Is smoking like a chimney a requirement for competing on 'Hell's Kitchen'?

TV is full of mysteries. Who shot J.R.? Why did the Gilligan's Island gang pack so much for their tour? And now, the latest big question: Why do so many people on Hell's Kitchen smoke like there's no tomorrow? After years of pressure from groups like the Parents Television Council, smoking has been all but eradicated from network television—except on Gordon Ramsay's Fox cooking show, where it practically seems like a requirement for the contestants. On every break, they all light up en masse. Perhaps even more surprising is that, aside from the occasional message-board thread, there's been very little outcry about this—or even mention of it. (The PTC hates the show, but ignores the smoking, probably because it's overwhelmed just keeping track of the profanity.) Smoking is said to be disproportionately high in the restaurant business due to stress, so maybe the producers allow (or encourage) the kids to puff away on camera to heighten the realism and further cement the program's gritty, anti-Top Chef vibe. But Ramsay himself, whose father died at 53 from smoking, seems baffled by it. "I've never smoked a cigarette in my entire life," he says. "It's a bitter pill for me to swallow, to sit and watch these guys smoke their lives away. ... But more importantly, I wish to hell they could understand the damage in terms of their palate."

—Posted by Tim Nudd