Josh Oakley

“

I'm going to smoke the competition.

”

Hometown	Denver, CO
Occupation	Executive Chef
Kitchen Experience	13 years
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	2 out of 5
Challenges Won	3
Services Won	2
Times as BoW/Announcer	1
Times Nominated	1
Placement	12th
Episode Eliminated	Metal & Marina
Images of Josh Oakley

Joshua "Josh" Oakley was a contestant on Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 12th place.

Season 19

Episode 1/2

Main article: Episode 1901 - Welcome To Vegas

Main article: Episode 1902 - Shrimply Spectacular

The eighteen new chefs arrived 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. 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 that 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. Then, Ramsay appeared in his chef jacket, revealed that 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.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Josh was paired up against Fabiola, they were the eighth pair to play for their ingredients, and they received scallops, swiss chard, and Jasmine rice. He was the eighth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his scallops with braised kale. It was criticized for having burnt kale, and he scored 2 points. The blue team won the challenge 28-27, and they were rewarded with dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Steak with Ramsay himself joining them and riding on the High Roller. During the reward, he felt that the men were fired up, but after hearing Marc talk, he noted about the latter's energy and felt he was trying to become the leader, but felt it was all talk.

During the Creative Shrimp Challenge, Josh was called as one of the top three chefs from the blue team, was the final person to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and presented his miso sautéed tiger prawns with an asparagus fennel salad and orange segments. He proclaimed that he was one of the strongest chefs due to being an Executive Chef, but while Ramsay liked the balance of the citrus, he lost the challenge as he failed to dethrone Syann. That disappointed him as he was close to the Punishment Pass.

During dinner service, Josh was on the appetizer station with Marc. As the men received their first order, Ramsay reminded him that he was in control of appetizers, and he started coordinating with Declan. They were seen getting their appetizers out. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he knew that Eliott was lost in space that night, but also knew the latter did not commit any mistakes and reminded Drew about the raw lamb.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 1903 - Hell Caesar!

Back at the dorms, Josh thought Marc would pop open like a soda bottle when the latter kept saying that the men had to win service.

Before the Caesar Salad Challenge, Josh compared Ramsay's demonstration to watching ballet as the latter was noticeably confident in making the salad. During the challenge, he was confident he could recreate the salad to Ramsay's standards but accidentally tipped the scooters when he was about to leave for the course. Fortunately, his first attempt was accepted, but when Marc and Cody struggled, he got frustrated. He was later seen getting his second attempt accepted. The blue team lost the challenge 8-10, and they were punished by prepping and peeling Scotch quail eggs for Ramsay's Caesar salad dish as it would be featured in that night's service. After hearing that, he was pissed as people on the men were dropping the ball, and he was paying for it. During the punishment, he tried to look on the positive side and had fourteen eggs peeled at one point.

During dinner service, Josh was on the meat station with Marc. He was not seen that night, and the blue team won the service.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 1904 - Wedding Bells In Hell

Back at the dorms, Josh and Marc hoped that Drew would return after the latter went to the hospital due to bad body cramps.

During the Wedding Brunch Service Challenge, Josh was on the grilling station. He felt greatly confident as he could cook a mean steak but sent up a raw steak, with Declan seeing how blue it was, and Ramsay demanded a medium-rare refire before calling the men out for being unfocused. Later, the men were waiting for the refire, and Ramsay complained that love till death did not mean starving to death. He walked up his refired steaks, but they were medium-well, much to Adam's dismay as the latter felt he was doing every steak cooking technique minus the one Ramsay was looking for. Fortunately, his third attempt was accepted.

The blue team lost the service, and they were punished by making 1600 cupcakes for the wedding couples. During the punishment, Marc and Josh looked at his first batch, but to their dismay, his first batch looked horrible due to a possible overmix on the batter. Marc was pissed that they had to restart from scratch, warning him that it was entering the levels of unforgiveness. Later that night, he said he was sick of working with sugar, but while Declan reassured him that they were almost done with the punishment, he continued to complain. Then, he finished the purple cupcakes with pearls, but Peter was horrified as there were no pearls on the demo cupcakes. Adam feared that Declan would flip, and the latter got upset before calling him a liability.

During prep, Ramsay warned Josh not to fuck around that night. Before dinner service, Ramsay announced that Drew would not be coming back after leaving for the hospital days ago, and when Amber was moved to the blue team, Josh comforted the former, who was upset about switching teams. When Amber said she wasn't into losing, Josh reminded her that they won the last dinner service. During dinner service, he was on the appetizer station with Adam. He was not seen much, except for trying to calm Marc down after the latter talked over Ramsay. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 1905 - Hell Starts Taking Its Toll

During the Mexican Cuisine Challenge, Josh was paired up with Peter, and they were seen collecting ingredients for their pork tacos. The blue team lost the first part of the challenge, and they received 40 minutes of cooking time. They were the second pair from the blue team to have their dish judged and went up against the pair of Nikki and Syann. They made pork barbacoa tacos, but despite Aarón Sanchez getting the reason why the two made their tacos small, he felt it did them a disservice, and they lost that round to the pair of Nikki and Syann. 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. Before leaving the dorms, Marc told him that he warned Amber about the size of the plate earlier.

During dinner service, Josh was on the fish station. At one point, he said that he was walking his lobster tail, but while Marc acknowledged that, he did not send up the risotto, claiming he needed thirty more seconds. With that, Ramsay sent back his lobster tail and asked where the teamwork went. While Marc asked him for a time, he reminded the former that he was leading appetizers, and Marc caused the same mistake again by not walking the risotto with his lobster tail. An agitated Ramsay asked Marc if he checked with him on timings, but after a moment of hesitation, the latter said yes. On entrées, Ramsay saw that he put butter into the halibut pan early and lectured to him that doing so would burn the butter. So, he was forced to clean his pan, while Adam told him to calm down as people at home can cook a fish like that with ease. Then, he sent up a broken piece of halibut due to lifting it with the tongs, Ramsay told him to send the fish up in the pan, and he got his refire accepted. When Peter struggled to remember what was up next, he told the former that it was his responsibility.

Although both teams were named joint winners, Ramsay asked both teams to name one each. During deliberation, Cody reminded Josh about his broken halibut, but he argued that he did not make the same mistake twice as he listened to Ramsay's instructions. Despite that, Adam considered him for nomination.

He was not nominated for elimination.

Episode 6

Main article: Episode 1906 - Metal & Marina

The next day, both teams were getting ready for the day as Josh asked the red team to throw the challenge for him as today was his birthday. Everybody wished him a happy birthday as Amber refused to let the blue team down for him.

During the Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge, Josh went up against Lauren, making him feel confident as he had a birthday look that day. Afterwards, he went to pick up a guitar from the side, smashed it against an amp, and handed the card to Ramsay. The dish was revealed to be lobster ravioli. He was the first person from the blue team to have his dish judged and presented his lobster mousse agnolotti stuffed with asparagus and spinach purée. While Jon Shook liked the dish's flavours, he found the mousse to be firm, while both Ramsay and Vinny Dotolo found the pasta to be too dense. So, he scored three guitars, dismaying him as that was not how he wanted to start his birthday. 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 reward, he felt that they were gelling together as they toasted not only their victory but to his birthday.

During the Italian Night dinner service, Josh was on the garnish station. Adam told him to get the Wellington garnish ready, but he did not respond to the former or Marc. Although the two finally communicated with each other, the celery purée he sent up was bland, which he took the blame for as he failed to taste it earlier. Fortunately, he got his refire accepted and said that the birthday boy was not stopping. Later, he said that he needed six minutes on his orecchiette. However, Declan saw that he already cooked the orecchiette, which frustrated Ramsay that he could not see it in front of him. While he sent up his orecchiette, Declan and Cody talked smack behind his back. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Cody considered him for having garnish being sent back, and Declan felt he made too many simple mistakes before comparing him to a deer in the headlights. While he argued that he fixed up on the seasoning on the garnishes and felt that nothing he sent upheld up the line, Cody argued that it did. However, he was not ready to go home that night and feared he could be going home on his birthday. However, Amber disagreed with nominating him as she did not think the latter was weaker than Marc.

Josh was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Amber as the first. During his plea, Ramsay deemed his night rough, but he claimed he had the drive and knowledge to push forward to become a leader. However, Ramsay reminded him that chefs must be resilient every day, and saw nothing from him. He was eliminated for his poor performance on garnish and not finding his voice since the start of the competition. During his exit interview, he remarked that he never failed before now, was disappointed that he did not give Ramsay what he wanted, and was saddened of spending his 29th birthday alone.

Ramsay's comment: "Tonight, when Josh blows out the candles on his birthday cake, he should wish for one thing: A stronger voice."

Nomination History

Week 1	Safe
	Safe
Week 2	Win
Week 3	Safe
Week 4	Win
Week 5	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, Josh is currently the Executive Chef at Avelina, which has excellent reviews.

Trivia

• He is the third contestant to celebrate their birthday at Hell's Kitchen, following Virginia (Season 2), and Jessica (Season 12). He is also the first contestant to be eliminated on their birthday.

Quotes

• "I'm going to smoke the competition."
• (After scoring a 3 in Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge) "Really? Three huh? That's how my birthday is going to start today? It's not how I wanted it to go."
• (During the Reward) "We're all enjoying this right now. We feel like i's really gelling the team together. We are really happy that we won this challenge."
• (After being eliminated) "I've never failed before in my life so today does hurt. I'm disappointed in myself because Chef Ramsay tried to pull something out of me, and I just didn't have it. This sucks 'cause out all days, it is my twenty-ninth birthday, and I'll be spending it alone."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Josh in Blue Jacket

Josh's Confessional

Amber and Josh Nominated

Josh Eliminated

Josh's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Josh's Shrimp Dish (Episode 2)

Josh and Peter's Mexican Dish (Tacos) (Episode 5)

Josh's Modern Italian Dish (Lobster Ravioli) (Episode 6)

External links

• Josh Oakley on Instagram