Eddie Jackson

“

You know ever since I finished playing football, cooking is my new sport.

”

Hometown	Americus, GA
Age	32
Occupation	Personal Trainer
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	2
Elimination Test(s) Won	0
Team Challenge(s) Won	4
Pressure Test(s) Survived	1
Top Entries	3
Bottom Entries	1
Placement	8th (Formerly 7th)

Eddie Jackson (born December 19, 1980) was a contestant on Season 4 of MasterChef. He ranked in 8th place.

Personality

Eddie was a very respectful and confident cook, and had one of the more likable personalities, leading him to getting along with most of his fellow competitors. He initially started out as one of the underdogs, and would be in the middle of the pack when it came to cooking, however later on he gradually evolved into one of the stronger competitors, putting out excellent dishes in Mystery Boxes and winning several Team Challenges, despite remaining a consistently middle of the pack performer in Elimination Challenges. He was also strategic, using his advantages to sabotage his biggest perceived threats, being Lynn, Jordan, and James, during the season. He was also the only contestant to not have a dislike toward Krissi and somewhat tolerated her antics. Unfortunately, his lack of knowledge when it came to Japanese cuisine proved his downfall, when he was the main reason for a disgusting Sushi Platter that lead to his elimination.

Season 4

Episode 1

Eddie was not featured in the first episode, as his audition would be shown in the next one.

Episode 2

Eddie's audition was featured in this episode. He mentioned how he used to play football but had to retire due to an injury, and even threw a football at the judge's stands when he walked in to present his dish. He made a Jerk Meatloaf with Sweet Potato Mash. Although the flavors were liked by all the judges, Graham gave him a no because his presentation was lacking, but right before Joe gave him a yes. Gordon was concerned about the fact that Eddie was brushing the meatloaf when he presented it, however he eventually gave him a yes, which meant he received his apron.

Episode 3

Eddie was one of the 15 home cooks that was immediately accepted into the MasterChef Kitchen.

Episode 8

Eddie and the other 11 safe contestants went to Las Vegas to judge Natasha and Beth's and Luca and Kathy's burgers. Eddie was the first contestant to vote, and voted for the blue team.

Episode 17

Luca, who won the previous Mystery Box, decided to pair Eddie with Jessie. During the challenge, they were both struggling and unsure of themselves, due to not being familiar with Japanese cuisine. During judging, Graham remarked how their uni wasn't properly cleaned, how the fish was torn apart, and how overpowered the rice was.

Due to their poor performance, Eddie and Jessie were sent to the Bottom 2. He was eventually eliminated due to failing to understand the fundamentals of sushi and disrespecting the ingredients. When asked who he thought would win the competition, he said Natasha as she has a big heart.

Episode 25

Eddie returned in the finale to cheer on for Luca and Natasha as did the other contestants from the season.

Competition History

Week 4	In/In
Week 5	Pressure Test
Week 6	In/In
Week 7	Win
Week 8	Immune
Week 9	Win/Immune
Week 10	Win
Week 11	In/In
Week 12	Win
Week 13	High/In
Week 14	Win
Week 15	Win/Immune
Week 16	Win
Week 17	In/Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his appearance, Eddie won Food Network Star Season 11 and owns Rosehill beer garden & Food truck and Fit chef studio gym. He hosted Eddie Jackson's Game Day Playbook and Eddie Jackson’s Fitness Playbook on FoodNetwork.com.
• He makes regular appearances on Food Network, he hosted BBQ Blitz, has been a judge on Kids BBQ Championship since 2016 and in Halloween Wars in 2021, and in 2018, he was the host for Christmas Cookie Challenge.
• Eddie was also team captain of season 2 of Food Networks BBQ Brawl.

Trivia

• With 7 challenge wins, Eddie holds the record for most wins out of any contestant who finished in 8th place in the American version.
  • Prior to Bri returning to the competition and him originally being 7th place, he would have still tied with Julia (season 9) for holding that distinction among all 7th place contestants.'
• Eddie is also a former NFL player.
• He is the 6th contestant to reach the Top 10 to be eliminated on their first bottom entry, following Jake (Season 1), Giuseppe and Tracy (both Season 2), and Stacey and Monti (both Season 3).

Quotes

• (After being eliminated) "I came to MasterChef to compete; I just think about how far I've come. I have nothing to hold my head down about. I always said that football and cooking is 2 of the things I love to do and I was able to achieve football in the highest level you could possibly imagine and now, in my mind, I feel like I have achieved food on the highest level you could possibly imagine. Learning so much from the best chefs in the world is just like some of the best coaches I've had, so I'm very privileged and humble at the same time, and use this experience to move forward and be successful like I know I'm gonna be."

Gallery

Season 4

Eddie's Confessional

Eddie's Audition Dish

Eddie receiving his Apron

Eddie in the Blue Team

Eddie in the Red Team

Eddie in a Black Apron

Eddie's Pressure Test Cheesecake

Eddie's International Mystery Box Dish

Eddie, Jordan, and Bime in the International Mystery Box Top 3

Eddie's Mexican Mystery Box Dish

Bri, Eddie, and Savannah in the Mexican Mystery Box Top 3

Eddie's Sausage Mystery Box Dish

Natasha, Eddie, and Krissi in the Sausage Mystery Box Top 3

Eddie with his girlfriend

Eddie and Jessie's Tag Team Sushi Platter

Jessie and Eddie in the Tag Team Bottom 2

Eddie Eliminated

External links

• Eddie Jackson on Instagram
• Eddie Jackson on Twitter