It's fun to watch master chefs in the kitchen, but who knew watching terrible cooks could be
equally entertaining. Worst Cooks in America has become one of Food Network's most popular
cooking competitions, and it's seen a lot of wild moments over the course of its 20 seasons.
Once the contestants are selected – or as they're called on the show, recruits – they're isolated
from the world for four weeks. Former contestant Michael Haydin told the News Times in 2013 that
he had to take time off from work after he was selected for the fourth season. Haydin said:
"All the contestants were sequestered in a house in Brooklyn. We weren't allowed any
contact with the outside world — no cellphones, no internet, no TV, and definitely no cookbooks."
It's not unlike other reality TV competitions, but it's debatable exactly how much the outside world
could help if you've never learned basic kitchen skills. But unlike other famous shows that rely on
drama between contestants, there aren't reports of behind-the-scenes romances or rivalries.
It seems like everyone has gotten along just fine, despite being in competition for the same $25,000
prize. Anna Altomari, a 2011 contestant, told the OC Register:
"There was no drama in our house."
There's a good chance that even the worst cook you know isn't as bad as the contestants who make
it on Worst Cooks in America. It's enough to make some viewers question the reality
of the whole show. Reddit users suspect some of the contestants may be actors,
simply pretending to be utterly clueless.
"That would be an onion. I thought I knew what an onion looked like but apparently, I do not."
One incident that seemed to make viewers believe it's all fake involved a contestant
who used the dull side of a knife to cut food. A Reddit user pointed out:
"Nobody is so inept in the kitchen that they use a knife upside down."
Others questioned the show's validity during the celebrity seasons.
The Jersey Shore's Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, was on Worst Cooks in America,
despite being known for his Sunday dinners he cooked up for The Shore's house.
Sorrentino told Food Network before the season began that he wasn't the best or the worst chef,
but was simply, quote, "not bad" when it comes to basic Italian food.
"I mean I'd like to take it on the positive note that, um."
Casual viewers posting on sites like Reddit aren't the only ones with doubts.
Contestant interviews with local newspapers and publications frequently return to the
issue of the authenticity of contestants' ineptitude. The answer is yes, they can.
In 2015, former contestant Holgie Forrester told The Desert Sun that she once tried
and failed to deep fry a grilled cheese sandwich for a boyfriend that left her.
She added that she never learned to cook because she thought it was a waste of time.
Haydin, from the fourth season, told The New Times that he:
"Would burn grilled cheese and undercook chicken."
When talking about her experience prior to appearing on the show in 2011, Anna Altomari told
The OC Register that she never learned to cook because she lived at home with her mom, and that:
"Growing up in an Italian family, your mom spoils you."
Altomari also shed some light on how bad cooks are verified as being awful from the start:
"They have you answer questions in different ways.
It was a process. It was nonstop. You fill out paperwork,
fill out questions. It was an ongoing thing making sure that you are really truly who you are."
The kitchen can be a dangerous place for anyone, but especially for people who aren't familiar
with everything needed to cook a meal. And even more dangerous when those people are
thrown into a high-pressure competition environment with sharp knives and fire.
"Doing a little dance, with a knife in my hand."
In one series of highlights, a contestant who works as a
certified safety inspector spotted hazards all around him, such as raised surfaces,
open flames, and plenty of people who don't really know what they're doing.
Judge and chef Anne Burrell has seen the full range of bad cooks over the past 20 seasons.
She told PopSugar in 2013 that the contestants need to learn everything,
which can lead to some hazardous situations. She said:
"Yeah, some things are cringe-worthy. I cringe when people are dangerous; when I'm scared they're
going to hurt themselves. That's when I get nervous. Other things they do to food — instead
of [being] cringe-worthy, it's more eye-rolling. There are definitely some silly situations."
While the competition portion of Worst Cooks in America typically gets the most attention
for the high pressure fails, the boot camp where the contestants learn is where things go awry.
The chefs teach their groups of contestants how to use kitchen tools and which flavors go together.
In a first season episode, chef Burrell showed the contestants everything they
need to know about how to make a dish full of scallops, from the difference between
a clove and a bulb of garlic to the proper way to devein a shrimp. Burrell told People:
"We really put the recruits through the wringer. We ask a lot of them and I tell people on the
first day, whether you're here for a little bit of time or you're here all the way to the end,
being on this show will change your life. If you
leave boot camp without having learned anything it means you didn't want to."
Thousands of people put their names in the mix to be contestants in the regular seasons.
The range of personalities was just as wide when it came to the celebrities chosen for the six
celebrity editions. Oscar Nunez from The Office, Nolan Gould from Modern Family, and Catherine
Bach from The Dukes of Hazzard have all competed. Reality TV stars are regular contestants as well,
like Chris Soules from The Bachelor and Sonja Morgan from The Real Housewives of New York City.
For the average contestant, the possibility of winning the $25,000 prize for being the best worst
cook in America looms at the end of every season. But the winning celebrity contestant donates the
money to a charity of their choice. Jenni "JWoww" Farley won the first celebrity season and chose
to donate the $50,000 to Pick Your Paw Animal Rescue, and Tonya Harding donated the money to
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In the latest celebrity season, former Bachelorette
contestant Wells Adams won and donated $25,000 to the Nashville Humane Association.
Any show that runs for 20 seasons is clearly doing something right. For Worst Cooks in America,
the audience was present from the start. According to Cinema Blend, the premiere of the first season
premiere in 2010 helped draw Food Network's highest-rated and most-watched Sunday night, along
with Super Chef Battle: An Iron Chef America Event bringing in an average of 3.7 million viewers.
But it proved harder to sustain high viewership. According to The Daily Meal, the show averaged
927,000 viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 in 2010. Over the years, the number of people who
watch Worst Cooks in America has declined, with season premieres drawing the biggest audiences.
Viewership numbers from ShowBuzzDaily show that the 2015 premiere had more than 2 million viewers,
while the premiere in the second celebrity season in 2016 drew more than 1.1 million viewers.
In 2016, Food Network decided to try and expand the Worst Cooks in America series with
Worst Bakers in America. The first hosts were celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman and TV chef
Lorraine Pascale. The concept was pretty much the same as the original but with a focus on baking.
The contestants still went through a boot camp and it focused on sweet and savory baked goods like
sugar cookies and wedding cake decorations. And winners still receive a grand prize of $25,000.
But Worst Bakers in America didn't have the same sticking power as Worst Cooks in America.
The second season didn't come until 2019, and was hosted by Pascale and Jason Smith, who had
previously competed in Food Network shows like Holiday Baking Championship and Food Network Star.
The latest season forced contestants to blind taste test confections, guess baking ingredients
based on touch alone, and decorate with a strict time limit, according to a press release.
Season 20 of Worst Cooks in America was the most diverse yet, and featured Domaine Javier,
the first openly transgender woman to appear in a Food Network show.
Javier didn't win the season but she shared her experience on the
show in a July 2020 Instagram post. Javier said:
"The honor of becoming the first-ever openly transgender woman in Food Network's history
is extremely soul-stirring. Somewhere, a 'lost' person tuned-in to Food Network,
caught a glimpse of me, & told herself, 'I am who I am, and it's OKAY.' I can rest easy knowing I've
made such impact. An impact significant enough for you to embrace my quirkiness & support me
through the good & bad. Nothing goes unnoticed. I hope I made y'all proud."
While her casting was a first for Food Network, it wasn't Javier's first time onscreen or her first
time making history. According to her IMDB page, Javier has five associates degrees, a bachelors,
and masters degree in nursing. Javier also became the first transgender woman in the U.S. to be
named a homecoming queen in 2010. The following year, she was featured on MTV's True Life,
and later found time to squeeze in small theater and TV roles in between her studies.
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