A Philadelphia-based chef who competed on the show "Hell's Kitchen" last year has died of an accidental drug intoxication.
Paul "Paulie" Giganti, 36, was found dead in his South Philadelphia home Thursday morning, and a urine test showed evidence of drugs in his system, Philly.com reported.
Giganti was born in Brooklyn but had worked as a chef at Philly's Birra restaurant until last November, when he and owner Gordon Dinerman had a mutual parting of ways.
“I’ll miss him,” Dinerman said, Philly.com reported.
Dinerman said Giganti was talented but troubled at times. “We did a little bit better than a lot of people because of him,” Dinerman said.
Giganti competed on "Hell's Kitchen" during Season 16 and enjoyed watching the episodes featuring himself when they were broadcast, Philly.com reported. Fans enjoyed his wise-guy Brooklyn attitude, and Giganti was proud that he didn’t go to cooking school but was successful as a chef and on the show.
“I just enjoy cooking,” he told My Take on TV in September. “This is something I’ve been doing since I was a kid. I grew up humble; I didn’t have the luxury of not working. It’s just part and parcel of who I am.”
The medical examiner’s office said toxicology results are needed to determine exactly which drugs killed Giganti. Those results may be revealed at a later time.
Twitter fans were sad to hear the news.
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