What actually happens to chefs who win Hell’s Kitchen?

Have you ever wondered what happens to chefs who win Hell's Kitchen? Do you have questions about whether or not they actually become a head chef for Gordon Ramsay? So did we, and we wanted to know what comes after the announcement that a chef has won their season of Hell's Kitchen.

The reality of Hell's Kitchen is that the winning chef not only wins a cash prize, but there is also a job offer made by Gordon Ramsay that would have the winner take over as head chef for one of his restaurants (often a Hell's Kitchen restaurant, but it can be a different restaurant depending on what is needed). At the end of Season 23, which premiered on Sept. 26, 2024, the winner will be offered a position as the head chef at Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen location at Foxwoods Casino and Resort in Connecticut.

Over on our sister site, Guilty Eats, they had the chance to chat with Alex Belew who won Hell's Kitchen in 2022. And it was confirmed that he not only earned the $250,000 cash prize but also got appointed as a head chef at Caesars Atlantic City. Another winner, Michelle Tribble, who won Season 17 was named the Sous Chef for the red team in Season 23, which follows her time as head chef at one of the Hell's Kitchen locations in Las Vegas.

Christina Wilson who won Season 10 of Hell's Kitchen not only worked as chef de cuisine at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Las Vegas, but she has actually worked with Gordon Ramsay for years since winning. She has been an executive chef for Ramsay and one of his burger restaurants and it has even been reported that in 2015 she was actually named as "Corporate Executive Chef of Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group." And for years, she was also the Sous Chef for the red team on Hell's Kitchen starting in 2016.

Winners of Hell's Kitchen do in fact get a job offer from Gordon Ramsay

Going all the way back to Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen, we have winner Michael Wray who was offered a job with Ramsay in London, but he actually turned the offer down. According to The Kitchn, Wray "would go on to be head chef at The Standard restaurant in Los Angeles instead."

In Season 3, Rahman “Rock” Harper was named the winner of Hell's Kitchen and he earned himself a one-year contract as the executive chef at Terra Verde. Danny Veltri won Season 5, but for him, the job offer was not that of a head chef. Instead he "was offered the position of sous chef" at Fornelletto in the Borgata Hotel & Casino. While he took the position for a short time, he eventually left the role and started his own catering company.

So what does all of this mean? It means that there is a job offer at the end of Hell's Kitchen for the winner. However, every year the position and the restaurant itself change, and the job is only for a single year. The winner basically gets a one-year contract that may or may not get extended.

For a lot of the winners, it can lead to better things with Gordon Ramsay and his company or it can act as a jumping point to get them where they want to go.