Fox has announced its second season of Hell Kitchen, the culinary boot camp reality series that it aired last summer, will premiere Monday, June 12 at 9PM ET/PT.
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Once again hosted by foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen 2 will feature twelve new aspiring chefs competing for the opportunity to operate their own restaurant.
Just finished filming, Hell's Kitchen 2 was filmed at the same location as the show's original edition -- the Los Angeles restaurant location that was originally supposed to serve as the first season's grand prize (Hell's Kitchen 1 ended with Michael Wray, its 27-year-old winner, turning down the restaurant prize and instead accepting Ramsay's offer to come work at his world-famous London restaurant.)
However just because Hell's Kitchen 2 filmed at the same location as its first edition doesn't mean that second season viewers will see the same set -- given the downtime between the two editions, the show's producers had to rebuild the location. "We built it the first time in October 2004 and tore it down when we were done," Hell's Kitchen executive producer Arthur Smith explained to the NY Post.
Also, unlike its first edition, Hell's Kitchen 2's contestants will also not be competing to win ownership of the now twice-designed location. Instead, Hell's Kitchen 2's aspiring chefs will be competing for another prize -- an executive chef position at a fine dining restaurant in the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, a new Las Vegas casino scheduled to open on April 18. In addition to becoming executive chef, the winner will also receive an undisclosed "financial interest" in the restaurant and assist in its design.
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According to Smith, viewers can expect more infighting during Hell's Kitchen's second season. "This time it was much more intense," said Smith. "Last year, the contestants were kind of 'us versus Gordon' right up until the end - this was brutally competitive right from the beginning."
But one thing will remain the same -- Ramsey's no holds barred demeanor "Gordon is Gordon," Smith told the newspaper. "There's only one way he can be, even though there's a method to his madness." "He knew someone was going to become an executive chef, and certain things happen along the way where I've never seen him get this angry. There was one situation were after we were done , it took quite awhile to calm him down."
However unlike some of last season's contestants, all of Hell's Kitchen 2's aspiring chefs began the show well aware of what to expect from Ramsey. "They were all fans of the show last year - and they come in and do whatever it takes to win," Smith noted.