Worst Cooks in America season 29
| Worst Cooks in America | |
|---|---|
| Season 29 | |
| Judges | |
| No. of contestants | 16 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
| Original release | July 28, 2025 – present |
| Season chronology | |
Worst Cooks in America 29, also known as Talented & Terrible, is the twenty-ninth season of the American competitive reality television series Worst Cooks in America. It premiered on Food Network on July 28, 2025 and will conclude on September 1, 2025.
Format
Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series in which contestants (referred to as "recruits") with poor cooking skills undergo a culinary boot camp for the chance to win $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set.[1][2] The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. Each episode features two core challenges: the Skills Drill, which tests their grasp of basic techniques demonstrated by the chef mentors, and the Main Dish Challenge, where they must apply those skills to recreate or invent a more complex dish under specific guidelines. The weakest performer is eliminated at the end of each episode. The final two contestants prepare a restaurant-quality, three-course meal for a panel of food critics, who evaluate the dishes based on taste, presentation, and overall improvement.[3]
Judges
Gabriele Bertaccini joins Anne Burrell to host Talented & Terrible. The season was the final season to feature Burrell after her death in June of 2025.[4]
Recruits
| Contestant | Hometown | Occupation | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Anchel | New York, NY | Opera singer | Anne | |
| Preshous Jordan | Professional roller skater | Gabe | ||
| Mikki Yamashiro | Professional wrestler | Anne | ||
| Todd Zimmerman | Orlando, FL | Circus clown | Gabe | |
| Kyle Torrence | Brooklyn, NY | Musical theatre performer | Gabe | |
| Cari Westerman | Boston, MA | Rapper | Anne | |
| Julia Watkins | Violinist | Gabe | Eliminated on August 18, 2025 | |
| Nick Thomas | Sterling Heights, MI | Juggler | Anne | |
| Rebekah "Bean" Ripley | Gymnast | Gabe | Eliminated on August 18, 2025 | |
| GloZell Green | Performer & pianist | Anne | ||
| Portia Lange | Belly dancer | Anne | Eliminated on August 11, 2025 | |
| Chris Tanner | Visual artist | Gabe | ||
| Lee Colee | Dancer, singer, & performer | Anne | Eliminated on August 4, 2025 | |
| Ricky Downes | Comedian, voice actor, & puppeteer | Gabe | ||
| Shinobi Poli | Tampa, FL | Parkour instructor | - | Eliminated on July 28, 2025 |
| Olive Hui | Performance artist | - |
Elimination Chart
| Rank | Contestant | Episode | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||||
| Cari | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | WIN | ||||||
| Kyle | IN | IN | IN | BTM | BTM | ||||||
| Matthew | IN | IN | BTM | BTM | BTM | ||||||
| Mikki | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | ||||||
| Preshous | IN | WIN | BTM | IN | IN | ||||||
| Todd | IN | IMM | WIN | WIN | WIN | ||||||
| 7 | Julia | IN | BTM | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| 8 | Nick | BTM | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| 9 | Bean | BTM | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| 10 | GloZell | IN | BTM | IN | OUT | ||||||
| 11 | Portia | IN | IMM | OUT | |||||||
| 12 | Chris | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||
| 13 | Lee | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| 14 | Ricky | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| 15 | Shinobi | OUT | |||||||||
| 16 | Olive | OUT | |||||||||
- Key
- (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
- (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
- (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
- (IMM) The contestant won immunity and was safe from elimination in the week's Main Dish Challenge.
- (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
- (SWAP) The contestant get switched by a mentor to the other team
- (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date [5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 213 | 1 | "Talented & Terrible: Boot Camp's Got Talent" | July 28, 2025 |
| 214 | 2 | "Talented & Terrible: Culinary Pageant" | August 4, 2025 |
| 215 | 3 | "Talented & Terrible: The Da Vinci Cook" | August 11, 2025 |
| 216 | 4 | "Talented & Terrible: Flavor Freestyle" | August 18, 2025 |
| 217 | 5 | "Talented & Terrible: Big Top Boot Camp" | August 18, 2025 |
| 218 | 6 | "Talented & Terrible: Encores and Entrees" | August 25, 2025 |
| 219 | 7 | "Talented & Terrible: Culinary Curtain Call" | September 1, 2025 |
References
- ^ Lynch, Rene (January 2, 2010). "'Worst Cooks in America' isn't just a title: They're horrible". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (January 4, 2010). "'Worst Cooks in America': Worst thing I watched most of last night". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Worst Cooks in America (Comedy, Game-Show, Reality-TV), Anne Burrell, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Optomen Productions, January 3, 2010, retrieved July 24, 2025
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Rella, Emily (July 29, 2025). "Food Network Pays Tribute to Anne Burrell During the Premiere of Her Last Season of Worst Cooks in America". People. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ "Shows A-Z - worst cooks in america on foodnetwork". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 27, 2025.