Mateo McConnell

Hometown	Atlanta, GA
Age	38
Occupation	High School Teacher
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	0
Elimination Test(s) Won	0
Top Entries	0
Bottom Entries	1
Placement	22nd
Episode Eliminated	You’re The Apple of My Pie

Matthew "Mateo" McConnell was a contestant on Season 6 of MasterChef. He ranked in 22nd place.

Personality

TBA

Season 6

Episode 1

Mateo’s audition was briefly seen this episode against another home cook named Robert. He revealed himself to be a high school teacher of both Spanish and Science. While it’s unknown exactly what his dish was, but Graham said it was earthy and had a punchy flavor. His dish was good enough to receive an apron, and he and Kerry ran out together.

Episode 3

Mateo was not seen much during the Ingredients from Home Mystery Box, and he was not called up as part of the Top 3. He was one of the 9 contestants that did not receive an apple from Dan, meaning he had to compete in the Apple Pie Elimination Challenge.

Graham visited him during the challenge, saying he should be used to students trying to butter him up with apples. He revealed he was adding ginger, ground cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Graham said it was a lot going on and worried about how they would taste after being cooked, but Mateo said he believed the mix was there. He was the seventh contestant to have his pie tasted, and presented it with a salted bourbon caramel glaze. When Gordon cut a piece, it immediately started to disintegrate. The apples were too thick, and the pastry was too thin to sustain the weight. Christina said the ginger and cardamom was too much, and the pie was about everything except the apples. She said the pie really didn’t make the grade.

Due to his poorly executed pie, Mateo was the second contestant to be named as part of the Bottom 3, with Brianna as the first and Olivia as the third. He was asked to step forward, and Graham told him his summer break had come early. Thus, he was the first contestant to be eliminated due to his poorly constructed pie that was overpowered with spice. He said he was proud to have come further than tens of thousands of people, and said he’d continue to cook, but never an apple pie.

Competition History

Week 3	In/Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his appearance, Mateo returned to his previous career as a teacher and regularly posts food pics on social media.

Trivia

• He is the first male contestant to be the first one eliminated in their season.
• He is the first male contestant to come in 22nd place.
• He is also the first male contestant to not reach the Top 20.
• Mateo, Brianna and Dan are the only contestants from the season who did not return for the finale.

Quotes

• (After being eliminated) "I am proud of what I done. I have come further than tens of thousands of people who tried to be here so I have nothing to be ashamed of and just because I'm leaving early, doesn't mean I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna continue to cook, just never an apple pie."

Gallery

Season 6

Mateo's Confessional

Mateo's Audition Dish

Mateo and Kerry receiving their Aprons

Mateo's Apple Pie

Brianna, Mateo, and Olivia in the Apple Pie Bottom 3

Mateo Eliminated

External links

• Mateo McConnell on Instagram
• Mateo McConnell on Twitter