| “ | You want it done, you want it done right, you want Koop to do it. | ” |
William "Koop" Wynkoop was a contestant on Season 16 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 11th 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 the bus 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 Sergeant 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, Koop was the seventh person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and went up against Shaina. He made scallops with pork cheek, with him claiming that it was a new twist on a classic. Ramsay deemed it a strong effort, and he scored 4 points. The blue team eventually 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, Koop served linguine and clams appetizer tableside with Aaron. He was not seen that night, the blue team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he knew that they had to cut the dead weight out of the blue team.
He was not nominated for elimination.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 1602 - Crepe Grand Prix
Back at the dorms, Koop was the only male besides Andrew that did not strip naked in the hot tub, and said that there were too many wieners in the soup.
During the Crepe Grand Prix Challenge, Koop was paired up with Johnny. Out of their three attempts, their first one was rejected as it broke up on the drive to Ramsay, but the other two were accepted, with the third attempt being the winning point. The blue team won the challenge 10-9, 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. After hearing the reward, he was excited as the biggest boat he rode in before was a small ferry on Lake Erie. During the reward, he felt that the blue team was coming together, and when the men rode on their jet skis he said that it was the best day of his life, outside of his kids’ birth.
During dinner service, Koop was on the garnish station. After Aaron's kale salad had too much dressing, he complained that it was supposed to be a simple salad. Later, while he hoped that Genaro's refire was good, they were raw, and it resulted in the blue team getting kicked out of the kitchen. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he remarked that they looked like fucking idiots.
He was not nominated for elimination.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 1603 - The Yolks on Them
Back at the dorms, Koop called Jessica stupid after the latter openly rubbed in the red team's victory.
During the Ostrich Meat Challenge, Koop was seen during the first part, said that it felt fun to do so, and loved the fact that some bitch server was going to clean it up later. He was paired up with Aaron on the top sirloin, they were the second pair from the blue team to have their dishes judged, and went up against Heather, Heidi, and Kimberly. He made a stuffed and seared top loin, and while it was praised for being tender and fresh, he lost that round to the red team. The blue team lost the challenge 1-3, and 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, Koop was on the appetizer station with Matt. At one point, while he was concerned about where Matt’s head was, and even threatening to nominate him if they lost service once again, he served too much risotto despite it tasting delicious. The blue team won the service.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 1604 - Surf Riding & Turf Fighting
During the Protein Identification Challenge, Koop was paired up with Devin, they were the third pair from the blue team to compete and randomly picked squab and octopus. He had trouble identifying the protein, 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, and after he complained about being winded, he randomly picked squab for their fifth attempt, which was correct. 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 dinner service, Koop was on the fish station. While he believed that he was going to kill it on fish, his lobster tails were ice cold but he was able to get the refire accepted on time. Later, his salmon was raw, Ramsay angrily reminded him that there was no sushi on the menu, and smashed it with his fist. Then, Ramsay reminded the blue team that there were pregnant women in the dining room and the baby is hungry, at this pace one of them could give birth in the dining room. He knew that he had to buckle down as he lost his job to compete, and managed to get his refire accepted. On their final ticket, his sea bass was overcooked, and it led to the blue team getting kicked out of the kitchen.
The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Johnny asked Koop what happened on fish, and he admitted that he messed up his timings, before knowing he would be an obvious nominee. Despite that, he knew that he had to keep his cool, and was confident he could win over Ramsay.
Koop was named the blue team's first nominee, with Aaron as the second. During his plea, he said that he wanted to be a chef, admitted to his mistakes, and promised that he would not fuck up again. Then, Ramsay asked him if he was better than Aaron, and while he thought he was, Ramsay reminded him that the latter had better temperatures. However, he argued that somebody else felt the temperatures for Aaron. He survived elimination, but Ramsay told him to get his act together quickly. While being dismissed, he knew that it was the time to fight back and improve.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 1605 - Walking the Plank
During the Seven Seas Seafood Challenge, Koop decided to go up against Kimberly, and their fish was branzino. He was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his branzino dish. Ramsay deemed it a solid effort, and he won that round over Kimberly. 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 deemed Petty Cash a badass way to hang out.
During dinner service, Koop was on the dessert station. He was not seen much, except for commenting that Ramsay hated fish after the latter smashed Johnny's raw salmon. The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he managed to calm everybody down before deciding on nominees.
Koop was not nominated for elimination, and after he announced the nominees, Ramsay asked him why Aaron was nominated. He simply stated that they looked at everything from previous services.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 1606 - Let the Catfights Begin
During the Ingredient Crossword Challenge, Koop spelled out okra for the blue team. He was the fifth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay and presented his southern style ribeye Oscar and yam hash. They were praised for having a béarnaise sauce along with a delicious hash, and he scored 4 points. The blue team won the challenge 17-16, and they were rewarded with a bumper car experience on ice, and eating a steak dinner. During the reward, he called bumper cars a thing he liked to do back home, but deemed bumper cars on ice a first for him. During dinner, he said that it was great to spend some time outside the restaurant, but knew that the blue team still had a lot of work to do as, despite winning challenges, they looked like rejects during dinner service.
Later that night, Koop asked how the blue team could win dinner service, and Andrew suggested that everybody had to take care of their own station, before declaring that if any of them fucked up, they would be nominated. During the Family Night dinner service, he was on the appetizer station with Devin. He was not seen much, except for accusing Paulie of losing credibility as a chef, both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, he did not recall what went wrong with Devin.
He was not nominated for elimination.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 1607 - Don't Tell My Fiancé
During the Southern Cuisine Challenge, Koop was paired up against Heidi from the red team, and their dish was shrimp. During the cooking, he decided to make a ceviche with his shrimps, but while cutting his celery stock, he accidentally cut his fingertip. Forced to see the medic, he applied pressure to his wound, and Ramsay informed the blue team that he sliced his fingernail off. Then, Ramsay checked on him to see if he was okay, but he did not respond until they gave him oxygen to properly breathe. After urging him to take his time, Ramsay informed the blue team about the former’s situation and the fact that he would not be able to complete his dish on time. He returned just in time for judging, but because he failed to complete his dish, he automatically forfeited 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 the punishment, Koop said that his wound was hurting more than when he cut it, felt that it was a kick to his confidence, and went back to the dorms to try and calm himself down, even though Paulie deemed him mentally fragile for walking off. Back at the dorms, he debated whether he should quit, and while he came back down the blue kitchen, he was still unsure of himself. Despite that, Andrew wanted to win that night’s service so he would not go home.
During dinner service, Koop was on the meat station. At one point, he sent up his Wellingtons, but they were raw, and while Paulie accused him of skating by a few rough services, Ramsay ordered him to focus. The blue team eventually won the service.
During elimination, Koop said goodbye to Andrew and Matt, who were reassigned to the red team, and welcomed Shaina and Wendy as new teammates.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 1608 - Dancing with the Chefs
During the International Ballroom Planning Challenge, Koop was paired up with Shaina on the fish entrée, they were the second pair to have their dishes judged, and went up against Kimberly and Matt. He made an En papier with sea bass, and while it was praised for the complex idea, it was criticized for being stringy, having a lack of flavor, and he lost that round to the red 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, Koop was on the dessert station. He was not seen that night, the blue team lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he agreed with Shaina that Johnny and Paulie should be up for elimination, and told the latter that he should not compete if he could not accept his mistakes.
He was not nominated for elimination.[8]
Episode 9[]
- Main article: Episode 1609 - Spoon Fed
Before the Blind Taste Test, Koop noticed a giant curtain behind Ramsay and wondered if they had visitors. He was the third person from the blue team to compete and went up against Ryan. He correctly guessed bell pepper and apple and spared Devin. During Paulie's turn, he did not get splattered once. The blue team won the challenge after a tie at 13, and they were rewarded with massages at the Intercontinental Hotel. After hearing that, he rubbed it in the red team’s face as the women have been asking for one since the start of the competition.
Before service began, Koop got sick of Paulie being up Ramsay’s ass. During dinner service, he was on the fish station. When the blue team was pushing out appetizers, he felt that it was not just time to celebrate as they still had a job to do, before having his scallops accepted. When working on entrées, he recalled his disastrous performance the last time he was on fish and wanted that night to be his redemption. However, Ramsay discovered that he was missing a portion of ludamere, but he managed to get his refire accepted on time. Later, Ramsay caught him cooking salmon and sea bass in the same pan, accused him of screwing everybody up, and reminded him that he had to cook fish in separate pans. When Paulie called out inconsistent timings, he dismayingly said that one unorganized station could bring the entire kitchen down, and pleaded him to fight back. Then, Paulie kept calling out five minutes for his lamb, despite him arguing that he said that five minutes ago. Multiple mistakes from the blue team forced Ramsay to kick them out of the kitchen.
The blue team lost the service and were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, a furious Koop angrily asked why the blue team could not complete a single service, before throwing a chair in anger. While he felt that they lost it on the six top, Paulie accused him of not communicating with him on the times. However, he reminded Paulie that he kept asking five more minutes countless times, and the two argued over who fucked up the most that night. When Paulie called him out over breaking the chair, he warned the former that he was lucky it was only a chair on the fireplace and not his face. However, Paulie accused him of sending up food before his to make himself look good, which led to the two to continue shouting at each other.
Koop was named the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Paulie as the first. During his plea, he said that he had more respect from the blue team than Paulie, before arguing that the blue team would perform better without the latter. Then, Ramsay asked him how he would rate his performance out of then, and he felt that it was either a 6 or a 7, while rating Paulie’s performance a 5, and said that the latter felt he was trying to get him out. When Paulie told Ramsay about his chair breaking incident, Ramsay asked him if that was true, and he said that it was, but admitted that while he was not proud of it, he argued that he felt like a fucking idiot for not completing services. He was eliminated for his poor performance on fish, and not backing up his talk. During his exit interview, he felt that Paulie should have been eliminated instead, was tired of hearing people brag about their non-existent skills, and insulted Paulie while flipping the bird.
Ramsay's comment: "Like many chefs, Koop can talk the talk. But after witnessing his cooking, I told him to walk the walk." [9]
Episode 16[]
- Main article: Episode 1616 - Leaving It on the Line
Koop returned for the final dinner service because Matt did not. He and Wendy were the final picks for Ryan's team, after Heidi and Paulie.
During dinner service, Koop was on the meat station. After Wendy struggled with the salmon, Ryan relocated him onto fish, and he was able to get his attempt accepted. Ryan eventually won the finals over Heather.[10]
Nomination history[]
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Safe |
| Week 3 | Win |
| Week 4 | Nominated |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Safe |
| Week 7 | Win |
| Week 8 | Safe |
| Week 9 | Nominated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After his appearance on the show, Koop currently works at Tavern 101 in Ada, Ohio.
Trivia[]
- Matt did not return for the finale, so he took his place, being the last contestant eliminated before the top ten.
- He is the last contestant to this date to take someone's place in the finale.
- He is the lowest-ranking contestant to participate in the Blind Taste Test.
- He is the second contestant from the state of Ohio, following Jason (Season 4).
Quotes[]
- "Too many wieners in that soup."
- (About the Crepe Grand Prix challenge reward) "Outside of the birth of my two kids, this is the best day of my life by far."
- (After the blue team loses a service for the 7th time) "MOTHERFUCKER!! Why the fuck can't we fucking do this?!? SHIT!!! (Throws Chair)"
- (About Paulie after breaking a chair) "Paulie, you're lucky that was just a chair and not your fucking face off of the fireplace, you little piece of shit."
- "Chef straight-up fucking obliterated two pieces of salmon. I think he hates fish..."
- (After being eliminated) "I'm pissed off right now, Paulie definitely deserves to be out here. Anytime Paulie makes a mistake, it's not Paulie's fault. He thinks he's much better than he is. I'm tired of listening to people say how good they are when they're not. (Flips bird) Fuck you, Paulie, you fucking little ingrate piece of shit Napoleon complex motherfucker."
- "Wendy, I got this shit yo, move. Move. You want it done, you want it done right, you want Koop to do it."
Gallery[]
.png "Koop's Ostrich Meat Dish (Top Loin).png (1.66 MB)")
.png "Koop's Seven Seas Seafood Dish (Branzino).png (753 KB)")
External links[]
William "Koop" Wynkoop on Instagram
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 |