Hell's Kitchen Season 18: What Happened To The Chefs After The Show
After a season full of drama, many of these contestants went on to have very successful careers, and some love the drama!
It’s been over two years since our TVs were graced with the never-ending slew of Gordon Ramsay’s incomparable insults on Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen. And though season 19, which just kicked off in Las Vegas, does seem to be a promising one full of exceptional talent and even more exceptional characters, it remains to be seen how this new season will stack up against past, unequivocally delicious seasons. Season after season, this cooking competition has served up serious entertainment, but some call the last season, season 18, the best ever.
Featuring Rookies v. Veterans, Hell’s Kitchen season 18 saw eight new chefs face off against eight chefs who had competed on previous seasons but never won. For the first time since season 1, the teams were not initially divided into men v. women. The grand prize, however, was the same as always, $250k and a position as executive chef, this time at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant in Caesar’s Palace. The Rookies included: Elizabeth “Gizzy” Barton, Mia Castro, Jose DeJesus, Kanae Houston, Scotley Innis, Chris Mendonca, Chris Motto, and Scott Popovic. The Veteran side included: Ariel Contreras-Fox (season 6, placed 3rd), Kevin Cottle (season 6 runner-up), Roe DiLeo (season 13, placed 5th), Jen Gavin (season 4, placed 4th), T Gregoire (season 14 runner-up), Bret Hauser (season 14, placed 11th), Trev McGrath (season 8, placed 4th), and Heather Williams (season 16 runner-up). While all these chefs certainly came to play, two chefs dropped out of the contest and another chef was eliminated in the middle of service. In the end, however, it was Veteran Ariel Contreras-Fox who faced off against Rookie Mia Castro and took home the grand prize. So what happened to all these fantastic chef-testants?
Season 18 was a spectacularly wild one. After winning, Ariel Contreras-Fox did not take the executive chef position at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Instead, she took a position as executive chef at Dom Caminos in New York. In May 2020 she was named Vice President of Culinary at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle, De Frisco’s Grille, and Dos Caminos. Runner-up Mia Castro is now a private chef and food photographer. Heather Williams hung in there but eventually got sent packing and became executive chef Leaf Cigar Bar and then Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Gizzy Barton left scales on her fish, so she went home and started a meal plan business. Trev McGrath, who went home in flames after refusing to take responsibility for his poor performance, launched Skinny Chef meal delivery service in May 2020. T. Gregoire, who went home after a spectacular failure of communication, became Radford University’s executive chef, and then opened her own restaurant, ina+forbes in August 2019 to rave reviews. When Scott Popovic couldn’t cook shrimp table-side, he got sent home to become a culinary instructor at Polaris Career Center. Scotley Innis crumbled under the heat, returning back to his position as head chef at 5Chruch and eventually becoming a personal chef. Roe DiLeo was sent packing after she served up one too many raw steaks, but that didn’t keep her out of the limelight. In 2019, Roe competed on Chopped. Kevin Cottle’s passion wasn’t the same as it used to be, so he was sent back to his previous position as executive chef at Fire at the Ridge at Powder Ridge Ski Resort. In March 2019, Kevin became the corporate executive chef at American Cruise Lines. Kanae went home with Gordon’s praise and became a personal chef and instructor through her company, Always Homemade. Jose DeJesus was sent back to the life of private chef services and pop up dining experiences after he served raw veal. And then there’s Bret Hauser. In November of 2018, Bret was arrested for trafficking of synthetic products, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug equipment. He is now a private chef.
As for the other three who weren’t eliminated in the traditional sense? Well, they certainly made their grill marks. After coming in fourth place on season 4, everyone had high hopes for Jen Gavin. When she started fighting Gordon and accusing him of sabotaging her in the middle of service in episode 3, everyone was shocked. Ramsay wasn’t having any of it and eliminated her in the middle of service. She went back to her company, Edible Passport, and to offering private chef services and instruction. She later express regret for returning to the show, stating she only did it after losing a lot of money when a food truck investment fell through. Chris Mendonca withdrew from competition season 18 episode 6 because his mental health was suffering. As of February 2019, Chris was doing well and had become chef at The Automatic Food & Drink. And finally, there's Motto. Motto left season 18 episode 14 when he realized his hometown, Baton Rouge, La., needed him. He told Gordon he wanted to take all the skill and expertise he’d learned in Hell’s Kitchen home and use them to lift up the people he loved. Gordon had the utmost respect for Motto’s choice and allowed him to keep his jacket. Since then, Motto returned to Baton Rouge and his role of executive chef at Mansurs on the Boulevard. He has also raised plenty of money for local charities hosting cooking events. Here’s to hoping Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas aka season 19 will be full of characters who are just as talented and entertaining!
Source: Reality TV Revisited