Hell's Kitchen is smashing

He was good enough for Gordon Ramsay, the chef who not only does not suffer fools gladly, but chargrills and minces them if they do not come up to his exacting standards.

But he was not good enough French superchef Jean-Christophe Novelli - now hapless student Henry Filloux-Bennett has become the first person to be evicted from Hell's Kitchen.

His demise came after he suffered the ignominy of seeing Novelli call his efforts "crap" and throw a plate of his food across the kitchen.

However despite the rant, it seems that law student Filloux-Bennett, 22, is not quite as hopeless in the kitchen as Novelli would have people believe.

His mother Serena, who branded Novelli a "horrible man" who treated her son "scandalously", said Henry was once offered a job by Michelin-starred Ramsay.

The retired teacher said she was "horrified" as she watched Novelli first throw the plate, then reduce her Charterhouse-educated son to a sobbing wreck as he was blamed for a series of errors.

She said she feared it would now put Henry off his lifelong ambition to become a chef.

Mrs Filloux-Bennett said: "I found the programme horrendous - it was not at all what I was expecting. The thing I found so incredible is that Henry is an excellent cook. He did a stint of work experience for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges and was offered a job as a chef there.

"He has been interested in cooking for years and has worked in a series of kitchens under some really good chefs. But he just did not get a fair crack of the whip. He was never shown cooking - there was just footage saying he was arrogant and then breaking down," Mrs Filloux-Bennett said.

Viewers saw Novelli - one of the two team leaders in the reality TV show, along with Gary Rhodes - erupt at Henry, saying: "I have never seen someone with less passion say they want to be a chef. This was a disgusting f***ing plate he made. I am not going to serve this crap."

Later editions of the programme showed Henry collapsing in tears and retreating to sob alone for three minutes, while Novelli remained with the rest of his team.