The twelfth season of the American reality television series Food Network Star premiered May 22, 2016 on Food Network. Food Network chefs Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis returned to the series as judges.[1]
| Food Network Star | |
|---|---|
| Season 12 | |
| No. of contestants | 13 |
| Winner | Tregaye Fraser |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
| Original release | May 22 – July 31, 2016[1] |
| Season chronology | |
This season featured thirteen contestants rather than twelve; the thirteenth contestant, Martita Jara (who originally appeared in the series' eighth season), was chosen via a three-week spin-off series called Comeback Kitchen, where seven former Food Network Star contestants competed for a chance to participate in season 12 of the main series.[2] Comeback Kitchen was hosted by chef Tyler Florence and chef/actress Valerie Bertinelli; and it premiered on May 8, 2016,[1] although it initially became available on demand in some markets in April 2016.[3] This season also continued the inclusion of Star Salvation, a six-week[4] webseries that featured the most recently eliminated contestant competing against the remaining previously eliminated contestants for a chance to re-enter the main Food Network Star competition.
Unlike previous seasons, executives Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson did not assist in the judging; nor did chief executive Brooke Johnson appear in the finale to introduce the winner (Tuschman left Food Network and Johnson retired prior to the start of the season).[5][6]
Contestants
editWinner
editRunners-up
edit- Jernard Wells – Atlanta, Georgia
- Damiano Carrara – Moorpark, California
Eliminated
edit(in order of elimination)
- Havird Usry – Augusta, Georgia
- Aaron Crumbaugh – Spokane, Washington
- Melissa Pfeister – Los Angeles, California
- Martita Jara – San Diego, California
- Monterey Salka – Nashville, Tennessee
- Rob Burmeister – Staten Island, New York
- Joy Thompson – Thomasville, North Carolina
- Erin Campbell – Woodbury, Minnesota
- Ana Quincoces – Coral Gables, Florida
- Yaku Moton-Spruill – San Francisco, California
Contestant progress
edit| Contestant | Week | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 41 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
| Mentor Challenge Winner |
— | Erin Martita Joy Damiano |
Tregaye | Monterey Jernard Yaku |
Damiano | Tregaye Damiano |
Tregaye | Tregaye | Jernard | Jernard Damiano |
— |
| Tregaye | IN | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | IN | HIGH | IN | LOW | WINNER |
| Jernard | IN | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | LOW | IN | RUNNER-UP |
| Damiano | IN | HIGH | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP4 |
| Yaku | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | OUT2 | ||||||
| Ana | HIGH | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||
| Erin | IN | LOW | IN | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | OUT | |||
| Joy | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | HIGH | LOW | OUT | ||||
| Rob | HIGH | HIGH | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | |||||
| Monterey | HIGH | LOW | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| Martita | IN | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||
| Aaron | LOW | OUT | |||||||||
| Melissa | LOW | OUT3 | |||||||||
| Havird | OUT | ||||||||||
^Note 1 : Because of the challenge outcome, the judges did not select a winning team. Instead, they identified the three best individual cooks.
^Note 2 : Yaku returned to the competition after winning Star Salvation.
^Note 3 : Melissa did not appear in the finale.
^Note 4 : Damiano was eliminated from the final three midway through the finale.
- (WINNER) The contestant won the competition and thus became the next Food Network Star.
- (RUNNER-UP) The contestant made it to the finale, but did not win.
- (HIGH) The contestant was one of the selection committee's favorites for that week.
- (IN) The contestant performed well enough to move on to the next week.
- (LOW) The contestant was one of the selection committee's least favorites for that week, but was not eliminated.
- (OUT) The contestant was the selection committee's least favorite for that week, and was eliminated.
Comeback Kitchen contestants
edit| Contestant | Orig. season |
|---|---|
| Penny Davidi | 7 |
| Matthew Grunwald | 11 |
| Martita Jara | 8 |
| Brianna Jenkins | 6 |
| Chris Kyler | 10 |
| Michele Ragussis | 8 |
| Dom Tesoriero | 11 |
Contestant progress
edit| Contestant | Week | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Martita | IN | IN | WIN | |
| Dom | LOW | IN | OUT | |
| Matthew | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Michele | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Chris | IN | IN | OUT1 | |
| Penny | LOW | OUT | ||
| Brianna | OUT | |||
^Note 1 : Chris was eliminated after the mentor challenge.
- (WIN) The chef won Comeback Kitchen and returned to the main competition.
- (IN) The contestant performed well enough to move on to the next week.
- (LOW) The contestant was one of the selection committee's least favorites for that week, but was not eliminated.
- (OUT) The contestant was the selection committee's least favorite for that week, and was eliminated.
Star Salvation
editThis season of Star Salvation was hosted by Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and season 11 winner Eddie Jackson.[4]
Contestant progress
edit| Contestant | Week | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Yaku | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN |
| Monterey | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Ana | OUT | |||||
| Erin | OUT | |||||
| Joy | OUT | |||||
| Rob | OUT | |||||
| Aaron | IN | OUT | ||||
| Havird | OUT | |||||
- (WIN) The chef won Star Salvation and returned to the main competition.
- (IN) The chef continued in the competition.
- (OUT) The chef lost in that week's Star Salvation and was eliminated from the competition.
References
edit- ^ a b c Russo, Maria (March 31, 2016). "Food Network Star, Season 12 | Star Blog". Food Network. Scripps Networks Interactive. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ a b Matt (April 1, 2016). "Food Network Gossip: Food Network Star Alumni Return For Season 12 Of Food Network Star In 'Comeback Kitchen'". Food Network Gossip. Blogger. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ "Time Warner Cable | On Demand". Time Warner Cable. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ a b "Star Salvation". Food Network. Scripps Networks Interactive. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (August 19, 2015). "Food Network Chief Brooke Johnson to Retire | Variety". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (January 21, 2016). "Food Network SVP Bob Tuschman to be Replaced by Deirdre O'Hearn | Variety". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
- ^ "Meet the Food Network Star, Season 12 Finalists". Food Network. Scripps Networks Interactive. Retrieved April 24, 2016.