Worst Cooks in America season 26

Worst Cooks in America 26, also known as Love at First Bite, is the twenty-sixth season of the American competitive reality television series Worst Cooks in America. It premiered on Food Network on August 6, 2023 and concluded on September 10, 2023. Jessica Singer was the winner of this season, with Samantha "Sami" White as the runner-up.

Worst Cooks in America
Season 26
Judges	Anne Burrell Jeff Mauro
No. of contestants	16
Winner	Jessica Singer
Runner-up	Samantha "Sami" White
No. of episodes	8
Release
Original network	Food Network
Original release	August 6 (2023-08-06) – September 10, 2023 (2023-09-10)
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.^[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

Jeff Mauro joins Anne Burrell to host Love at First Bite. The season premiered on August 6, 2023.^[4]

Recruits

Contestant	Hometown	Occupation	Team	Status
Jessica Singer	Los Angeles, California	Comedian/Pet Sitter	Jeff	Winner on September 10, 2023
Samantha "Sami" White[5]	Chicago, Illinois	Drag King	Anne	Runner-up on September 10, 2023
Louisa "Lou" Tocquie	Rochester, New York	Home Health Aide	Anne	Finalist on September 10, 2023
Sterling Quinn	New York City	Fashion Designer/Content Creator	Jeff
Etherio Noon	Chicago, Illinois	Model	Anne	Eliminated on September 10, 2023
Allegra Melton	Jonesboro, Arkansas	Personal Trainer	Jeff
Zach Russell	New York City	Business Development Director	Jeff	Eliminated on September 3, 2023
James Bates	Hammond, Louisiana	Content Creator	Anne
Kermit Moss Jr.	Costa Mesa, California	Music Producer	Jeff	Eliminated on August 27, 2023
Terri Arcelia	Atlanta, Georgia	Bartender	Anne
Toneata Morgan	Los Angeles, California	Actress/Model	Jeff
Charles Osborne	New York City	Actor/Comedian/Writer	Anne	Withdrew on August 27, 2023
Denz Mooney	Long Island, New York	Content Creator	Anne	Eliminated on August 20, 2023
Michael Kazakov	Staten Island, New York	Demolition Man	Jeff	Withdrew on August 20, 2023
Matthew Militello	Los Angeles, California	Makeup Artist	Jeff	Eliminated on August 13, 2023
Amy Solomon	Las Vegas, Nevada	Professional Organizer	Anne

Couples

This season features a cast of single recruits eager to learn some cooking skills to impress future dates. As a twist, recruits were selected in pairs to join the Red or Blue Team. Pairs will compete together in all Skill Drills and share a work station for all cooks.

Original Couples[a]	Team
Allegra & Michael[b]	Blue
Amy & Etherio[c]	Red
Jessica & Kermit[d]	Blue
Lou & Denz	Red
Sami & James	Red
Sterling & Matthew[e]	Blue
Terri & Charles[f]	Red
Toneata & Zach	Blue

Notes

1. The winner of each team's Skill Drill cook receives the power to "recouple" by staying with their current partner or choosing a different one as his new partner.
2. In Episode 2, Michael recoupled with Sterling.
3. In Episode 4, Etherio chose to be in the "Singles Zone".
4. In Episode 4, Kermit recoupled with Toneata, thus leaving Jessica to pair up with Zach.
5. In Episode 3, Sterling was automatically paired with Allegra since Michael withdrew from the competition.
6. In Episode 3, Terri recoupled with Etherio, thus leaving Charles in the "Singles Zone".

Elimination Chart

  Team Anne

  Team Jeff

Rank	Contestant	Episode
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	Jessica	BTM	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	BTM	WINNER
2	Sami	IN	IN	BTM	WIN	WIN	IN	WIN	RUNNER-UP
3	Lou	BTM	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	BTM	FINALIST
4	Sterling	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	BTM	WIN
5	Etherio	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	BTM	OUT
6	Allegra	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	OUT
7	Zach	IN	IN	WIN	IN	BTM	OUT
8	James	IN	IN	IN	IN	BTM	OUT
9	Kermit	BTM	BTM	IN	BTM	OUT
10	Terri	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
11	Toneata	IN	IN	IN	OUT
12	Charles	IN	WIN	IN	WDR
13	Denz	BTM	BTM	OUT
14	Michael	IN	WIN	WDR
15	Matthew	IN	OUT
16	Amy	IN	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.

  (FINALIST) The contestant was a finalist 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.

  (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated.

  (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.

  (WDR) The contestant withdrew from the competition due to illness.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date [6]
191	1	"Love at First Bite: Fiery First Date"	August 6, 2023 (2023-08-06)
192	2	"Love at First Bite: That's Amore"	August 12, 2023 (2023-08-12)
193	3	"Love at First Bite: Double Dish of Love"	August 20, 2023 (2023-08-20)
194	4	"Love at First Bite: Flavor of Love"	August 27, 2023 (2023-08-27)
195	5	"Love at First Bite: Some Like It Hot"	August 27, 2023 (2023-08-27)
196	6	"Love at First Bite: If the Choux Fits"	September 3, 2023 (2023-09-03)
197	7	"Love at First Bite: What Happens in Boot Camp"	September 10, 2023 (2023-09-10)
198	8	"Love at First Bite: All Is Fair in Love and Cooking"	September 10, 2023 (2023-09-10)