South Jersey native wins Season 23 of 'Hell's Kitchen' cooking show

Kyle Timpson has loved cooking and baking since he was a little boy growing up in Cape May County in Dennis Township.

That passion has taken him to the top. He won Season 23 of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen: Head Chefs Only" on Feb. 6.

Timpson earned a prize worth $250,000, including an offer for an executive chef position at Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen at Foxwood Resort Casino in Connecticut. He defeated runner-up Hannah Flora in the final dinner service on the Fox show.

Timpson's meal included churros, octopus, ribeye steak, lobster pappardelle, among other things. It clearly impressed Ramsay.

"I kind of feel like I blacked out," said Timpson, a Middle Township High School graduate and the first openly gay male winner of the competition.

"It was a relief. I don't know what I would've done if I lost, but I keep telling people, have you ever seen the Big Bird meme where he kicks the door in? That would've been me. I would've kicked the door in. I was just happy as hell. Super grateful. Super happy."

'I've never wanted to do anything else'

The season began airing in late September with Timpson competing against 18 other chefs.In high school, Timpson said, he did a shared program where he took pastry at Cape May County Tech and the rest of his academic classes at Middle Township High School.

"I've always wanted to cook," Timpson said. "I've never wanted to do anything else…Food was always what I came back to. I was always doing food. I made cupcakes in school. I said it was to make friends, but really it was to make people happy."

International travel is in this chef's future

Timpson moved to Philadelphia in 2021 from Dennis Township after graduating from Academy of Culinary Arts at Atlantic Cape Community College. He worked in Philadelphia establishments such as Moshulu, Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, and Steak Italian Nightlife.

"I quit my job back in July, which I kind of thought would be a dead giveaway, thank God it wasn't," said Timpson, who said the show was filmed over a three-week period in May. "I hired PR and started doing my own thing. I can sit back and relax now and just post stuff and not have to worry about doing a bunch of things.

"I'm just trying to plan what's next. I am considering potentially doing something on my own," he continued. "There's a lot of work behind that and a lot that goes into that. I'm not sure if I want to do it now or if I want to wait a year or two.

"…I'm waiting for the money to hit my bank account. I'm going to go on vacation and then come back and be an adult. I want to travel a little bit. Brittany (Fanning) from the show just moved to New Zealand. I'm going to visit her. I'm shooting for April or May. I want to try a bunch of new foods. (Travel to) Fiji, Australia, and potentially Thailand and maybe Singapore."

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: South Jersey chef Kyle Timpson wins 'Hell's Kitchen' season 23