Worst Cooks in America
Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series that premiered on January 3, 2010, on the Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set in the celebrity edition the winner celebrity gets a $50,000 charity donation. The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including: baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant-quality, three-course meal for three food critics.
History
Chef Chart
Season 1: 2010
Chefs Beau MacMillan and Anne Burrell lead an intense culinary boot camp. They have six recruits each, and every week they must eliminate one recruit from each of their teams until there is only one from each team left. The final two create a three-course meal to fool a panel of restaurant critics into believing that the meal was created by the acclaimed chefs.Recruits
Twelve chefs competed in the first season of Worst Cooks in America. Hometowns and occupations are available from the Food Network website. Chef Anne's team was known as the Red Team and Chef Beau's team was known as the Blue Team.| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Status |
| Rachel Coleman | 23 | Brooklyn, New York | Marketing Website editor | Winner February 1 |
| 21 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Waitress | ||
| 38 | Cumberland, Rhode Island | Dance Studio Owner | Eliminated January 31 | |
| Eddie Chang | 32 | Jersey City, New Jersey | IT project manager | Eliminated January 31 |
| Marque Hernandez | 41 | Brea, California | Director of Clinical Operations | Eliminated January 24 |
| Rebecca Hooper | 43 | Sandy, Utah | Salon Owner | Eliminated January 24 |
| Sophia Gettys | 27 | Aurora, Colorado | Stay-at-home Mom | Eliminated January 17 |
| Susie Shoman | 53 | Georgetown, South Carolina | Eliminated January 17 | |
| Kelly Johnson | 31 | Scottsdale, Arizona | Corporate litigation attorney | Eliminated January 10 |
| David Summey | 29 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Salesman | Eliminated January 10 |
| Wilhelmina Josephine | 29 | Aliso Viejo, California | Insurance claims adjuster | Eliminated January 3 |
| Hamed Hamad | 27 | Journalist and fashion consultant | Eliminated January 3 |
Contestant progress and episodes
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Beau
Episode 1:
Baseline Challenge: 24 of the Worst Cooks in America were brought to Boot Camp. With 45 minutes on the clock, the chef had to cook a dish and whoever has the worst dishes were to be picked for teams. What the recruits didn't know was that Anne and Beau would only select the 12 worst of the worst for boot camp, and they also didn't know that Anne and Beau would pick for their opponent's team.
Team Selection: Beau gives Anne Jenny, Eddie, Hamed, Rachel, Rebecca, and Kelly. Anne Gives Beau Sophia, Susie, David, Wilhelmina, Marque, and Jen.
Main Dish: Anne made Tuscan Fish Stew, while Beau made Poached Tiger Prawns with Littleneck Clams, Bok Choy, and Shiitake Mushrooms. Each team had one hour to replicate their respective chef's dish. During the challenge, Hamed, Wilhelmina, Eddie, and David all struggled. Hamed forgot to put his clams on the plate, Eddie overcooked his shrimp and used too much saffron, Wilhelmina's Broth had too much soy sauce, and David messed up the garnish.
Elimination: After tasting, Rebecca and Marque were named the winners on their respective teams, and Sophia, Rachel, Jenny, Jen, Kelly, and Susie didn't have the best dishes, but they also didn't have the worst dishes and they were deemed safe from elimination. Hamed and Eddie were the bottom two on the red team, and Wihelmina and David with the bottom two on the blue team, but in the end, Hamed and Wihelmina were sent home.
Episode 2:
Skill Drill: The chefs bring the recruits to Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse to teach them about classic knife skills such as Julienne and Slicing.
Season 2: 2011
Casting for season 2 of Worst Cooks in America was held at the LA Marriott Burbank Airport, Hotel & Convention Center on March 27, 2010. The Food Network also began accepting online video applications for season 2. Food Network's website announced that Robert Irvine would replace Beau MacMillan for season 2. Season 2 debuted on January 2, 2011. In this season the chefs had eight recruits each.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Robert
Differences between seasons 1 and 2
In the first episode, a group of selected novice cooks were to prepare a dish from scratch so the chefs would get an idea of how poor their skills were. After tasting all the items, the chefs took turns picking team members for their rival chef. The first season started off with 24 novice cooks but only the worst 12 were chosen for a team. In the second season, the first episode began with 16 amateurs and all took part for the remainder of that episode.In the penultimate episode of the season, the remaining four recruits learned and replicated a dessert. After this, in the first season, the recruits had to instruct a group of high school students how to replicate the dessert recipe. In the second one, the recruits were assigned the dessert to serve after both chefs, and a special guest enjoyed a main dish.
After learning and replicating a dessert, the recruits had to prepare a meal for both chefs and a surprise guest, usually a spouse or other family member. The first season's main dishes were an improved version of the recruits’ audition meal. The special guests in the second season got to choose what they wanted the students to make them.
Two recruits remained in the final episode and had to prepare an appetizer, main dish, and dessert for a panel of three food critics. The critics in season 1 thought that the final meal was prepared by the chefs until after they sampled all the courses. In season 2, the critics learned their meal was prepared by the recruits immediately after entering the restaurant.
Season 3: 2012
and Bobby Flay hosted season 3, replacing Robert Irvine.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Bobby
Season 4: 2013
Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Bobby
†: Contestant died after filming.
Season 5: 2014
Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Bobby
Season 6: 2015
joined Anne Burrell to host season 6, replacing Bobby Flay after 3 seasons. The season premiered on January 4, 2015 to 2,123,000 viewers. The second episode was lower at 1,456,000 viewers, with the third episode rising to 1,732,000 viewers and the fourth episode reached 1,689,000 viewers. the 5th episode reached 1,634,000 viewers. The sixth episode received 1.55 million viewers.Recruits
- Contestant Stephanie Streisand was deemed too ill to continue on January 11
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
Season 7: Celebrity Edition
joins Anne Burrell to host season 7. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. Because this season had only 7 total recruits, each team's worst recruit from that week's Main Dish challenge competed head to head in a quickfire elimination challenge instead of eliminating both recruits each week. This challenge involved more basic cooking techniques and the winner would be decided by a blind judging from both Anne and Rachael. The winning recruit stayed in the competition while the losing recruit was eliminated.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Rachael
Season 8: 2016
joins Anne Burrell to host season 8.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
Season 9: Celebrity Edition 2
returns with Anne Burrell to host season 2 of the Celebrity Edition. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. The season premiered on September 14, 2016 to 1,185,000 viewers.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Rachael
Season 10: 2017
joins Anne Burrell to host season 10. The season premiered on January 1, 2017.Recruits
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Status |
| Daniel Mar | 35 | Burbank, California | Photographer | Winner March 5 |
| Ann Odogwu | 34 | Houston, Texas | Flight Attendant | Runner-up March 5 |
| Laura Docker | 36 | Fort Worth, Texas | Lawyer | Eliminated February 26 |
| Mandy Thornton | 24 | Hanover, Massachusetts | Medical Assistant | Eliminated February 26 |
| Adam Cooke | 32 | Rancho Cucamonga, California | Auto Mechanic | Eliminated February 19 |
| Brittany Lenore | 27 | Chicago, Illinois | Spiritual Speaker | Eliminated February 19 |
| Jeff West | 36 | Douglassville, Pennsylvania | Vending Machine President | Eliminated February 12 |
| Kayla Kurtz | 27 | Kent, Ohio | Stay-at-Home Mom | Eliminated January 29 |
| Maria Marcello | 40 | Torrance, California | Stay-at-Home Mom | Eliminated January 29 |
| Matt Josephs | 35 | Richmond, Virginia | Sports Radio Producer | Eliminated January 22 |
| Jake Michaels | 21 | Manteno, Illinois | Model & Singer | Eliminated January 15 |
| Jetta Linda Ostrofsky | 66 | Sacramento, California | Retired | Eliminated January 15 |
| Stephen Hawkins | 67 | Temecula, California | Retired | Eliminated January 8 |
| Buffy Mykkanen | 29 | Portland, Oregon | Tech Support | Eliminated January 8 |
| Cedrick Miller | 22 | El Paso, Texas | Cashier | Eliminated January 1 |
| Lester Turchin | 65 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Retired | Eliminated January 1 |
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Rachael
In Episode 6, Both Chef Anne and Chef Rachael decided not to send anyone from their teams home.
Season 11: Celebrity Edition 3
returns with Anne Burrell to host season 3 of the Celebrity Edition. The season premiered on August 23, 2017.Recruits
- Note: Vivica was originally eliminated on September 20. In Episode 7, airing on October 4, both Vivica and Sean returned to the competition for a redemption skill drill. Vivica won the drill, re-entered the competition and was then eliminated for the second time following the main challenge.
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Rachael
Season 12: 2018
joins Anne Burrell to host season 12.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
In episode 5, contestants Lacey and Spencer switch teams instead of being eliminated, Lacey on Chef Anne's Team and Spencer on Chef Tyler's team.
Season 13: Celebrity Edition 4
returns with Anne Burrell to host season 4 of the Celebrity Edition. This is the first Celebrity Edition to not feature Rachael Ray as a judge. The season premiered on April 15, 2018.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
Season 14: 2018
joined Anne Burrell to host season 14.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Robert
Season 15: 2019
joins Anne Burrell to host season 15. Since the number of contestants is odd, one of them is eliminated before getting into the teams.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
- Chaz was eliminated after the baseline challlenge because his dish was the worst.
Season 16: Celebrity Edition 5
Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Tyler
Season 17: 2019
joins Anne Burrell to host season 17. The season, featuring 14 recruits, debuted on August 4, 2019.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Bobby
Season 18: 2020
joins Anne Burrell to host season 18. The season, featuring 16 recruits, premiered on January 5, 2020.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Alton
Season 19: Celebrity Edition 6
returns with Anne Burrell to host the sixth run of the Celebrity Edition. The season premiered on May 10, 2020.Recruits
Contestant progress
;KeySeason 20: 2020
joins Anne Burrell to host season 20. The season debuted on June 21, 2020.Recruits
Contestant progress
- Red: Team Anne
- Blue: Team Alex