The twelfth season of the American competitive reality television series MasterChef (also known as MasterChef: Back to Win) premiered on Fox on May 25, 2022, and concluded on September 14, 2022. Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, and Joe Bastianich all returned as judges.
The season was won by MasterChef Junior season one runner-up Dara Yu, with season five fifth-place finisher Christian Green and season 10 15th-place finisher Michael Silverstein as the runners-up.
Production On August 18, 2021, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a twelfth season, with judges Ramsay, Sánchez, and Bastianich announced to be returning as well. On April 5, 2022, it was announced that the season would premiere on May 25, 2022.
Contestants The season featured 20 returning former MasterChef contestants, including two former MasterChef Junior contestants who competed as adults.
Sources for all contestants and previous seasons: Ages are as shown in graphics on the show.
Contestant Age Hometown PreviousSeason PreviousSeasonPlacing Status Dara Yu 20 Los Angeles, California 1 (Junior) 2ndWinner September 14 Christian Green 36 New Orleans, Louisiana 5 5th Runners-up September 14 Michael Silverstein 34 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 10 15th Shanika Patterson 38 Miami, Florida 9 8thEliminated September 7 Emily Hallock 31 Neenah, Wisconsin 9 10th Willie Mike 33 Houston, Texas 5 7thEliminated August 31 Amanda Saab 32 Seattle, Washington 6 13th Derrick (Peltz) Fox 35 Fort Myers, Florida 6 2nd Bowen Li 29 Tianjin, China 9 5thEliminated August 24 Brandi Mudd 33 Irvington, Kentucky 7 2nd Fred Chang 26 Redondo Beach, California 10 10thEliminated August 17 Gabriel Lewis 24 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 8 7th Brielle "Bri" Baker 27 Dallas, Texas 10 8th Eliminated August 10 Shelly Flash 38 Brooklyn, New York 6 9th Eliminated August 3 Tommy Walton 59 Chicago, Illinois 6 7th Eliminated July 27 Shayne Wells 18 Spring, Texas 5 (Junior) 3rd Eliminated July 20 Samantha Daily 23 West Des Moines, Iowa 9 4th Eliminated July 13 Alejandro Valdivia 40 Atlanta, Georgia 11 4th Eliminated June 29 Caitlin "Cate" Meade 30 Chicago, Illinois 8 4th Eliminated June 22 Stephen Lee 54 Palm Springs, California 6 3rd Eliminated June 15
Elimination table PlaceContestantEpisode 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19/20 1 Dara INLOWWIN IN INWINIMMHIGHLOWHIGH IN INLOWWINWINHIGHWINNER 2 Christian INHIGHWIN INWINIMMINHIGHIN INWINIMMWINWINWINHIGH Michael IN ININ IN INHIGHWINWINIMMHIGHLOW INHIGHINLOWLOW 4 ShanikaHIGH ININ IN IN ININ INWINIMMWINIMMLOWIN INELIM 5 EmilyWINIMMIN INHIGH ININLOWLOW IN INWINHIGHWINELIM 6 WillieHIGH INWIN IN IN ININ ININLOWLOW INWINELIM 7 Amanda IN INWINWINIMMHIGHIN ININ IN INHIGHELIM Derrick IN INWINHIGH IN INWIN INHIGHWINIMMLOWELIM 9 Bowen IN ININHIGHLOW INWIN INWINIMMHIGHELIM 10 Brandi INHIGHWIN IN IN ININLOWIN INELIM 11 Fred INWINIMMLOW IN INWIN INLOWELIM 12 GabrielLOW ININ IN IN INWIN INELIM 13 Bri IN ININ INLOWLOWWINELIM 14 Shelly IN INWINLOWHIGHLOWELIM 15 TommyLOWLOWWIN IN INELIM 16 Shayne IN INWIN INELIM 17 Samantha IN ININELIM 18 Alejandro IN INELIM 19 Cate INELIM 20 StephenELIM
(WINNER) This cook won the competition. (RUNNER-UP) This cook finished as a runner-up in the finals. (WIN) The cook won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge/Skills Test or Elimination Test). (WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and directly advanced to the next round. (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the individual challenge but didn't win. (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the Team Challenge. (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in an individual challenge. (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in a team challenge. (IMM) The cook didn't have to compete in that round of the competition and was safe from elimination. (IMM) The cook had to compete in that round of the competition but was safe from elimination. (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual challenge, and was the last person to advance. (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in the Team Challenge and they advanced. (ELIM) The cook was eliminated from MasterChef.
Episodes
See also MasterChef: Back to Win
References