The inaugural season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on May 30, 2005, and concluded on August 1, 2005. Gordon Ramsay was the host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried was the Blue Team's sous-chef and Mary-Ann Salcedo was the Red Team's sous-chef. Jean-Philippe Susilovic was maître d'. The season was won by professional chef Michael Wray, with fellow professional chef Ralph Pagano finishing second. The season was filmed over three weeks in October 2004. This season was the only season in which the teams were not divided by gender at the start. This was also the only season where Ramsay addressed the show's progress on camera to the viewers, rather than record a voice-over explaining eliminations. This season was taped at Los Angeles's KCOP, a converted former television broadcast facility that previously hosted shows such as The Joker's Wild and Tic-Tac-Dough in the late 1970s to mid-1980s.

Chefs

Twelve chefs competed in season one.

Contestant progress

Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("least bad" as determined by Ramsay) is asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Gordon Ramsay.

Episodes

Each episode consisted of a challenge with a reward, a service, and an elimination.