Worst Cooks in America season 17

Worst Cooks in America 17 is the seventeenth season of the American competitive reality television series Worst Cooks in America. It premiered on Food Network on August 4, 2019 and concluded on September 22, 2019. Adrian Read was the winner of this season, with Juliann Sheldon as the runner-up.^[1]

Worst Cooks in America
Season 17
Judges	Anne Burrell Bobby Flay
No. of contestants	14
Winner	Adrian Read
Runner-up	Juliann Sheldon
No. of episodes	8
Release
Original network	Food Network
Original release	August 4 (2019-08-04) – September 22, 2019 (2019-09-22)
Season chronology

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.^[2][3] 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.^[4]

Judges

Bobby Flay joins Anne Burrell to host season 17. The season, featuring 14 recruits, debuted on August 4, 2019.^[5]

Recruits

Contestant[6]	Age	Hometown	Occupation	Team	Status
Adrian Read	29	Bronx, New York	Zumba Instructor for Seniors	Bobby	Winner on September 22, 2019
Juliann Sheldon	28	Charlotte, North Carolina	Professional Cheerleader	Anne	Runner-up on September 22, 2019
Kayla Longstreth	23	Firestone, Colorado	Dance Instructor	Bobby	Eliminated on September 15, 2019
Father Adam Young	34	Cranston, Rhode Island	Priest	Anne
Gina Lam	28	San Diego, California	Banker	Bobby	Eliminated on September 8, 2019
Peter Smerlas	36	Waltham, Massachusetts	Construction Worker & Rapper	Anne
Laith Wallschleger	26	Tampa, Florida	Former Professional Football Player	Bobby	Eliminated on September 1, 2019
Sharon Grant	53	Dallas, Texas	Minister	Anne
Mercedes "Sadie" Manda	20	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	College Student	Bobby	Eliminated on August 25, 2019
Karma Ann Moody	47	Hayesville, North Carolina	Bridal Shop Owner	Anne
Jonathan Beyer	37	New York, New York	Opera singer	Bobby	Eliminated on August 11, 2019
Terry Grawey	62	Peoria, Illinois	Hypnotist	Anne
Idriss Allison	30	Bronx, New York	Transformational Coach	Bobby	Eliminated on August 4, 2019
Nina Kharoufeh	25	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	News Curator	Anne

Elimination Chart

  Team Anne

  Team Bobby

* Initially a member of the other team

Rank	Contestant	Episode
		1	2	3		4	5	6	7	8
1	Adrian*	WIN	IN	SWAP	WIN	IN	IN	BTM	WIN	WINNER
2	Juliann	IN	BTM	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	BTM	WIN	RUNNER-UP
3	Kayla	BTM	WIN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	OUT
4	Adam	IN	WIN	IN	BTM	BTM	BTM	WIN	OUT
5	Gina	IN	IN	IN	BTM	BTM	BTM	OUT
6	Peter	IN	IN	IN	BTM	IN	IN	OUT
7	Laith	IN	BTM	IN	BTM	WIN	OUT
8	Sharon*	IN	IN	SWAP	IN	WIN	OUT
9	Sadie	WIN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
10	Karma	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
11	Jonathan	IN	OUT
12	Terry	BTM	OUT
13	Idriss	OUT
14	Nina	OUT

• Since the Red Team won the Ice Cream Skill Drill game in Week 3, Chef Anne had the choice of taking one of the Blue recruits and swapping with one of her own. She chose Adrian from her own team and Sharon from the Blue Team to swap.

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 or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.

  (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 [7]
122	1	"Nowhere to Go But Up"	August 4, 2019 (2019-08-04)
123	2	"My Big Fat Greek..."	August 11, 2019 (2019-08-11)
124	3	"Summer Catch, Summer Heat"	August 18, 2019 (2019-08-18)
125	4	"The Bird Is the Word"	August 25, 2019 (2019-08-25)
126	5	"Viva Mexico!"	September 1, 2019 (2019-09-01)
127	6	"A Very Brady Brunch"	September 8, 2019 (2019-09-08)
128	7	"A Little Goes a Long Way"	September 15, 2019 (2019-09-15)
129	8	"Two Cooks, One Prize"	September 22, 2019 (2019-09-22)