Francis Legge

“

Do not give your competition help.

”

Hometown	New York, NY
Age	34
Occupation	Music Video Director
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	0
Elimination Test(s) Won	1
Team Challenge(s) Won	3
Top Entries	0
Bottom Entries	1
Placement	11th
Episode Eliminated	Top 11 Compete

Francis Legge was a contestant on Season 5 of MasterChef. He ranked in 11th place.

Personality

Francis L. had a heavy accent, although not Scottish, resembling more closely a regional English accent, who made his presence for his quirky, yet funny and adventurous personality. He was a strong cook and rarely placed in the bottom for challenges. He demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities (particularly during the wedding challenge where as team captain, he led his team to victory). Always a risk taker, his unconventional ideas often baffled the judges, but somehow always seemed to pay off. However, this was also his greatest weakness, as he took the concept of "thinking outside the box" too far by making his last dish become lost in translation that led to his elimination. He got along well with all of the chefs on his season, forming strong friendships with Ahran, Christine, Courtney, Elizabeth, Victoria, and Willie, and was one of the very few chefs to get along with both Cutter and Leslie.

Season 5

Episode 1

In Episode 1, Francis broke his tube for his food. Gordon Ramsay said, 'What the hell are you f***ing doing with a tube at the stage?' Francis said. 'I was trying to be creative.'

Francis did not receive an apron for the first try; he was very depressed. But then, the judges said, 'You nine: you've made it this far so you clearly are talented home cooks, but we're not giving up on you just yet.' It was a sigh of relief for everyone. Francis decided to cook with shrimp and lettuce. He called it runaway shrimp. The judges did not care for the quirkiness of it but they loved the taste enough to get him a white apron.

Episode 2

Francis was shocked about the first mystery box elimination; however he was not in the bottom. Courtney (mystery box winner) chose ten people to be saved. Francis L. was one of them.

Episode 3

Francis B. (elimination test winner) had to choose his other captain. He did pick Francis L. After Francis L. realized his team was serving raw pork he said we should all go home; we don't care about our solider, what it looks like. However, his team won so he didn't have to cook in the pressure test.

Episode 4

The mystery box was live lobster. Francis L. was fooling around and Gordon asked, "What's wrong with you?" Francis was not in the top three of this mystery box challenge. Francis, in the doughnut elimination test, grabbed everything in the pantry and said it's going big or bigger. But Courtney messed up her donuts and was looking for yeast. Ahran hoped that no one would give her any. But Francis did. Ahran's reaction was, "What the hell, Francis? You messed with my plan." After Francis said I'm making 12 different flavors, the judges thought he was wasting his time. But when Francis put up his dish Gordon, after tasting it, said, "Long live Scotland!" in reference to the vote on Scottish independence. Francis created one of the winning dishes and was a team captain.

Episode 5

Francis and Leslie were selected as the team captains for winning the previous Elimination Test, with Francis leading the blue team and Leslie leading the red team. Francis selected Elizabeth, Victoria, Willie, Courtney, Elise, Cutter, and Dan to be on his team. During the prep time, his clear sense of leadership, menu conception, and flavor profiles immensely impressed his teammates, particularly Courtney. His team won the team challenge and didn't have to participate in the Pressure Test.

Episode 6

In Episode 6, the mystery box was canned ingredients. Francis was making juices which the judges loved but he wasn't in the top three. He wasn't mentioned in the elimination test.

Episode 7

In Episode 7, they worked in pairs. Francis L. was put with Elise. The judges were worried because that was an odd team. Gordon was getting a little tired of the quirkiness and was confused by what Elise was doing. They were almost in a pressure test but they narrowly escaped.

Episode 8

In Episode 8, it was a team challenge - girls against boys - and Francis really helped the team a lot with the club sandwiches. However, the other people on the team performed poorly so they lost Willie. Francis was one of the three who were saved.

Episode 9

In Episode 9, Francis was not mentioned at all.

Episode 10

In Episode 10 for the team challenge, Francis was picked first on Elizabeth's team. He did perform to expectations and their team won again.

Episode 11

In the Episode 11 elimination test, the pasta looked like candy so he tried to create pink caramelle using raw beets. However, it was poorly seasoned resulting in his elimination.

Competition History

Week 2	In/Immune
Week 3	Win
Week 4	In/Win
Week 5	Win
Week 6	In/In
Week 7	In/Immune
Week 8	No Pressure Test
Week 9	In/In
Week 10	Win
Week 11	In/Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his appearance, Francis was Executive Chef at Gossip Coffee before becoming Executive Chef and Owner at Sugar and Water, The Choux Shop, and pop up Shortbread Society. He appeared on Chopped season 38 and the Netflix food competition show Snack vs Chef. Francis is a producer and director at ScottishFrancis Films.

Trivia

• He was the first contestant to go from being on MasterChef to Chopped.
  • Andrea (season 7) would be the first to do the opposite.
• He is the first British native contestant to appear on MasterChef U.S.
• With 4 challenge wins, he is tied with Lynn (season 4) for most challenge wins out of a contestant to finish in 11th.
• He and Francis Biondi are the first two contestants to have the same name in the same season.
  • After he was eliminated, Francis L's apron was changed to Francis.
• He is one of a few contestants in his 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 B, Ahran, Elise, Dan, Elizabeth and Tyler.

Quotes

• (After being given a second chance to earn an apron) "Holy buggering bullocks! We have a final challenge, an all-American challenge, this is time to prove that I'm not just a one-trick pony."
• (After being eliminated) "I'm very sad that I'm leaving, being here in the MasterChef kitchen has changed my life. I really want to take everything I got from here to the next level, and focus on the career I've always wanted to have, and that's working with food. I wish I could've made it to Top 10, but I will be that lonely 11th person flying off into the distance."

Gallery

Season 5

Francis L's Confessional

Francis L's Audition Dish

Francis L's 2nd Audition Dish

Francis L receiving his Apron

Francis L in the Red Team

Francis L in the Blue Team

Francis L in a Black Apron

Francis L's Box of Donuts

Elise and Francis L's Surf N' Turf Dish

Francis L's Caramelle Dish

Daniel, Francis L, and Willie in the Caramelle Bottom 3

Francis L Eliminated

External links

• Francis Legge on Instagram