Here's Why So Many Hell's Kitchen Contestants Struggle

"Hell's Kitchen" is a TV show that has managed to achieve cult status over the years among its viewers and is known for being a rather competitive show that requires contestants to step out of their comfort zones and take on unexpected challenges while trying to impress celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. According to a piece by Delish, the "Hell's Kitchen" team is particularly interested in hiring passionate cooks and doesn't care about recruiting "camera-ready contestants." 

One of the executive producers on the show, Arthur Smith explained, "The one thing we look for is a passion for cooking, a passion to be in the restaurant business." Per Smith and his colleague, Kent Weed, being on the show is a massive challenge and the participants must brace themselves for long hours as they hustle for five weeks while being completely cut off from their loved ones. Weed remarked,"[Contestants] live in Hell's Kitchen, and their world is Hell's Kitchen."

Viewers of the show may have noticed that contestants on "Hell's Kitchen" tend to struggle with getting the basic steps right and often present dishes that are not up to the mark. There is a surprising reason behind this, according to a piece by the New York Post. 

As far as working with ingredients on "Hell's Kitchen" is concerned, participants don't always know what they're dealing with as they try to compete in tough cooking challenges. Per the New York Post, the production team is known for doing some unsavory things while trying to spice things up on the show and create more drama for the viewers. 

Former participant Tek Moore once claimed, "Production would come in and mess with ingredients, swap out your salt and sugar – so people would look like complete f***ing a**holes." Basically, participants ended up with faulty dishes due to no error of their own as they tried to deal with an annoyed Gordon Ramsay.  Moore also stated that the living conditions were less than ideal and there were only a couple of public toilet stalls for 16 individuals. She added, "There were three showers with inadequate water heating. I used to watch the show and wonder, 'Why are all these cooks sitting around in their dirty clothes?' That's why."