Worst Cooks in America season 25
| Worst Cooks in America | |
|---|---|
| Season 25 | |
| Judges | |
| No. of contestants | 12 |
| Winner | Nick Trawick |
| Runner-up | Michael Judson Berry |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
| Original release | January 1 – February 5, 2023 |
| Season chronology | |
Worst Cooks in America 25, also known as Viral Sensations, is the twenty-fifth season of the American competitive reality television series Worst Cooks in America. It premiered on Food Network on January 1, 2023 and concluded on February 5, 2023. Nick Trawick was the winner of this season, with Michael Judson Berry as the runner-up.
Format
[edit]Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series in which contestants (referred to as "recruits") with poor cooking skills undergo a culinary boot camp for the chance to win $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set.[1][2] 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.[3]
During this season, a new gimmick to the show has been added. It is known as a Chef Like, which is a pin awarded to the winner of the Skill Drill Challenge on both teams and the Main Dish Challenge on both teams. The respective mentor of the team decides the winner. The recruit who accumulates the most will have a game-changing advantage. In episode 5, the recruit with the most Chef Likes on each team was able to choose one team member to switch to the opposite team.
Judges
[edit]Darnell Ferguson joins Anne Burrell to host the first run of Viral Sensations. The season premiered on January 1, 2023.
Recruits
[edit]| Contestant | Hometown | Occupation | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Trawick | Los Angeles, California | Social media influencer | Anne | Winner on February 5, 2023 |
| Michael Judson Berry | Jersey City, New Jersey | Actor | Darnell | Runner-up on February 5, 2023 |
| Paris Nicholson | Los Angeles, California | Social media influencer | Anne | Finalist on February 5, 2023 |
| NaJe' Elmore | Texarkana, Texas | Social media influencer | Darnell | |
| David Chen | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Flight attendant | Darnell | Eliminated on January 29, 2023 |
| Tessica Brown | Violet, Louisiana | Stay at home mom | Anne | |
| Eliza Petersen | West Jordan, Utah | Amateur paleontologist | Darnell | |
| Rich Aronovitch | New York City | Professional comedian | Anne | |
| Mitchell Tyler Ralston | Huntington Beach, California | Ghost Hunter | Anne | Eliminated on January 22, 2023 |
| Sabrina Rios | Los Angeles, California | Social media influencer | Darnell | |
| Tina Kim | Los Angeles, California | Social media influencer | Darnell | Eliminated on January 15, 2023 |
| Adam Kreutinger | Buffalo, New York | Puppeteer | Anne | Eliminated on January 8, 2023 |
Elimination Chart
[edit]- *Initially a member of the other team
| Rank | Contestant | Episode | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
| 1 | Nick | IN | IN | IN | IN | BTM | BTM | BTM | WINNER | |||||||
| 2 | Michael | IN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | BTM | BTM | RUNNER-UP | |||||||
| 3 | Paris | BTM | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | FINALIST | |||||||
| 4 | NaJe' | IN | WIN | WIN | BTM | IN | WIN | WIN | ||||||||
| 5 | David | BTM | IN | IN | IN | BTM | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| 6 | Tessica | IN | BTM | IN | BTM | BTM | WIN | OUT | ||||||||
| 7 | Eliza* | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | SWAP | OUT | |||||||||
| 8 | Rich* | IN | IN | IN | IN | SWAP | OUT | |||||||||
| 9 | Mitchell | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 10 | Sabrina | IN | IN | BTM | OUT | |||||||||||
| 11 | Tina | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Adam | IN | 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.
- (FINALIST) The contestant was a finalist in the finals of the competition.
- (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish Challenge 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.
- (SWAP) The contestant get switched by a mentor to the other team.
- (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Episodes
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date [4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 182 | 1 | "Viral Sensations: Culinary Clickbait" | January 1, 2023 |
| 184 | 2 | "Viral Sensations: America's Next Culinary Influencer" | January 8, 2023 |
| 185 | 3 | "Viral Sensations: My Big Fat Greek Kitchen" | January 15, 2023 |
| 186 | 4 | "Viral Sensations: That's So Decadent" | January 22, 2023 |
| 187 | 5 | "Viral Sensations: Surviving Worst Cooks" | January 22, 2023 |
| 188 | 6 | "Viral Sensations: Glitch in the Culinary Matrix" | January 29, 2023 |
| 189 | 7 | "Viral Sensations: Robo-Roast" | January 29, 2023 |
| 190 | 8 | "Viral Sensations: Verified Chefs" | February 5, 2023 |
References
[edit]- ^ 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) - ^ "Shows A-Z - worst cooks in america on foodnetwork". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
External links
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