Mattias Butts of Ross had to keep quiet for almost two years about his role as a contestant on the upcoming American Dream-themed, 22nd season of Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m. Sept. 28).
“When I finally got to tell somebody, it was very strange because I felt like a kid on Christmas when you get that first really big gift,” Butts, 30, said in a phone interview earlier this week.
Season 22 filmed in February 2022 in Burbank, Calif., when Butts worked at Vallozzi’s Pittsburgh as sous chef. His boss there, Julian Vallozzi, knew about the “Hell’s Kitchen” opportunity and gave his blessing for Butts to take a leave of absence, but Butts was only able to share the news with his current employer, Fox Chapel’s Alta Via Ristorante, in the last couple of weeks after Fox announced this season’s cast.
“When I applied to be on it two years ago, I never even considered I’d get on the show,” Butts said. “I was like, I’ll just share my video and wait for them to send me my rejection letter.”
Butts, a 2011 graduate of Franklin Regional High School, has no formal cooking training.
“Everything I’ve learned has been through watching stuff online, reading books and learning from the chefs I’ve worked for,” he said.
On “Hell’s Kitchen” Butts is one of 18 cheftestants vying for this season’s top prize: head chef at Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas. A trailer for the season appears to show Butts anguished with his head in his hands. In the first episode, a scene from an upcoming episode shows an irate Ramsay pushing a bowl of food Butts holds into Butts’ chest.
“It’s like culinary bootcamp,” Butts said of his “Hell’s Kitchen” experience. “When you’re not in dinner service, [Ramsay] was one of the nicest people in the entire world. But when it comes to dinner service, he is on it 100% and he is as passionate as they come. So when you make mistakes you better make sure that you’re fixing it quick or already have it fixed.”
Butts, who’s also worked at Bonfire on the South Side and Talia in Downtown Pittsburgh, praised his fellow cheftestants as talented and kind.
“Once I got there, it was more like trying to outcook my friends, which made it all the better in my opinion,” Butts said. “It’s a super-crazy fast pace. I tried the best I could and I‘m proud of what I did. I went in there with a goal in mind and I accomplished my goal.”
And what was Butts’ goal?
“It’s a spoiler, sorry,” he said.
Sports on Max
As expected, this week subscription streaming service Max confirmed it will add a sports tier, Bleacher Report, that debuts Oct. 5 and will be free to Max subscribers until Feb. 29. After that it will cost $10 per month for access to a slate of live sports including MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA Men’s March Madness, U.S. Soccer, “The Match” and “Inside the NBA.”
Channel surfing
KDKA-TV will televise an Allegheny County chief executive candidates’ debate at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 and WPKD-TV will air an Allegheny County district attorney candidates’ debate at 8 p.m. Oct. 12. … When CBS’s Saturday morning show “Lucky Dog” returns for its 11th season Oct. 7, the show’s prior host, Brandon McMillan, will be back on board revisiting stories from his previous seven seasons with the series. … Vanna White will continue to appear on “Wheel of Fortune” at least through the 2025-26 TV season (Ryan Seacrest takes over as host of “Wheel” next fall). … AMC renewed “Dark Winds” for a third season to debut in early 2025. … Just ahead of the 25th anniversary of his murder, Investigation Discovery revisits “The Matthew Shepard Story: An American Hate Crime” (9-11 p.m. Oct. 9). … Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses” will return for its third season on Dec. 1.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.