Season 9 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on July 18, 2011, on Fox and concluded on September 19, 2011, with a two-hour season finale. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried and Andi Van Willigan returned as the Blue Team and Red Team's sous-chefs respectively. James Lukanik returned as maître d'.
The season was won by junior sous-chef Paul Niedermann, with fellow sous-chef William "Will" Lustberg finishing second.
The entire season took about six weeks to film, and was filmed between April and May 2011. It also saw the show return to its original one season per year schedule, having run two seasons each in 2009 and 2010 due to the after-effects of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
Contestants 18 chefs competed in season 9. Contestant Age1 Occupation Hometown Result Paul Niedermann 27 Jr. Sous Chef Davie, Florida Winner Will Lustberg 31 Sous chef Jersey City, New Jersey Runner-Up Elise Wims 26 Line Cook Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Eliminated before Finals Tommy Stevens 31 Brewster, New York Jennifer Normant 34 Chef de Cuisine Boston, Massachusetts Eliminated after Fourteenth Service Elizabeth Bianchi 27 Line Cook New York, New York Eliminated after Twelfth Service Natalie Blake 23 Sous chef Harrodsburg, Kentucky Eliminated after Eleventh Service Carolina "Carrie" Keep 31 Pantry chef Dallas, Texas Eliminated after Tenth Service Jamie Gregorich 24 Sous chef Bradenton, Florida Eliminated after Ninth Service Jonathon Plumley 34 Head cook Memphis, Tennessee Eliminated after Eighth Service Krupa Patel 30 Private chef Queens, New York Eliminated after Seventh Service Monterray Keys 34 Line cook Darby, Pennsylvania Eliminated after Sixth Service Gina Melcher Restaurant consultant Cape May, New Jersey Eliminated after Fifth Service Hee Jun "Chino" Chang 39 Executive Chef Hatboro, Pennsylvania Eliminated after Fourth Service Amanda Colello 26 Personal chef Sun City, California Eliminated after Third Service Brendan Heavey 31 Head chef Hoboken, New Jersey Eliminated after Second Service Steven Paluba 44 Sauté chef Ridge, New York Eliminated after First Service Jason Zepaltas 29 Line cook Chicago, Illinois Hospitalized before First Service Notes
Contestant progress No.ChefOriginal teamsSwitched teamsIndividualsFinals 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 9161 Paul LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE LOSENOM LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE LOSE WIN IN IN INWINNER2 Will LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE LOSE WIN IN IN IN 3 Elise WIN WIN LOSENOMNOM WIN LOSE WINNOM LOSENOM NOMNOMNOMOUTPaul's team 4 Tommy LOSE LOSE WIN LOSENOM LOSE LOSE LOSE WINNOM LOSE WIN IN INOUTWill's team5 Jennifer WIN WINNOMJennifer & Carrie were nominated as well as Amanda for elimination by Chef Ramsay LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE WIN LOSE LOSE LOSENOMNOMOUTWill's team6 Elizabeth WIN WIN LOSE LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE WIN LOSE LOSE LOSEOUTPaul's team7 Natalie WIN WIN WIN LOSE LOSE LOSENOMNOM WIN LOSEOUTWill's team8 Carrie WIN WINNOMCarrie & Jennifer were nominated as well as Amanda for elimination by Chef RamsayNOM LOSE WIN LOSE WINNOM OUTPaul's team9 Jamie WIN WIN LOSE LOSE LOSE WINNOM WINOUT10 Jonathon LOSE LOSE WIN LOSE LOSENOMNOMOUTPaul's team11 Krupa WIN WIN LOSE LOSENOM WINOUTWill's team12 MonterrayNOM LOSE WINNOMNOM OUT13 Gina WIN WIN LOSE LOSEOUT14 ChinoNOMNOM WINOUT15 Amanda WIN WIN OUTAmanda was eliminated after being nominated as well as Jennifer & Carrie by Chef Ramsay16 Brendan LOSEOUT17 StevenOUT18 JasonHOSP
Episodes
Notes
References
External links Official site BLT Steak restaurant home page