Get to know the 16 recruits marching into Boot Camp, hoping to shed their reputations as some of the worst cooks in America.
Brandon Arroyo
Brandon is a sports reporter from Cleveland who wants to stop eating fast food every day and learn to cook a meal for his girlfriend. His parents always prepared meals for him while growing up, so he is clueless about cooking. "My cooking leaves a lot of be desired," he said. "It's not been pretty."
Steven Crowley
Steven is a real estate broker who's recently divorced, but when he was married, his wife, a food blogger, did all the cooking. "I could flip houses in a recession better than I can flip pancakes at this point," he said.
Kayrene Curtis
Kayrene is a stay-at-home mom, and she wants to learn to cook so she can make her kids at least one good meal before they move out of the house.
Jonathan Farhat
Jonathan is a former military officer and the father of three boys. "I have no problem managing kids," he said, "but I have some serious issues managing myself in the kitchen."
Lily Frey
Lily is a grandmother from Anaheim, C.A. She wants to learn to cook for her grandchildren, because they've never seen her cook before. "I want to be the Chinese Anne Burrell or the Chinese Tyler," she said.
Asaf Goren
"I can dance, I have a great personality, I know how to make the party start," Asaf said. "The only thing I definitely cannot do is cook."
Robyn Hayden
Robyn is a professional balloon artist from Charleston, S.C. "I can make anything out of balloons," she said, "but in the kitchen, I can't make diddly squat."
Sylvia Jefferies
Sylvia has a 10-year-old son and lives in Charleston, S.C. "I'm a great mom, but I come from a long line of women who can't cook," she says. "I just sweat thinking about cooking."
Hazell Mckenzie
Hazell is a mother of two and a grad student who relies on her sister to do all the cooking. "I get frustrated with cooking," she said. "It's just too many things that goes into one dish. It overwhelms me.”
Priscilla Nguyen
Priscilla is a divorced mom-of-three who wants to learn how to feed her kids healthy food and create memories around the dinner table. Her boyfriend is a restaurant owner, so she knows good food — she just has no idea how to make it.
Skyler & Spencer Nick
Identical twins Skyler and Spencer learned to cook while in the wilderness as Eagle Scouts. "We have the cooking merit badge, but I don't know if that counted for taste or not," Skyler said.
Kevin Pettice
"Whenever I try to cook something, I burn it," Kevin said, "so I just end up calling it blackened." Kevin has three sisters who also don't know how to cook. "If it wasn't for our mom, my sisters and I would starve."
Shatima Ruffin
Shatima is a self-proclaimed princess who never had to cook, because she's always been spoiled. "My mom and nana cooked for me when I was younger," she said, "but now my wife does all the cooking."
Sharon Shvarzman
Sharon aka Shar Wonders is a drag performer and the grandson of restaurant owners. "They didn't spend that much time teaching me how to cook, because they were too busy teaching themselves how to run a business," he said.
Lacey Stout
Lacey is a stay-at-home mom, and she wants to learn to cook so her kids can stop eating so much processed food.
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