Amber Lancaster

“

I'm not into losing.

”

Hometown/Residence	Chicago, IL
Occupation	Executive Chef
Culinary Education	Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Scottsdale
Culinary Inspiration	Julia Child
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	4 out of 5
Blind Taste Test Score	2 out of 4
Challenges Won	7
Services Won	3
Times as BoW/Announcer	1
Times Nominated	4
Placement	5th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	It's Time!

Amber Lancaster was a contestant on Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 5th place.

Season 19

Episode 1/2

Main article: Episode 1901 - Welcome To Vegas

Main article: Episode 1902 - Shrimply Spectacular

The season begins with the eighteen new chefs arriving at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as Ramsay wanted them to see the first official Hell's Kitchen Restaurant. Marino greeted the chefs at the front doors and took them inside the restaurant. As the chefs drank champagne, they got to know each other as Amber revealed she trained in the Cordon Bleu in France, worked under several famous chefs, and claimed she was ready to compete. One of the chefs Adam recognized her and knew she was a dedicated chef from Chicago. Eventually, Ramsay came in, explained that the Hell's Kitchen Restaurant was built on the show's eighteen-season legacy, and revealed that it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in America. Ramsay revealed that he brought them to the restaurant for inspiration because the winner of that season would become the Head Chef at the brand-new Hell's Kitchen Restaurant in Lake Tahoe. Ramsay admitted they would not be competing in the real Hell's Kitchen restaurant due to the demand, so they would be going to Los Angeles to compete. The chefs returned to the bus to head to the airport, Marino handed out the tickets, and once arriving at the strip, they see a helicopter revving up, with Ramsay taking it and flying off. After some time, the chefs were called in for boarding, but as the chefs walked through the doors, they found themselves standing inside the restaurant. Ramsay appeared in his chef jacket, revealed for the first time in the show's history, Hell's Kitchen would take place in Las Vegas and had some performers do some shows for the chefs. While the chefs could not do any of the tricks they saw, they reaffirmed that they could indeed cook to Ramsay.

Before the Signature Dish Challenge, Amber revealed her dish would be a New York striploin but was forced to scrap it due to the changes. She went up against Peter, they were the sixth pair to play for their ingredients, and they received ribeye, beets, and potatoes. She was the seventh person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and presented her balsamic honey and Dijon ribeye. She scored four points as the dish was praised for a beautiful cook with Ramsay showing it to everybody, and she was proud to have worked hard for the four. The red team lost the challenge 27-28, and they were punished by cleaning the Caesar Palace's fountain. She felt that most of her teammates scored low twos', and wanted to weed out the weaklings first. During the punishment, she was not happy that Jordan, Mary Lou, and Fabiola were not taking the punishment seriously.

Later that night, at 11:30 PM, the women completed their punishment and were back in their bedroom studying the menu. Jordan recalled how Sous Chef Christina called her out on having fun on the statue, but Amber was on the Sous Chef's side and sarcastically what they were doing. She felt some people did not deserve to be in Hell's Kitchen and told Jordan that she should have treated the punishment as it was. However, Jordan told her to relax as they were trying to have fun.

During the Creative Shrimp Challenge, Amber was called up as one of the top three people from the red team. She was the first person to have her dish judged by Ramsay and presented her citrus butter poached tiger shrimp with celery root purée. Ramsay thought it had both a beautifully cooked shrimp and stunning flavor, adding that it showed great flair. That made her happy to have Ramsay say that to her early on, but she lost the challenge after Cody dethroned her.

During dinner service, Amber was on the appetizer station with Kori. At one point, she was seen serving her appetizers, and when Mary Lou struggled on her steak, she offered to help by cooking the refire herself. However, Mary Lou rejected that, and the red team won the service.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1903 - Hell Caesar!

During the Caesar Salad Challenge, Amber was paired up with Kori as the red team had two extra members. She was seen serving two of their attempts, and both were accepted. The red team won the challenge 10-8, and they were rewarded with a dune buggy experience in the Nevada desert.

During dinner service, Amber was on the dessert station. She was not seen that night, the red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, she told the women they would go around and ask for a name so they could all be on the same page and not be embarrassed in front of Ramsay. Later, she nominated Nikki because she did not know what the latter's leadership skills would be.

She was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 1904 - Wedding Bells In Hell

Back at the dorms, Kori was willing to own the women's mistake for nominating Nikki, but Amber refused to as she would have gone insane if Ramsay sent her home over Nikki. That got Nikki frustrated as being around people who did not believe her capabilities and told the women they have no idea what she could offer. However, she reminded Nikki she is young and inexperienced, meaning the latter had no chance of entering a Sous Chef role, but Nikki told her not to base her off her resume alone. That caused Lauren to note she is too difficult to be around due to her being a bitch, and wished that she stopped bringing in bad energy for the women.

During the Wedding Brunch Service Challenge, Amber was on the egg station. Ramsay wanted the eggs at one point, but she was overwhelmed as every dish they served had an egg component to it. Despite Ramsay's impatience, the egg for the steak dish was brought up to the pass, and the women were serving entrées. The red team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with an overnight trip to Lake Tahoe, where they would ride snowmobiles in the mountains and stay at the Harrah's Hotel and Casino. During the reward, she felt that the women were bonding well and growing a sistermance.

Amber was reassigned to the blue team before dinner service to even up both teams at seven each. Although she was not happy to be taken away from the red team, she was ready to adapt. After moving her knives from the red kitchen to the blue kitchen, she put on her blue jacket and asked Declan if she could move a few things around. Declan said no as they had everything set up for how they wanted it to go, but that got her emotional in response. Josh and Adam tried to calm her down, and Declan asked her what was wrong. She said she was upset because she was not used to losing, but that comment offended everyone else on the blue team as they had won the previous dinner service.

During dinner service, Amber was on the meat station with Declan. At one point, she got concerned about Peter's scallops, which were proven true when they came out overcooked. While she and Declan got their meats accepted, the blue team was kicked out after Peter's halibut came out burnt. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, she was not happy with the blue team's infighting and deemed them a mess before calling out Peter for his lack of communication skills that night. However, she agreed with Peter about Declan and Marc's fighting and belief that the blue team would never gel with that going on.

She was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 1905 - Hell Starts Taking Its Toll

During the Mexican Cuisine Challenge, Amber was paired up with Marc, and while collecting their ingredients, she was seen helping Adam get ingredients for his beef enchilada. The blue team lost the first part of the challenge, and they received 40 minutes of cooking time. During the cooking, she was busy making a side salad and sarcastically deemed her teamwork with Marc a match made in heaven as the two bickered over how much to plate. They worked on the duck tostadas, they were the third pair from the blue team to have their dish judged and went up against the pair of Jordan and Lauren. They made a molasses soy marinated duck tostada with a mixed salad, but while Aarón Sanchez felt that everything was cooked properly, he had reservations about the salad as they used green bell peppers, which are considered bland for tasting. While Ramsay liked the salad's acidity, he deemed the peppers a no-no, but despite that, both pairs scored that round. As both pairs went back to their teams, she remarked she would not have heard the end of it from Marc if they failed to score as she refused to listen to his complaints.

The blue team won the challenge after a tie at two each, and they were rewarded with a spa day at the Voie, located at the Paris Hotel. Back at the dorms, Amber vented about Marc to Mary Lou and Jordan, with Mary Lou expressing her distaste of the guy. She deemed Marc a child she wanted to shake him, while the latter told Josh that he warned her about the size of the plate earlier, although Cody recalled the bickering the two had. Later, Declan told her that Marc threw her under the bus, leading her to confront the latter as Mary Lou watched the blue team's drama with glee. She told Marc to talk shit about her to her face and told him to grow the fuck up, but Marc argued that he was not coming after her. That caused her to complain that Marc always wanted the final word, and wished she had a muzzle, while Syann commented that it would be an awkward spa day. During the reward, she told Peter to speak up more in dinner service, but that dismayed the latter as he wanted to relax, while Syann knew she could not help herself.

During dinner service, Amber was on the appetizer station with Marc. At one point, she felt that Marc was all over the place on their station, which made her hate the guy even more. When Marc had communication problems, she told her station partner to fucking cook and communicate. After seeing Peter struggle on garnish, she said that it would be an understatement to call the blue team a hot mess. After Peter's mid-service elimination, Ramsay reassigned her to the garnish station, the blue team got refocused thanks to her direction, and Ramsay felt that it was the exact way they should be talking to each other. Although both teams were named joint winners, Ramsay asked both teams to nominate one person each. During deliberation, Marc nominated her as he felt she was toxic towards the blue team, but Cody did not believe that to be true and found Marc's statement completely hypocritical as the only thing the latter needed was a mirror. While Marc reminded her about her salad during the challenge, she could not deal with him any longer.

She was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 6

Main article: Episode 1906 - Metal & Marina

The next day, Amber refused to let the blue team down for Josh as it was his birthday. During the Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge, Amber went up against Syann, and their dish was ravioli. She was the third chef from the blue team to have her dish judged and presented her asparagus and ricotta tortellini. It was praised for looking beautiful, along with having a beautiful broth, and Jon Shook said he would love to have that dish in a restaurant. With that, she scored a perfect 9. The blue team won the challenge 33-28, and they were rewarded with riding in muscle cars with professional drivers and eating an Italian meal at the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant.

During the Italian Night dinner service, Amber was on the fish station. As the blue team received their first order, she was ready to prove to Ramsay that she could cook fish, but she accidentally dropped a piece of scallop onto the ground when she moved the pan. So, she cooked another piece while Cody was confused about her frazzled performance. While she got the scallops up to the pass on time, she also served a raw lobster tail, which upset her as it was a stupid mistake for an experienced chef like herself. Ramsay deemed the fish station the blue team's Achilles heel, but she got her refire accepted. Later, Adam told her to put her salmon on the heat now, but she refused as she felt it did not need six minutes to cook. However, Ramsay told her to do so if Adam told her that, but he tried to repeat that, she snapped at Adam not to talk to her. That annoyed Adam as they were not here to babysit each other. She walked up her salmon, but Ramsay sent the salmon back as it was still raw, had everybody touch the skin, and pulled her to the back pantry. Ramsay asked what was happening to her, but while she tried to argue that she could cook fish, she started to break down into tears. Ramsay urged her to give him her best, while she knew that it was worse when you know what to do and still make mistakes. Despite that, she got her refire accepted.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Cody considered Amber for elimination because of her problems with fish, but while she said that it was her first poor performance of her run, Cody said he was basing it off of that night. Adam nominated her as well, while she disagreed with nominating Josh as she did not think the latter was weaker than Marc. However, Marc knew she was trying to nominate him due to being a tough competitor. Then, she told the blue team that she was a strong chef, and if they nominated her, they would regret it.

Amber was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Josh as the second. During her plea, she said she was a strong chef and was not ready to go home, but when Ramsay asked what happened that night, she claimed she had too many things going inside her mind. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she said she never wanted to be nominated again and prove she was a force to be reckoned with.

Episode 7

Main article: Episode 1907 - A Pair Of Aces

Back at the dorms, Amber felt the blue team nominated her out of fear of her being in the final two and received a back massage from Syann. When she commented on how Syann knew how to use her hands, Jordan remarked that the latter used to be a lesbian.

Before the Protein Identification Challenge, Amber was dismayed by the challenge as she had a shellfish allergy. She was paired up with Declan, they were the second pair from the blue team to compete, and they grabbed the bison and lobster dish. Because of her allergy, she had Declan taste the shellfish, but their first attempt, filet and king crab legs were incorrect, while their second attempt, bison and Dungeness crab, was half right. Declan swapped out the bison meat for elk, but that proved to be fully incorrect. Doing a full reset, she felt that Declan was scattered brained as he grabbed proteins they already tried, and she decided to taste the shellfish despite her allergy. It worked as they got the right pairing on their fourth attempt, but she needed her EpiPen from Sous Chef Jason.

The blue team lost the challenge after they failed to beat the red team's 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and they were punished by deshelling crab and prepping them for crab cakes for that night's service. Not only was Amber not happy due to her allergy, but back at the dorms, she felt the men's smoke break was an attempt to avoid her, especially since Cody does not smoke. She said it was hard to switch teams as the blue team had a different mentality than the blue team before confronting Cody, Adam, and Declan for having a team meeting without her. However, they argued that they were just having a smoke, and Declan told her not to listen to the red team because they were trying to manipulate her. She whined how hard it was to switch teams, but Adam felt she had to be fully on the blue team if she wanted to succeed. During the punishment, she knew they had to prep more items for the crab cakes, and when she felt the blue team's mindset of losing another person was not a good one, Cody was still concerned because if that happened, that woman would team up with her. While she found that comment to be aggressive, Declan told her to start trusting them as they had her back.

After the punishment, Amber talked with Mary Lou about how the red team was more supportive than the blue team and asked what she can do. Mary Lou suggested that she try to survive for one more day because if the blue team lost another member, then a red chef would join them, and the former wanted her to stay. During prep, she knew a lot was riding for her as she could not afford to make mistakes in service and prepared to put her best foot forward.

During dinner service, Amber was on the meat station. At one point, Adam was waiting to see her prove herself, but she was concerned about the thickness of the New York striploin as the temperature must be perfect and feared it was overcooked. While she did not want to serve it, Declan told her to stop fussing and serve it. However, she refused to walk it as she knew it was not right, so she cooked another steak, and after walking that up, Ramsay praised it for being the best-cooked steak from both kitchens. That relieved her as she knew she could cook better than everybody in the blue kitchen. Later, she was happy that the blue team was on the same page as Ramsay praised her for her lamb. The blue team won the service after completing the red team's orders.

Episode 8

Main article: Episode 1908 - Crapping Out in Hell

During the Craps Challenge, Amber rolled a C and pickled celery root. During the cooking, she decided to follow in the eat with your eyes idea by making her dish bright and colorful. However, when she sliced into her pork, it came out raw, so she decided to mark them on the grill to cook them more. However, Adam warned her not to kill the pork. She was the first person from the blue team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and presented her zaatar and honey spiced pork with a haricot Verde and carrot salad. While Ramsay liked how the colors popped, he felt she obliterated the pork, and she scored 2 points, much to her dismay as that was the worst she has scored so far.

The blue team won the challenge after a tie at 19 each, and they were rewarded with high wire lessons with Absinthe and a special lunch at Nobu. During the reward, Amber felt intimidated by the high wire as she feared heights, and she went through her lesson with a tinge of fear. During lunch, she referred to Ramsay as chef, but he politely told her to keep it to Gordon outside the kitchen.

Later that day, Ramsay gave Cody the responsibility of interviewing the blue team and naming two nominees. Back at the dorms, Cody told Amber that while she was a strong cook, he felt the competition was starting to get to her. She argued that Ramsay knew she could cook, felt that Cody was not seeing her positive traits out of fear, and felt that Adam should go up instead as she did not see him as a strong cook, something Cody agreed with.

Amber was Cody's second nominee for elimination, with Marc as the first, and they joined Lauren and Jordan from the red team in the Cook For Your Life Challenge. During the cooking, she was scattered on her dish as she called it embarrassing to go home by that point, while Marc felt she was nervous before telling her to chill out. Then, she felt that her swearing game was going up the more she was in Hell's Kitchen. She was the final person to have her dish judged by Ramsay, knew that one bad dish could be the end of her, and presented her pan-seared filet with parsnip purée with sprouts blanched in white wine and citrus. Ramsay praised the cook on the steak and the purée's flavour but criticized the sprouts for being raw in the middle. She was the first person that was deemed safe, and as she went back to the dorms, she said that she had to remember how much she worked for it and wanted to be the last person left standing. While everybody was happy to see her back, she warned Cody to never do that to her again before demanding a beer from him.

Episode 9

Main article: Episode 1909 - Blind Taste Test

Back at the dorms, Declan checked on Amber as she was confused as to why Cody nominated her over Adam as she felt the latter did not take the idea of being a leader seriously. She felt that Adam was too cocky to become a Head Chef, but Declan told her to brush that feeling away and do what she came to do.

During the Blind Taste Test, Amber was the third person from the blue team to compete and went up against Mary Lou. She could only get peas and red bell pepper correct, resulting in Adam getting the ice cream dunk. During Cody's turn, she got the ice cream dunk. The blue team won the challenge 10-8, and they were rewarded with a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and an overnight stay at the Caesar Palace's private villa. During the reward, she felt that they needed the win as the blue team was bonding and called it the best reward yet.

During prep, Amber felt Marc was not on point with the blue team as he was asking questions any chef should know by now. During the Steak Night dinner service, she was on the appetizer station with Declan. After Marc and Adam produced a burnt egg, she said that the fish station should be the last station that went down on Steak Night. After seeing the red team's perfect service, she missed being in the red kitchen as Kori led them to victory. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, she accused Marc of going down that night with the poor timings, but when the latter argued that he was trying to communicate well for the team, she felt it was more of a deer in the headlight moment and said she would fire a Sous Chef if they behaved like him. Then, she reminded Cody of how Kori led the red team on meat and felt he should have done the same, while feeling that Adam's lack of communication meant he did not want to be a part of the blue team, irritating the latter.

She was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 10

Main article: Episode 1910 - There's Something About Marc

Amber tried her best to calm down the mood back at the dorms, but she and Declan had to defuse the Marc and Cody argument.

During the Five Protein Burger Challenge, Amber was named the blue team's referee during part one, making her proud to have that responsibility. As the blue team collected their cards, Cody told her what ingredients should go for their burgers. During the cooking, she cooked the beef burger and worked with Cody on the blue team's lamb burger. She felt that she and Cody worked well together as the two proceeded with no issues on the lamb burger. She was the final person from the blue team to have her dish judged and went up against Kori. Before having her dish judged, she introduced herself in French, much to Mary Lou's confusion. She made a beef burger with bacon fat and red chilli flakes, the dish was praised for being spot on, and she scored that round over Kori.

The blue team lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by prepping 500 pounds of potatoes for a pomme purée and drinking an all-burger milkshake. During the punishment, Amber asked Marc if he was in the military before, but was ignored by the latter. During lunch, she gagged at the thought of drinking hers and looking at her teammates drink theirs. She refused to drink her shake even though Declan told her to, and Cody said she had to be a strong woman. She begrudgingly drank her shake, and she called it the most horrible thing she has done. When the red team came back from their reward, their loud celebration irritated her.

Before dinner service, Ramsay had both teams decide what station they wanted to work at. Amber wanted to be on fish even though Declan knew she was stronger on meat in comparison, but because the latter did not want to cause her to get upset, he reluctantly allowed her to be on fish. After Declan served raw lamb, she accused him of being in over his head. On Scott 's order, she knew that things in the blue team have been bad, but wanted to remain focused as they could not afford any more mistakes. However, Declan told her that his Wellington would be out in eight minutes, forcing her to fire a new piece of fish as Ramsay called it painful, while Declan felt she should not be here if she could not get it together. When the entrées for Scott's table was sent up, Ramsay saw the halibut she cooked was raw. That mistake led Ramsay to kick the blue team out of the kitchen. As the blue team went back to the dorms, Declan reminded her she should have been on meat that night and felt she was out for herself.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Declan asked Amber why she wanted to be on fish, and she said she wanted to redeem herself on that station in the same way the former needed to bounce back on meat. However, Declan said that it was not the night to do that when they have only four chefs left, but she felt she did not deserve to go up for elimination as she worked her ass off that day. She was considered for elimination by Marc, and she questioned Cody's claim that he kept the boat afloat for most of that night. Then, she reminded Marc that he was all over the place on timings and that he deserved to go home.

Amber was not nominated for elimination, and while being dismissed, she knew that the blue team failed that night and thought she had to prove to Ramsay she was a leader.

Episode 11

Main article: Episode 1911 - Sink or Swim

Back at the dorms, Kori warned Amber to watch her back on the blue team as she feared she was the new target now that Marc was eliminated. She believed that all her dishes were perfect but felt the blue team was ready to throw her off a boat with a brick tied to her legs as Kori told her not to trust either Declan or Cody.

During the Spells Kitchen Challenge, Amber went up three times during part one, and on her first attempt, she got fennel and swiss chard. Then, she decided to send the spinach to the red team's halibut, believing that spinach was too lame of an ingredient. On her second attempt, she failed to guess an ingredient, but on her third attempt, she guessed avocado. Because the blue team had a full board, Ramsay told her that she could either give the red team the avocado or eliminate one of their own ingredients. Although Cody and Declan suggested that they get rid of the pineapple, she gave the red team the avocado, dismaying Declan as he felt she made a mistake. She decided to cook the ribeye. During the cooking, she told Cody not to get cocky, and then, she tried to quick sear her ribeye by pressing it between two pans, but it became stuck to the bottom of the top pan. Cody tossed her a spatula to scrape it off. She was the first person from the blue team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Kori. She made a pan-seared ribeye with roasted cauliflower and watercress purée, but when Ramsay asked her why she pressed the meat, she said it did not have a good enough sear on one part. Despite looking thin, Ramsay found the cook to be perfect and loved the flavors from the three ingredients, much to her relief. She tied that round with Kori. The blue team won the challenge 3-2, and they were rewarded with a pool day at the Linq and an all-American barbecue lunch and receiving a brand new Vitamix blender.

During the Charity Night dinner service, Amber plated the purée during the scallop course, but said she would have had two cooking scallops and one person plating if she led that course. During the risotto course, Ramsay told her to give Cody some space so each portion had equal cooks, she had the latter taste her attempt, and he told her to add more greens to balance out the salty taste. She was in charge of the pan-seared halibut course, and while she did not want to make the same mistake as she did before on fish, Cody felt she wanted to work alone and not as a team. When she walked up the halibut, Ramsay accepted them. Declan asked her to double-check his filets during the filet course, but she felt she was doing all the work for him and asked why he could not check his own meat. During the dessert course, she was cold towards Cody when he asked for a time.

Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, Declan nominated Amber for not checking the filets properly as he had asked, and Cody nominated her based on the fact she did not trust the blue team. However, she accused Cody of nominating her out of fear, but the latter argued that it was not personal. She left in response as she was not ready to leave but feared she might as it could be her third nomination.

Amber was the blue team's nominee for elimination, but she disagreed with that and said she would have nominated Cody instead as she felt he was too arrogant. Despite that, Ramsay called her up alongside Jordan from the red team. During her plea, she claimed she has worked hard and could take criticism, but Ramsay asked her if she was a team player. She claimed she was a strong leader, but Ramsay pointed out that there were two strong blue chefs behind her and asked if she led them or if they led her, leading her to say that she ran that night. She survived elimination, and while being dismissed, she knew she would be the easy target due to her strength and claimed she was in it to win.

Episode 12

Main article: Episode 1912 - There's Magic In Hell?

Back at the dorms, Amber said she was done with Declan and Cody as she felt it was more of herself against the two men in the blue team. As Amber expressed her disgust towards her teammates, Kori reminded her that they were close to the black jackets and had a feeling the two men would not put each other for elimination. The next day, the Sous Chefs took the chefs out to see a VIP show of Criss Angel. The chefs saw Angel do his routine to their amazement, and afterwards, Ramsay said there was one more trick Angel had. Angel revealed a 360-spinning box and unveiled it to reveal four models in black jackets, confirming that it was time for the Black Jacket Challenge.

During the first Black Jackets Challenge, which was Taste It Now Make It, Amber used sweet potato and celery root for the purées and green apple for the salad. However, she was uncertain what the fish protein was and started to panic, and with 5 minutes left, she began to cook both fishes as everybody else was nearing the end. With time running out, she decided to go with sea bass. She lost the challenge to both Mary Lou and Declan as she got the fish protein incorrect, and she had to compete in the second challenge.

During the second Black Jacket Challenge, she opened Luke's briefcase and received black cod. During the cooking, she struggled to prep the black cod as she never cooked one before, and her decision to make the uzu without any seasoning confused Sous Chef Jason. She was the second person to have her dish judged by Ramsay, knew a lot was riding on that challenge as she never cooked black cod before, and presented her pan-seared black cod over rice and uzu and Berblanc sauce. While Ramsay liked the sauce, he felt the cod tasted bland despite having a good cook, making her hoping it was enough to get her a black jacket. She lost the challenge to Cody and Kori and had to compete in the final challenge against Nikki.

Before the final Black Jacket Challenge, Amber felt confident that she was stronger than Nikki due to the latter only working for two years, recalling a few weeks ago, she did not express confidence in Nikki running a brigade. Before the next challenge began, Ramsay decided to show the two women photos of when they began to love cooking, starting by showing her a picture of her and her grandmother, making her emotional. She remarked that she started cooking with her mother and her grandmother and had to help her mother out in the kitchen as the latter was incapable of cooking. During the cooking, she said she was making beef bourgeon, based on a dish her mother made when she was a kid, and knew it was a great opportunity to show Ramsay what her inspiration was. Five minutes left, she checked the cook on her filet, but it was raw, and she was forced to put it back in the pan. She was the first chef to have her dish judged by Ramsay, felt confident about her dish, and hoped it would show Ramsay her passion. She presented her beef bourgeon with Yukon mashed and pearl onions, a dish her mother made for her and the first dish she had when she moved to France. Ramsay praised the cook on the steak, and the seasoning is well rounded but felt the onions were a little raw. Despite that, she felt good about her dish and felt she deserved the black jacket. While waiting for Ramsay's decision, she knew despite the ups and downs she experienced, she knew she was a great chef and was not ready to go home. In the end, she won the final black jacket, and as she left for the lounge, she was glad to finish the day on a high note. When she entered the black jacket lounge, everyone but Declan were happy to see her.

Episode 13

Main article: Episode 1913 - It's Time!

Back at the dorms, Amber joined Cody and Mary Lou in the hot tub, upsetting the former as he felt she ruined the mood between him and the latter.

During the 5 Dome Challenge, Amber grabbed filet, Yukon potatoes, poblano peppers, and truffle oil to create her dish. During the cooking, she said it was difficult to know what to do with her dish when using ingredients she randomly grabbed. She was the second person to have her dish judged, arrogantly felt that Declan's food was lacking, and presented her filet with Yukon mashed and poblano and truffle oil cream sauce. It was deemed a hot mess by Declan, and Michael Cimarusti felt the dish lacked acid that could have lifted it. With that, she failed to dethrone Declan. She lost the challenge to Mary Lou and was punished by participating in recycling day. She knew it would be a rough punishment as she did not want to be around Declan and Cody after what happened in the blue team. As she complained about her situation, Kori reminded her that she still had herself and Mary Lou and told her to stay focused. During the punishment, she said that sorting trash was the last thing she wanted to do and called the maggots the grossest part of the punishment. As she continued to whine, both Declan and Cody got annoyed.

During prep, Amber felt good to be back in the red kitchen but had a funny feeling about that night. Cody knew she was in her head again, and she would be fucked if she kept in that. During dinner service, she was on the fish station. At one point, she was late on the scallops as she was not sure about the cook but decided to walk them as they needed to get a move on. However, but Ramsay rejected them for having no sear on either side, she blamed it on the pan not being hot enough and knew that being on fish was not her best suit after what happened in the eighth dinner service. Despite that, she got her refire accepted. On entrées, her salmon was rejected for being burnt due to adding the butter early, frustrating Cody as she should not be going down now. Despite that, she got her refire accepted. On the next order, Ramsay fired an appetizer and entrée simultaneously, but she needed Mary Lou's help to watch her scallops. Seeing that things were dragging, Kori went over to the fish to help, telling her to snap out of it, and then Declan went over to help. However, Ramsay was not happy to see four people on fish, and he told her to control her station. Declan could not believe that she was not backing up her talk and going down like a ton of bricks, but she felt that having too many cooks on her station slowed things down. Then, Mary Lou walked up her halibut, and it was accepted to the customer's liking. On the next order, Ramsay reminded her to take ownership of her station, but she kept second-guessing her actions, much to Kori's frustration as she was making it more difficult. So, Kori took over fish, and things got more organized. However, Mary Lou walked up a raw halibut she cooked, with the former feeling bad about that. Ramsay blamed the fact there were four chefs on fish earlier and pulled her to the back pantry. There, Ramsay accused her of losing control of her station and urged her to step up and bounce back. Realizing that she should have kicked the extra people off her station, she returned and began owning her station, getting her refire accepted and the following ticket.

After service, Ramsay asked the final five to name two people for elimination. During deliberation, she knew that with her bad service, everyone was waiting to pounce on her, but she believed to be one of the strongest leaders in the final five. She nominated Declan for lack of leadership and being underwhelming, but the latter nominated her in response. Mary Lou agreed with Declan as the former did not know who she was getting from her, but she felt she was the stronger chef. With that, she and Declan were the nominees thanks to Mary Lou breaking the three-way tie, but she was pissed at the latter for not voting for Cody, believing it was because she had feelings for him.

Amber was named the second nominee for elimination, with Declan as the first. During her plea, she felt she was one of the stronger chefs in the competition and felt her skills were better than Declan, even bringing up Declan's temper in the past. She was eliminated for her poor performance on fish, series of inconsistent performances, and not handling the pressure well as she would like. Before leaving, Ramsay praised her for her palate and felt the trajectory she was on in her career was going high. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage of her time on the show.

Ramsay's Comment: "Amber came here expecting to beat the competition. But her biggest obstacle ended up being herself."

Episode 15/16

Main article: Episode 1915 - What Happens in Vegas...

Main article: Episode 1916 - Hitting the Jackpot

Amber was one of the seven chefs that returned for the final dinner service. After Kori picked Jordan, she was surprised as she thought the former was going to pick her. She was Mary Lou's third pick for her team, after Cody and Nikki, and was followed by Lauren. Back at the dorms, she was assigned to meat, but later that night, she confronted Kori over picking Jordan over herself. Kori argued it was not personal, but she continued to be soured by that as she bitched about Kori's decision to both Mary Lou and Lauren before calling it Kori's loss. Despite claiming that she was over it, she still gave Kori a hard time about it come the next day, much to the latter's annoyance.

During prep, Amber joked that Mary Lou would make Cody sign a prenup if they ever got married and asked her many questions. That made Mary Lou concerned about her, especially when she asked her more questions. During dinner service, she was on the meat station. At one point, she was worried about Lauren due to being in la-la land, and on entrées, she was happy to finish in the red kitchen and was sure to see Mary Lou win, before telling Kori that it was her loss that she did not pick her. However, while she served her entrées, Ramsay noticed that she forgot the chicken as Mary Lou called her team down to the front. When Mary Lou asked her how long for the chicken, the latter said seven minutes, with Cody pissed as it was making Mary Lou look bad. So, Mary Lou was forced to refire the entire table and struggled to keep her composure with her. Later, she felt like shit after missing the first chicken and began to go back inside her head, with Cody telling her to get it together. On the second attempt, Amber prepared to bring her refired chicken to the pass, but Lauren was concerned about the feel of the chicken, however Amber was willing to serve it and get yelled at. Lauren's concerns were realized as the chicken she cooked was raw in the center, and Mary Lou showed it to the team. With that, Mary Lou ordered her and Cody to switch stations, much to her annoyance as Cody got his chicken accepted. Mary Lou eventually lost the finale to Kori.

Nomination History

Week 1	Safe
	Win
Week 2	Safe
Week 3	Safe
Week 4	Win
Week 5	Nominated
Week 6	Win
Week 7	Nominated
Week 8	Safe
Week 9	Safe
Week 10	Nominated
Week 11	Safe
Week 12	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After her appearance on the show, Amber went to work with Nikki, becoming close friends with her after the show, at MC Hotel in Montclair, New Jersey.
• She was an Executive Chef at Soho House & Co, which had good reviews.
• She is currently the Executive Chef at Aparium Hotel Group, which has mixed reviews.

Trivia

• She and Adam are the second pair of contestants that knew each other before coming onto the show.
• She is the first contestant to switch teams moments before dinner service.
• She currently holds the record for the longest tenure with a new team, with nine services, and is tied with Natalie (Season 9), Alejandro, Sakari, and Tara (all from Season 21).
• She is the fifteenth female contestant who made it to black jackets after switching teams, following Heather (Season 2), Jen (Season 4), Suzanne (Season 6), Autumn (Season 7), Robyn (Season 10), Ja'Nel (Season 11), Rochelle, Melanie (both from Season 12), Sade (Season 13), Meghan (Season 14), Manda (Season 15), Ryan (Season 16), Robyn (Season 17), and Mia (Season 18).
• She is the fifth contestant and third female contestant, who made it to black jackets after competing in the Cook For Your Life Challenge, following Milly, Robyn (both from Season 17), Bret, and Heather (both from Season 18).

Quotes

• (To the blue team after switching teams) "I'm not into losing."
• (About the blue team) "It's an understatement saying the blue team is a hot mess. Whatever the next level of that is where the blue team is."
• "Kori is just leading the team through a successful service... my god I miss the red team."
• "Everybody is just waiting for an opportunity to pounce."
• (After being eliminated) "I'm disappointed in myself because this is the first thing I've ever lost in my entire life. This is a bummer because, in the beginning of the competition, I was definitely the strongest. Everything was going great on the red team. And then, surprise! Switching from red to blue was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. When I first got to the blue team, they did not have a leader. All the boys were just a hot mess. It was complicated, to say the least. That's why everything got in my head. But, to come here and to be noticed by Chef Ramsay, it really honestly means a lot. I just got in my head. If I'd gotten out of my head, I would've won. 100%."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Amber in Red Jacket

Amber's Confessional (Red Jacket)

Amber joins the Blue Team

Amber in Blue Jacket

Amber's Confessional (Blue Jacket)

Amber and Josh Nominated

Lauren, Jordan, Amber, and Marc Nominated during the Cook For Your Life Challenge

Amber and Jordan Nominated

Amber in Black Jacket

Amber's Confessional (Black Jacket)

Amber and Declan Nominated

Amber Eliminated

Amber as Returning Chef

Amber's Confessional (Returning Chef)

Amber's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Amber's Shrimp Dish (Episode 2)

Amber and Marc's Mexican Dish (Tostada) (Episode 5)

Amber's Modern Italian Dish (Tortellini) (Episode 6)

Amber's Crap Dish (Episode 8)

Amber's Cook For Your Life Dish (Episode 8)

Amber's Protein Burger (Beef) (Episode 10)

Amber's Spells Kitchen Dish (Ribeye) (Episode 11)

Amber's Black Jacket Dish (Round 1) (Episode 12)

Amber's Black Jacket Dish (Round 2) (Episode 12)

Amber's Black Jacket Dish (Round 3) (Episode 12)

Amber's Dome-KOTH Dish (Episode 13)

External links

• Amber Lancaster on Instagram