Famed chef Gordon Ramsay turned to pickleball in the latest episode of the reality competition show, Hell’s Kitchen. 

“Today, we’re going to be concentrating on one of the hottest culinary trends on the planet,” he said. “It’s pickling.” 

It’s no surprise that Hell’s Kitchen featured the practice on the show given its rise in popularity.

Then, America's fastest-growing sport entered the conversation.

“To find out what ingredients you will be using, we’ll be using another trend from the world of sports,” added Ramsay. 

Several of the women from the red team knew exactly where he was headed with that statement. It was pickleball, of course. The reactions of the contestants were hilarious. Some of them were clapping and extremely enthusiastic, while others weren’t as excited.

“Pickleball is literally my favorite sport right now,” said contestant Lulu. 

“But before we play pickle, we have to get ourselves out of a pickle,” mentioned Ramsay.

In a creative spin, each member of the team stepped up to the kitchen line with a Hell’s Kitchen branded pickleball paddle in hand. The contestant hit a ball over the net and into one of the barrels of the ingredients that they will be pickling. 

I’m no chef, but the contestants scored some rather odd pickling combinations.

Last up was Kyle.

“I don’t play many sports, Chef,” said Kyle, as he sailed his pickleball nowhere close to any of the barrels. “I was watching everyone and I thought, ‘Oh, how hard could it be?’ But, I’m literally the worst one.” 

Pickleball is definitely one of those sports that appears deceptively simple, especially in this iteration of the game where players hit a target. Kyle actually proved that it can be much trickier than people think. 

The rest of the contestants chanted his name for encouragement, and finally after 19 attempts and an Elle Woods bend and snap, he sailed a ball into the barrel to everyone’s delight. 

“I’d rather be the worst at pickleball than the worst in the kitchen,” he mentioned. 

Oh, Kyle. If only you knew how funny that statement is to us picklers.