Tad Walters

“

I'm actually a professional quidditch player.

”

Hometown/Residence	Houston, TX
Occupation	Sous Chef
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	1 out of 5
Challenges Won	0
Services Won	0
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	1
Placement	18th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	Tad Overwhelming

Tad Walters was a contestant on Season 22 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 18th place.

Season 22

Episode 1/2

Main article: Episode 2201 - The Dream Begins

Main article: Episode 2202 - Tad Overwhelming

The eighteen new chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, where Marino awaited them. The chefs entered Hell's Kitchen and noticed the past winners from each season before entering the dining room. To give the chefs some inspiration, Ramsay decided to have them walk through the famous doors and have a taste of what it felt like to win. Afterwards, the chefs got to know each other before the Sous Chefs arrived, explaining how their time in the competition helped their careers. Afterwards, a guitar player appeared and played the national anthem as four other doors appeared behind the curtain, each figure explaining their journey for the American Dream. When Martina McBride came out, Tad felt embarrassed wearing a Hawaiian shirt. After Ramsay stepped out, he welcomed the chefs to the twenty-second season, where they were celebrating the American Dream. Ramsay said the three celebrities the chefs saw were proof of the American Dream and that Hell's Kitchen was part of the American Dream. Ramsay said the winner of that season would become his Head Chef at Hell's Kitchen in Caesars Las Vegas with a salary of $250,000. That made Tad ask why he would not want to be a part of that. Then, Ramsay told the chefs that their Signature Dish Challenge was about to begin.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Tad told Sous Chef Jason he was making homemade biscuits with lemon strawberry jam and sausage. Despite knowing how crazy that sounded, he felt it represented his Southern roots and was confident about how it would turn out. With time running out, everyone got their dishes plated, but he accidentally poured too much paprika onto his dish. He was the sixth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and he went up against Atoye. Before having his dish judged, Ramsay asked him where he started cooking. He said he began in a pizzeria and said he was a competitive person, revealing that he was a professional quidditch player, like from Harry Potter. That made everyone stare in disbelief, and Ramsay asked if anyone else played quidditch, to which they said no. His homemade biscuits with sausage gravy and lemon jam made Ramsay question the concept of the dish and said it did not look appetizing. Ramsay compared it to vomit, and Ryan could not believe he would make that for Ramsay. After tasting the dish, Ramsay wished he had a broom so he could sweep it away, giving him a generous one.

The blue team lost the challenge after a 29-point tie. They were punished by participating in delivery day and cleaning up both kitchens. Ramsay jokingly told Tad to sweep up the mess with his broomstick. Later that evening, he explained how he got into quidditch despite never reading Harry Potter. Sandra called him a character, and Johnathan gave him a giant feather to use as a makeshift broom so he could show off his skills. He showed off what real-life quidditch was, which involved running like normal and explaining the rules. Donya was in awe as she did not know it was a real sport. Then, he thought everyone was bonding well.

During the Creative Scallops Challenge, Tad wanted to make jambalaya out of the scallops but found his rice undercooked. He lost the challenge as his dish was not chosen for the top three of the blue team. That was due to Jermaine deeming his dish undercooked, which the latter knew Ramsay would not like.

During prep, Ramsay quizzed Tad on how long a carbonara was cooked, and he said five minutes. He knew the opening night jitters got to him after two poor performances. During dinner service, he was at the meat station with Brad. After Jason served a raw lobster tail, he could not believe the big dog screwed up. On entrées, he and Brad gave inconsistent answers about timing, and Ramsay could not believe it. He said he had been in stressful situations before but thought he was a strong line cook. However, he served a raw steak, and Brad prayed for Virgil to get himself out of purgatory. While working on Oscar De La Hoya's order, he and Brad argued over the cook of a chicken breast as Ramsay and Marino waited impatiently for the order. When the entrées went up to the pass, Ramsay discovered raw chicken. Fed up with the fragmented opening night performance, Ramsay kicked the men out of the kitchen and apologized to Hoya as Sous Chef Jason cooked the refire. Back at the dorms, Brad was mad at him for the raw chicken.

Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Jason blamed Tad and Brad for getting the blue team kicked out.

Tad was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Brad as the second. They joined Atoye and Sandra from the red team. During his plea, he said he wanted to keep learning and prove to Ramsay he could cook. However, Ramsay eliminated him for his poor performance on meat and refused to wait for him after his poor start. During his exit interview, he admitted he did his best and wished to show he was more than a quidditch player.

Ramsay's comment: "Tad not only believes quidditch is a real sport, but also that he's a real chef. Neither is true."

Episode 5

Main article: Episode 2205 - Just Bring the DARN Fish!

His portrait can be seen next to Melissa, even though he was eliminated after the first dinner service.

Nomination History

Week 1	Nominated

Trivia

• He is the sixteenth male contestant to get eliminated on opening night, following Dominic (Season 4), Wil (Season 5), Louie (Season 6), Steven (Season 9), Tavon (Season 10), Sebastian (Season 11), Gaurav (Season 12), JP (Season 13), Mark (Season 15), Pat (Season 16), Ben (Season 17), Scott (Season 18), Eliott (Season 19), Matthew (Season 20), and Zeus (Season 21).
• He is the only contestant from his season to have never won a challenge.
• He is the fifth contestant to have an episode named after himself, following Josh (Season 17), Trev, Motto (both from Season 18), and Marc (Season 19) on Episode 2 of Season 22, "Tad Overwhelming".
  • He is also the third contestant to be eliminated in an episode named after himself, following Josh (Season 17) and Marc (Season 19).

Quotes

• "Yes, Chef, I'm actually a professional quidditch player."
• (After being eliminated) "Growing up, I've felt so much self-doubt and so much insecurity, but while being here at Hell's Kitchen, I did the best I could. I'm really hoping at some point down the line, you'll see something different from me. You'll be like, 'Holy shit, this guy isn't just a quidditch player, you know. This guy actually has something about him.' I really hope that happens one day in the future."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Tad in Blue Jacket

Tad's Confessional

Atoye, Sandra, Tad, and Brad Nominated

Tad Eliminated

Tad's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Tad's Scallops Dish (Not Judged) (Episode 2)

External Links

• Tad Walters on Instagram