When MasterChef Junior first premiered in 2013, viewers wondered how chef Gordon Ramsay would manage to work with a bunch of kid cooks, considering he is famously known for his hothead demeanor in the kitchen.
Surprisingly, not only did the show expose Gordon’s gentler side, but it also became an instant family-friendly hit. It probably helped that all the contestants were sweet, talented kids who simply wanted to make the perfect Beef Wellington.
“[MasterChef Junior] is unlike any other program out there when you’re asking them to step up and give you attitude, and then me lowering myself down to their level, whether it’s a pie in my face, or sticking them inside a bloody giant milkshake,” the Kitchen Nightmares star told Deadline in 2017. “It doesn’t matter; they need to see me vulnerable, and the minute they saw me vulnerable, it empowered them to become even more uber-confident about what they were doing.”
The contestants receive the opportunity to cook for world-class chefs, and Gordon also uses the competition as a serious teaching experience. “The big issue that I wanted to face, and said it to them — and I really meant it — is that when we screw up, don’t give me the problem. Give me the solution,” the Hell’s Kitchen chef continued. “I’m going to teach you how to come back with a solution, and that’s what life is going to be about, facing adversity, getting over those steps, and more importantly, figuring out a solution, as opposed to sitting on the problem.”
Since the show first aired on TV, there’ve been seven winners, the most recent one being Che Spiotta, who won season five in May 2019. Winners of MasterChef Junior not only get bragging rights, but they also receive $100,000 and a trophy. Past winners, like season four’s Addison Osta Smith, even appeared on talk shows like The Tonight Show and Hollywood Today Live.
“It still is kind of setting in,” Addison previously said following her victory. “It’s just completely surreal what happened from just seeing an advertisement for an open call.”
Some past contestants have gone on to become chefs, while others have switched to other endeavors, like acting or modeling. Check out the gallery below to see what past winners, runners-up, and semifinalists are up to today.