Why You Might Not Want To Be A Diner On Hell's Kitchen

Being a chef — let alone one on primetime television — can be intimidating. First of all, working in a restaurant kitchen is truly an assault on all of your senses. At any given moment, you've got aromatics — e.g. garlic, onion, chives — being prepared in one corner, fish in another, and moldy parsnips being thrown out with the eggs and gorgonzola. One line cook is sweating bullets by the stove, another is using three blenders at once. You have no space to toss the shrimp in the air, but if you get distracted by a blender, those crustaceans will have to be tossed and prepared again. Oh, and if your colleague becomes sick with COVID or something else, you might be short-staffed, adding to your already long hours on the job.

Now, take all of those aspects, but make them even more challenging by trying to prepare a three- or four-course meal under the helm of a firebrand like controversial head chef Gordon Ramsay whose known for being a bit mouthy and can roast the best of them. We bet you can't wait to try the food from someone under that much pressure while you watch the whole thing play out! But, chances are, you probably won't be a diner on "Hell's Kitchen" unless you have an "in" anyway.

According to an AMA with Kevin Cottle, who was the runner-up on "Hell's Kitchen" in Season 6 and also later appeared as a contestant during Season 18, the short answer is that only a privileged few will ever get to feast on camera during a taping. Basically, unless you're related to — or a friend of someone — on the show's crew, don't expect the red carpet to be rolled out, nor to get a ceremonial yelling session from Chef Gordon Ramsay himself. Exceptions have been made for random celebrities from C-list shows from time-to-time however.

If you do want a spot as a guest on "Hell's Kitchen," your best bet would be to join a casting agency, according to Distractify. That's because the producers of "Hell's Kitchen" generally film for a maximum of eight weeks at a time, and only every two or three years. Interestingly, the crew actually use those eight weeks to produce two seasons, further adding to the difficulty of being a guest judge on the show. Even if you go through all of that rigmarole, due to the show's immense popularity, casting agencies are already backed up with starry-eyed actors years in advance. Of course, Ramsay is busy with other projects and his family, so it's a big time commitment for the executive chef, too. So, if you ever wanted to know why the phrase "it's no picnic" exists, look no further than "Hell's Kitchen."