Gordon Ramsay: Excited About Hell's Kitchen 4

Gordon Ramsay is counting down the days until Hell's Kitchen Season Four premieres.

"I'm very excited about Season 4, more so than any other year before. When you look at the setup in terms of the level of professionalism, this year we've raised the bar," Ramsay told reporters during a Monday conference call.

Unlike previous editions of the show, Hell's Kitchen's fourth-season cast will be competing for an executive chef position in one of Ramsay's own restaurants: The London West Hollywood.

"Looking for a chef personally is something I've stood by, got very nervous about and more importantly, I'd like to think that we have the most amazing -- I hate that word 'cast' -- I call them chefs," Ramsay said. "Fox wanted to run a show and I run the restaurant, so it's a great team of chefs, more so than any other year."

As for the fourth-season female contestants? The foul-mouthed chef describes them as "amazing."

"I've never seen anything quite like it," he said. "It's quite refreshing, really on the back of a male dominant, chauvinistic stance that kitchens have today, so I was really pleased."

Hell's Kitchen will premiere on April 1.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.