Joy Shi went home on Hell's Kitchen Season 25 Episode 6, eliminated after a rough night at the Red Team's fish station led the team to put her up alongside Kylie Budich. The episode, titled "A Slice Above the Rest," centered on a head-to-head pizza challenge that the Blue Team won for its fourth challenge victory of the season, then a dinner service where scallops and lobster tails gave both kitchens trouble. Here is the full recap of the October 29, 2026 episode: the challenge, the service, the nominations, the standout dish, and where the two teams stand now.
New here? The Hell's Kitchen Season 25 guide has the premiere date, the all-under-25 cast, and the Foxwoods prize. Catch up on Episode 5's recap, where Aiden Ricklef was sent home after falling behind on the Blue Team's garnish station.
Who Went Home on Hell's Kitchen Season 25 Episode 6?
Joy Shi was eliminated, the third Red Team chef sent home this season and the fifth chef out overall, finishing 14th. Per Gold Derby's episode 6 recap, the Red Team's fish station broke down early: Joy and Kylie Budich kept colliding at the pass, appetizers ran long, and Joy still needed more time on a salmon order after the rest of the table was ready. NewsTimes' recap reports the team debated putting up Haley Moss instead of Kylie, with Sandra Leclerc arguing for the swap, but the team settled on Kylie and Joy as its two nominees. Gordon Ramsay chose to send Joy home.
Ramsay's verdict, per the Hell's Kitchen wiki: "Tonight, Joy could have been an anchor on the fish station, but when the storm got rough, she sank the ship." On her way out, Joy said what surprised her most was how intense the competition is, and that she would leave more confident than she came in.
The Challenge: A Head-to-Head Pizza Bake-Off
The Blue Team won the pizza challenge, its fourth challenge win of the season. Each team got seven pizza pans, each pre-loaded with a protein, and five more toppings to dig for inside mountains of pizza boxes stacked around the dining room; the chefs then paired off head-to-head by protein. Guest judges Bret Lunsford, executive chef of New Haven's Sally's Apizza, and Hell's Kitchen's own Marino Monferrato scored each pairing. Per Gold Derby, Miguel Soliz's chicken pizza beat Kylie Budich's on a split decision, and Valentín Royo won the clam pairing 2-1. Sandra Leclerc, despite her reputation as the team's strongest cook, had the roughest round of the day: one of her pies went out with a stray hair in it, and the judges never tasted Joy Shi's lamb pizza because it came up too undercooked to serve.
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The Blue Team's reward was a private dinner at the Bedford by Martha Stewart inside Foxwoods, followed by a spa day with a pool, a Jacuzzi, and a massage. The Red Team's punishment was breaking down lobster by hand for that night's service.
Dinner Service: Scallops and Lobster Trip Up Both Kitchens
Both VIP chef's tables ran into early trouble with the same two ingredients. The Blue Team served hip-hop artist Doug E. Fresh, and the Red Team served comedian Matt Rife; on both sides, the first round of scallops for those tables came back inconsistently cooked, and the lobster tails fared no better. The Red Team's fish station never recovered from that start, with Kylie Budich and Joy Shi bumping into each other through the appetizer round and Joy still behind on a salmon order while the rest of the table waited.
Per NewsTimes' recap, the loss and the tense debate over who to nominate left the Red Team bracing for what the outlet's headline called "all out war" heading into next week.
Where the Teams Stand
13 chefs remain after Episode 6, out of the original 18-chef all-under-25 cast. The Blue Team now holds a 7-to-6 edge.
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| Team | Chefs remaining after Episode 6 |
|---|---|
| Blue Team (Men) | Dylan Duffy, Gabriel "Gabe" Cerease, Jonathan "Jonny G" Gudino, Michael "Mike" Catuosco, Miguel Soliz, Miles Anderson, Valentín Royo |
| Red Team (Women) | Georgiana Pahon, Haley Moss, Kylie Budich, Mya Gonsalves, Nadia Philips, Sandra Leclerc |
| Eliminated | Serenity "Reni" Lee (Episode 2), Diego Sanchez (Episode 3), Jeyda Brooks (Episode 4), Aiden Ricklef (Episode 5), Joy Shi (Episode 6) |
This Week's Standout Dish: Chicken Pizza
Miguel Soliz's winning chicken pizza was the dish of the night, a reminder that a good pizza lives or dies on a dry, hot bake: a home oven should run as hot as it goes, and the crust needs a preheated stone or steel to brown on contact instead of steaming on a cold pan. Chicken is also the trickiest topping to get right, since the USDA's safe minimum internal temperature for poultry is 165°F, well past where cheese on top even thinks about scorching, so partially cooking it first keeps the crust from turning gray before the bird is safe. We don't have an exact match for a chicken pie yet, so consider this one a companion-recipe candidate; in the meantime, our Detroit-style pizza is a great home version of the format, and the best Hell's Kitchen chicken recipes cover the chicken side of it.
Cook the Episode 6 Dishes at Home
The two ingredients that tripped up both VIP tables have home versions worth getting right: our how to cook a lobster tail walks through pulling it off the heat before it turns rubbery, and pan-seared scallop appetizer covers the dry, hot sear that scallops need. For the salmon order that fell behind at the fish station, crispy-skin salmon is the technique. For more, see the best Hell's Kitchen recipes.
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What to Expect Next Week
Episode 7, "A Black Tie Affair," airs Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 8/7c on FOX (streaming on Hulu the next day), per Rotten Tomatoes' episode listing. NewsTimes' recap teased "all out war" brewing on the Red Team after this week's close nomination debate, so expect that tension to carry into the next service.
Hell's Kitchen Season 25 Episode 6 FAQs
The questions that come up most: who went home, what happened, who won the challenge, who is still in the competition, and when the next episode airs.
Who went home on Hell's Kitchen Season 25 Episode 6?
Joy Shi was eliminated after the Red Team's fish station fell apart during service. She was nominated with Kylie Budich, and Ramsay sent her home.
What happened on Hell's Kitchen Season 25 Episode 6?
The chefs ran a head-to-head pizza challenge judged by Sally's Apizza's Bret Lunsford and Hell's Kitchen's Marino Monferrato, and the Blue Team won on a split decision. That night scallops and lobster gave both VIP tables trouble, the Red Team lost service, and the team nominated Kylie Budich and Joy Shi before Ramsay sent Joy home.
Who won the pizza challenge on Episode 6?
The Blue Team, its fourth challenge win of the season. Miguel Soliz's chicken pizza beat Kylie Budich's on a split decision, and Valentín Royo won his clam pairing 2-1. The men's reward was a private dinner at the Bedford by Martha Stewart plus a spa day; the women broke down lobster by hand for service.
Who is still on Hell's Kitchen Season 25 after Episode 6?
The Blue Team has seven: Dylan Duffy, Gabriel "Gabe" Cerease, Jonathan "Jonny G" Gudino, Michael "Mike" Catuosco, Miguel Soliz, Miles Anderson, and Valentín Royo. The Red Team has six: Georgiana Pahon, Haley Moss, Kylie Budich, Mya Gonsalves, Nadia Philips, and Sandra Leclerc.
When is the next episode of Hell's Kitchen Season 25?
Episode 7, "A Black Tie Affair," airs Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 8/7c on FOX, streaming on Hulu the following day.
About the Author
John Siracusa is the founder of Hell’s Kitchen Recipes. He focuses on technique-first, reproducible home cooking and researches recipes & kitchen equipment from published food science and professional chef methods since 2016.