Elisa "Elise" Mayfield was a contestant on Season 5 of MasterChef. She ranked in 13th place.
Personality[]
Elise had a sweet and kind personality, enough so to get along with Stephani. She wasn't the worst cook of the season, but she was the one who lacked self-confidence the most. She was known for second-guessing herself way too much and would always break down in tears whenever she made a single mistake while cooking. However, instead of keeping simple mistakes from happening, she kept regretting them, which later got worse when she couldn't work under pressure and was eliminated due to her frequent breakdowns and poor performances.
Season 5[]
Episode 1[]
Chef Ramsay explained to the contestants that they will all be tested on their cooking skills for an hour to determine whether they will receive a black apron. Not all of them would make it through the hour. Few were immediately banished. Elise made hand pies which Chef Graham didn't care for and Elise told him they were good. The chefs started handing out the aprons and Elise along with several others did not receive one. Elise was heartbroken and began to tear up. She was confident in herself enough to be willing to survive. Gordon Ramsay told them they still have one more shot to stay in this competition. The remaining contestants were very relieved. They cooked again and the judges called up every three people and sent at least on of them home. This time Elise made chicken pot pies. Gordon Ramsay was disappointed that she had made another "bloody" pie. He said that the point of this was to come outside your comfort zone but she dove back in it. There were no more aprons left and Elise started to cry. She explained how much this would mean to her. Gordon Ramsay told her she's not going up to the balcony but they are coming down to you. Everybody came down and hugged Elise. Gordon Ramsay gave her an apron. He told her no more pies and she was happily tearing and laughed no more pies.
Episode 2[]
Episode 3[]
Then the contestants had to make blueberry pie. Elise's was not good. Gordon Ramsay tasted Stephani's blueberry pie with pecans, he said it tasted like sand and the only one who would like this pie would be Elise. Stephani ended up going home and Elise was sad because she said this was the first time a friend had to go home.
Episode 4[]
Episode 5[]
Episode 6[]
Since Courtney won the previous challenge, she got to pick pairs for the rest of the contestants to work in. She picked them all and Elise and Francis L were the last two getting paired up. The teams had to make a surf and turf dish. Elise was nervous in the pantry and didn't know what to do. The judges admit that Elise and Francis are a weird team. the dish was Elise's idea and one of the judges asked whether it was her idea to chop the onions 10 times larger than they're supposed to be. Elise and Francis's dish was a fail and they had a good chance of facing a pressure test. Gordon Ramsay stated that he thinks Elise is out of her element. The two other competing teams did worse so Elise and Francis L. were saved but still very ashamed.
Episode 7[]
Episode 8[]
The contestants were divided into teams which took up one half of a restaurant each customer would receive two one dollar MasterChef dollars, one blue and one red. Gordon Ramsey chose two chefs who really haven't come out yet to be the team captains. He chose Christine to be the captain of the red team and willie as captain of the blue team. Chef Graham divided the two teams into boys and girls. Gordon Ramsey added a twist that the captains chose one member of the opposite team to join their team. Willie chose Victoria while Christine chose Christian. Christine had a strong leadership which got their team to a quick start. Christine told her team she wants to see every dish before it goes out. Elise kept smooshing the bread on the club sandwiches which the customers were complaining and led to slow service. Christine told her to throw them out and they're not coming out of her kitchen. Elise stated that club sandwiches are not easy because you have to stack all of these vegetables on it and they have to be level. Christine assigned Elizabeth to work with Elise on the club sandwiches. Christine was upset that her team was serving raw meat. Her team ended up winning by just 5 dollars.
Episode 9[]
The contestants had to fillet fish and Elise said she needs a medic and started to faint. The medics helped her and gave her a bottle of water to drink. Elise had the choice to leave the kitchen or not and she decided to. She had left the MasterChef kitchen. She came back a couple minutes later better. Gordon Ramsay told her she doesn't have to cook but she decided to. Elise and Cutter both had bad dishes. Elise started to cry again. And Gordon Ramsay asked her if she'll stay in the competition and she said she wanted to. Cutter has been in the bottom for over 5 challenges. But the judges decided they could not deal with Elise anymore in this kitchen. He let her know she's a good baker and she should never give up after one mistake. Gordon Ramsay allowed Elise to hug him and the hug was bigger than he had thought.
Competition History[]
| Week 2 | In/Immune |
|---|---|
| Week 3 | Low |
| Week 4 | In/In |
| Week 5 | Win |
| Week 6 | In/In |
| Week 7 | In/Immune |
| Week 8 | Win |
| Week 9 | In/Eliminated |
Post MasterChef[]
- After her appearance, Elise is a baker at Honey Baby Bakes, appears at food markets and is Assistant Food Stylist, Video Liaison, & Events Coordinator at the Meredith Corporation. She competed in Reality Rally in 2015, has a baking show on YouTube.
- She is a Development Manager at a theatre company and has appeared on stage in a number of theatrical productions
Trivia[]
- She is the first contestant to leave the MasterChef kitchen during a challenge, due to a panic attack. She would be followed by David on Season 7.
- She only ever won Team Challenges.
- She is one of a few contestants in her season to never have their Elimination Test dish aired in an episode unless they were in the top or the bottom of the challenge. The other contestants to have this status were Francis Biondi, Ahran, Francis Legge, Dan, Elizabeth and Tyler.
Quotes[]
- (After being eliminated) "Even though I'm going home, I still love food and I'm proud to have been part of the Top 13. This is a once in a lifetime experience that I'll remember forever, and I hope that it helps me get a chance to start a new career, something that can totally change my life and for that, I'm incredibly thankful for the experience."
Gallery[]
Season 5[]
External links[]
Elise Mayfield on Instagram: elisemayfield
References[]
| MasterChef U.S. Season 5 |
|---|
| Judges |
| Contestants |
|
Francis Biondi • Whitney Bray • Cutter Brewer • Elizabeth Cauvel • Ahran Cho • Leslie Gilliams • Christian Green • Gordon Houston • Jordan Kaminski • Courtney Lapresi • Astrid Lavenia • Francis Legge • Elise Mayfield • Daniel McGuffey • Willie Mike • Kira Novak • Victoria Scroggins • Stephani Syfax-Shepherd • Christine Silverstein • Tyler Viars • Jaimee Vitolo • Dan Wu |