| “ | Come on, man! | ” |
Devin Simpson was a contestant on Season 16 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 7th place.
Season 16[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 1601 - When the Wall Comes Tumbling Down
On the bus ride to Hell's Kitchen, the chefs were expecting to arrive at the restaurant, but it instead pulled up to an army base. After leaving the bus, the chefs lined up in front of their own duffel bags, and as the Drill Sargent was barking out orders, a tank pulled up behind him, and Ramsay came out of it. Then, Ramsay explained that before the chefs could enter Hell’s Kitchen, he wanted to make sure that they all had the discipline to survive, noting that the army was the perfect example to prepare them. After, Ramsay said that if they could survive boot camp, then he will be convinced that they were worthy of competing. After changing into their uniforms, the chefs were put through an obstacle course and jogged over to Ramsay who was in front of a giant wall, which he called the toughest challenge. After the chefs claimed that they were ready, Ramsay was happy to hear it as the wall fell on him, revealing the front of the restaurant, and a large crowd waiting for them. Now that he saw the chef’s commitment and desire to compete, Ramsay announced that it was time for them to cook their signature dishes.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Devin was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged and went up against Kimberly. He made bacon-wrapped scallops, but only scored one point. The blue team lost the challenge 25-28, and they were punished by resetting the dining room and setting up the tables for the following service, and packing up the risers the audience were sitting at.
During dinner service, Devin was on the meat station with Johnny. At one point, he was dismayed when Matt's sea bass came out raw. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he considered Paulie and Pat for elimination. But, when he asked if everybody was in agreement for Paulie and Pat for elimination, he got annoyed when Johnny considered Matt instead as they just agreed on nominees.
He was not nominated for elimination.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 1602 - Crepe Grand Prix
During the Crepe Grand Prix Challenge, Devin was paired up with Genaro, and at the start, Ramsay compared the two to corpses. While he got concerned about the red team’s early lead, he and Genaro got all four of their attempts accepted. The blue team won the challenge 10-9, he felt that he could have dunked a basketball because of their victory, and they were rewarded with a trip to Santa Barbara, dined aboard a 74-foot super mega yacht, and a chance to ride jet skis.
During dinner service, Devin was on the appetizer station with Aaron. At the start, he felt that he would have to take charge of appetizers due to Aaron looking asleep. Later, he accused Andrew of bombing the blue team after the latter dropped the scallops after asking the latter for a time, and ordered him to get it together. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he considered Genaro and Andrew due to the latter failing to drop the scallops on time, and felt that he had a deer in the headlights look.
He was not nominated for elimination.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 1603 - The Yolks on Them
During the Ostrich Meat Challenge, Devin was not seen during the first part, and later, was smitten by Ryan’s look, and praised her features. He was paired up with Matt on the pearl, they were the final pair from the blue team to have their dish judged, and went up against Aziza and Wendy. He made a pearl with mushroom duxelle and sautéed carrots, and while it was criticized for reminding Morin about a 90’s hotel meal, it was deemed a standardly good dish. He lost that round to the red team, and the blue team lost the challenge 1-3. They were punished by taking in deliveries of raw pine nuts, prep them for the following service for pesto, and clean up the goo and eggshells from the dining room.
During dinner service, Devin was on the meat station. At one point, he was slow on the chicken as he refused to serve it raw, but Matt reminded him that they had to complete service together. Despite that, his chicken was accepted. After Aaron's potatoes were revealed to be burnt, he hoped that they would not get kicked out as they were close to the end. The blue team won the service.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 1604 - Surf Riding & Turf Fighting
During the Protein Identification Challenge, Devin was paired up with Koop, they were the third pair from the blue team to compete, and they randomly picked squab and octopus. Their first attempt, octopus and kangaroo, was half correct, and that was followed by elk and octopus, and ostrich and octopus. Their fourth attempt, lamb and octopus, was half right again, but they managed to get the correct pairing on their fifth attempt. The blue team won the challenge 9 minutes and 46 seconds to 13 minutes and 41 seconds, and they were rewarded with a trip to San Diego and got to experience surfing at the Wave House. During the reward, he was the only one that was able to surf for more than ten seconds before wiping out himself.
During dinner service, Devin served mussels and sausage appetizer tableside. He was not seen that night, the blue team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he was considered by Andrew for elimination due to the latter's belief that he was slipping through the cracks, but he argued that he could hear Aaron get yelled at from the dining room due to his miscommunication.
He was not nominated for elimination.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 1605 - Walking the Plank
Before the Seven Seas Seafood Challenge, Devin heard some singing, wondered what the fuck was going on, and realized that there were pirates singing sea shanties. He decided to go up against Heather, and their fish was arctic char. After Johnny's poor performance, he annoyingly declared it another case of the former's poor plating and urged Johnny to step up in the challenges. He was the sixth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his pan-seared arctic char with a buttercream dill sauce. It was praised for having a perfectly cooked fish, and he tied that round with Heather. The blue team won the challenge 5-4, and they were rewarded with lunch at Petty Cash with Ramsay and got to go bowling. During the reward, he was excited to pick Ramsay’s brain.
During dinner service, Devin was on the garnish station. At one point, he sent up stone-cold garnishes, and Ramsay hated fish sternly warned him not to send up cold garnishes again. On their next ticket, he was slow on garnish, and when Andrew’s New York Striploin was raw, he got annoyed as the latter worked at a steakhouse. Then, he sent up cream spinach that had no salt in it, much to Andrew’s annoyance, but he told the latter to calm down and stop screaming at him.
The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Devin and Andrew argued over the fact that the latter's steaks were raw, and that he felt Andrew was deflecting his mistakes. Then, he added that he needed help on garnish near the end, and accused Paulie of not even tasting the last two spinaches, much to the latter’s annoyance. He was considered for elimination by Andrew and Paulie.
Devin was named the blue team's first nominee, with Aaron as the second, and they were joined by Johnny. During his plea, Ramsay told him that he thought he would cook garnishes with his eyes closed, and while he admitted that he thought he would have done better, he promised to fight back and claimed that the hardest part was cooking garnishes for both the fish and meat refires. However, while Andrew argued that he owned up to mistakes, he retorted that he did as well, and called it fucked up that he had one poor night on garnishes and was labeled as the weakest by default. He survived elimination, and while being dismissed, he declared that he was there to compete for his family.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 1606 - Let the Catfights Begin
While going back to the dorms, Devin claimed that he was not trying to throw either Andrew or Johnny under the bus, but the former accused him of still being hostile towards him. Then, he said that he hated being attacked by his teammates, who deemed were part of a clique, and declared that he would watch his own back as nobody else would.
Before the Ingredient Crossword Challenge, Devin revealed that he sucked at spelling words as English was not his strongest subject at school. During the first part, he struggled to find out where to spell out onion, with Paulie accusing him of performing Japanese algebra, but he eventually managed to spell it out. During the cooking, his idea was poorly received by Andrew, who called it an awful sounding dish but decided to let him cook it as the latter wanted him gone. After Paulie's poor performance and attitude, he annoyingly told the latter to stop acting that he was better than anybody else. He was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and he presented his grilled ribeye with mustard glazed sautéed crab. It was praised for looking like an actual ribeye, having a delicious taste to it, having a good mustard component, and he scored 4 points. After Andrew's dish was poorly received, he smugly said that he beat the latter that day.
The blue team won the challenge 17-16, and while Devin was happy that the blue team won the challenge, he was waiting for a thank you from Andrew and Paulie. They were rewarded with a bumper car experience on ice, and eating a steak dinner, which excited him as he was looking forward to a great steak. During the reward, he suggested that they tone down the yelling in the kitchen, but Paulie and Andrew disagreed with that idea, and he annoyingly felt that the two acted like they were better despite having the worst two dishes in the challenge.
Back at the dorms, Devin was asleep when the blue team agreed to nominate the chef that had a poor performance on their station. During the Family Night dinner service, he was on the appetizer station with Koop. Recalling how his teammates threw him under the bus after the previous service, he wanted to prove to them that he was a top competitor. However, he was late on his grilled cheese, and when he sent it up, it was raw. Despite that, his refire was accepted.
Both teams were named joint losers and were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Devin was considered by Andrew for elimination, but he said that apart from the raw grilled cheese, he did well that night. However, Matt enforced the promise made last night, but he had no idea what was going on as he was sleeping around that time, and was angry that they did that, before confronting them. When the blue team asked him who he would nominate instead, he picked Johnny for the raw spinach and poor performances in challenges, but Paulie called him delusional, leading to a fierce shouting match.
Devin was named the blue team's second nominee, with Paulie as the first, and they joined Aziza and Wendy from the red team. During his plea, he disagreed with Paulie's notion that he was weak, and believed that he was moving up the ladder by not repeating his mistakes. He survived elimination after being sent back in line, and while being dismissed, he wanted to prove them all wrong, and that he was not the weakest chef on the blue team.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 1607 - Don't Tell My Fiancé
When it was announced that their next challenge would be a Southern Cuisine Challenge, that made Devin comfortable as he was from the south. He was paired up against Kimberly from the red team, and their dish was trout. During the cooking, he suggested to Johnny to use spicy seasoning. He was the final person from the blue team to have his dish judged and presented his trout with black-eyed pea succotash with corn-bacon fried okra. The dish was criticized for being over breaded, Ramsay told him that it could have been confused for any other fish because of that, and he did not score that round. The blue team lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by prepping shrimp and grits for the following service which included grinding corn down, cleaning shrimp, and prepping both kitchens.
During dinner service, Devin served a shrimp and grits appetizer tableside. He was not seen much, except for feeling that they might have won after Paulie announced that the red team just got kicked out, and the blue team won the service.
During elimination, Devin said goodbye to Andrew and Matt as they were reassigned to the red team, and welcomed Shaina and Wendy as new teammates. While being dismissed, he was glad to have the two gone as Matt was hot-tempered, Andrew was loud and obnoxious, and believed that the red team would blow the fuck up.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 1608 - Dancing with the Chefs
During the International Ballroom Planning Challenge, Devin was paired up with Wendy on the chicken entrée, they were the first pair from the blue team to have their dishes judged, and they went up against Heather and Heidi. He made an Asian and Thai fusion chicken with prosciutto and Asian salsa, it was deemed confusing as Ramsay asked if it was supposed to be Italian, while being criticized for a slimy texture, and he did not score for the blue team. The blue team lost the challenge 1-2, and they were punished by prepping a raw bar for the following service.
During the International Ballroom dinner service, Devin was on the meat station. After Johnny sent up raw sea bass, he told Ramsay that the refire would take six minutes. Later, while Johnny sent up his sea bass, he revealed that he needed one minute on his chicken, much to the former’s frustrations. Then, one of his chicken was raw, which he tried to warn his teammate about, and a pissed Ramsay brought the blue team into the pantry room, and they got kicked out of service for being ten tables behind. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he was considered by Paulie and Johnny for elimination, based on the raw chicken, but he argued that it was because of the snowballing mistakes that night, and considered Wendy and Paulie for elimination.
Devin was not nominated for elimination and was forced to reveal to Ramsay that the blue team failed to agree on two nominees as they had three choices with no agreements.[8]
Episode 9[]
- Main article: Episode 1609 - Spoon Fed
Before the Blind Taste Test, Devin got dismayed as he had a poor palate and sarcastically said that he could not wait to humiliate himself. He was the second person from the blue team to compete and went up against Kimberly. He could only guess mango correctly, resulting in Wendy getting splattered. During Koop's turn, he was not splattered once. The blue team won the challenge after a tie at 13, and they were rewarded with massages at the Intercontinental Hotel.
During dinner service, Devin was on the appetizer station with Shaina. On their first ticket, he believed that he and Shaina would rock out hot appetizers, which came true as his risottos were deemed delicious. After Paulie served raw lamb, he annoyingly asked the former what happened. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination.
He was not nominated for elimination.[9]
Episode 10[]
- Main article: Episode 1610 - Dancing in the Grotto
Before the Creative Sliders Challenge, Devin was hoping for either Heidi or Ryan as a new teammate as they were strong in challenges but wanted the latter more because she was hot. He got his wish as he welcomed Ryan as a new teammate. He oversaw the poultry round, was the third person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and went up against Heidi. He made a barbecue Dijon slider, it was criticized for being overcooked despite having nice seasoning, and he lost that round to Heidi. The blue team lost the challenge after a tie at 3, and they were punished by cleaning up trash at the LA River. During the punishment, he got annoyed by Wendy's chatter as he could care less to hear somebody while picking up trash but noted that despite the punishment and Wendy’s chatter, he felt that it was cool to do something for the community, and believed that it added karma.
During dinner service, Devin was on the fish station. When Shaina was slow on garnish, that annoyed him and told her to move her ass. After Wendy served pink chicken, he groaned that it was the same old story with them, and despite getting the refire accepted, he knew that they had no room for error for big mistakes. While his sea bass was good, Wendy's overcooked New York striploin got them kicked out of the kitchen, and he was pissed that they had people who could not hold up their stations by themselves, before being disappointed that they were still getting kicked out by the tenth dinner service. Both teams were named joint losers and were asked to nominate two each.
He was not nominated for elimination.[10]
Episode 11[]
- Main article: Episode 1611 - Aerial Maneuvers
During the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, Devin was paired up with Paulie, and he was responsible for cooking the dish. During the cooking, he got annoyed by Paulie’s micromanagement and told the latter to leave him alone. They used pork, persimmon, and spinach to recreate Ramsay's dish. While they got persimmon correct, they failed on the other two ingredients, but the blue team won the challenge, and he was thankful that Wendy licked the protein. They were rewarded with trapeze lessons at the Santa Monica Pier. During the reward, he was disappointed that Wendy did not do it, and hoped that she would perform well in that night’s service, or else she would be nominated again.
During the Charity Night dinner service, Devin was responsible for the pan-seared scallops. At one point, he caught Paulie cooking his salmon, reminded him that they were working on scallops, and the blue team moved Paulie’s salmon off the elements. While plating, Wendy informed him that some of the scallops did not look good. During Ryan's course, he was asked to start picking out the steaks that looked poor, but when slicing the steaks, he accidentally cut himself, and he went to see the medic.
The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Devin knew how difficult it was as they had to nominate half of the blue team now, but knew that he had to speak his mind about what happened. Then, he told Wendy that her leadership was lacking, considered her and Paulie as his nominees, the latter for being frantic, but she angrily accused him of throwing her under the bus. Then, Paulie tried to pressure him into nominating Ryan instead, but he stood by his choice. When Wendy accused him of not trusting the blue team, he retorted that she had no trust in herself.
He was not nominated for elimination.[11]
Episode 12[]
- Main article: Episode 1612 - Fusion Confusion
During the Fusion Cuisine Challenge, Devin went up against Kimberly, and they landed on Chinese and French for their countries, much to his dismay as he wanted Indian. During the cooking, he noticed that Ryan's lamb was still raw with only one-minute left. He was the final person from the blue team to have his dish judged and presented his pan-seared halibut over Chinese style rice and French-inspired oyster sauce. While was praised for a nice presentation, it was criticized for crunchy rice as he used cashews, having an overcooked halibut, and he lost that round to Kimberly. The blue team won the challenge after a tie at one, and they were rewarded with a $2000 shopping spree at Surface for kitchen supplies, which excited him as he never got a chance to blow that amount of money before, and a seven-course lunch at Providence. During the reward, he called the store a cool one and compared himself to a child in a candy store. At lunch, he called it the best reward so far and called it amazing.
During dinner service, Devin was on the meat station. At the start, Ryan asked him to help her with the kale salads, and he wanted that night for the blue team to be fast and furious. On entrées, he was dragging on his orders, with Ramsay ordering him to speed up, and then, his veal chops came out raw. After, Ramsay berated Paulie and him for their lack of communication, and he felt that the former's sea bass was overcooked after he claimed it was dying at the pass. After Paulie announced that it would take two minutes for his refire, Ramsay forced the blue team to start over, with him calling it embarrassing, and Ramsay called the blue team the three stooges. Later, he failed to repeat the order as he was not good with memorization but got his New York striploins accepted. When Paulie blamed him for the declining portions of sea bass, he told him to man the fuck up as he was responsible for that.
The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate one person for elimination. During deliberation, Devin reminded Paulie about the refires for the latter’s overcooked sea bass, but the latter argued against that, and Ryan reminded him about how he could not remember an order. While the blue team agreed that he would be the nominee, he called it fucked up as he felt he did a better job than Ryan that night. However, Paulie told him that he would rather have him than Ryan around as she made more mistakes that night.
Devin was named the blue team's nominee for failing to remember a ticket order and being lost that night, but he argued that he was not lost and that he did perfect that night. Then, Ramsay asked him who he would have nominated, and he said Ryan for her poor start that night. During his plea, he said that he was confident, passionate, and creative. He was eliminated for his inconsistent performance on meat, and disappointing performances throughout the competition. Before leaving, Ramsay praised him for his passion and big heart, before urging him not to stop, and he told Ramsay that it was an honor to make it to the final seven. During his exit interview, he said that he should not have been eliminated, but felt humbled by the experience.
Ramsay's comment: "Devin had a hard time remembering the tickets. Unfortunately, his performance tonight will be hard to forget." [12]
Episode 16[]
- Main article: Episode 1616 - Leaving It on the Line
Devin was one of the eight chefs that returned for the final dinner service. He was Heather's final pick, after Andrew, Kimberly, and Shaina. Back at the dorms, he expressed annoyance of Andrew's request to be on the difficult station, felt that the latter was once again overbearing, and would be a distraction to Heather.
During dinner service, Devin was on the appetizer station. After Heather called out two four-top tables, he deemed it a difficult task in Hell’s Kitchen and got confused on orders. After Kimberly struggled on the ribeye, he was reassigned to meat, and after he said that he needed a minute to unfuck the meat station, he got the ribeye accepted. Heather eventually lost the finals to Ryan.[13]
Nomination history[]
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Safe |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Nominated |
| Week 6 | Nominated |
| Week 7 | Win |
| Week 8 | Safe |
| Week 9 | Safe |
| Week 10 | Safe |
| Week 11 | Safe |
| Week 12 | Nominated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After his appearance on the show, Devin returned to his previous position at Kickin' Chicken, offered personal chef services and culinary lessons.
- He got married on March 27, 2020.
- He was General Manager at Gravy in Raleigh and is currently Executive Chef at Saltwater Cowboys since February 2022.
Trivia[]
- He is the third contestant from the state of South Carolina, following Dominic (Season 4) and Jason (Season 7).
Quotes[]
- "Come on, man!"
- (About Ryan) "Ryan, she's hot. Honestly, she's a fucking home run. I mean, she's a good-looking chick, she's got an hourglass figure, and that beautiness is coming out and it's going on her plate."
- (After Paulie argued with Chef Ramsay) "Paulie: stop thinking you're better than the rest of us, obviously you're not."
- (After being eliminated) "I honestly feel I should not be standing up here right now, but that's the way the cookie crumbled. And to have Chef Ramsay tell me that I was not worthy of the black jacket, it's very humbling. But to last this long is very awesome. I got to give myself a pat on the back. I am awesome at what I do, and I'm always gonna stay true to myself."
Gallery[]
.png "Devin's Confessional (Blue Jacket).png (1.68 MB)")
,_Devin,_and_Johnny_Nominated.png "Aaron (S16), Devin, and Johnny Nominated.png (1.65 MB)")
,_Paulie,_and_Devin_Nominated.png "Aziza, Wendy (S16), Paulie, and Devin Nominated.png (1.68 MB)")
.png "Devin's Confessional (Returning Chef).png (1.52 MB)")
.png "Devin's Confessional (Red Jacket).png (1.41 MB)")
.png "Devin's Ostrich Meat Dish (Pearl Cut).png (1.23 MB)")
%27s_Seven_Seas_Seafood_Dishes_(Arctic_Char).png "Devin and Heather (S16)'s Seven Seas Seafood Dishes (Arctic Char).png (959 KB)")
.png "Devin's Southern Dish (Trout).png (1.44 MB)")
External links[]
Devin Simpson on Instagram- Devin Simpson on Twitter
References[]
| Hell's Kitchen Season 16 |
|---|
| Staff |
| Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Aaron Mitrano (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Andi Van Willigan-Cutspec (Red Team Sous Chef) • Marino Monferrato (Maître d'hôtel) |
| Contestants |
| Jessica Boynton • Genaro Delillo • Paulie Giganti • Shaina Hayden • Matt Hearn • Johnny McDevitt • Wendy Mendez • Heidi Parent • Andrew Pearce • Kimberly Roth • Kimberly-Ann Ryan • Devin Simpson • Aaron Smock • Pat Tortorello • Heather Williams • Koop Wynkoop • Aziza Young • Gia Young |