Among the pantheon of reality TV show hosts, Gordon Ramsay, the demon-mouthed chef of the cooking competition show Hell’s Kitchen, stands out among the memorable. His show is not known for his kindness, and over the 22 seasons the show’s been on the air, he’s berated, dressed down, and just plain been mean to hundreds of chefs. Some go on to gain infamy, others do not. Unfortunately, some have even passed away.
The chef world is notorious for attracting so-called outsiders and rebels, people who don’t necessarily want to conform to society’s norms, but still want to have a vocation that is all at once creative and bone-breakingly singular and difficult. That’s what makes the show so great, but unfortunately with those types of personalities, unfortunate things tend to happen.
As of this writing, seven chefs who appeared on the show are now resting peacefully for eternity. Let’s take a look at their stories.
Who died on Hell’s Kitchen?
Since the show’s been on the air since 2005, there are bound to be a few people who simply pass away from natural causes. There’s also the element of tragedy, which unfortunately struck a number of contestants on the show.
Paulie Giganti from Season 16
Season 16 has the distinction of being one of two seasons to have more than one contestant from that season pass away. Paulie Giganti was found dead in his home at the age of 36 from an accidental drug overdose.
Paulie, an executive chef from Brooklyn, initially impressed Ramsay with his signature dish: Biscotti-encrusted scallops over a crispy polenta with a basil curry cream sauce. He would eventually get eliminated by Ramsay after sending out raw lamb.
In an interview before his death, Giganti revealed that he was a self-taught chef.
“I never went to school for cooking. I was going to be an engineer. I just wanted to see how I stacked up against other guys, like ‘school-y’ guys and other people. I was basically doing it as a measuring stick on myself. I didn’t care about any preconceived fears and notions. I just wanted to see how I could cook against other trained chefs.”
Genaro DeLillo from Season 16
Genaro DeLillo is the other unfortunate passing from season 16. His signature dish, a duck breast entree, didn’t impress Ramsay and led to a famous quip when Ramsay said he “ducked up” the dish. He was eliminated from the show after sending both over- and undercooked bass.
He was even responsible for the men’s team being thrown out after he sent up raw NY Strip steaks, twice. DeLillo passed away unexpectedly at the age of 32 on August 7, 2020. His obituary summed up his life’s passions:
“Cooking was one of Genaro’s passions. He was proud to have participated in the 16th season of Hell’s Kitchen and was also a judge for the 2016 Iron Chef Hamburg Competition. Genaro had a love for writing and in high school wrote for the Reading Eagle Voices. Throughout his life he wrote poetry. Genaro was very creative in many ways. He also had a love for photography and ran his own business with his dearest wife, called G&C Funtography.”
Jessica Vogel from Season 12
Jessica Vogel passed away on July 30, 2018 after a battle with an inflammatory bowel disease called colitis. She was only 34 years old. Vogel made a strong impression during her episode. She impressed Ramsay with her rosemary-crusted venison loin with goat cheese polenta, and helped her team win the signature dish challenge.
She was eliminated during a “Cook For Your Life” challenge when she went head to head with Richard Mancini and had to cook risotto, halibut, and scallops — each in under 30 minutes. She undercooked the lobster in the risotto and overcooked the halibut, and she was sent on her way.
She also appeared in a 2016 episode of Cutthroat Kitchen, a Food Network show about crazy cooking challenges, hosted by Alton Brown.
Louis Petrozza from Season 4
Louis Petrozza leaves behind a legacy of being one of the kindest contestants on any reality show ever, but especially in the face of a brutalizing Ramsay. He had a slow start on the show when his signature Cornish-game-hen-stuffed-in-a-pumpkin dish didn’t adhere him to Ramsay at all.
Despite this, he finished second on the show. Petrozza passed away on Nov. 15, 2019 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 58 years old.
Aaron Song From Season 3
Most people remember Aaron Song as the guy who showed up on the show in a cowboy outfit and ultimately cried on TV, but he was a lot more than that. He actually impressed Ramsay with his signature dish, but couldn’t handle the pressure of service and started crying, forcing service to be delayed.
When the male team lost a challenge to cook for Army and Navy service members, he fainted while preparing a thousand pounds of potatoes and onions. Gordon eliminated him from the show for health reasons.
He came back for season 6 to tell everyone “there’s no crying in Hell’s Kitchen.” Song died on November 10, 2010 after succumbing to complications from diabetes. He was 51 years old.
Keith Greene from Season 2
Ramsay’s first impression of Keith Greene was while he was perusing profiles of the cooks. “Oh dear. Slightly demented,” he said, when he saw Greene. Things didn’t improve much from there. He botched his signature dish, and a confused Ramsay dumped the top of it into Greene’s hat and handed it back to him.
Greene’s time on the show was uneven, but he did have a few good moments on the show as well. He was eliminated on the ninth episode of the season. Greene died at the age of 35 on August, 15 2012. His official cause of death was drowning.
Per local reports, he “went out for a swim in the surf, got caught in a bad spot and drowned. He was the head chef at Schmidt’s Seafood Market in North Sea and Schmidt’s Market in Southampton Village.”
Rachel Brown from Season 2
Rachel Brown, the “proud redneck,” made a strong impression on the show. While her butterfly shrimp in chocolate sauce didn’t blow Ramsay away, she had a strong showing on the first few challenges. When things got a bit more fancy and difficult, she had trouble keeping up.
She was eliminated on episode 5 after previously nominating herself for elimination in episode 4. Brown passed away on May 9, 2007 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
