Lack of leadership puts Appleton chef on the chopping block on this week's "Hell's Kitchen: Head Chefs Only"

APPLETON - It was overcooked seafood and his gentle giant-like personality that ended Appleton chef Corbin Emilio 's journey in the "Hell's Kitchen: Head Chefs Only" competition.

This week's challenge tasked both the men's and women's team with collectively building a seafood tower, with each chef assigned a certain seafood to cook.

The two teams would face off against each other, and whichever chef cooked the better dish would receive a point for their team.

Emilio was assigned to the scallops, going against chef Ann Marie Stauber from the women's team.

Emilio served a pan-seared charred scallop romesco that went against Stauber's roasted red pepper seared scallop with Fresno peppers.

After tasting both dishes, Ramsay noted that both dishes were satisfactory but one of them had a fault, overcooked scallops. Ramsay rewarded the women's team with the point and gave Emilio a bit of criticism.

"Corbin, delicious sauce, but unfortunately (the scallops) are rock hard and overcooked," Ramsay said.

The women's team won the challenge, leaving the men's team to prep the seafood for the night's dinner service.

Down two chefs due to them both being sent home for medical reasons, the men's team started the dinner service off rocky as Emilio and chef Egypt Davis were in charge of the fish station. The night's first order was called back, which included an order of scallops.

"My scallops were a little overcooked during the challenge today but I'm very comfortable making scallops," Emilio said.

As he served his first appetizer, Ramsay was completely dissatisfied with the quality.

"I honestly don't get it," Ramsay said as he brought the dishes back to the chefs. "(The risotto) is absolutely solid and the scallops are overcooked."

Emilio and his station partner quickly refired the dishes and re-served two satisfactory meals.

As dinner service continued, the men's team seemed to struggle with the duality of Davis' abrasive personality and Emilio's gentle one. Emilio was asked to help fellow chef Brandon Kerr on the meat station and Kerr didn't seem so happy about the request.

"Having Corbin stand there like a statue next to me, passing his towel back and forth between his hands, is extremely frustrating," Kerr said.

Ramsay seemed to agree.

"Corbin, you're standing there like the Statue of Liberty," Ramsay added. "You've got to talk, you've got to communicate."

Although both the men's and women's kitchens struggled with a few more mistakes throughout the night, both teams were able to complete the dinner service without being thrown out. Despite having already lost two chefs, Ramsay chose the men's team to face elimination.

In the dorms, the men's team expressed their disappointment with the fish and meat station, including Emilio.

"I definitely think Egypt deserves to go home," Emilio said. "He clearly can't work with other people, it's too much."

It was Emilio's lack of leadership that bothered his fellow teammates.

"Corbin stood there like a statue," chef Kyle Timpson said. "If you're going to do nothing, go home."

In the end, Davis and Emilio were chosen for elimination. When asked why he was up for elimination, Emilio stated it wasn't all on him.

"From the get-go, I was on fish with Egypt, I tried to communicate with him as best as I could, he kind of shut me out," Emilio said. "It was like talking to a brick wall."

Ramsay then asked Emilio why he deserved to stay in "Hell's Kitchen."

"I'm incredibly hard working, I'm resilient," Emilio answered.

Ultimately, his soft-spoken personality and mistakes throughout the day were the reason's Ramsay chose Emilio to be eliminated from the competition.

"Tonight, you were so disconnected, you are not ready to be my chef," Ramsay told Emilio before taking his chef jacket.

Emilio felt as if his elimination wasn't entirely his fault.

"Walking in here, I definitely thought I would stick around much longer," Emilio said. "I think part of the reason I'm standing here right now is because some of Egypt's mistakes reflected onto me."

Emilio is a three-time business owner in Appleton after acquiring Ambassador , a cocktail lounge, in 2020, and opening his other two businesses, Ukiyo Private Kitchen and Vegan Nightmare , not long after. Follow Emilio on Instagram @corbonzobeanz .

Reach Jelissa Burns at 920-453-5107 or jburns1@gannett.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @burns_jelissa or on Instagram at burns_jelissa.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Lack of leadership puts Appleton chef on the chopping block on this week's "Hell's Kitchen: Head Chefs Only"