r/HellsKitchen • u/TheThirdLugia I guess I froze, I mean... • May 14 '25

IRL omg is that raj in a 2001 infomercial???

the infomercial was about a rotisserie oven btw

390 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

99

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

There’s also an old video where he’s a private chef for some body builder lol

1

u/PrimusVsUnicron0093 Jul 12 '25

GARY STRYDOM WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

110

u/shelidee paul niedermann's un-secret admirer 🖤🩶🤍 May 14 '25

I have a feeling that back in the day, Raj was kind of a big deal

77

u/shelidee paul niedermann's un-secret admirer 🖤🩶🤍 May 14 '25

Then I found out that his father was responsible for refurbishing the Statue of Liberty in 1986, so maybe Raj was a big deal, which made me wonder why he even participated in Hell's Kitchen

14

u/PapayaHoney May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

What role exactly did Raj's father have in the statue of Liberty restoration? Was he a donor or someone within the project?

If I recall the AD Council has a campaign around that time regarding the restoration of the Statue called Keep the Torch Lit

Their PSAs included the Peanuts gang and a narration.

Not being snarky or anything, genuinely curious.

28

u/shelidee paul niedermann's un-secret admirer 🖤🩶🤍 May 14 '25

Lighting design. See: Howard Brandston. Raj looks almost like his father.

6

u/PapayaHoney May 15 '25

Just looked him up and that's amazing! Thank you! 😁

36

u/EagleRaptorLeaf May 14 '25

He seems normal when not under a lot of pressure

16

u/toughtiggy101 May 15 '25

No fridge in sight.

Raj has got this.

21

u/mattyGOAT1996 May 14 '25

There's also one where the first boot of S7, Stacey in the infomercial.

18

u/PeterTheSilent1 May 14 '25

Raj never had any oven related fuckups during his time on Hell’s Kitchen. We can trust this one.

18

u/Aggravating_Yam3337 May 14 '25

Seeing him this chill makes me really dislike trev and vinny to an extent and hate lois for the way they treated him. At least boris more or less settled their differences while russel had no ill will towards him surpsing

34

u/PainfullyLoyal May 14 '25

Yes. It literally says his name on the screen.

9

u/BenSibbs An Excellent Poissionier (Fish cook) May 14 '25

I respect his opinion, he is afterall an excellent Poissonier.

6

u/StevefromLatvia Struggling at the meat station May 14 '25

Does anyone have the full thing?

10

u/TheThirdLugia I guess I froze, I mean... May 14 '25

It's right here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-8G_yT4UGc

9

u/kuse94 May 14 '25

7:21 to see Raj

5

u/RathSlayer91 May 14 '25

Wtf?! He seems so normal here 😂

4

u/Sky-Visible May 16 '25

Honestly I think that most chefs on Hell’s Kitchen are good cooks. Some just can’t handle the pressure well from the new environment, menu, “coworkers”, and overall competition aspect. I also think raj is neurodivergent which was accentuated even more by the nature of the show

6

u/GetsWeirdLooks May 14 '25

How does one discover something like this in the year of our Lord 2025?

3

u/antmfanatic May 15 '25

Raj is the funniest contestant ever on the show to me lol

2

u/thelast3musketeer May 15 '25

I’ve never seen him speak so not like what we’ve only seen on HK

2

u/DemonicTruth May 16 '25

You know something, I bet outside of a high pressure environment like HK he’s a decent chef. Yeah he’s a bit of a goofball but I bet he’s also great craic to be around.

Some of the vitriol directed towards him was completely uncalled for. Man fuck the S8 cast.

1

u/Specific-Window-8587 May 15 '25

I need to find this infomercial.

1

u/[deleted] May 15 '25

Sure is. Seemed completely normal and composed here.

1

u/stevenl1219 29d ago

I'm loving this Raj lore on this subreddit. Easily the most interesting contestant of all time of Hell's Kitchen, even if he failed miserably. We must protect this man at all costs.