The fifth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on January 29, 2009, and concluded on May 14, 2009. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, while Scott Leibfried returned as the Blue Team's sous-chef and Gloria Felix returned as the Red Team's sous-chef. Jean-Philippe Susilovic returned as maître d'. The season was won by executive chef Danny Veltri, with executive sous-chef Paula DaSilva finishing second. This season was filmed in November 2007. This season saw a high number of unusual eliminations, with one chef eliminated without nomination, two leaving for medical reasons, and two chefs eliminated during service, and the first time a chef was eliminated despite being on the winning team, which would become more prominent in later seasons.

Contestants

Sixteen chefs competed in season five.

Contestant Progress

Each week, the best member (as determined by Ramsay) from the losing team during the latest service period is asked to nominate two of their teammates for elimination; one of these two is meant to be sent home by Ramsay. On some weeks, there is a variation in the nomination process, depending on the losing team's (or even winning team's) performance.

Episodes