Worst Cooks in America, Season 12: Craziest Moments
Relive some of the top moments from Boot Camp, including hilarious mishaps, epic cooking fails and bittersweet eliminations.
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Photo By: Scott Gries
Photo By: Scott Gries
Photo By: Scott Gries
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Photo By: Chris Amaral
Ballooning Around
When professional balloon artist Robyn entered Boot Camp, she didn't come alone. Balloon versions of Tyler and Anne came along to add some humor to the stressful Baseline Challenge.
Please Egg-splain Yourself
The Baseline Challenge always brings out some interesting cooking techniques, but Asaf's strategy for cracking an egg had Anne and Tyler scratching their heads.
Melted Bag of Eggs
Eggs were also a challenge for Spencer who used a technique he'd learned as an Eagle Scout. "I'm doing signature eggs in a bag," he said with confidence. "It has ham, green pepper, eggs, and you pretty much throw it in a bag and put it in boiling water." "That could either be horrible or genius," Tyler said. Unfortunately for Spencer, the heat from the pot melted the plastic bag.
Acrobatic Asaf
Nothing like some light exercise to make you forget about your cooking skills.
Cheesy Toaster Technique
Everybody is always looking for shortcuts to save time in the kitchen. That's why Priscilla put slices of bread covered in cheese into a toaster laying on its side. "It cooks the bread faster," she said.
Pop Goes the Sandwich
Next time she'll have to remember to catch it when it pops out of the toaster.
Oomph & Thickness
Nobody wants a loose filling in their chicken pot pie, but instead of adding flour to it, Shatima threw flour right onto the pie crust. "It gives it extra oomph and the thickness," she said.
Cutting Board Confusion
Despite its name, a cutting board is not actually used to cut onions. Better luck next time, Asaf.
Sylvia Takes a Tumble
Sylvia was so excited to start the second week of Boot Camp, she could barely stand it.
Sharp Toss
The lesson in week two was knife cuts, and what better way to start than with a man juggling meat cleavers.
Red Finger Flop
There is one thing you can always be sure of when you step into Boot Camp. If you hold your knife wrong, Chef Anne will color your finger red.
Smoke Is No Joke
Brown food tastes good. Burnt food does not.
Messy Mentor
Tyler didn't seem too pleased when Kevin accidently splattered cream on his shirt.
Zipped Shut
Even with both of Skyler's hands, one of his hands, and his mouth, Sharon just could not open that plastic bag.
Dancing Veggies
A vegetable-themed challenge calls for a dancing carrot, right?
The Lily Shuffle
Lily started the third week of Boot Camp with her new signature dance. "I love doing The Lily Shuffle," Tyler said.
Dangerously Sliced
Robyn was finally holding her knife properly, but that doesn't mean she ws using it properly. "Please don't cut towards your hand," Anne warned.
Brandon's Taste Test
"I know you're going over to wash that hand right now, aren't you?" Anne questioned.
Sylvia's Shattered Dish
There was an unfortunate surprise waiting for Sylvia when she checked on her dish.
Crawfish Catastrophe
During the fourth week of Boot Camp, the recruits were challenged with making Nachos, and Sylvia tried to bring more flavor to her Cajun nachos by pounding crawfish in a mortar and pestle. "No. Just no. Mnh-mnh. No. No. Gross," Anne said in shock.
Dipping Nachos
Everyone on the blue team was confused about the same thing: the difference between a dip and nachos. "You're not making a dip. You're making nachos," Tyler said repeatedly.
Burnt Buns
One of the most important elements of cooking is time management. Brandon learned that the hard way.
French ... Salad?
The recruits were tasked with making a stuffed burger and fries, but Lily decided to serve a bed of lettuce and tomatoes as her side. "The simpler the better," she said. "Knock yourself out," Tyler said hesitantly.
Raw Garlic Burger
Brandon intended on making a garlic mayonnaise, but since time got away from him, he slathered normal mayo on his burger buns and added a few cloves of raw garlic to his burger. "My mouth is burning from raw garlic," Anne said in disgust.
Sayonara, Sylvia
"I think it's time for me to call it a day," Sylvia said during elimination. "You either can retain information in this type of environment, or you can't, and I-I can't. I would rather leave on my terms than be told that I didn't make the cut."
The Big Pine-Apple
For the fifth week of Boot Camp, the recruits made pizza from scratch. "I'm a native New Yorker. I've been eating pizza since I was, like, four-years-old," Sharon said with confidence. "I'm going to make a New York-style, barbecue chicken pizza with pineapple. “I live in New York," Steven responded. "Pineapple? I don't think so."
Balloon Chefs Part Deux
Anne and Tyler weren't around for this week's main dish challenge, but luckily their balloon counterparts were!
Problematic Pizza
"I go to slide my pizza on the pizza stone, and it doesn't budge," Robyn said with concern. She tried to fix it on her own, but she kept burning her fingers on the pizza stone. Luckily Brandon jumped in to help his fellow teammate out.
Raw Garlic Returns
Apparently Shatima didn't learn from Brandon's mistake last week, and unfortunately for Tyler, he was the one biting into raw garlic this time around.
Recruit Swap
Luckily for the recruits, nobody was going home this week, but the cooks with the worst dish on each team would switch places! Lacey was now on the red team, and Spencer was on the blue team.
Cooking for Cupid
For Valentine’s Day in Boot Camp, the recruits got a special visit from Cupid. "I'm going into Boot Camp, and all I see is the hairiest Cupid I've ever seen in my life, jumping like a ballerina," Asaf said.
Whipped Cream Chefs
The first challenge this week was making whipped cream from scratch. The recruits tested the thickness of their whipped cream by holding it over the mentors' heads. Unfortunately for Anne and the red team, they weren't able to whip their cream into shape.
Melting Mishap
The first dish the recruits made this week was a molten chocolate lava cake topped with whipped cream. Robyn's cake turned out great, but it was too hot when she started plating, leaving her whipped cream a runny mess.
Frostbitten Fingers
Always looking for a quick trick, Asaf thought whipping his cream in the freezer would help it firm up faster, but all that time whisking in the freezer left him with frozen fingers. "I don't feel my hand," he said with concern.
Culinary Prisoner
"Did you come here wanting to be on the red team?" Anne asked Robyn while assisting her in the main dish challenge. "I'm going to be honest, no," Robyn said. "I was scared that I wouldn't respond well to your teaching, because you have that harder love, but I've actually grown to really love it. I think it's like Stockholm Syndrome."
Missed Opportunity
Steven won the first challenge of the week, so for the Main Dish challenge, he got a special advantage: five minutes of help from Tyler, but Steven was feeling confident in his dish. "I may not use the advantage," he said. Unfortunately, that decision would come back to bite him during the tasting. "You should have used my help, because it's not perfect," Tyler said.
Candid Camera Chefs
Week seven in Boot Camp started out with a challenge and a surprise. Each team would be making a dish as a group, and Anne and Tyler wouldn't be around to watch or help them. Little did the recruits know, Anne and Tyler had a bird's eye view of their every move.
Burning Down Boot Camp
A super-hot pan and a splash of oil do not mix. Robyn learned that lesson the hard way.
Chicken Part Deux
Despite being engulfed in flames and spending a considerable amount of time in the oven, the red team's chicken still wasn't at the perfect temperature. "It's hitting 140," Robyn confirmed. "How do you get it to heat up more than it already is?" "We can do another one," Hazel suggested. "So, they're starting over from scratch versus just cooking the one they already have?" Tyler questioned.
Garlic Overload
If there's one thing the recruits should know by now, it's that large chunks of garlic will never win you points with the judges. It seems Shatima still hasn't absorbed that knowledge.
Sausage Party
The main lesson this week was the art of sausage making. "Every time we make sausage in Boot Camp, everything goes right off the rail," Anne said. "The jokes, the stuffing, the casing, and the biggest offender of making all of those jokes, is probably me."
The Other White Meat
Week eight in Boot Camp started with a Worst Cooks tradition: Robot Chef. It was up to the recruits to describe a dish to the mentors, and Anne and Tyler would do the cooking. The main ingredient on the plate was the protein, but the red team just couldn't decipher the flavor, but guessed it was pork. "The outside is brown, and the inside is pink," Lacey described. "It's kind of tough to chew." "Pork is white meat," Anne responded. "That's duck!"
Puree Problems
The blue team had their fair share of flavor mishaps too, especially when it came to the cauliflower puree. "Is it cauliflower," Tyler asked, "or is it parsnip?" "What's a parsnip?" Shatima asked. "Is it a cousin to deviled egg?"
Kneading With Nonnas
The lesson this week was making pasta from scratch, and to help the recruits out, Anne and Tyler invited two nonnas to Boot Camp to school the recruits on cooking with your heart.
Saucy Nonna
Lacey was working on her pasta sauce, and she wanted Nonna Mary Anne to give it a taste to make sure it was just right. "Very nice," Nonna Mary Anne said as she turned to cough. "You're telling me it's good," Lacey said, "but your reaction is bad."
Dough Disaster
Time is of the essence is Boot Camp, but so is precision. "When it gets to the dough, we have to add nine eggs," Shatima said. "Just the yellow part, not the whole egg, but I am rushing through separating my eggs. I'm trying super hard to get the yolks in the mixing bowl, but some of those egg whites was creepin' in." Those extra egg whites left Shatima's dough a loose, sticky mess.
Sticky Situation
Asaf was having his own struggle with the time. While rushing to cut his tomatoes, Asaf cut himself, so to in order to continue cooking, he had to put a glove on. Easier said than done. "How do you wear this thing?" he asked.
Bottoms Up
"After this challenge is over, me and Nonna are going out for cocktails," Sharon said. But Nonna was way ahead of him.
Bartender Boot Camp
After eight weeks of Boot Camp, Anne and Tyler were ready for a cocktail, so they invited a bartender to Boot Camp to teach the recruits the art of mixing spirits.
Pour One Out
Who doesn't love a margarita? Steven's tasted great, but then he threw it out. "I don't even know why I poured it out," he said. "I feel like there's no explanation for that."
Heating Up the Competition
Fire was the name of the game this week. Anne and Tyler taught the recruits how to flambé, and it was up to the recruits to replicate their dishes.
Marked
Even the final four in Boot Camp aren't safe from Anne's red marker.
Sliced
The mandoline is a sharp and dangerous cutting tool, which is why Anne and Tyler told the recruits to be extra careful when slicing with it. Steven had other ideas. "You've seen Tyler do it," he said. "Why don't you try it with your bare hand?" And that's how Steven sliced his finger. "Are you joking me, man?" Tyler asked.
Flameless Flambé
In order to flambé, you need to add some alcohol to your pan. Apparently, Sharon missed that memo.
Pinball Eggs
For his finale appetizer, Steven was making poached eggs in their shells, but first he had remove the top of the shells. "It looks like a pinball machine," Steven said of the egg cutter. "I didn't even know you could do this."
No More Mustard Seed
It was the final week in Boot Camp, but there was still plenty to learn. This week, Hazel learned just how hot a pickled mustard seed is. "One little spoon of that bad boy, and your whole mouth is in flames," she said.
Burner Blunder
Steven learned his fair share of lessons this week, too. For one, if you want to cook your food, it's important to turn on the stove.
Hooray, Hazel!
After 10 weeks of Boot Camp, Hazel is no longer one of the worst cooks in America. "My children are going to be so proud," Hazel said. "I cannot wait to get home to cook my kids a meal."
