MasterChef past winners: Who’s won the Fox cooking competition?

MasterChef: Back to Win is heating up the kitchen as past contestants vie for 20 aprons symbolizing their place in the next round of the competition. Everyone competing was previously on the show but fell short of winning. Now they’re back to redeem themselves.

If you’re just tuning into MasterChef, or have been hit-or-miss over the years, you may not know who these contestants lost to in their debut seasons. The chefs who’ve made it into the show’s Winners Circle are diverse in skill, expertise, and area of focus. They’ve also gone onto expand their repertoires and build their own businesses.

Who are these winners? Here’s a rundown of the chefs who overcame their competition on MasterChef and what they’ve been up to since they won their seasons.

The Winners of MasterChef

The winners list as reported by Parade with information on what the contestants have been doing since their season’s end:

• Whitney Miller (season 1) – Miller won the competition at 22. She’s since written two cookbooks–Modern Hospitality and New Southern Table–is a judge for World Food championships, and owns her own cookie company, Whitney’s Cookies.
• Jennifer Behm Lazzarini (season 2) – Since her win, Behm Lazzarini has judged several cooking challenges and returned to MasterChef as a guest in season 10. She currently works as a private chef, teaches cooking class, and hosts events.
• Christine Ha (season 3) – Ha is a proud restaurant owner of two establishments based in Houston–The Blind Goat and Xin Chào. The chef, who is a finalist for the 2022 James Beard Best Chef award in the Texas region category, is working on her memoir which will detail her life, career, and her journey as a legally blind Asian woman in the field. A documentary about Ha is also in the process of filming.
• Luca Manfé (season 4) – Manfé has something in common with MasterChef: Back to Win‘s contestants as he made his MasterChef debut in season 3 but won when he came back in the fourth season of the show. Nowadays, he offers a personal chef experience through his catering company, Dinner with Luca, and teaches online cooking classes.
• Courtney Lapresi (season 5) – Unlike her predecessors, Lapresi didn’t continue on in the cooking industry. She wrote Everyday Fancy: 65 Easy, Elegant Recipes for Meals, Snacks, Sweets, and Drinks after she won but now works in sales for Tesla.
• Claudia Sandoval (season 6) – Sandoval may be the busiest chef on this list. Between hosting Taste of the Border and judging multiple cooking competitions including MasterChef Latino, she has her work cut out for her. She also owns Cochi Dorado Bakery and has brand partnerships with Disney, Coca-Cola, Verde Valle, and more!
• Shaun O’Neale (season 7) – O’Neale has returned more than once to the MasterChef franchise from appearances in seasons 8, 9, 10, and 12 to a feature on MasterChef Celebrity Showdown. He’s a spokesperson for PitBoss Grills, CookCraft Cookware and Rhineland Cutlery. And, O’Neale has been invited as a guest chef or speaker at over 150 events around the world.
• Dino Angelo Luciano (season 8) – Luciano has a charitable heart. Besides being a full-time private chef and winning Best Chef in Montreal, his work centers on helping the homeless. Luciano famously donated his prize money to various causes in the United States and Canada.
• Gerron Hurt (season 9) – Hurt is a restaurant owner and has been featured on MasterChef Live since he won. He’s currently working on a cookbook and a Nashville hot sauce brand.
• Dorian Hunter (season 10) – MasterChef isn’t the only competition Hunter has been on. The chef was a finalist in Great Soul Food Cookoff. She’s also appeared on Beat Bobby Flay, hosts online classes, and is publishing her first cookbook.
• Kelsey Murphy (season 11) – Murphy is the latest chef to enter MasterChef‘s Winners Circle, but she’s already off to a great start. She has her own pop-up restaurant, Inspo by Chef Kelsey Murphy, and is a brand ambassador for MasterChef Cookware. Murphy’s cookbook will hit shelves in 2023.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more MasterChef news and coverage! Also, check out our sister site Guilty Eats for in-depth food coverage including cooking competitions.