The fourth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on April 1, 2008, and concluded on July 8, 2008. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried returned as the Blue Team's sous-chef and Gloria Felix debuted as the Red Team's sous-chef, replacing Mary-Ann Salcedo. Jean-Philippe Susilovic returned as maître d'.
This season was won by culinary student Christina Machamer, with catering director Louis Petrozza finishing second.
Filming for this season took place in October 2007 at a warehouse located in Culver City, California. It was originally supposed to air later in the 2007–2008 TV season but instead aired as a replacement for shows that were affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The fifth episode garnered the highest viewership in Hell's Kitchen history at 11.94 million viewers.
Machamer received the senior sous chef position at the prize restaurant – not the executive chef position as mentioned in show-related publicity and press releases. The restaurant opened on May 27, 2008, while the season was still airing.
Contestants Fifteen chefs competed in season four. This was the first season to begin with an odd number of chefs.
Contestant Age (at time of filming) Occupation Hometown Result Christina Machamer 25 Culinary Student St. Louis, Missouri Winner Louis Petrozza 47 Catering Director Charlotte, North Carolina Runner-up Courtney "Corey" Earling 25 Private Chef Brooklyn, New York Eliminated before finals Jen Gavin 24 Garde Manger Chicago, Illinois Eliminated after twelfth service Bobby Anderson 37 Executive Chef Niagara Falls, New York Eliminated after eleventh service Matt Sigel 35 Sous Chef Pine Hill, New Jersey Eliminated after tenth service Louross Edralin 24 Hotel Cook Las Vegas, Nevada Eliminated after ninth service Rosann Fama 33 Law office receptionist & Former Cook Staten Island, New York Eliminated after eighth service Ben Caylor 29 Electrician & Former Chef Charlotte, North Carolina Eliminated after seventh service Shayna Zadok 28 Catering Company Owner Buffalo, New York Eliminated after sixth service Vanessa Gunnell 31 Line Cook Bozeman, Montana Quit before fifth service Craig Schneider 30 Sous Chef Coram, New York Eliminated after fourth service Jason Underwood 29 Youngstown, Ohio Eliminated after third service Sharon Stewart 31 Room-service chef Las Vegas, Nevada Eliminated after second service Dominic DiFrancesco 43 Stay-at-home Dad Catawba, South Carolina Eliminated after first service
Notes
Contestant progress Each week, the best member (as determined by Ramsay) from the losing team during the latest service period was asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two was sent home by Ramsay. In Episode 1, the teams selected captains for service, though Ramsay changed both captains during service. No.ChefOriginal teams1st switch2nd switchIndividualsFinals 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414/415 1 Christina WINNOMBoW WINNOM WIN WINNOM WINNOMBoB INNOMWINNER 2 Petrozza LOSE WINBoW LOSE WIN WINNOMPetrozza nominated himself WINBoW IN IN IN IN 3 Corey WINBoW LOSE WIN WIN WIN WINBoW WINNOM INNOMOUT Christina's team 4 Jen WINNOM LOSEBoB WIN WIN WIN WINNOM INNOMOUT Petrozza's team 5 BobbyNOM WIN LOSEBoW WIN WIN LOSE WIN LOSE INOUT Petrozza's team 6 Matt LOSE WIN LOSENOM WINNOM WINNOM WINOUT Christina's team 7 LourossBoW WIN LOSE LOSENOM WIN LOSE WINOUT Christina's team 8 Rosann WIN LOSE LOSE WIN WINNOM WINOUT 9 Ben LOSE WIN LOSENOM WIN WINOUT Petrozza's team 10 Shayna WIN LOSE LOSE WIN WINOUT 11 Vanessa WIN LOSENOM WINLEFT 12 Craig LOSE WIN LOSEOUT 13 Jason LOSE WINOUT 14 Sharon WINOUT 15 DominicOUT
Episodes
Notes
References
External links Hell's Kitchen official Fox.com Hell's Kitchen program description and commentary at the Internet Movie Database website