Entertainment

'Hell's Kitchen' Season 17 Could Premiere ASAP

by Caroline Gerdes
Greg Gayne/FOX

Summer 2005, it was a time of low rise jeans, Juicy jumpsuits, silicone bracelets, and ties as belts. Wedding Crashers and Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith were sweeping the nation. And, America first met Gordon Ramsay. That's right, Hell's Kitchen has been on for more than 15 years. With the season finale of Hell's Kitchen Season 16 on Thursday, Feb. 2, fans are anxious to know when the show is returning. (After depending on something for 16 years, it can be hard to function without it.) When is Hell's Kitchen Season 17? Will the show spanning nearly two decades even get a 17th season?

Back in September 2016, FOX announced that the classic reality TV show wasn't going anywhere — at least not for two more seasons. According to Deadline, FOX ordered two more installments, Seasons 17 and 18, of Hell’s Kitchen. And, the article explains, auditions for Season 17 already took place last September. There has been no official premiere date announced for Hell’s Kitchen Season 17 just yet. But, it's not crazy to think that we could be getting more episodes — and more biting insults — as early as this year. Last year, both Season 15 and Season 16 premiered in 2016, with January 15 and September 23 premiere dates, respectively. So, there could very well be more Hell's Kitchen in 2017.

According to a Hollywood Reporter piece from 2012, Hell's Kitchen has aired in about 350 territories, with censorship practices changing from border to border (that would be thanks to Ramsay's creative insults). The show started in the UK in 2004, where it ran for four seasons with the same name and same terrifying chef at the helm during its initial cycle.

While Ramsay has attained international success, and fame, over the course of the last two decades, he joked about a side effect of being a renowned (and televised) hard-a**. The THR article quotes Ramsay as saying, "I was in Las Vegas recently and someone said, 'I'll pay you $500 to call me a f*cking donkey.' I said no. He goes: 'It's my birthday! Just scream at me! $5,000. Please!' He kept going up and up. I finally stopped him at something like 25 grand. I told him that when I get upset, it's for real."

It seems that we've become accustomed to Ramsay's brand of ridicule, and his reality staple isn't going anywhere. America has at least two more seasons of Hell's Kitchen coming to a TV near you sometime soon.