Season 9 of the American competitive reality TV series MasterChef premiered on Fox on May 30, 2018.
Gordon Ramsay and Aarón Sanchez return from last season as judges, while former judge Joe Bastianich returns to the show as the third judge, replacing Christina Tosi. This season introduced a new format to the show, as the three judges each selected eight contestants to give aprons to, and then the judges mentor their respective contestants throughout the competition.
Gerron Hurt was announced the winner, with Ashley Mincey and Cesar Cano as co-runners-up.
Top 24[]
Except where noted, source for all names, hometowns, and occupations:[1] All ages and nicknames as given on air.
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Mentor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerron Hurt | 25 | Louisville, Kentucky | English Teacher | Joe | Winner September 19 |
| Ashley Mincey | 28 | Opa-Locka, Florida | Professional Grocery Shopper | Gordon | Runner-Up September 19 |
| Cesar Cano | 33 | Houston, Texas | High School Teacher | Aarón | |
| Samantha Daily | 20 | West Des Moines, Iowa | College Student | Gordon | Eliminated September 12 |
| Bowen Li | 24 | Tianjin, China | Pilot | Gordon | |
| Farhan Momin | 25 | Chicago, Illinois | Dental Student | Aarón | Eliminated September 5 |
| Julia Danno | 43 | Chicago, Illinois | Sales Manager | Aarón | Eliminated August 29 |
| Shanika Patterson | 34 | Miami, Florida | Event Promoter | Joe | |
| Taylor Waltmon | 30 | Houston, Texas | Sales Training Director | Gordon | Eliminated August 22 |
| Emily Hallock | 28 | Neenah, Wisconsin | Food Research Analyst | Joe | |
| Chelsea Sargent | 28 | Houston, Texas | Sales Specialist | Aarón | Eliminated August 15 |
| Seung Joo "SJ" Yun | 21 | Los Angeles, California | College Student | Gordon | |
| Ralph Xavier Degala | 29 | Houston, Texas | Senior Accountant | Joe | Eliminated August 8 |
| Mark Ingraham | 19 | Rockport, Maine | Dishwasher | Joe | Eliminated August 1 |
| Ryan Cortez | 33 | Houston, Texas | Drummer | Aarón | Eliminated July 25 |
| Lindsay Haigh | 41 | Orange, Massachusetts | Trial Attorney | Aarón | Eliminated July 18 |
| Matthew "Matt" Houck | 28 | Iowa City, Iowa | Optometrist | Joe | |
| Juni Cuevas | 28 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Disability Analyst | Aarón | Eliminated July 11 |
| Alecia Winters | 30 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Daycare Owner | Aarón | Eliminated June 27 |
| Darrick Kraus | 34 | Peoria, Arizona | Engineer | Gordon | Eliminated June 20 |
| Olusola Ogbomo | 29 | Columbia, South Carolina | Bus Driver | Joe | Eliminated June 13 |
| Stephanie Willis | 32 | Cherry Hill, New Jersey | Bartender | Gordon | |
| Sal Maida | 31 | Los Angeles, California | Architect | Joe | Eliminated June 6 |
| Sid Hoeltzell | 63 | Miami, Florida | Food Photographer | Gordon |
Elimination table[]
| Episode | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22/23 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mystery Box/ Challenge Winner(s) |
Ashley | Chelsea | Ashley, Bowen, Gerron, Julia, Mark, Matt, Ralph, Ryan, SJ, Samantha |
Cesar | Bowen, Chelsea, Cesar, Emily, Gerron, Julia, Mark, Ryan, Samantha |
Bowen, Cesar, Mark, Ralph, Ryan, Samantha |
Julia, SJ |
Ashley, Chelsea, Farhan, Julia, Ralph, Shanika, Taylor |
Shanika | Cesar, Emily |
Bowen, Cesar, Julia, Samantha, Taylor |
Gerron | Cesar, Farhan, Gerron, Julia |
Cesar | Ashley, Bowen, Cesar |
Bowen | Cesar, Gerron |
Ashley | Ashley, Cesar |
(none) | |||||||||||||
| Elimination/Pressure Test Winner(s) |
(none) | Matt | (none) | Emily, Gerron, Julia, SJ |
Mark | (none) | Ashley, Gerron |
Farhan | (none) | Bowen, Cesar |
(none) | Samantha | (none) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Gerron | IN | IMM | LOW | LOW | WIN | IN | IMM | WIN | LOW | WIN | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | IN | NPT | WIN | IMM | WIN | IN | IMM | PT | HIGH | LOW | WIN | IMM | IMM | LOW | WINNER (September 19) | |
| 2 | Ashley | WIN | IMM | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | NPT | HIGH | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | WIN | HIGH | IN | LOW | WIN | IMM | WIN | Runners-up (September 19) | |
| Cesar | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | NPT | WIN | IMM | WIN | WIN | IMM | LOW | LOW | PT | IN | LOW | WIN | IMM | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | WIN | IMM | WIN | HIGH | IN | WIN | IMM | IMM | WIN | |||
| 4 | Samantha | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | IMM | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IN | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | LOW | LOW | WIN | ELIM | Eliminated (September 12) | |
| 5 | Bowen | IN | IMM | HIGH | IMM | WIN | HIGH | LOW | NPT | WIN | IMM | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | LOW | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | LOW | LOW | ELIM | Eliminated (September 12) | ||
| 6 | Farhan | HIGH | IMM | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | NPT | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | ELIM | Eliminated (September 5) | |||||||
| 7 | Julia | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IMM | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (August 29) | ||||||||
| 8 | Shanika | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | LOW | NPT | IN | LOW | IN | IMM | WIN | WIN | IMM | IN | IN | PT | IN | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (August 29) | ||||||||||
| 9 | Taylor | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IN | NPT | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (August 22) | |||||||||||
| 10 | Emily | HIGH | IMM | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IN | WIN | IMM | ELIM | Eliminated (August 22) | |||||||||||||
| 11 | Chelsea | IN | IMM | WIN | IMM | PT | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | LOW | IN | IMM | WIN | HIGH | IN | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (August 15) | ||||||||||||||
| SJ | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IMM | NPT | IN | WIN | WIN | IMM | PT | IN | LOW | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Ralph | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | IMM | NPT | WIN | IMM | IMM | IMM | WIN | HIGH | ELIM | Eliminated (August 8) | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Mark | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | WIN | IN | IMM | WIN | WIN | IMM | LOW | WIN | ELIM | Eliminated (August 1) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Ryan | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | IMM | WIN | WIN | IMM | LOW | ELIM | Eliminated (July 25) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Lindsay | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | PT | IN | IMM | NPT | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (July 18) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Matt | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | NPT | ELIM | Eliminated (July 11) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Juni | IN | IMM | IN | IMM | NPT | IN | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (July 11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Alecia | LOW | IN | IN | IMM | NPT | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (June 27) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Darrick | IN | IMM | LOW | IN | ELIM | Eliminated (June 20) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Olusola | IN | IMM | LOW | ELIM | Eliminated (June 13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephanie | IN | IMM | LOW | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Sal | LOW | ELIM | Eliminated (June 6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sid | LOW | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eliminated | Sid | Stephanie | Darrick | Alecia | Juni | Matt | Lindsay | Ryan | Mark | Ralph | SJ | Emily | Taylor | Shanika | Julia | Farhan | Bowen | Samantha | Cesar | ||||||||||||||
| Ashley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sal | Olusola | Chelsea | Gerron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||||
| Chelsea | Alecia | Bowen | Ashley | ||||
| Lindsay | Taylor | Gerron | Julia | ||||
| Juni | Darrick | Mark | Matt | ||||
| Farhan | Cesar | Ralph | Ryan | ||||
| Shanika | Emily | S.J. | Samantha | ||||
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||||
| Juni | Lindsay | Julia | Cesar | ||||
| SJ | Taylor | Mark | Farhan | ||||
| Ashley | Ralph | Emily | Gerron | ||||
| Bowen | Matt | Samantha | Chelsea | ||||
| Shanika | Ryan | ||||||
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||||
| SJ | Mark | Julia | Ralph | ||||
| Gerron | Cesar | Farhan | Taylor | ||||
| Samantha | Emily | Chelsea | Ashley | ||||
| Bowen | Shanika | ||||||
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||||
| Emily | Ashley | Cesar | Bowen | ||||
| Farhan | Gerron | Julia | Samantha | ||||
| Shanika | Taylor | ||||||
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||||
| Cesar | Julia | Bowen | Ashley | ||||
| Gerron | Farhan | Samantha | Shanika | ||||
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||||
| Ashley | Bowen | Gerron | Farhan | ||||
| Cesar | Samantha | ||||||
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||||
| Cesar | Ashley | Gerron | Samantha | ||||
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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