Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 15
The fifteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen took place in October 2014 and premiered on January 15, 2016, on Fox. The prize was a head chef position at BLT Steak at Bally's Las Vegas. Country Club Chef Ariel Malone won the competition.
| Hell's Kitchen | |
|---|---|
| Season 15 | |
Artwork for digital release | |
| Hosted by | Gordon Ramsay |
| No. of contestants | 18 |
| Winner | Ariel Malone |
| Runner-up | Kristin Barone |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | January 15 – April 29, 2016 |
| Season chronology | |
Gordon Ramsay and Marino Monferrato returned as head chef and Maître d' respectively. Season 10 winner Christina Wilson was the sous chef for the red team, although Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec, who got married, returned in episode 7 of this season when Hell's Kitchen hosted her wedding reception. Aaron Mitrano replaced James Avery as sous chef for the blue team. Wilson is the second former Hell's Kitchen winner to return as one of Ramsay's sous chefs, the first being season 2 winner, Heather West, who was the red kitchen's sous chef for season 6. Jason Thompson also returned as narrator for the first time since season 12.
This season is the first in the series to be recorded in 16:9 High Definition.
This season holds two unique distinctions. It has neither a charity dinner service nor a Taste It, Now Make It challenge, both traditional staples of the latter half of the show. It is also the first season where every chef was nominated for elimination at least once. This season saw the return of normal single elimination before finals since season 6, instead of the tradition double elimination before finals. This season was also tied with season 7 (later with season 21) record, with three times teams restructuring.