The Saddest Moment Ever On Hell's Kitchen, According To Reddit

If you've ever watched an episode of "Hell's Kitchen," you've likely noticed that emotions run high on the culinary competition show. After all, any contest that involves fierce rivalry, grueling tasks, and the possibility of winning a life-changing prize is bound to fray some nerves. When you put all these factors together, you can see why there's so much drama on Hell's Kitchen. 

Viewers, admittedly, have grown accustomed to the show's regular fits of rage (usually led by Gordon Ramsay, himself) and post-service arguments in the dorm, but one form of emotional outburst still manages to get their attention — tears. While the audience may not bat an eye when Ramsay drops an f-bomb, hurls raw chicken across the room, or places a piece of bread over someone's left and right ear and calls them an "idiot sandwich" (per BuzzFeed), it seems that many turn to mush at any sign of sadness. 

"Hell's Kitchen" devotees have witnessed many heart-breaking moments over the years. Bret Hauser's back injury that forced him to go home; Steve Rosenthal's hopes of winning being dashed when his wounded knee sent him packing; and Robert Hesse's emotional discussion with Ramsay about his use of the name "Bobby" and his rough childhood, are just some of the distressing events that have played out on the show. While you can likely think of many gut-wrenching "Hell's Kitchen" memories of your own, several Redditors had no problem pinpointing what they thought was the saddest moment on the show. 

When Redditor u/KrisSimsters posted in r/HellsKitchen asking for the saddest moment in "Hell's Kitchen," the top comment was "Jessica's elimination in the cook for your life challenge. You knew she probably wasn't going to win it all, but it still hurt to see her reaction." Being publicly axed from the competition must surely be the worst part of being a contestant on Hell's Kitchen — especially when the competitor is as distraught as Jessica Vogel was. Many of the commenters agreed, saying, "It hit like a gut punch," that it hurt to see her begging for Ramsay to change his mind, and that it "was probably the most brutal elimination to watch." And one reply summed up another devastating aspect of this emotional scene, stating, "Knowing she died when watching the elimination made it even more brutal." 

Tragically, Jessica Vogel passed away at the young age of 34, just four years after her appearance on the show. Her fiancé told northjersey.com that she, "was being treated for colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, at a hospital in southern New Jersey when 'her heart gave out.'" Her passing makes watching the video of her elimination even more difficult. While viewers watch reality TV shows like "Hell's Kitchen" for their entertainment value, it is moments like Jessica's painful elimination and her subsequent passing that remind everyone that these are actual people experiencing real-life heartbreak.