Worst Cooks in America, Season 26: Meet the Recruits

Chefs Anne Burrell and Jeff Mauro welcome 16 fun and flirty singles to the boot camp kitchen.

Terri is a fun-loving server with a silly sense of humor – she has great people skills, but terrible cooking skills. She is easily distracted and is known to perform entire music videos in her kitchen rather than cook a meal. She wants to eventually be a wife and mom and believes when she improves her culinary skills, the men will be lining up at her door.

James is a larger-than-life hilarious divorced dad of two with a big social media following and zero cooking ability. He has confidence in the kitchen, but the results are disastrous. He once tried to impress a date by making a whole fish, but it did not go well, and she left. He is ready to stop joking, take boot camp seriously and hopefully improve his dating life.

A fitness junkie and demolition man, Michael’s best work in the kitchen is when he demos the whole thing. He lives with his family and always helps out – but they are not afraid to tell him how bad his cooking is. Michael’s food is bland, burned, and boring. He hopes boot camp can whip him into culinary shape and lead him to independence and a brand-new romance.

Allegra is a personal trainer and accomplished competitive barrel racer who is fearless in the gym and at the rodeo, but clueless in the kitchen. Her attempts at cooking have resulted in disaster, she even set her kitchen on fire and gave food poisoning to an ex-boyfriend. Allegra has been proposed to twice but is still looking for the right guy – and she hopes learning to cook will help her find the man of her dreams.

Matthew’s father had a pizza shop, but the cooking genes seem to have passed him by. He has had all types of jobs in his life, from drag queen to makeup artist to nanny. He is fabulously inept in the kitchen and is ready to change – he is certain learning to cook will help him attract the right people to date.

Denz is a popular social media influencer along with his older brother, who nominated him to be on Worst Cooks. Denz lives at home with his West African family and his mom is known to throw down in the kitchen – and she will not allow him to cook unsupervised. His fatal culinary flaw is not following directions. He is focused on his career but knows learning to cook will impress the ladies and help him reach true adulthood.

Former beauty queen Toneata has it all – except in the kitchen. She placed in the Top 15 at Miss USA and is a hopeless romantic looking for love. She also loves food but is a fish out of water when trying to cook. When in doubt she oversalts, making her dishes inedible. Toneata is all in to improve her culinary skills at boot camp and bring home the crown – and maybe a boyfriend!

Kermit is a music producer from LA who has mastered the art of the beat, but who regularly gets beat in the kitchen. His shining personality glows on dates, so he’s hoping to learn the cooking skills that will allow his dishes to measure up.

Etherio is a smooth-talking model, but most women lose their appetite after he cooks for them. The one dish he thinks he can make is cajun pasta, and even that is way over seasoned. He is impatient, burns everything and is known to set off the fire alarm. He is ready to pick up cooking skills, and maybe some ladies, at boot camp!

Charles is always creating – he writes musicals, operas and plays – so when he gets into the kitchen all he wants to do is pop something in the microwave. His personality is as sparkling as his outfits, but what does not shine is his cooking. He is determined to add culinary skills to his repertoire and find a boyfriend who is just as fabulous as he is.

Sterling’s talent and bubble gum-pink energy have led to a successful design career in New York City that she is very proud of – what she is not proud of is her cooking skills. Now on a first name basis with the fire department, she has set several fires when trying to use her oven. She wants to stop ordering take out and learn to make tasty meals on her own.

Zach has spent the past few years in serious relationships, and now this single guy must cook for himself. His food may be bland, but his personality is not - he is funny, confident, and charming. He knows learning to cook will make him a bigger catch – and he is excited to pick up some serious kitchen skills in boot camp.

Jessica is almost thirty and has had enough of the Los Angeles dating scene – she is ready to meet her match. She is hilarious, quirky and has big youngest child energy, so she relies on her friends and family to cook for her. She gets easily overwhelmed in the kitchen and is at boot camp to work through her food phobias and cook for herself.

Amy is funny and tells it like it is, and her disastrous cooking skills are infamous among her friends. She wants to change that reputation and learn to make something more than a bowl of cereal. She is ready to embrace her inner chef and become a queen in the kitchen – and maybe even meet a king with good teeth.

Louisa is a ray of sunshine everywhere but the kitchen. She believes her love life has been affected by her terrible cooking and she is in boot camp to gain culinary skills and maybe meet a new girlfriend. She hopes to recreate the West African dishes she grew up eating to impress her friends and family and prove she has changed.