Behind-the-scenes look at 'Hell’s Kitchen' from local chefs Alejandro Najar, Cheyenne Nichols

The season of "Hell’s Kitchen" currently airing is a "Battle of the Ages," where contestants have been divided up by age, with 20-somethings (team red) battling 40-somethings (team blue).

Northeast Ohio is home to two of those 20-somethings. One is 28-year-old Alejandro Najar of Barberton, who is the executive chef of UnHitched Brewing Co. in Louisville. The other is Cheyenne Nichols, 21, of Valley City, who founded Finest Cravings, a local catering business.

For those not familiar with the reality competition cooking show, here's a quick summary: World-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay puts aspiring young chefs through rigorous cooking challenges and dinner services at his Las Vegas restaurant, named Hell's Kitchen, to determine which one will win $250,000 and the opportunity to be head chef at Ramsay’s newest Hell’s Kitchen within Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino in New Jersey.

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These local chefs shared their culinary journeys, motivations and reactions to meeting the legendary Gordon Ramsay in another Beacon Journal article.

So, let’s hear what they have to say about the behind the scenes of the show.

Filming is like being in college: long hours and little quality food

When watching an episode of "Hell’s Kitchen," ones assumes they aren’t doing the cooking challenge, reward/punishment, dinner service and eliminations all in one day. Unfortunately for the show’s contestants, that assumption is false.

Najar and Nichols' days on set were usually 16-20 hours long depending on Ramsay’s schedule and the length of their evening confessionals (scenes when talking directly to the camera). Here’s an example of what their waking hours were filled with.

6 a.m.: Wake up, put on microphones, do two COVID-19 tests and morning confessionals

7 a.m. - 3 p.m.: Food challenge and subsequent reward or punishment

4:30 - 9 p.m.: Dinner service

9 - 10:30 p.m.: Eliminations

10:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.: Dinner and evening confessionals

This was the average Monday through Saturday for contestants, who were given a real treat every Sunday: a day off and access to television. Other than what they managed to see on the hotel’s TV, contestants were not allowed any contact with the outside world. Nichols even had to replace her Apple watch with an analog watch. She also vividly remembers begging producers to tell her who won the Super Bowl to no avail.

Strangely enough, in addition to sleep, quality food was also in short supply for contestants. Nichols and Najar recall surviving almost entirely off of Red Bull, Hot Pockets, Uncrustables and other on-the-go foods.

“It was very much so like a college diet,” Najar said.

There was a notebook where contestants could write whatever ingredients they needed to make a meal (within reason), but they usually didn’t have time to eat unless it was at night, according to Najar. At times contestants would dedicate their evening time to cooking a hot meal for the entire group, but it was not guaranteed.

Chef Gordon Ramsay is nicer in person

Nichols came on to "Hell’s Kitchen" thinking that Ramsay was going to be somewhat mean.

Having watched every season of the show, along with other cooking competitions like "MasterChef Junior," she knew he was going to be more intense because "Hell’s Kitchen" itself is more intense.

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And while she admits he was hard on other contestants, like Billy Trudsoe, Nichols believes he had a soft spot for her since she was the youngest person on the show.

“You could just tell he wants you to do better,” she said. “He would push me but not in a horrible mean way, in a meaningful way. I love it. He was actually invested in me.”

Some contestants go on air never having seen ‘Hell’s Kitchen’

Nichols applied to be on "Hell’s Kitchen," but certain contestants are handpicked by Ramsay’s team to be on the show. This was the case for Najar, who had watched earlier seasons of "Hell’s Kitchen," but because of this practice other contestants had never seen the show beforehand.

Having seen the show so many times, Nichols was able to predict what challenges were going to come next as the season progressed. Some would see this as an advantage, but it also added a certain level of pressure for her to succeed.

“Everything I did felt so amped up, like the wedding challenge that they have. I’ve seen 16 seasons of wedding challenges, I can’t mess this up,” she said.

The contestants didn’t eat what they made, but someone did

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment, but contestants this season didn’t eat what they made during challenges or dinner service.

The good news is it doesn’t go to waste. The prepared food is eaten by staff members, and unused food is donated to a local food bank.

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Considering the chefs make double of almost all dishes ordered during dinner service, the army of dishwashers and production crew that prep for service were certainly well fed.

According to Najar, in previous seasons people have taken their food from a challenge back to their dorms, but everyone was so nervous each day this season that it never happened.

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Local chefs reveal 4 things you didn’t know about Hell’s Kitchen