BBQ Brawl (titled BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Symon during the first season) is an American cooking reality competition television series that airs on Food Network.
Production
The first three seasons were filmed at the Star Hill Ranch in Austin, Texas, while the fourth season was filmed at Long Branchs Saloon & Farms Half Moon Bay, California.
The first season aired from August 1 to August 22, 2019; and it was presented by chefs Bobby Flay and Michael Symon. Chefs Moe Cason, Chris Lilly and Amy Mills served as judges. It began with eight barbecue chefs in the pilot episode, who were then divided into two teams that were each headed by Flay and Symon. At the end of each episode, one chef from each team was eliminated. The winner in the season finale was awarded the title "Master of 'Cue", which was in turn the name of their subsequent series on FoodNetwork.com.
The second season added chef and former football player Eddie Jackson as a team captain alongside Flay and Symon. Chefs Rodney Scott and Brooke Williamson were added in as the new judges along with television personality Carson Kressley. It aired from June 14 to August 9, 2021.
The third season consisting of eight episodes brought in chefs Jet Tila and Anne Burrell as new captains alongside Flay. It aired from May 9 to June 27, 2022.
In April 2023, Symon revealed that the show was filming a fourth season, but he would not be returning. In June 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would premiere on July 10, 2023 with a 90-minute special episode and Sunny Anderson would serve as a captain alongside Flay and Burrell.
In September 2023, Food Network renewed the show for a fifth season which premiered on July 8, 2024. The show returned to Texas for the fifth season, with Michael Voltaggio serving as a captain alongside Flay and Anderson.
In April 2025, TheWrap reported that the sixth season would feature two new chefs, namely Maneet Chauhan and Antonia Lofaso, serving as captains alongside Flay. The season premiered on June 1, 2025.
In February 2026, Flay revealed that Brooke Williamson, who had served as a judge on the show since its second season, would serve as a captain for the seventh season as them dating each other meant they couldn't be impartial to each other. In April 2026, People reported that Williamson and Flay would be joined by a returning Maneet Chauhan, while a returning Carson Kressley would be joined by Adrienne Cheatham and season 3 winner Rashad Jones as judges. The season aired from May 11, 2026 to July 6, 2026.
Contestants
Season 1
Source
Winner
Lee Ann Whippen – Tampa, Florida
Runner-up
Susie Bulloch – Lehi, Utah
Eliminated
Joe Pearce – Kansas City, Missouri Kevin Bludso – Compton, California Carey Bringle – Nashville, Tennessee George "Tuffy" Stone – Richmond, Virginia Phil Johnson – Phoenix, Arizona Lynnae Oxley-Loupe – Battle Ground, Washington
Season 2
Winner
Erica Blaire Roby - Dayton, Ohio
Runners-up
Ara Malekian - Richmond, Texas David Sandusky - St. Louis, Missouri
Eliminated
Christina Fitzgerald - St. Louis, Missouri Max Hardy - Detroit, Michigan Megan Day - Lee's Summit, Missouri Brendan Lamb - Roanoke, Texas Terry Matthews - Phoenix, Arizona Lu Holter - Hudson, Wisconsin Taylor Carroll - Atlanta, Georgia Christopher Prieto - Knightdale, North Carolina Brittani Bo Baker - Tampa, Florida
Season 3
Winner
Rashad Jones - Ocala, Florida
Runners-up
Don Nguyen - Houston, Texas Winnie Yee-Lakhani - Fullerton, California
Eliminated
James Cruse - New Orleans, Louisiana Tony Froyan - Maplewood, New Jersey Michelle Wallace - Houston, Texas Matt Roth - Austin, Texas Sunny Moody - Nashville, Tennessee Tina Cannon - Atlanta, Georgia
Season 4
Winner
Dominique Leach - Chicago, Illinois
Runners-up
Chuck Matto - Vallejo, California Harold Villarosa - San Francisco, California
Eliminated
Kate Neville - Los Angeles, California Robert Smith - Hempstead, Texas Chris Williams - Louisville, Kentucky Larissa Da Costa - Los Angeles, California Christie Vanover - Las Vegas, Nevada Brian Duffy - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ami Cisneros - San Diego, California Ippy Aiona - Kamuela, Hawaii Chris Binotto - Venice Beach, California
Season 5
Winner
Erica Barrett - Atlanta, Georgia
Runners-up
Bruce Kalman - Las Vegas, Nevada Hugh Mangum - New York City, New York
Eliminated
Noah Sims - Epworth, Georgia Shannon Snell - Gainesville, Florida (withdrew) Andrea Nicholson - Toronto, Ontario Logan Sandoval - Simi Valley, California Ray Lampe - St. Petersburg, Florida Elena Terry - Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Flora Kamimura - Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Ashley Turner - Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sam Cruz - Miami, Florida
Season 6
Winner
Kyle Bryner - Dillard, Georgia
Runners-up
Tyler Anderson - Hartford, Connecticut Brad Leighninger - Branson, Missouri
Eliminated
Tim Van Doren - Alabaster, Alabama Arturo Ramon - Wimberley, Texas Alexandra Donnadio - Hillsborough, New Jersey Jason Dady - San Antonio, Texas Aarthi Sampath - New York City, New York Rosalie Bradford Pareja - Clearwater, Florida Thyron Mathews - Oelwein, Iowa Greg Gatlin - Houston, Texas Orchid Paulmeier - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Season 7
Winner Bob Trudnak --Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Runners-up Morgan Bolling --Boston, Massachusetts Tung Nguyen --New Orleans, Louisiana
Eliminated
Vinny Mangual --Brooklyn, New York Raquel Fleetwood --Long Beach, California Tim McLaughlin --Dallas, Texas Blake Stoker --Martin, Tennessee Edith Mattiuzzo --Udine, Italy Chris Farella --Fort Lee, New Jersey Braunda Smith --San Antonio, Texas Dakari Akorede --Atlanta, Georgia Torrece "T" Gregoire --Bristol, Virginia
Contestant progress
Season 1
RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 1 Lee Ann IN BTM IN WINNER 2 Susie IN IN IN RUNNER-UP 3 Lynnae IN BTM OUT 4 Phil IN IN OUT 5 Tuffy BTM OUT 6 Carey BTM OUT 7 Kevin OUT 8 Joe OUT
(WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition.
Season 2 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 EricaINININBTM ININBTMININ WINNER 2 Ara ININININININININBTM RUNNER-UP DavidBTMINININININININBTM RUNNER-UP 4Brittani ININININININSTLBTM OUT 5 ChristopherINBTMBTMININBTMIN OUT 6 TaylorINININ INBTMIN OUT 7 LuINBTM INININ OUT 8 TerryINININ IN OUT 9 BrendanINININ OUT 10 MeganINBTM OUT 11 MaxIN OUT 12 Christina OUT (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (STL) The contestant was stolen by a rival team captain using their "Steal Card". (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition.
Season 3 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 RashadSWCININININININ WINNER 2DonSWCININININININ RUNNER-UP WinnieSWCINBTMBTMINININ RUNNER-UP 4TinaININININBTMIN OUT 5 SunnySWCINININSTL OUT 6 MattINBTMININ OUT 7 MichelleSWCININ OUT 8 TonySWCIN OUT 9 JamesIN OUT
(WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (SWC) The contestant was switched to another team. (STL) The contestant was stolen by a rival team captain using their "Steal Card". (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition.
Season 4 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 DominiqueSWCININ ININININ ININ WINNER 2 ChuckSWCINBTMINBTMINBTMINBTM RUNNER-UP HaroldIN ININININ INININSTL RUNNER-UP 4 BinottoSWCININ ININININSTL OUT IppyIN ININININBTMININ OUT 6 AmiSWCININBTMINININ OUT 7 DuffySWCIN ININ ININ OUT 8 ChristieINBTMINININ OUT 9 LarissaSWCIN ININ OUT 10 ChrisSWCININ OUT 11 RobertSWCIN OUT 12 KateIN OUT (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (SWC) The contestant was switched to another team. (STL) The contestant was stolen by a rival team captain using their "Steal Card". (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition.
Season 5 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101EricaFPINININBTMINININBTM WINNER 2BruceINININININBTMINININ RUNNER-UPHughFPININININININININ RUNNER-UP4SamSWCBTMININININININ OUT 5AshleySWCINBTMINININBTM OUT 6FloraINININININSTL OUT 7ElenaININININBTM OUT 8RayFPININBTM OUT 9LoganSWCININ OUT 10AndreaSWCIN OUT 11ShannonSWCIN WDWNote: This was due to health reasons.12NoahSWC OUT (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (FP) The contestant was chosen by the captain as the team's franchise player and is immune from the "Team Switch". (SWC) The contestant was switched to another team. (STL) The contestant was stolen by a rival team captain using their "Steal Card". (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition. (WDW) The contestant withdrew from the competition.
Season 6 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101KyleININININSTLININININ WINNER 2Tyler INININININININBTMINRUNNER-UPBradINININININININININRUNNER-UP4OrchidININININININBTMIN OUT5GregINBTMINBTMININININ OUT6ThyronINININININBTMIN OUT7RosalieININININININ OUT8AarthiBTMININININ OUT9JasonININBTM OUT10AlexandraININ OUT11Arturo IN OUT12Tim OUT (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (STL) The contestant was stolen by a rival team captain using their "Steal Card". (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries on their team, but was not eliminated. (OUT) The contestant was eliminated from the competition. (WDW) The contestant withdrew from the competition.
Season 7 RankContestantEpisode1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 91BobININININININININ WINNER 2MorganININININININBTMIN RUNNER-UPTungININININININININ RUNNER-UP4TINININININININOUT5DakariININININBTMINOUT6BraundaINININININBTMWDW7ChrisINININSTLINOUT8EdithBTMBTMININOUT9BlakeININBTMOUT10TimININOUT11RaquelINOUT12VinnyOUT
(WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Master of 'Cue". (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the first team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant was among the members of the second team to be safe in the challenge. (IN) The contestant won the challenge for their team.