Panthers among ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ hopefuls auditioning at BBC

Bill Cosens ’02 heard about the auditions for Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen the night before the show held auditions at Biscayne Bay Campus Nov. 16. The former air traffic controller and owner of the Wing Commander mobile food truck says he just had to check it out and try his luck.

“Hopefully by 2012 I’ll will have my master’s in political sciences from FIU and be the owner and head chef of my own restaurant, thanks to the show,” he said.

When asked if he has what it takes to go head-to-head with Ramsay, Cosens says that he definitely thrives under pressure.

“As an air traffic controller I’ve had more lives in my hands at any given time than most people do in their careers,” he said. “So when you’re talking live-or-death situations, cooking is not necessarily up there…. I can handle a hot kitchen.”

Check out what the Hell’s Kitchen at BBC looked like in the video below – and know that, according to casting producer Linda Jackson, some of the Panthers who turned up (maybe even Cosens) did us proud.

“I can’t tell you,” she said, “but we got a couple that we’re going to see again.”

Guess we will find out if any FIU students or alumni made the cut when the new season of the show premieres on Fox early next year.