MasterChef season 10 saw the first African American female winner, Dorian Hunter, who continues to enjoy the spoils of her win, recently visiting Aaron Sanchez’s restaurant.
In the United States, MasterChef US has been airing on the FOX Network for 11 seasons to date.
Before the 2021 airing of season eleven, the last season, 10, aired in 2019, with the delay being as a result of the pandemic and restrictions levelled against the hospitality industry.
The amateur chefs of season 10 had to navigate attempting to leverage their new-found fame from being on the series during the height of the lockdown restrictions, and we look at how they might have navigated the matter and what they are doing now.
What is MasterChef?
MasterChef US was the first spin-off of the originally BBC One aired series of the same name. Credited with developing the US spinoff was Ben Adler, Robin Ashbrook and Adeline Ramage Rooney.
The first season of the spin-off introduced respected culinary expert and television personality, Gordon Ramsay as the resident head judge, which has remained the same in subsequent seasons.
The premise of the series is, “A nationwide search for the best home cooks in America. One of 50 hopefuls will become a culinary star and one of America’s MasterChefs.”
MasterChef season 10: Where are they now?
MasterChef season 10 saw the return of the original three resident judging panel formation of Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sanchez and Joe Bastianich.
The initial 50 hopefuls were reduced to 20 contestants which would compete for the title of America’s MasterChef, a chance to work in the kitchens of the resident judges’ restaurants and the cash prize of $250 000.
Dorian Hunter would go on to win the title of season 10’s MasterChef. Following her win, she has started to work on her cookbook, and has gone on to visit the restaurants of the resident judges of season 10. Her latest visit was to Sanchez’s Johnny Sanchez in New Orleans.
Sarah Faherty used her time on the show to pivot from Army Interrogator to a food blogger and podcaster, by sharing recipes on her website and creating the Everything Food and Wine podcast.
Below we share the rest of the journeys of the eliminated contestants in descending order from their eliminations and what they are doing now.
MasterChef’s season 10 bottom 18: Where are they now?
Nick DiGiovanni was the second runner up. The former college student leveraged his time on the series by being mentored by Joe Bastianich, and became a private chef offering cooking lessons. He also created a YouTube channel, which featured Gordon Ramsay in the latest video.
Noah Sims also leveraged his time on the show by growing in his previous career, moving from being a septic service technician to director of marketing at Shamrock Septic Service.
Shari Mukherjee went from being a stay-at-home mom, to a food blogger and recipe creator which she shares through her website, Spiced Up Mom.
Subha Ramiah went from being a RD director to being a senior director at Babylon Health, conducting multiple fundraisers to raise funds for COVID-19 relief in India.
Micah Yaroch was the recipient of Gordon Ramsay’s save during season 10.
While he had intended to go on the road after his time on the series, Micah faced financial difficulties. Fans of the series aided the aspiring chef through his GoFundMe account, and he has since worked as a baker at Field & Fire.
Bri Baker went from cocktail server to full-time food content creator, sharing her work through her website called The Plating Queen.
MasterChef’s season 10 bottom 12: Where are they now?
Jamie Hough returned to being a professional fisher and incorporated being a private chef focussed in creating south and fish inspired dishes.
Fred Chang went from being a revenue analyst to being a pastry enthusiast, sharing his creation via his Instagram page and food blog Freddy’s Harajuku.
Wuta Onda returned to being a teacher after his elimination. However, he is also a part-time chef sharing his recipes through his Instagram page.
While Renee Rice pivoted her career from being a receptionist to baking pastries following her elimination from MasterChef.
Samuel “Sam” Haaz returned to being an attorney following his elimination, only occasionally sharing images of his cooked meals for his wife and two children.
Similarly, Keturah King returned to being a journalist working as CNN’s correspondent and a political advisor, rarely sharing new culinary recipes.
MasterChef’s season 10 first eliminated 6: Where are they now?
Liz Linn used her time on MasterChef to pivot from being an events consultant to being a private chef, offering services including being a private chef, cookery classes and catering services.
Michael Silverstein did the same, as he shifted careers from restate flipper to a private chef and food content creator with his own YouTube channel.
After being eliminated, Evan Tesiny went from being a sales coordinator to being a private chef, then sales consultant again before being the resident manager at XOCO.
Kimberly White immediately returned to her previous occupation as a senior designer at Camuto Group.
Deanna Colon used her new-found fame to encourage body positivity. This is as the vocal coach has since created a body normative clothing label and co-hosts a podcast called 2 Plus Sized Divas.
Kenny Palazzolo also pivoted from being a carpenter to content creator through his YouTube channel called Live, Laugh and Cook Italian.
Final thoughts
MasterChef has proven that it can be a great springboard for amateur chefs looking to find their place in the expansive world of food and hospitality. More so with the advent of social media apps which have also spawned niche-content creators.
In 2019, Season 10 of MasterChef aired and gave two of the final contestants an opportunity to make their way in the sector.
Some would use the opportunity to further their ambitions, while others returned to their previous professions with occasional images of the food shared on social media.
