Hell's Kitchen is a British reality competition cooking series created by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and produced by ITV Productions which features prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize.
The series premiered in the UK on ITV on 23 May, 2004. There are 45 hour-long episodes in three seasons to date. A fourth season has been confirmed by ITV.
Hell's Kitchen airs in South Africa on DStv's BBC Lifestyle channel.
Season 3 premiered on BBC Lifestyle on Wednesday 18 February 2009, at 18h30. There are 15 episodes in the third season.
Season 3 Repeats
Wednesdays: 23h20
Thursdays: 11h30, 15h30
Saturdays: 12h00
Sundays: 08h00
Season 1
Hell's Kitchen has had different formats and different head chefs for each season so far. Gordon Ramsay left after the first season to star in the US version of the show.
Season 1 starred Gordon Ramsay as the Head Chef tutoring celebrities how to cook. The show placed ten "celebrities" in a specially constructed London restaurant-kitchen with the task of catering for a clientele of famous people.
The celebrities who took part were:
Amanda Barrie
Belinda Carlisle
Dwain Chambers
Edwina Currie
James Dreyfus
Jennifer Ellison
Matt Goss
Al Murray
Abi Titmuss
Tommy Vance (replacing Roger Cook, who injured himself on the first night)
Jennifer Ellison was declared the winner after a series of public elimination votes (in the style of Survivor or Big Brother).
A follow-up programme was made afterwards called Hell's Kitchen: School Reunion, which saw Ellison and the show runner-up, James Dreyfus, team up to organise a healthy dinner service for the children at Gordon Ramsay's former school.
Season 2
Season 2 of Hell's Kitchen in the UK was broadcast in spring 2005. The format was overhauled as the show was turned into a competition between two kitchens run by celebrity chefs Gary Rhodes and Jean-Christophe Novelli.
The second season featured 10 members of the public competing for a prize of £250,000, with which the winner could start their own restaurant.
They were split into two teams of five, one red (tutored by Gary Rhodes) and the other blue (led by Jean-Christophe Novelli). A new and much larger restaurant was built to accommodate the fact that there were now two kitchens.
The only things that remained the same in the second season were the music, by composer Daniel Pemberton, and the presenter, who was still Angus Deayton. Elimination was still down to voting.
Season 2 was won by Terry Miller.
Season 3
Season 3 was due to begin in summer 2006, with Jean-Christophe Novelli as the sole head chef; however, ITV made the decision to take a break from producing Hell's Kitchen.
The network then announced in February 2007 that it had commissioned a new season of the show, to begin in autumn 2007, this time with Michelin-starred Marco Pierre White as head chef.
Season 3 reverted to the original format of having celebrities as contestants. The celebs who participated were:
Abigail Clancy
Adele Silva
Anneka Rice
Barry McGuigan
Brian Dowling
Jim Davidson
Kelly LeBrock
Lee Ryan
Paul Young
Rosie Boycott