It won't happen again.
27:41Dumbo.
27:43Gordon continues to berate his protégés just like he did in his Boiling Point days.
27:48His signature style is now all too familiar.
27:51Hell's Kitchen is like the real world of restaurant kitchens on steroids.
27:57The volume is turned up for the entertainment value,
28:01but you can't keep doing the same routine over and over again.
28:05Contestants allege that to heat up the drama in the kitchen,
28:09producers would sabotage them during challenges.
28:12It's like whack-a-mole of problems, but you don't realize that it's by design.
28:18The mindf**k, just the situations they put you in to see how you're going to react.
28:23I feel like they were playing with our ovens.
28:26They were playing with our pilot lights.
28:28They were making shit happen just for TV.
28:30The blindfolded taste test, I feel like they were f**king with me on that.
28:34I feel like they dipped it in some fish oil or something,
28:37because I had tasted fish and it was like a vegetable.
28:41You'd be doing prep all day long and then come back and all your prep's gone.
28:46That's not fair.
28:48The machinations of reality show producers to get their desired effect
28:53are well known to everyone.
28:55Hell's Kitchen is like the real world of restaurant kitchens on steroids.
28:58It's well known to everyone.
29:00Hell's Kitchen is such a construct.
29:03You know, it's a clown car stuffed with clowns,
29:06and Gordon Ramsay is the ringmaster.
29:10Competitors also have to be willing to put up with televised humiliation
29:15for a chance to win a quarter of a million dollars.
29:18We were cleaning it 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.
29:27But the stunt leads Van Aherd to discover
29:30just how much of the show seems to be preordained.
29:33And I found a bunch of paperwork and stuff.
29:35There's a whole storyboard before you even get there.
29:38Like there was an upcoming live fire challenge.
29:44I didn't want anybody to see me reading it.
29:46I should have kept it.
29:48I thought that Hell's Kitchen was about cooking.
29:5290% game show and 10% cooking.
29:54You, you, you.
29:56F*** off, will ya?
29:58They told me it's faker than wrestling.
30:01It's not real.
30:03TV, don't believe anything you see on TV.
30:05The claims of shenanigans behind the scenes on Hell's Kitchen,
30:10that doesn't surprise me in the least.
30:13Because we have established so far
30:17Hell's Kitchen is a f***ing joke.
30:20Right?
30:21Right.
30:23It'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.
30:40One simple request, who and why,
30:42and you make a big f***ing song and dance about it.
30:45I ain't no f***ing bitch, chef. I don't give a f***.
30:47I ain't no bitch.
30:48Joseph Tinnelly, a young line cook from Chicago,
30:51What?
30:53has had enough and calls BS on Gordon Ramsay.
30:56I ask the f***ing questions, you give the f***ing answers.
31:00F*** that shit, dog. I ain't here for that.
31:02You want a f***ing jacket? You want to talk some shit?
31:05Let's go step outside and f*** the camera.
31:07You want to talk about f***ing fighting?
31:09Oh, wow.
31:10You want to get f***ing rough?
31:12Do you think I'm scared? Huh? Look at you.
31:14You just blow f*** all cameras.
31:16Yeah, f*** the cameras.
31:18F*** the cameras.
31:28F*** that shit, dog.
31:30Through 66 episodes of verbal abuse and producer trickery,
31:33Let's go step outside.
31:35no one has lost it on Gordon Ramsay.
31:38Until now.
31:40I asked you one simple question and you couldn't f***ing answer me.
31:42And then you want to get all tough and up close and personal.
31:45F*** you. There you go.
31:46I wanted somebody to swing.
31:49Like Gordon wasn't scared.
31:51Passive aggression, then just aggression, aggression.
31:53It just, it just happened quickly.
31:56You ain't no but a bitch.
31:59You got no respect.
32:01No respect.
32:02Now get out.
32:03F*** you.
32:04You f***ing bitch.
32:06F*** all y'all.
32:08You heard him?
32:10Watch the step.
32:12What an idiot.
32:13He was tired of the pressure.
32:15I think he let the pressure get to him.
32:17He was a tough guy anyway.
32:19And somebody's eventually got to take a swing at Gordon.
32:22It's a rare moment of authenticity
32:24in what has otherwise become a game show
32:26with Gordon Ramsay reveling in the lead role of fiery host.
32:32I just feel like he turns it on.
32:34I've been around wrestlers my whole life
32:36and I know when somebody's like being real
32:39and somebody's playing a character.
32:40All right, Arizotto.
32:42Be delicious.
32:45You've got it right now.
32:47Continue with it, yes?
32:49Hallelujah.
32:51Because if you watch any of his other shows, he's sweet as pie.
32:53For me, working with MasterChef Junior is a dream.
32:55I'm like their perfect soccer coach.
32:57He accents it with these other shows
32:59where it's like, oh no,
33:01he's really just a reasonable guy.
33:03Like oh look, you know,
33:05look how caring he actually is.
33:07It is necessary for him to make it bigger
33:08and make it broader
33:10in order to keep the audience entertained.
33:12It 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
33:21one of the richest chefs in the world
33:23and it's a role he just can't step away from.
33:26I swear to God,
33:28I'd rather you just all f*** off out of here.
33:30Chef, we can all 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.
33:36Shit!
33:38Each new competitor has had fair warning
33:40that it's little more than TV entertainment.
33:43And yet, the prize money
33:45and the draw of working for Ramsay
33:47still attracts ambitious hopefuls
33:49believing it could be their ticket to success.
33:52If I didn't go on Hell's Kitchen
33:55to be a celebrity,
33:57like I went on Hell's Kitchen
33:59to catapult my career
34:01to get a higher paying job as an executive chef.
34:03My name is Ariel Malone
34:04and I was a contestant
34:06on season 15 of Hell's Kitchen.
34:08Congratulations.
34:12Amazing, amazing, amazing.
34:14Absolutely incredible.
34:16With their eyes fixed clearly on the prize,
34:18Oh my God.
34:20Ariel, who weeks ago was a mere line cook,
34:22outlasts her rivals
34:24and makes it to the final two.
34:26Good luck.
34:28Thanks, Chef. You too.
34:30Yeah, we have to like both put our hands
34:32on the handle at the same time
34:34and turn your handles.
34:36I just, I didn't think my handle was going to turn.
34:39One,
34:41two,
34:43three.
34:45And then like I could see out of the corner of my eye,
34:47I could see like Kristin kind of like struggling
34:49to like push her handle down.
34:51And I was like,
34:53Yes!
34:55Oh my God.
34:57And just like opened the door
34:59and like it was just in total shock
35:01that I had won.
35:02Ariel's dream is now reality.
35:05She's about to become
35:07a full-time Ramsay protégé,
35:09a role that comes with a $250,000 salary.
35:12At least, that's what she thinks.
35:15My understanding was that I would be
35:17the executive chef of BLT Steak in Las Vegas.
35:20When I got there,
35:22it was mostly they wanted me to kind of like
35:24be on the floor.
35:26They didn't want me in the kitchen.
35:28They wanted me just to like take pictures
35:30and kiss babies and that kind of thing.
35:32They were like,
35:34No, you're paid talent.
35:36Go take a picture.
35:38And then when it was like,
35:40I did all this work.
35:42I prepped the kitchen.
35:44I'm ready to go for service.
35:46They'd be like,
35:48just kidding.
35:50He's going to run service.
35:52That whole position that they're offering
35:54and that they're dangling,
35:56it's almost like the actual position itself
35:58was just to promote
36:00whatever establishment was opening
36:02up for him.
36:04One winner,
36:06season 10's Christina Wilson,
36:08has ever managed to stay with Ramsey long term.
36:10I think that there is a danger there
36:12that a show like Hell's Kitchen
36:14can misrepresent
36:16what the restaurant world is really like
36:18and draw people into it
36:20with false promises.
36:22They might unlock
36:24some career opportunities.
36:26But again, it's really to me
36:28feels like a false promise
36:30and it feels like people think
36:32it's not.
36:34She is an out-of-the-box thinker
36:36who will make a great head chef
36:38at BLT Steak.
36:40I was extremely disappointed
36:42in the reality that
36:44I was not going to be
36:46the executive chef.
36:48They already have Chef De Cuisine
36:50and they don't want you
36:52coming into their restaurant
36:54just because you were on
36:56some reality show, you know.
36:58So just take the money and run.
37:00The contestants are disposable.
37:02The $10 million per season
37:04that they're giving away,
37:06he's making per episode.
37:09So does he care about
37:11any of the people that are on it?
37:13I don't know.
37:15I know that there are contestants
37:17from this reality show
37:19and other reality shows
37:21that have like killed themselves.
37:23So it's like at some point
37:25is somebody going to care
37:27about the human beings
37:29that you're making money off of?
37:30It exists in reality
37:32and normalizing it
37:34for millions and millions
37:36and millions of people.
37:38The yelling and verbal abuse
37:40that has become
37:42a house kitchen trademark
37:44is all too common
37:46in real world kitchens.
37:48Only there it has
37:50real world consequences.
37:52We are dealing with
37:54an epidemic of mental illness
37:56in our industry.
37:58And it's something that people
38:00have anxiety, depression
38:03because they don't know what to say.
38:05I feel like with chefs and abuse
38:07that it's always,
38:09I think it's hereditary
38:11and you see that as being the template
38:13for how you are supposed to act
38:15in order to have excellence.
38:17Oftentimes these chefs embrace that.
38:19How can I serve that and that
38:21on the same table?
38:23Sorry, chef.
38:25This is f***ing serious
38:27and you're shit.
38:28There are so many
38:30punishing and thankless
38:32jobs one can have.
38:34High rates of addiction and suicide
38:36are common among workers
38:38in the restaurant industry
38:40and Hell's Kitchen contestants
38:42aren't beyond this kind of trauma.
38:44After winning Hell's Kitchen,
38:46go through having the money,
38:48I 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.
38:58For like four months.
39:00I just stole the fentanyl patches
39:02that I was on
39:04and then I took off
39:06up into the high desert.
39:08I ended up trying to kill myself
39:10with a knife.
39:21In the years since winning
39:23Hell's Kitchen's first season,
39:25Michael Ray's life has been
39:26spiraling towards rock bottom.
39:29I ended up becoming homeless
39:32and then I took off
39:34up into the high desert.
39:36I ended up trying to kill myself
39:38with a knife.
39:40I was like, I thought there was
39:42ghosts in my blood.
39:44A car found me.
39:46They got me to the hospital.
39:48I was able to get off
39:50of hardcore opiate abuse.
39:52Ended up working at the rehab
39:54place that helped me
39:56and actually met my wife.
39:58Cooks and chefs like Michael
40:00share their stories of mental health
40:02and addiction to expose
40:04the toxic nature of many kitchens.
40:06Recently, there's hope that
40:08the industry is changing
40:10for the better.
40:12Eric Ripert, one of the most
40:14famous chefs in the world,
40:16made a big announcement
40:18several years ago that they
40:20no longer yell in their kitchen.
40:22It doesn't make for
40:24a conducive environment.
40:26The anxiety and stuff
40:28these kids have these days,
40:30it's gotta be cool,
40:32you gotta be chill.
40:34You can be stern,
40:36you can be disciplined,
40:38but screaming and yelling
40:40and throwing stuff,
40:42that's an HR nightmare.
40:44I think that there's been
40:46a reckoning in the entire
40:48industry that you don't
40:50necessarily have to shit
40:52all over somebody just
40:54to get them to respond.
40:56I think the better off
40:58the industry will be,
41:00but unfortunately,
41:02that doesn't make good television.
41:04How much did you think
41:06about your TV persona?
41:08I didn't.
41:10I didn't give a shit.
41:12So even when you were
41:14saying outrageous stuff
41:16or dropping in the odd swear words,
41:18you weren't thinking
41:20how could I have the most impact?
41:22Take it professionally,
41:24not personally.
41:26That's good,
41:28really healthy,
41:30but take it professionally,
41:32don't take it personally.
41:34Today, Hell's Kitchen
41:36is down in the ratings,
41:38but the contestants
41:40keep signing up,
41:42still believing in the promise
41:44that Gordon Ramsay and the show
41:46can change their lives,
41:48despite the experiences
41:50of those who came before.
41:52I feel like coming off
41:54of the show,
41:56I felt like I was rising.
41:58So I stuck to it
42:00and I ended up
42:02working my way up
42:04to an exec job
42:06and running a couple
42:08of really nice restaurants.
42:10Come on, Elsie!
42:12I've never been yelled at
42:14like that, ever.
42:16After the show,
42:18a publisher reached out
42:20to me and said,
42:22hey, listen,
42:24I watched the show,
42:26it was, it felt really,
42:28really good.
42:30And then when it's just,
42:32it just stops.
42:34It was traumatic.
42:36It took me a long time
42:38to get over that,
42:40second-guessing yourself,
42:42because food knows
42:44when you're scared
42:46and it's not going to
42:48work out for you.
42:50I still got a few more years,
42:52I'm going to be like you one day.
42:54Hey, keep it cool
42:56and just throw spoons.
42:58Yeah.
43:00I'm cool.
43:02Cool.
43:04I think if I didn't win,
43:06I probably would be like
43:08a little bit more cynical,
43:10but I won.
43:12It changed my life for the better
43:14because of the validation
43:16that I didn't know that I needed.
43:18I have three beautiful children
43:20and still have a career
43:22in the culinary field.
43:24How people define success
43:26I don't know.
43:28Cooking saved my life.
43:30Wanting to be a chef
43:32has saved my life.
43:34Being a chef defines me,
43:36not being on a stupid reality show.
43:38I'm really happy with where I'm at.
43:40I'm happy that I can cook
43:42better than most people
43:44and that I still enjoy doing it.
43:46I found that passion in it
43:48and I still hold on to that.
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