Season 8 Overview

Season 8 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox between September 22 and December 15, 2010. Sous Chef Nona Sivley, from Atlanta, Georgia, was the winner of that season and was awarded a Head Chef position at the LA Market Restaurant at the JW Marriott Hotel, in Los Angeles, with a salary of $250,000. She also became the official spokesperson for Rosemount Estate Wines.

Contestants

16 contestants competed during this season. The teams were divided by gender at the beginning, male contestants in the blue team, and female contestants in the red team. The contestants were (in alphabetical order):

Contestants	Age	Occupation	Hometown
Vinny Accardi	29	Line Cook	Queens, NY
Antonia Boregman	40	Line Cook & Beautician	Chicago, IL
Raj Brandsto	49	Personal Chef	Queens, NY
Sabrina Brimhall	22	Prep Chef	San Diego, CA
Lewis Curtis	26	Executive Chef	Beebe, AR
Melissa Doney	31	Executive Sous Chef	Albany, NY
Jillian Flathers	28	Sous Chef	Pagosa Springs, CO
Russell Kook	29	Sous Chef	Madison, WI
Emily Kutchins	29	Senior Home Executive Chef	Chicago, IL
Lisa LaFranca	48	Corporate Food Director	Brooklyn, NY
Rob McCue	36	Law Firm Chef	Brooklyn, NY
Trev McGrath	30	Line Cook & Bartender	Chicago, IL
Gail Novenario	28	Executive Chef	Wantagh, NY
Boris Poleschuk	38	Catering Chef	Manalapan, NJ
Louis Repucci	28	Children’s Camp Chef	Diamond Bar, CA
Nona Sivley	29	Sous Chef	Atlanta, GA

Contestant progress

1. Nona
2. Russell
3. Jillian
4. Trev
5. Gail
6. Sabrina
7. Vinny
8. Rob
9. Boris
10. Melissa
11. Emily
12. Louis
13. Raj
14. Curtis
15. Lisa
16. Antonia

Episodes

Season 8 Episode 1

Season 8 Episode 2

Season 8 Episode 3

Season 8 Episode 4

Season 8 Episode 5

Season 8 Episode 6

Season 8 Episode 7

Season 8 Episode 8

Trivia

• Season 8 marked the debut of maître d′ James Lukanik, who would also be the maître d′ for the next two seasons.
• This is the first season where the finalists each select four chefs for their final brigade. This concept would carry on for the rest of the series, with Season 11 and Season 12 being the only exceptions. This is also the first season with this concept that had 16 chefs competing total.
• This is the first season to have black jackets be distributed before someone was eliminated.
• This is the first season to have a tied score at the end of the Signature Dish Challenge.
• This is the first season to have no winning team on opening night.
• This is the first season where no team switch happened the first time one team had two more members than the other.
• This is the first season where the chefs’ jackets changed designs during the season.
  • In the first episode, the chefs had their names on their collars. From the second episode onwards, their names were on the left side of their jackets, just like in past seasons.
• This is the first season where 8 chefs came back for the final dinner service.
• Episodes 1-10 were aired as double features and aired at 8pm on Wednesdays. Beginning with Episode 11, the episodes aired at 9pm.
• Future reappearances:
  • Nona returned in Season 9 to greet the Signature Dish Challenge winners, and returned in Season 11 as part of a team of returning champions.
  • Both Trev and Jillian returned in Season 9 as part of a team of veterans. Trev would return in Rookies Vs. Veterans to compete as a veteran.
  • Russell returned in Season 10 as part of a team of returning runner ups.
• This is the only season to date where the runner-up took their defeat ungraciously.

Info

Airdate:

September 22 – December 15, 2010

Number of Episodes:

15

Number of Contestants:

16

Winner:

Nona Sivley

Runner-Up:

Russell Kook