Granting women access to military jobs once exclusive to men is a hot topic in the Marine Corps. Emotions tend to run high on reality television. Who’d a thunk that putting the two together would be an unwise idea?

Sgt. Frank Cala is a military chef and a former contestant of “Hell’s Kitchen,” a cooking competition and reality show hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey. After getting through 12 episodes, Cala was eliminated from the competition and his chef coat hooked, Ramsay style. The episode aired on April 1.

Cala’s downfall was brought on by poor performance in two challenges: ice cream taste testing and the nightly dinner service. In both competitions, he was on a co-ed cooking team. After a stressful night, he was nominated for elimination by a female team member. When Ramsay declared that Cala was eliminated this round, he confided to the camera that he blamed the women he worked with–even the ones who weren’t on the show.

“The Blue Team never had any drama until the females came aboard and that’s when the ship sunk,” Cala said. “That’s exactly why I get [bleep] female Marines and I send them back wherever the [bleep] they came from.”

As a military chef, Cala personally cooks dinner for Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. According to his own statements on the show, he has also allegedly cooked meals for the president. It’s no wonder that his comments caught the attention of viewers, social media and the service itself.

“The Marine Corps has recently become aware of comments made by a Marine appearing on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ that were not in keeping with our core values,” an official Marine Corps statement says. “We take this matter seriously and we are looking more closely at this matter to determine what further actions may be warranted.”

The service also posted a note to Twitter.

As many of Cala’s fans and colleagues have pointed out, “Hell’s Kitchen” only shows a sliver of what really happens on the show. Every segment is carefully edited and rearranged to heighten the drama, and it’s possible that Cala’s remarks were taken out of context. The episode that featured his elimination was also taped months before it aired.

Even so, Cala didn’t need to mention any Marines in his last confessional. He could have just blamed his teammates.

Cala has yet to make any statement about the episode. You can watch the whole episode on Youtube or the offending clip below.

[Marine Corps Times]

UPDATE: Cala Apologizes

Cala uploaded a short video to Youtube Tuesday to apologize for his remarks.

“I want to apologize for my comments made shortly after my elimination from Hell’s Kitchen on Friday night,” he said in the video. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for my fellow Marines, regardless of gender, and I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart to everyone I’ve disappointed.”