Gabriel Lewis

 

Hometown	Oklahoma City, OK (Season 8) Midwest City, OK (Season 12)
Age	19 (Season 8) 24 (Season 12)
Occupation	Fast Food Server (Season 8) Private Chef (Season 12)
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	0 (Season 8) 0 (Season 12)
Skills Test(s) Won	1 (Season 8)
Elimination Test(s) Won	0 (Season 8) 0 (Season 12)
Team Challenge(s) Won	3 (Season 8) 1 (Season 12)
Pressure Test(s) Survived	2 (Season 8)
Top Entries	1 (Season 8) 0 (Season 12)
Bottom Entries	3 (Season 8) 2 (Season 12)
Placement	7th (Season 8) 12th (Season 12)
Episode Eliminated	Chopsticks & Pasta (Season 8) Tag Team (Season 12)

Gabriel Lewis was a contestant on Seasons 8 and 12 of MasterChef. On Season 8, he ranked in 7th place and on Season 12, he ranked in 12th place.

Personality

In Season 8, Gabriel was very quiet from the start. He was giving out inconsistent performances in the beginning of the competition, as he often lacked the skill set, confidence and nervously doubted himself early on. However, this was subverted in the second half, by beginning to make his presence by showing a high amount of raw talent and promising potential despite the inexperience of being the youngest cook of the season. Despite showing a lot of potential, he never really stood out as the strongest, as his Achillies' heel, nervousness and inconsistencies soon got the best of him when he struggled working with cannelloni that led to his elimination. His gifted talent was enough for Ramsay to pay for the former's tuition and enroll him in culinary school despite being eliminated, as his offer is debatably argued to be better than the actual prize. Due to his humility, integrity as well as being very nice and friendly personality, he was well-liked by most of the other home cooks and got along with most of them, although he had a few minor issues with Cate in a field team challenge over their own conflicting ideas, however, they mended fences rather quickly.

In Season 12, Gabriel returned wanting to prove the worth of Ramsay's investment in his career, but he started on a bad note by landing in the bottom 3 for "The Dish that Sent You Home" Challenge due to his cannelloni looking too simple and the pasta being poorly executed. Since then, he was not shown much for the rest of his run, barely being seen at all until his elimination, and was still inconsistent, finishing consistently in the middle of individual challenges, unfortunately never being able to prove his skills the second time around. His time ultimately ran out in the infamous Tag Team Challenge, as his mistakes on the 3 dishes they had to cook, as well as not vocalizing with Emily on the dishes, also not having the spark that he had in Season 8 ultimately lead to his elimination.

Competition History

Week 3	In/Immune
Week 4	Pressure Test
Week 5	In/In/Immune
Week 6	In/Immune
Week 7	Win
Week 8	In/Low
Week 9	Win
Week 10	In/In
Week 11	No Pressure Test
Week 12	Low/In
Week 13	In/Immune
Week 14	High/In
Week 15	Win
Week 16	Eliminated

Season 9

Episode 21

Ramsay told Samantha that he would pay her tuition for culinary school, as he briefly mentioned Gabriel about Ramsay doing the same thing for him last year. It's revealed a season later that he's top of his class.

Competition History

Week 4	Low
Week 5	In
Week 6	Lose
Week 7	In
Week 8	In
Week 9	In
Week 10	Win
Week 11	In
Week 12	Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his first appearance, Gabriel took up Gordon's offer and studied at Johnson & Wales University’s Denver campus's Culinary School, where he graduated over the summer of 2019. Upon graduating in July 2019, he travelled to New Orleans in February 2020 to start work at Chef Aaron's restaurant but returned home to Oklahoma in the spring of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He currently works as a Private Chef offering private dinners/dining experiences and events catering and is a brand ambassador for a number of brands, posting food recipes and dishes on social media.
• His mother Lisa was diagnosed and unfortunately passed away in September 2018 with ovarian cancer.

Trivia

Season 8

• He is pescatarian
• At 19, he is the youngest man of the season.
• He is the first contestant from Oklahoma.
• He is the third contestant to receive a consolatory prize upon elimination, following David (Season 3) and Katrina (Season 6).
• He is the first contestant to be offered a full-paid tuition to culinary school by Gordon upon elimination.

Season 12

• He is the fourth contestant who received lesser bottom entries during their second run on the show, Following Samantha, Shayne and Bri (All from Season 12)

Quotes

Season 8

• (After being eliminated) "I'm not going back to fast food, I'm not going back to my regular routine. I'm changing my life, and that is all thanks to MasterChef and what the judges have presented me. My parents have always struggled. They don't make a lot of money, so Chef Ramsay offering to pay for my culinary school and telling me not to stress about my parents is a huge relief, because they are the main people that I care about, love and respect. On top of that, I get to go and experience this amazing food scene and this amazing restaurant that Chef Sanchez wants to put me at. To, me that's the world, that's the jackpot. The trophy's shiny, but this is amazing."

Season 12

• "Before MasterChef, I was fresh out of high school, I was a 19-year-old kid. Ironically one of the highlights of my season was my elimination and it legitimately changed my life. I've grown from a cook to a professional chef. I won Best Chef in 2019 in Oklahoma City. I'm back, I'm here, and I'm in it to win it."
• (After receiving his apron) "The second time around you can expect a more confident, charismatic, and talented chef instead of that home cook that you witnessed back in Season 8."
• "I feel like I have a little bit of extra weight on my shoulders, but I want to prove that Chef Ramsay's investment was worth it."
• (About the Vietnamese Cuisine Challenge) "This challenge, it has an air of difficulty, but it's also very sentimental. Unfortunately I lost my mother back in 2018 from ovarian cancer. She was my culinary inspiration. She's the reason that I stepped foot in the kitchen in the first place. So I'm really wanting to pay homage to my mom and make sure that I put that emotion into the plate."
• (After being eliminated) "Honestly, it never feels great to be going home. By no means does this define my ability as a chef. There were definitely moments where I should’ve been a little more vocal about what I thought about certain things, and unfortunately that showed in the food. This might not have been my most defining moment, but keep a look out, ‘cause I got more coming."

Gallery

Season 8

Gabriel's Confessional

Gabriel's Audition Tacos

Gabriel receiving his Apron

Gabriel in the Red Team

Gabriel in the Blue Team

Gabriel in a Black Apron

Gabriel's Pressure Test Pork Chop Replication Dish

Gabriel's Scrambled Eggs Replication Dish

Gabriel's Skills Test Lamb

Gabriel's Hanger Steak Dish

Jason, Gabriel, and Necco in the Hanger Steak Bottom 3

Gabriel, Adam, Jenny, Eboni, Caitlin, and Jeff in the Crawfish Skills Test Bottom 6

Gabriel's Crawfish Dumplings Replication Dish

Gabriel and Yachecia's Chicken & Potato Dish

Gabriel's Nutella Breakfast Mystery Box Dish

Gabriel, Jason, and Cate in the Nutella Breakfast Mystery Box Top 3

Daniel and Gabriel's Tag-Team Mexican Platter

Gabriel's Pasta Dish

Yachecia and Gabriel in the Pasta Bottom 2

Gabriel Eliminated

Season 12

Gabriel's Confessional

Gabriel's Audition Dish

Gabriel & Shelly Reinstated

Gabriel’s Worst Dish Recreation

Gabriel, Tommy, and Stephen in the Worst Dish Recreation Bottom 3

Gabriel in the Red Team

Gabriel in the Yellow Team

Emily and Gabriel's Tag-Team Trio Plater

Emily and Gabriel in the Tag Team Trio Platter Bottom 2

Gabriel Eliminated (2nd Time)

External links

• Gabriel Lewis on Instagram