| “ | I came here with the attitude that I'm going to win this competition. It's very humbling to standing here a loser. | ” |
Carol Scott was a contestant on Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 7th place.
Season 5[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 501 - 16 Chefs Compete
Thousands of chefs auditioned for Hell's Kitchen in the series' biggest turnout. However, only three hundred arrived at Hell’s Kitchen and met Jean-Philippe and Ramsay. Out of the three hundred, sixteen were selected to compete. Jean-Philippe began calling out the chefs chosen to compete. Carol was the third of the sixteen called to compete.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Carol was the first person to have her dish judged by Ramsay. She made a veal roulade over caramelized onions. She said she started cooking professionally at age twenty-five, and her previous job was at a Beauty salon. Ramsay told her she ended up in the right place as he praised the dish for being delicious. She said she wanted to dance and sing after hearing that. After the challenge ended, Ramsay asked both teams to decide on a team name for the opening night.
During prep, Carol called Lacey pathetic when the latter quit in the middle of prep. When the teams were lined up, the women revealed their new team name, Team Saffron. It was eventually changed to "Spice Racks" after a request from Colleen. Before service began, Ramsay assigned her as a waitress for the red team. She was not happy with the decision as it would be hard to show Ramsay her skills.
During dinner service, she served as the red team's waitress. She had no problems getting her first order to the pass. When the power went out, she was still serving wine to the customers to keep them happy. Near the end of the service, she was shocked to see customers leave the restaurant. The red team won the challenge as the customers rated her performance 88% above average.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 502 - 15 Chefs Compete
The following day at 5:49 AM, a marching band came into the dorms and played loudly, and the chefs woke up. Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria ordered the chefs to get downstairs, and they were led outside to find Ramsay. Wanting both teams to learn how to respect their products, Ramsay had them go to their crates and gather all the scallops into their colored buckets. During the Scallop Cleaning Challenge, Carol got the women off to a good start, with all eight of her scallops accepted. When she saw how poorly Lacey performed, she called her a moron.
The red team lost the challenge 35-36, and they were punished by prepping a raw bar. Despite Lacey claiming she cared, Carol did not believe the former as she thought Lacey did not care about anything in Hell's Kitchen. When the women went down for their punishment, Lacey stayed in bed. That infuriated her, who chewed Lacey out for her attitude. Sous Chef Gloria asked where Lacey was during the punishment, but she retorted that they were stronger without her. She said she had no respect for someone who gave up on the team.
Carol was at the appetizer station with Andrea during dinner service. At one point, she told Ramsay that she burned the garlic for the first risotto. That caused Andrea to deem her flustered. Her second attempt was stuck to the pan, and Ramsay could not believe it, asking her if she was stupid. She said she was not but thought the risotto was good enough to serve. When Lacey came to help Colleen with fish, she said that despite the latter running a cooking school, her lack of experience showed. Near the end of service, she stalled the women when she was not ready for her items. This was why the red team failed to get their final ticket before the blue team did.
The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. Carol still felt that Lacey was not fit to run a kitchen during deliberation. Lacey found that comment unfair, but she argued that the former crying in bed and not helping with the punishment was unjust. While she disliked Lacey personally, Andrea knew she did not do as well as she thought.
Carol was not nominated for elimination. At elimination, she gave an emotional standing ovation during Ji's departure, along with her teammates and the blue team. While being dismissed, she was angry to see Ji go and be stuck with Colleen and Lacey again. She said it was unfair and knew Colleen and Lacey would never fit in Ji's shoes.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 503 - 14 Chefs Compete
The following morning, the Sous Chefs woke up the contestants at 6 AM with cowbells and told them to get dressed and out the front door to the SUVs. The barely awoke chefs were driven to an unknown place. It turned out they went to a meat processing plant, and they took a tour of the building, with Sous Chef Scott showing them where each cut of beef was located on a cow. Before the Meat & Cow Challenge, Carol knew the woman must win the challenge as she wanted to end their losing streak. She was not seen competing in either part, and the red team lost the challenge. They were punished by carrying two large sides of beef and eating cow offal.
During the Steakhouse double dinner service, Carol was a waitress during the first seating. She returned a raw steak Giovanni at one point. During the second seating, she was at the meat station with Andrea. Near the end of service, she mistook an order of New York Striploin for ribeye. Ramsay decided to end the service with no New York Striploin ready and ordered the women to shut down the kitchen. Despite that mistake, the red team won the service.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 504 - 13 Chefs Compete
The following morning, both teams lined up in front of Ramsay, asking each team who their strongest chef was. Carol answered that either herself or Andrea were the strongest chefs for the women. During the Football Team & Cheerleaders Breakfast Service Challenge, she was at the omelet station with Andrea. She was not seen at all during the service. The red team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a Beverly Hills-style camping experience.
When the red team returned for service, Carol was prepared to kick the blue team's butt. She thought the red team was unstoppable, and the men would lose. During dinner service, she was at the garnish station. She was surprised by Coi's poor performance as she thought the latter would do well on appetizers. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, she stated that Lacey would have screwed them up even worse if she had been on appetizers alone that night.
Carol was not nominated for elimination. After Seth's elimination, she said goodbye to Lacey as the latter was reassigned to the blue team. While being dismissed, she called it lucky the red team was rid of Lacey, and the blue team was stuck with the latter, thanking Ramsay for the team switch.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 505 - 12 Chefs Compete
During the Asian Fusion Challenge, Carol commented that the loudest voices did not make the best leaders when Andrea barked out orders. She was paired with Coi on the poultry dish. They were the first pair from the red team to have their dish judged, and they went up against the pair of Danny and Robert from the blue team. They made a pomegranate cinnamon glazed chicken breast, and she said she picked the fruit due to its fruitness. Both Ramsay and Tanya Steele felt that the presentation was boring and that the chicken was dry, even though the flavours were good. They lost that round to the pair of Danny and Robert. The red team won the challenge 2-1, they had their dishes featured on the Epicurious website, and they won an Asian-inspired day which included sumo wrestling and sake tasting.
During dinner service, Carol was at the fish station. When Andrea had communication problems and did not give out proper timings, she had no idea what the former thought for numbers. Both teams were named joint losers, and LA was named "Best of the Worst" for the red team.
She was not nominated for elimination.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 506 - 11 Chefs Compete
During the Bar Mitzvah Planning Challenge, Carol said she wanted to do a blue cheese stuffed burger as she made those for her kids. Andrea wondered if a milder cheese was more appropriate. Still, she ignored Andrea as she wanted to sew the latter's lips for talking too much. Coi echoed Andrea's concerns as the latter got annoyed by her stubbornness. LA saw that she had a huge chip on her shoulder and thought she was better than them. She presented the red team's burger. She was the final person from the red team to have her dish judged, and she went up against Robert. She was not impressed by the greasy burger from the blue team and thought she had it for the red team. She presented the red team's blue cheese stuffed burger, and the family enjoyed it. Before Max could make his final decision, she and Robert tried to present their dishes as the better ones. Still, Ramsay told the two not to manipulate Max's decision. In the end, Max gave the blue team's burger the win as he did not like the cheese in the red team's burger. She lost that round to Robert, and the red team lost the challenge 1-2. Paula blamed her for not listening to their warnings on using blue cheese and got aggravated.
Before announcing the punishment, Ramsay reminded the red team how they lost on the burger. He asked who had the idea of using blue cheese in the burger, and Carol said she did as her kids liked it. However, Ramsay told her that blue cheese was forceful, and Andrea got mad because she suggested milder cheeses earlier. The red team was punished by decorating the dining room for the following night’s service based on Francisco the Party Planner instructions. She called it confusing during the punishment as everyone went their own way when trying to set up the basketball court. Andrea was annoyed by her constant instructions while she revealed that they faked getting along from the beginning. She accused Andrea of being a stubborn leader. As the bickering continued, an annoyed Paula called it a headache as it was ruining the morale.
During the Bar Mitzvah dinner service, Carol was at the garnish station. At one point, she offered to help Andrea out with appetizers, but the latter said she did not want any help. That annoyed her as she felt Andrea was not a team player. On entrées, she and Coi were forced to send up cold burgers when Ramsay got impatient. Later, she tried to help Coi out on meat, but too many people were hovering around the station. Near the end of service, she and Andrea argued over the fries as she said they were not ready. Sous Chef Gloria stopped them before it escalated, but she said she wanted to punch Andrea in the face. When both teams saw Max play with the Harlem Globetrotters, she noticed Ramsay laughing along with everyone. While clearing down, Andrea apologized to her about their fry argument. However, she thought Andrea was trying to make her look bad due to the risotto incident and said she wanted to punch the latter in the neck. That angered Andrea, and the former called her a bitch.
The red team lost the dinner service, and Andrea was named the "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, Carol got confused by Ramsay's decision as he picked what she thought was their weakest chef to be the “Best of the Worst.” Coi told her that they had to tell Ramsay the truth about Andrea's performance that night if they were nominated. Later, Andrea confronted her about her threatening to punch her in the throat, but she argued she was joking even though she still stood by her word. She argued that she was treating Andrea like a co-worker, but the latter snarkily said she felt bad for her co-workers.
Carol was not nominated for elimination. Along with Coi and LA, she went with their plan and told Ramsay that Andrea was the weakest performer on the team. However, they failed to convince him. While being dismissed, she still said Andrea was the weakest chef on the red team.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 507 - 10 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Carol asked Andrea why she did not nominate her, but the latter said she did not want to base her nominations on their argument and that she was a little stronger than LA. She believed that the red team was now divided into the pair of Andrea and Paula against the pair of LA and herself, and working together was getting harder.
Before the Leftovers Challenge, Ramsay announced he would move a blue chef to the red team to even the numbers. Although Carol feared Lacey was coming back, she welcomed Giovanni as a new teammate. She was the third person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Robert. She made a ginger rubbed seared tuna with fried leeks and a ginger soy reduction, but Ramsay said he did not put soy sauce in either tray. It was balsamic, and Andrea was astounded that she did not know the difference between the two sauces. Also, her decision to glace the tuna left the dish dry. She lost that round to Robert, but the red team won the challenge 3-2.
The red team was rewarded with a trip to Hollywood Parks to see a horse race with Ramsay. As the red team went up to change, Carol congratulated Giovanni for clinching their victory and welcomed him to the team. Before leaving, she agreed with Giovanni's comments that they were only strong together. During the reward, she asked Ramsay if he ever had a stress-free day, and the latter said he did when he went back to the UK.
During dinner service, Carol was at the appetizer station with Andrea. After everyone received orders, she sent up her risotto. However, it had overcooked rice, and Ramsay compared it to mush. It got worse when Ramsay saw that all of the red team’s rice was overcooked due to J overcooking all the rice for that night. Later, she had her pasta dish sent back for being raw, and she blamed Andrea for that mistake. After finding out she did taste the pasta and sent it up despite being raw, Ramsay kicked both her and Andrea out of the kitchen into the dining room to eat their mistake. Ramsay told the two they would not come back until they finished their dish and an appalled Andrea called the pasta undercooked. When Paula performed strongly, she called the former the mark to beat. When the red team cleaned up, she called out Andrea for the raw pasta incident, but the latter felt she pushed all her mistakes onto her. However, she argued that Andrea has yet to fess up to her mistakes and if she was leading the kitchen, she would want respect. Andrea said she had everything under control, but that made her nearly lose it. Paula defused the argument, telling her to get over it. The red team won the service.
After elimination, Carol accused Andrea of looking out for herself.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 508 - 9 Chefs Compete
On their way back to the dorms, Giovanni tried to calm Carol down, telling her to let go of the pasta incident. However, she was still angry at Andrea for the pasta incident from that night. However, Giovanni reminded her that their goal right now was to beat the blue team, knowing that her poor attitude was bringing down morale. In contrast, she accused Andrea of being out for herself and would instead work with Lacey than the latter.
Before the Blind Taste Test, Carol called herself a moron after Ramsay messed with them on the tartares. When the challenge was announced, she said she was looking forward to that challenge and swore she would win it for the red team. She was the third person from the red team to compete, and she went up against Lacey. She correctly guessed mushrooms, beef liver, and sweet potatoes. The red team won the challenge 8-7, and they were rewarded with a photo shoot for TV Guide in the restaurant and received makeovers. During the reward, she said she would have loved to do Ramsay's hair had he gone to her old place of work. When they got changed into glamour wear, Giovanni complimented her outfit. She said she now had a taste of what celebrity chefs did.
Carol thought the five red chefs would beat the four blue chefs during prep. During dinner service, she was at the meat station. When it came time for entrées, she announced that her first Wellington would take five minutes. Ramsay was confused and asked her if she had the convection oven on. She said she had it at 400 degrees, but Ramsay told her to ramp it to 500. Andrea expressed concern about having her cooking meat as she was quick to judge other people and could go down. She said she did not want the Wellingtons to burn, but Ramsay called her ditzy and warned Paula they could be in trouble. Later, her Wellingtons were cold, but she promised Ramsay she would try and get it together. However, Andrea did not believe it and tried to communicate with her on timings. She did not say anything to Andrea, much to the latter's frustration and got more annoyed when she walked up the lamb with no warning. When Andrea sent up an overcooked and rubbery John Dory, the former blamed her for letting her sink. Still, she coldly said that Andrea should have made a new one. Despite her and Andrea's lack of communication, the red team sent out entrées, including Robert Patrick’s table. However, much to Ramsay's frustration, Jean-Philippe brought back her undercooked lamb dishes. Ramsay even asked her if she would blame the oven for that mistake, but she felt low and second-guessed her actions. She sliced her Wellingtons and hoped they were well-done, but they were undercooked, causing her to tell LA to slow down on the garnishes. That frustrated LA as she had pans waiting and said that meat was not hard. While she knew she was making LA frustrated, she did not have any other choice. Then, Ramsay asked her for the chicken, but she could not find it. She thought someone had taken it under her nose, but Ramsay did not believe that and told a waiter that they were delayed because she broke a nail. After the blue team completed service, Ramsay told the red team that they were waiting on her lamb despite having five red chefs. After Ramsay called her out for screaming at the oven, he shut down the red kitchen.
The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Carol asked how they would base the nominations that night. Giovanni reminded her that Ramsay told them they lacked teamwork, and she knew she would get fired after that night. As for the second nominee, she considered Andrea, but the latter nominated her and LA in response. She knew she and Andrea did not get along and felt it was the latter's opportunity to get rid of her. She received votes from everyone else.
Carol was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with LA being the first. Andrea joined them because the former received votes from herself and LA. During Andrea's plea, the former argued that she had problems communicating with her and was forced to fire three John Dorys to get up to speed. Still, Andrea did say she could take the initiative. Ramsay noted that neither she nor Andrea could work peacefully together, but she said they get the job done differently. However, Ramsay asked her what kitchen she worked in that night. During her plea, she said she would do anything to get another chance, and she thought Andrea should go home over LA because the latter did not make excuses for her shortcomings. She survived elimination. While being dismissed, she said she should have thrown Andrea under the bus as the latter could not cook.[8]
Episode 9[]
- Main article: Episode 509 - 7 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Andrea confronted Carol for throwing her under the bus on the chopping block, but it led to another argument between the two of them. She accused Andrea of not listening to her, and the latter cutting her off proved it. An annoyed Giovanni told the two women that they had to work their problems out, but Andrea said it was impossible since they would never get along. Paula voiced her concern that their arguing was killing the red team’s teamwork and warned both her and Andrea that they might be back up for elimination if it continued.
During the Red King Crab Challenge, Carol made an unknown dish. She was concerned about Andrea leaving the shells on her dish in the red kitchen, but the latter said it was part of the presentation. Still, she knew that the shell would be the first thing Ramsay would notice if Andrea's dish was used. Then, she tasted Paula's dish, claiming it was the best-looking one on the red team. Her dish was not chosen for judging, but she whispered to Paula that Ramsay would be mad about the shells on Andrea's plate. The red team lost the challenge, and they were punished by cleaning both the dorms and kitchens and prepping all the king crab for the next night’s dinner service. During the punishment, she complained about getting water inside her gloves. However, Andrea compared her complaint to a five-year-old. In contrast, she got annoyed by Andrea's constant yacking.
Before dinner service, both teams were asked to create their own menus. Carol suggested putting steak and halibut on the menu for the red team. During prep, she was getting her gratin dauphinoise cooked before service and planned on cooking them again for orders. Although Andrea expressed concern that the gratin dauphinoise would not be ready for service, she confidently said she made them in the last French restaurant she worked at.
During dinner service, Carol was at the meat station. She had her gratin dauphinoise featured on the menu as a side for the red team's halibut. She brought her gratin dauphinoise up to the pass, but Ramsay saw they were raw and hard and forced the red team to taste them. Ramsay asked who cooked the potatoes, and she said she did as she thought Andrea had to cook them in the oven first before the orders came. Still, she did not understand why the potatoes were cooking slowly as she had never seen that with thin potatoes. However, Ramsay told her that gratin dauphinoise needed to be cooked before service would begin. When Ramsay accused her of trying to sabotage Andrea, she argued that she was not, but that made Ramsay even angrier. Andrea was getting embarrassed for her as the former knew she loved to point out other people's mistakes. Ramsay asked her how long would it take for the gratin dauphinoise to cook correctly, and she guessed ten minutes, as she still had no idea why they did not cook. That caused Ramsay to angrily tell the customers that they would get their dishes in about ten minutes and chewed her out for screwing over the customers. Then, she revealed that she cooked them in boiling cream for an hour during prep, and Ramsay called her useless. Later, Ramsay caught her pouring hot cream on the gratin dauphinoise in a vain attempt to save them. Ramsay tossed the entire pan into the trash bin, and Andrea knew the potatoes were too far gone for salvation. Ramsay said he would not even serve the potatoes to a pig and accused her of having no care for the menu she helped create. She felt awful as she ruined the dish, and Ramsay angrily told the red team to think of an alternative side. After a moment of hesitation, Giovanni suggested sautéed fingerling potatoes. Afterwards, Ramsay accused her of acting like a loopy cow.
After the potato fiasco, Carol walked up her steak in hopes of redemption. However, it was rare instead of medium, and Ramsay rubbed more salt in the wounds by mentioning how perfect her lamb was. Two hours into dinner service, Jean-Philippe brought back one of Carol's steaks as they were cooked mid-rare instead of medium. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who decided to shut down both kitchens. The red team won the service as their entrées had a 54% above average rating over the blue team's 39% above average rating. Back at the dorms, she was surprised that the red team won despite her potato fiasco, but Giovanni said they were lucky. However, Andrea thought they did not deserve to win as she hoped they would get rid of her. In contrast, she considered herself a lucky person to be on the winning team, but she wondered if she deserved to stay.
Despite being on the winning team, Carol was eliminated for undercooking the gratin dauphinoise in the first place and making no attempt to fight back afterwards. During her exit interview, she said that while she wanted to win the competition, she felt humbled to stand outside as a loser.
Ramsay's comment: "Carol knew she was out of her depth in Hell's Kitchen. I just put her out of her misery." [9]
Episode 14/15[]
- Main article: Episode 514 - 2 Chefs Compete
- Main article: Episode 515 - Winner Announced
Carol was one of the six returning chefs to come back for the final service. After returning to the kitchen, Ramsay reminded her how she lost an order of chicken during the ninth dinner service. She was Danny's last pick, following Ben and Giovanni, but was surprised that she was passed over LA.[10] Back in the dorms, she declared she was secretly rooting for Paula to win, as she wanted to see a woman win the competition.
During dinner service, Carol was on the appetizer and dessert stations. At one point, she was caught boiling the lobster, and Danny gave her a sizzling pan to cook it on. Danny eventually won the finals over Paula.[11]
Nomination History[]
| Week 1 | Win |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Safe |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Safe |
| Week 7 | Win |
| Week 8 | Nominated |
| Week 9 | Eliminated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After her appearance on the show, Carol went to work at Bravo Italian Cucina as an Executive Chef before starting her own company offering personal chef services.
- In 2017, she opened up her own restaurant called Kitchen 919. The restaurant was reportedly closed in 2020.
Trivia[]
- She is the first contestant ever to be eliminated despite being on the winning team.
- She and Andrea were responsible for one of the greatest rivalries of Hell's Kitchen.
- She is the last person of that season to be eliminated before the black jackets were given.
- Carol is the first contestant from Tennessee.
Quotes[]
- (After being chosen as a waiter) "I'm a cook, I'm not a server. So it's going to be really hard for me to show chef Ramsay what I've got."
- "Chef Ramsay sent back a few that... honestly, I thought were really good."
- Carol: "You know, if you wanna be good for the rest of us, you should get up and get your coat." Lacey: "Like, I don't feel good." Carol: "Give me a fucking break. Everyone's been babying your ass all morning!" Lacey: "You really wanna start something with me?!" Carol: "I'm not really afraid of it! Good riddance."
- (About Lacey) "I think Lacey is a complete moron. I don't want to spend another five minutes with her."
- (When asked about using pomegranate) "I love pomegranate, it's a nice, fruity... fruit."
- (Referring to Andrea) "I'm getting yelled at because this stupid bitch can't fucking cook?!"
- (To Andrea) "Oh, I wanted to punch you in the neck!"
- (After being eliminated) "I came here with the attitude that I'm going to win this competition. I'm going to be this famous chef that everybody wants to come and work for. It's very humbling to standing here a loser."
- (To Ramsay about Danny) "Danny smiles, Chef!"
Gallery[]
.png "Carol's Confessional (Returning Chef).png (453 KB)")
References[]
| Hell's Kitchen Season 5 |
|---|
| Staff |
| Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Gloria Felix (Red Team Sous Chef) • Jean-Philippe Susilovic (Maître d'hôtel) |
| Contestants |
| Coi Burruss • Ji-Hyun Cha • Colleen Cleek • Lacey D'Angelo • Paula DaSilva • Giovanni Filippone • Andrea Heinly • Robert Hesse • Wil Kocol • Seth Levine • LA Limtiaco • J Maxwell • Charlie McKay • Carol Scott • Danny Veltri • Ben Walanka |