The Truth About Steven Glenn From Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns Season 1
We don't know yet whether Chef Steve Glenn won "Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns," which premieres May 31 on Fox (via Gold Derby). Regardless of the outcome, the experience transformed the 23-year-old, who competed against 17 other young chefs before the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was only 21. Glenn talked about the time he spent with Gordon Ramsay on the podcast "Eat It, Virginia!"
"It's just a bunch of 21-year-olds, and 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds, all just kinda jumbled in there together, being yelled at by Gordon Ramsay," Glenn said. "It's an experience."
As young as they were, the contestants brought a wide range of experience to Season 20 of "Hell's Kitchen" — something Glenn said was apparent from the first challenge. Glenn himself came in as the executive sous chef at Richmond Country Club in Virginia. Now he runs his own business, developing menus and cooking for private dinner parties and business events.
Glenn grabbed the attention of the "Hell's Kitchen" team after filling out the show's 13-page application online. Someone from the show called him just two hours later. Glenn said his application may have stood out because he let himself have fun with it. "I didn't answer it like it was a job application," he said. "I did it more like, you know, it was just about me. It was just a lot of sarcasm, a lot of unexpected answers."
Hell's Kitchen contestant Steve Glenn is a big Gordon Ramsay fan
Steve Glenn told the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast that he got his inspiration from his grandmother. By age 10, Glenn was helping her by peeling potatoes and cleaning collard greens. "I was just always amazed at her ability to transform these raw ingredients into something I could eat two bowls of, without batting an eye," he said. Glenn's early love of cooking eventually landed him on the upcoming season of "Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns." He and the other contestants filmed the show over a couple of months starting in May 2019. Originally, the episodes were going to air in spring 2020. Glenn said Fox told him they would wait "until the pandemic blows over."
"We're bringing attention to a lot of restaurants and things on the show, and it's gonna be really awkward if nobody can go to any of them," Glenn recalled being told.
Glenn has always been a Gordon Ramsay fan. He saw him as a role model even before appearing on the show (via Style Weekly). "I learned so much while I was there," Glenn said on the podcast. "I felt like an entirely different chef coming out of 'Hell's Kitchen.'" He said one of the biggest lessons he learned was how to be direct when telling somebody they're "messing up."
"If you're gonna really, really do this and be at this position, you have to make some people mad at you," Glenn said. Who better to teach that lesson than Gordon Ramsay?