| “ | If you don't execute the basic play first, then why do you try to flea flicker? | ” |
Mark Togni was a contestant on Season 8 of MasterChef. He ranked in 20th place.
Personality
Mark was unarguably the worst cook of the season, if not the worst cook in MasterChef history. When he entered the competition, he was very confident, as it was his dream to win MasterChef, but he was generally disrespectful (especially when he purposely provoked the judges when Ramsay was directly behind him), had a lazy and negative attitude, made unnecessary and annoying football analogies that only he seemed to understand, and was being completely delusional about wanting to win the competition. In reality, he was shown to not care about winning at all and was in denial about his poor performances, even after being eliminated, resulting in zero passion, talent, fight back, or skill. In the kitchen, his cooking skills, or lack thereof, were also terrible, as he cooked with relatively little effort and was unable to present a single acceptable dish to the judges. Despite Ramsay trying to tell him to get his head back in the game, it was too late for him to bounce back, as he was disliked by all the other competitors (especially Eboni) and was the first contestant to be eliminated, and left as one of the most hated contestants to ever compete on the show.
Season 8
Episode 1
Mark was seen in the auditions, along with Necco and two unknown attendees. He had to make pasta for his signature dish challenge, although most of it was left unaired. He presented a ravioli dish (revealed in the third episode) that impressed the judges, which won him a white apron.
Episode 2
Mark had successfully passed the auditions in the previous episode. He wasn't seen at all, as he was cheering for the rest of the other home cooks who were also auditioning for the competition.
Episode 3
Mark was one of the Top 20 home cooks who entered the MasterChef kitchen for the first time.
During the Mystery Box Challenge, Ramsay checked up on Mark and asked about the dish that the latter was going to make. Mark said that he was making a pancake breakfast with latkes, stating he was not here to lose. Once the challenge was over, he was selected as one of the three home cooks who stood out amongst the Top 20 along with Sam and Heather. Mark was speechless as he felt like Aladdin, believing he would win the advantage. However, Ramsay dropped a bombshell by revealing that the trio made the worst dishes of the night, and the judges were hugely disappointed by them. Aaron sent the bottom three into the wine room.
When Mark, Sam, and Heather were called back to the front, Christina told Mark that his caramel swirl pancake with potato latkes, apples and bananas contained an undercooked pancake, she was not impressed with raw apples and bananas on the plate and compared the hash brown to a piece of meat. Christina knew Mark could do better as she saw him make a ravioli that won him an apron, but the latter used confusing football terminology to defend his dish.
During the Elimination Test, Mark continued to move slowly, which Eboni and Jeff took note of. When Christina went to his station for an update, Mark decided to redo the pancake with chocolate chips and a side of baked eggs, using football analogy to explain why he did this. A confused Christina asked Mark why he was using football talk, but he explained that he used to be an athlete. Then, Mark put raw bacon strips into his baked eggs, leaving the home cooks on the balcony a loss of words. Fifteen minutes left, Christina revealed to the judges that Mark was redoing his pancake dish but felt he did not care about the competition as he continued to move slowly. While Ramsay did not think Mark had checked out of the competition, he did not see the latter in a desperate mood as Jason and Eboni could not stand to see Mark move like that. During the ten minute mark, when Ramsay was about to leave Heather's station, Mark told Heather to ignore the judge's suggestions. Sam did not think it was a good idea, and Ramsay confronted Mark for commenting on that, accusing him of taking the competition as a joke. Ramsay warned Mark to take it seriously or take off his apron while Eboni accused the latter of having no respect for the competition. Two minutes left, Mark had his dish finished first and continued to show a lack of care towards the competition. When the Elimination Test was over, while Mark respected Sam and Heather as competitors, he claimed that he was here to win.
Mark was the last person to have his dish judges, though he felt that he did better than his last dish. When Ramsay tastes his chocolate chip pancake with baked eggs, bacon, and cilantro, he found the eggs to be hard to look at. Ramsay then asked Mark if he was happy, to which Mark arrogantly said yes as he felt he did everything right, but Eboni silently called him a douche in response. Even though Ramsay found the dish to taste nice, he did not think Mark used the allotted time to its fullest and wondered if he was hungry enough. Mark felt he was starving, but Christina asked why he did not sear the bacon off before putting them into the eggs. Mark thought they would have cooked in the heavy cream, but while Christina found the pancake to be cooked properly, she wondered if a dish like that was worthy of the competition.
In the end, Mark was eliminated for failing to improve on his previous dish and showing a disrespectful attitude across the challenge. During his exit interview, he said it sucked that he was leaving but felt the experience added to his passion for cooking and wanted to hug himself.
Competition History
| Week 3 | Bottom/Eliminated |
|---|
Post MasterChef
- After his appearance, Mark returned to being a Stay-at-home Dad.
Trivia
- He is the third contestant to put a MasterChef logo on his dish, the first being Cutter from Season 5 and second being Shelly from Season 6.
- However, he is also the second contestant to not get criticized for it.
- He is the fifth contestant to be threatened with on-the-spot elimination, following Christian (Season 2), Leslie and Cutter (both from Season 5), and Christopher (Season 6).
- He and Bethy from Season 4 are the only contestants from Oregon.
- He used to be a football athlete before becoming a stay-at-home dad.
- He neglected to return to cheer for Dino, Eboni, and Jason in the finale.
- He is the first male contestant to be the first contestant eliminated excluding the double eliminations in Season 2 and Season 6.
Quotes
- "YEAH, BABY!!!"
- (To Ramsay) "Mark: I feel incredibly ready to win this whole thing. Ramsay: The whole competition? Mark: I didn't come here to lose."
- (After being called forward by the judges) "I'm at a complete loss for words. I feel like Aladdin on the carpet just floating by my competitors. I've got this. I'm gonna be getting the advantage."
- (While explaining his underwhelming dish to the judges) "I feel like it was the fourth quarter with two minutes left and I ran around the field without me helmet or my jockstrap, and I left both of my proteins on my table."
- "I've been in the position in my life before. Pressure is my middle name."
- (To Christina) "Because I didn't execute the pancake properly, I basically totally boned it. I'm gonna go back to the 28 sweep and nail that, execute the pancake, put chocolate chips in it instead and I'm going to do baked eggs in the oven this time. If you don't execute the basic play first, then why do you try to flea flicker?"
- (To Heather) "You know what you can do, Heather. Just do what I do and ignore them."
- (To Ramsay) "I am taking it seriously."
- "Ramsay: Are you just going through the motion? Is this the best breakfast you've ever cooked? Mark: Yes. I successfully completed the 28 sweep and I think I scored a touchdown."
- (After being eliminated) "As a competitor, it totally sucks that I'm leaving, but I'm not leaving something behind. This has given me a whole new love and passion for cooking, and I get to share it with my wife, and my kids, and my loved ones, and that means a lot to me. I'm still proud of myself right now that if I had two arms attached to my back, I'd be patting myself on the back. I mean, I'd be hugging myself. That's the truth, straight up."
Gallery
External links
Mark Togni on Facebook- Mark Togni on Instagram
References
| MasterChef U.S. Season 8 |
|---|
| Judges |
| Gordon Ramsay • Aarón Sánchez • Christina Tosi |
| Contestants |
| Reba Billingsley • Jenny Cavellier • Necco Ceresani • Heather Dombrosky • Eboni Henry • Yachecia Holston • Paige Jimenez • Caitlin Jones • Gabriel Lewis • Dino Angelo Luciano • Daniel Pontes-Macedo • Cate Meade • Mike Newton • Brien O'Brien • Sam Reiff-Pasarew • Jeff Philbin • Mark Togni • Jason Wang • Jennifer Williams • Adam Wong |