The show premiered on January 3, 2010. The show was initially hosted by chef Anne Burrell and chef Beau MacMillan in Season 1. MacMillan was replaced by chef Robert Irvine on Season 2, followed by chef Bobby Flay for Seasons 3–5. On November 20, 2014, a Food Network press release announced that chef Tyler Florence will be paired with chef Anne Burrell to host Season 6, to debut on January 4, 2015. Burrell was the winning instructor in seasons 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 with Flay winning in Seasons 4–5. Rachael Ray and Anne Burrell hosted the Season 7 special celebrity edition, which premiered September 23, 2015. During the finale of Season 7, a trailer previewing Season 8 was shown and was aired in January 2016 with the return of Tyler Florence.
Chefs Beau MacMillan and Anne Burrell lead an intense culinary boot camp. They have six recruits each, and every week they must eliminate one recruit from each of their teams until there is only one from each team left. The final two create a three-course meal to fool a panel of restaurant critics into believing that the meal was created by the acclaimed chefs.
Twelve chefs competed in the first season of Worst Cooks in America. Hometowns and occupations are available from the Food Network website. Chef Anne's team was known as the Red Team and Chef Beau's team was known as the Blue Team.
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.
(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.
* Initially a member of the other team but switched after Chef Beau won the bet on whose team member made the best crepes.
Casting for season 2 of Worst Cooks in America was held at the LA Marriott Burbank Airport, Hotel & Convention Center on March 27, 2010. The Food Network also began accepting online video applications for season 2. Food Network's website announced that Robert Irvine would replace Beau MacMillan for season 2. Season 2 debuted on January 2, 2011. In this season the chefs had eight recruits each.
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.
(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.
* Initially a member of the other team but switched after Chef Robert won the bet on whose team member made the best burgers.
Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay hosted season 3.
^Note 1 : In Episode 3, Team Bobby (blue team) won the first challenge, he therefore got to choose one person from Team Anne (red team) to go to his team, and then choose one person from his team to go to the other team. He chose David to go to Team Anne's team and chose Melissa from Team Anne's team to join his team.
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.
(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
(QUIT) The contestant volunteered to quit
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.
(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.
^Note 1 : In Episode 3 Team Anne (red team) won the first challenge, she therefore got to choose one person from Team Bobby (blue team) to go to her team, and then chose one person from her team to go to the other team. She chose Stephanie to go to Team Bobby's team and chose Carie from Team Bobby's team to join her team.
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.
(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.
(IN) The contestant get switched by the host to the other team. Ex: A member of the red team goes to the blue team, and a member of the blue team goes to the red team.
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host seasons 6, replacing Bobby Flay after 3 seasons. The season premiered on January 4, 2015 to 2,123,000 viewers. The second episode was lower at 1,456,000 viewers, with the third episode rising to 1,732,000 viewers and the fourth episode reached 1,689,000 viewers. the 5th episode reached 1,634,000 viewers. The sixth episode received 1.55 million viewers.
Contestant Stephanie Streisand was deemed too ill to continue on January 11
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.
(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.
Rachael Ray joins Anne Burrell to host season 7. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. Because this season had only 7 total recruits, each teams worst recruit from that weeks Main Dish challenge competed head to head in a quickfire elimination challenge instead of eliminating both recruits each week. This challenge involved more basic cooking techniques (e.g. knife skills) and the winner would be decided by a blind judging from both Anne and Rachael. The winning recruit stayed in the competition while the losing recruit was eliminated.
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.
(OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host season 8.
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.
(TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
(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.
Rachael Ray returns with Anne Burrell to host season 2 of the Celebrity Edition. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. The season premiered on September 14, 2016 to 1,185,000 viewers.
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.
(TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
(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.
Rachael Ray joins Anne Burrell to host season 10. The season premiered on January 1, 2017.
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.
(TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
(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.
(SAVE) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge but was saved by their respective team mentor.
In Episode 6, Both Chef Anne and Chef Rachael decided not to send anyone from their teams home.
