Worst Cooks in America season 16
| Worst Cooks in America | |
|---|---|
| Season 16 | |
| Judges | |
| No. of contestants | 8 |
| Winner | Tonya Harding |
| Runner-up | Alec Mapa |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
| Original release | April 21 – June 2, 2019 |
| Season chronology | |
Worst Cooks in America 16, also known as Celebrity Edition 5, is the sixteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Worst Cooks in America. This is the fifth iteration of the celebrity editions. It premiered on Food Network on April 21, 2019 and concluded on June 2, 2019. Tonya Harding was the winner of this season, with Alec Mapa as the runner-up.[1]
Format
[edit]Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series in which celebrities (referred to as "recruits") with poor cooking skills undergo a culinary boot camp for the chance to win a $50,000 prize to donate to the charity of their choice.[2][3] The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. Each episode features two core challenges: the Skills Drill, which tests their grasp of basic techniques demonstrated by the chef mentors, and the Main Dish Challenge, where they must apply those skills to recreate or invent a more complex dish under specific guidelines. The weakest performer is eliminated at the end of each episode. The final two contestants prepare a restaurant-quality, three-course meal for a panel of food critics, who evaluate the dishes based on taste, presentation, and overall improvement.[4]
Judges
[edit]Tyler Florence returns with Anne Burrell to host the fifth run of the Celebrity Edition. The season premiered on April 21, 2019.[5]
Recruits
[edit]| Contestant[6] | Age | Occupation | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonya Harding | 48 | Retired Figure Skater/Reality TV Personality | Anne | Winner on June 2, 2019 |
| Alec Mapa | 53 | Actor/Comedian/Writer | Tyler | Runner-up on June 2, 2019 |
| Jim J. Bullock | 64 | Actor/Comedian | Anne | Eliminated on May 26, 2019 |
| Kym Whitley | 57 | Comedian/Actress | Tyler | |
| Jonathan Lipnicki | 28 | Actor/Producer | Anne | Eliminated on May 12, 2019 |
| Morgan Fairchild | 69 | Actress | Tyler | Eliminated May 5, 2019 |
| Taryn Manning | 40 | Actress/Singer | Anne | Withdrew on April 28, 2019 |
| Jimmie Walker | 71 | Actor/Comedian | - | Eliminated on April 21, 2019 |
Elimination Chart
[edit]| Rank | Contestant | Episode | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||
| 1 | Tonya | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | BTM | WIN | WINNER | ||||||
| 2 | Alec | IN | WIN | WIN | BTM | BTM | WIN | RUNNER-UP | ||||||
| 3 | Jim | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||
| 4 | Kym | WIN | BTM | IN | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||
| 5 | Jonathan | BTM | BTM | BTM | OUT | |||||||||
| 6 | Morgan | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 7 | Taryn | IN | WDR | |||||||||||
| 8 | Jimmie | OUT | ||||||||||||
- Key
- (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
- (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
- (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
- (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated
- (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
- (WDR) The contestant withdrew from the competition.
Episodes
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date [7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 1 | "Celebrity: This Isn't How It Looks in the Pictures" | April 21, 2019 |
| 116 | 2 | "Celebrity: Wheel of Misfortune" | April 28, 2019 |
| 117 | 3 | "Celebrity: Take the Bait" | May 5, 2019 |
| 118 | 4 | "Celebrity: Around the World in 60 Minutes" | May 12, 2019 |
| 119 | 5 | "Celebrity: Waited on Hand and Foot" | May 19, 2019 |
| 120 | 6 | "Celebrity: There's No "We" in Food" | May 26, 2019 |
| 121 | 7 | "Celebrity: That's a Wrap" | June 2, 2019 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Worst Cooks in America, Season 16: Craziest Moments". Food Network. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
- ^ Lynch, Rene (January 2, 2010). "'Worst Cooks in America' isn't just a title: They're horrible". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (January 4, 2010). "'Worst Cooks in America': Worst thing I watched most of last night". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Worst Cooks in America (Comedy, Game-Show, Reality-TV), Anne Burrell, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Optomen Productions, January 3, 2010, retrieved July 24, 2025
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Will Food Network Greenlight Worst Cooks in America for Season 26?". premieredate.news.
- ^ "Worst Cooks in America, Season 16: Meet the Celebrity Recruits". Food Network. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
- ^ "Shows A-Z - worst cooks in america on foodnetwork". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
External links
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