What Really Happens To Eliminated Hell's Kitchen Contestants
So, Gordon Ramsay decides which team loses, picks the three weakest contestants, and boots one off the show. The eliminated contestant proceeds to walk out of the "Hell's Kitchen" doors... But what happens next? Do they get to say their goodbyes to fellow contestants? Does Ramsay have a final one-on-one chat with them? Do they have to hunker down till the end of filming or is there even time to pack up? Viewers have a lot of questions and luckily, "Hell's Kitchen" Season 19 contestant Nikki Hanna has answered them all.
Fans will remember that when Hanna was eliminated at the end of episode 12, she walked out of the show with an offer from Ramsay: an opportunity to work as a stage cook at any one of his many restaurants, which Eater calls culinary lingo for an "unpaid kitchen internship." During an AMA on Reddit, someone asked if Hanna took Ramsay up on the offer. She said that while she hasn't accepted it yet, she plans to take it as soon as things go back to normal after the pandemic so that she can make the most of her experience. As for what happens to contestants after they are eliminated, Hanna has spilled the beans on all that goes on behind the camera!
There's no time for good-byes
As former contestant Nikki Hanna revealed on Reddit, there's no time to bid farewell to Gordon Ramsay — or even their fellow contestants — after elimination. As soon as Ramsay says it's time to leave, the eliminated contestants are pretty much whisked away from the set. However, before being handed a plane ticket home, eliminated "Hell's Kitchen" contestants are taken back to the hotel for final interviews. After that's done, eliminated contestants who made it to the top 10 have to stay back at the hotel while others fly home.
Contestants are asked to sign non-disclosure agreements prior to filming of course, so the entire "Hell's Kitchen" experience has to be kept under wraps until the show airs. The New York Post has also previously reported that the exit process after elimination is just as thorough as the show's application process. Eliminated contestants, they say, are taken for a psychiatric evaluation, made to stay in a house for a brief period of time, and pampered so that they can decompress from the stress of the show before going back to their normal lives and routines. As for whether contestants stay in touch after the show, Hanna says that they often have group chats and stay connected over social media.