Machamer decided to apply to Hell's Kitchen after watching season 3. She went to the open audition in Manhattan and was called back for a screen test. The casting director thought she was "hilarious".
As a culinary student, Machamer was the contestant with the least cooking experience and was repeatedly nominated for elimination, mostly due to what her peers described as a threatening intellect. Despite this, she broke the standing record for the number of challenges won with 9 wins and finished as the final competitor, defeating the season's runner-up, Louis Petrozza. What most impressed Ramsay was her special potential, something he did not see nearly enough of in any of the other contestants. After winning, Machamer had the choice of accepting her $250,000 prize money at once or earning it as a paycheck for working a year at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant.
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