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Season 8 of MasterChef aired on FOX between May 31 and September 20, 2017. Dancer Dino Angelo Luciano, from Bensonhurst, New York, was the winner of the season and was awarded with the MasterChef trophy and a salary of $250,000.

Top 20

20 contestants competed on the season. The contestants were (relative to their placement):

Contestant Age Hometown Occupation Status
Dino Angelo Luciano 28 Bensonhurst, NY Dancer Winner September 20
Eboni Henry 33 Chicago, IL Addiction Counselor Runners-Up September 20
Jason Wang 34 Newton, MA High School Music Teacher
Cate Meade 25 Chicago, IL Nutritionist Eliminated September 13
Jeff Philbin 29 Tampa, FL Marketing Director
Yachecia Holston 43 Detroit, MI Minister
Gabriel Lewis 19 Oklahoma City, OK Fast Food Server Eliminated September 6
Daniel Pontes-Macedo 31 Medford, MA Substitute Teacher Eliminated August 30
Caitlin Jones 24 Pittsburgh, PA Dancer
Adam Wong 21 Cambridge, MA Harvard Student Eliminated August 23
Jenny Cavellier 25 Cincinnati, OH Special Needs Therapist
Mike Newton 53 Lipan, TX Ranch Owner Eliminated August 16
Reba Billingsley 48 Carthage, TX Stay-at-home Mom Eliminated August 9
Brien O'Brien 32 Redding, CA Magazine Ad Sales Eliminated August 2
Necco Ceresani 26 Newberry, SC Marketing Manager Eliminated July 26
Jennifer Williams 25 Chalmette, LA Debt Collector Eliminated July 19
Sam Reiff-Pasarew 37 Washington, D.C. Creative Writing Teacher Eliminated July 12
Heather Dombrosky Miami, FL Registered Nurse Eliminated June 28
Paige Jimenez 18 Honolulu, HI Swimsuit Model Eliminated June 21
Mark Togni 43 Portland, OR Stay-at-home Dad Eliminated June 14

Competition table

Place Contestant Episode
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20/21
1 Dino IN IMM PT IN LOW WIN IN IMM NPT IN IMM PT IN WIN WIN IN IMM HIGH IMM IN WIN PT WIN IMM WIN IN IN PT PT WIN WINNER
2 Jason IN IMM WIN WIN IMM IMM IN IMM NPT IN LOW WIN IN IN WIN IN IMM HIGH IMM WIN IMM WIN HIGH WIN WIN IN IN WIN IMM IMM RUNNERS-UP
Eboni IN IMM WIN IN IN IMM LOW WIN WIN IN IN PT IN IN WIN LOW IN WIN IMM IN IN WIN IN WIN PT HIGH IN PT WIN IMM
4 Cate IN IMM WIN IN IN IMM WIN IMM WIN IN WIN WIN WIN IMM WIN IN IMM WIN IMM HIGH WIN WIN IN IN PT WIN IMM PT PT ELIM
5 Jeff IN IMM NPT HIGH LOW IN IN IMM NPT HIGH IN LOW IN LOW NPT LOW IN HIGH IMM IN LOW PT HIGH IN PT IN ELIM
Yachecia HIGH IMM WIN IN LOW WIN WIN IMM LOW IN WIN NPT HIGH IN LOW IN IMM IN IMM IN IN LOW IN LOW WIN HIGH ELIM
7 Gabriel IN IMM PT IN IN IMM IN IMM WIN IN LOW WIN IN IN NPT LOW IN IN IMM HIGH HIGH WIN IN ELIM
8 Daniel IN IMM NPT IN IN IMM IN IMM NPT IN IMM WIN IN WIN NPT IN IMM HIGH IMM IN HIGH ELIM
9 Caitlin IN IMM WIN IN LOW IN LOW WIN NPT IN IMM WIN HIGH LOW WIN LOW IN LOW LOW IN ELIM
10 Adam IN IMM WIN IN IN IMM IN IMM WIN IN IMM LOW IN IN WIN LOW LOW LOW ELIM
11 Jenny IN IMM PT IN IN IMM LOW IN WIN IN IMM WIN IN IN NPT LOW ELIM
12 Newton IN IMM WIN IN IN IMM LOW LOW WIN WIN IMM PT IN LOW ELIM
13 Reba IN IMM NPT IN IN IMM IN IMM WIN IN IMM WIN IN ELIM
14 Brien WIN IMM WIN IN IN IMM IN IMM WIN HIGH IMM ELIM
15 Necco IN IMM WIN HIGH IN IMM IN IMM WIN IN ELIM
16 Jennifer HIGH IMM LOW IN IN IMM LOW IN ELIM
17 Sam LOW LOW WIN IN LOW LOW LOW ELIM
18 Heather LOW LOW WIN IN LOW ELIM
19 Paige IN IMM ELIM
20 Mark LOW ELIM
     (WINNER) This cook won the competition.
     (RUNNER-UP) This cook finished in second place.
     (WIN) The cook won an individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge, Skills Test or Elimination Test).
     (WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and directly advanced to the next round.
     (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the individual challenge but didn't win.
     (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in a team challenge but didn't win.
     (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in an individual challenge.
     (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in a team challenge.
     (IMM) The cook didn't have to compete in that round of the competition.
     (IMM) The cook was selected by Mystery Box Challenge winner and didn't have to compete in the Elimination Test.
     (PT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge and competed in the Pressure Test, and advanced.
     (NPT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, did not compete in the Pressure Test, and advanced.
     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual challenge, but wasn't the last person to advance.
     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual challenge, and was the last person to advance.
     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in the Team Challenge and the only person from their team to advance.
     (ELIM) The cook was eliminated from MasterChef.

Ranking of Contestants Per Episode

Place Contestant 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20/21
1 Dino 4 14 13 3 13 2 9 2 1 1 3 2 5 1 1 2 3 1
2 Jason 4 1 1 3 9 13 1 4 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 2 1 2
2 (3) Eboni 4 1 2 12 1 11 9 4 1 6 1 6 1 2 5 2 2 2 (3)
4 Cate 4 1 2 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 6 1 4
5 Jeff 4 11 15 3 14 11 12 12 7 6 3 8 6 4 4 5
6 Yachecia 2 1 13 1 15 9 8 4 11 1 7 6 6 6 1 6
7 Gabriel 4 15 2 3 1 13 1 4 7 6 7 4 1 7
8 Daniel 4 11 2 3 1 2 1 3 7 1 3 4 8
9 Caitlin 4 15 15 12 10 2 1 10 7 6 9 9
10 Adam 4 1 2 3 1 2 12 4 1 10 10
11 Jenny 4 15 2 14 11 2 1 4 1 11
12 Newton 4 1 2 16 1 1 11 10 12
13 Reba 4 11 2 3 12 2 1 13
14 Brien 1 1 2 3 1 2 14
15 Necco 4 1 2 3 1 15
16 Jennifer 2 18 2 14 16
17 Sam 18 1 17 17
18 Heather 18 1 18
19 Paige 4 19
20 Mark 20

Episodes

# Image Title Airdate
01 Episode 801 (U.S.) - Battle for a White Apron, Part 1 (Season 8) May 31, 2017
  • Auditions Round 1: The amateur cooks will be competing for a white apron and to be a contestant in this year's MasterChef, and the judges will be selecting their themes. Yachecia wins over Shawn in fried chicken, and Jason wins over Ty in a scallop battle. In a compilation video, Caitlin, Paige, Jenny, Sam, Necco, and Mark all receive white aprons. Julia, Adam, Gabriel, and David compete with tacos with Gabriel and Adam winning aprons. Paola and Reba compete with duck dishes and Reba wins.
02 Episode 802 (U.S.) - Battle for a White Apron, Part 2 (Season 8) June 7, 2017
  • Auditions Round 2: The first battle in this episode is between Josh and Dino in veal parmigiana. Dino is the winner. The next battle features Taylor and Cate, who auditioned last season but lost to their respective opponents and failed to win aprons, in salmon. Cate is declared the winner. Michael, Brien, Daniel, and Aakash battle in steak. Brien and Daniel win aprons. In a montage, Jeff, Eboni, Heather, and Jennifer receive aprons. Newton and Tom battle in cupcakes. Newton wins, earning him the final white apron and the final spot in the top 20.
03 Episode 803 (U.S.) - America's Grocery Bag June 14, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The 20 contestants are given a brown grocery bag filled with 12 of the most common grocery items, and must create a dish based on them in one hour. Sam, Heather, and Mark are called out first but are told they are the bottom three. Yachecia, Jennifer, and Brien are called out as the top three, and Brien wins the challenge.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Brien O'Brien
  • Bottom three: Heather Dombrosky, Mark Togni, Sam Reiff-Pasarew
  • Elimination Challenge: The judges announce that all other contestants except the bottom three are immune from the next challenge. Heather, Mark, and Sam are given the exact same bag of ingredients and may either improve on their previous dish or attempt to make a new one in 45 minutes.
  • Immune: Adam Wong, Caitlin Jones, Caitlin Meade, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Dino Luciano, Eboni Henry, Gabriel Lewis, Jason Wang, Jeff Philbin, Jennifer Williams, Jenny Cavellier, Mike Newton, Necco Ceresani, Paige Jimenez, Reba Billingsley, Yachecia Holston
  • Sam and Heather are both saved, sending Mark home.
  • Eliminated: Mark Togni
04 Episode 804 (U.S.) - Feeding the Lifeguards June 21, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The 19 contestants are brought to a beach to cook a fish lunch for 101 lifeguards. They split into two teams; the Red Team (Adam, team captain Brien, Cate, Eboni, Heather, Jason, Necco, Newton, Sam, and Yachecia); and the Blue Team (Caitlin, Daniel, Dino, Gabriel, Jeff, team captain Jennifer, Jenny, Paige, and Reba). The Red Team wins with the majority of the votes, sending the Blue Team to the Pressure Test.
  • Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Adam Wong, Brien O'Brien, Cate Meade, Eboni Henry, Heather Dombrosky, Jason Wang, Necco Ceresani, Mike Newton, Sam Reiff-Parasew, Yachecia Holston
  • Pressure Test: The judges exempt Jeff, Daniel, and Reba from the Pressure Test. The other six Blue Team members must recreate Aarón Sanchez's grilled pork chop dish in 45 minutes. Dino has the best dish. Gabriel, Caitlin, and Jenny also advance.
  • Immune: Jeff Philbin, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Reba Billingsley
  • Bottom two: Jennifer Williams and Paige Jimenez
  • Jennifer is saved, eliminating Paige.
  • Eliminated: Paige Jimenez
05 Episode 805 (U.S.) - Shell-Shocked & Scrambled June 28, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The contestants must cook a dish featuring various types of shellfish. Jeff, Necco, and Jason are called out as the top three. Jason is the winner and earns immunity.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Jason Wang
  • Elimination Challenge: The remaining contestants must prepare a scrambled egg dish by Gordon and must prepare it using Gordon's cooking style. Jeff, Sam, Heather, Yachecia, Dino, and Caitlin all fail to impress the judges while all other contestants are sent to safety. The six remaining contestants then get one last chance to repeat the dish. The judges send Yachecia and Dino to safety, then Caitlin and Jeff are safe. Sam and Heather are the last two remaining.
  • Bottom two: Heather Dombrosky and Sam Reiff-Pasarew
  • Sam is saved and Heather is sent home.
  • Eliminated: Heather Dombrosky
06 Episode 806 (U.S.) - Silenced by the Lambs July 12, 2017
  • Skills Test: The contestants were given a demonstration of how to French a rack of lamb properly in 20 minutes. Cate and Yachecia were the best performers and pronounced safe, while Caitlin, Eboni, Jennifer, Jenny, Newton and Sam all fail to impress the judges. The other contestants are all good enough to be sent to safety.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Cate Meade and Yachecia Holston
  • Immune: Adam Wong, Brien O'Brien, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Dino Luciano, Gabriel Lewis, Jason Wang, Jeff Philbin, Necco Ceresani, and Reba Billingsley
  • Elimination Challenge: Caitlin, Eboni, Jennifer, Jenny, Newton and Sam must cook a dish as demonstrated by Gordon with their previously butchered lamb. The women were all safe, with Caitlin and Eboni being declared to have replicated Gordon's dish the best, while both Sam and Newton were named the bottom two.
  • Bottom two: Mike Newton and Sam Reiff-Pasarew
  • The judges eliminate Sam.
  • Eliminated: Sam Reiff-Pasarew
07 Episode 807 (U.S.) - Breakfast, Lunch & Winner July 19, 2017
  • Team Challenge: Cate and Yachecia were assigned as captains to lead their teams to make five breakfast dishes in 60 minutes for customers at the Belvedere Restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. The judges allowed the remaining contestants to choose their captain as part of the team. Cate's Red Team were voted by the judges as the winners.
  • Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Adam Wong, Brien O'Brien, Cate Meade, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Eboni Henry, Gabriel Lewis, Mike Newton and Necco Ceresani
  • Pressure Test: As the captain, Yachecia was given the choice to save herself or duel another chef in the pressure test, therefore saving everyone else. She chose to duel Jennifer. They will compete in a Pressure Test to recreate Gordon's British fish and chips in 45 minutes.
  • Immune: Caitlin Jones, Dino Luciano, Jason Wang, Jeff Philbin, Jenny Cavellier and Reba Billingsley
  • Bottom two: Jennifer Williams and Yachecia Holston
  • Yachecia's dish beat Jennifer's, eliminating her.
  • Eliminated: Jennifer Williams
08 Episode 808 (U.S.) - Whole-y Cow! July 26, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The contestants must create a dish involving an ingredient that comes from a cow within 60 minutes. Newton, Jeff, and Brien are called out as the top three; with Newton winning the challenge, earning immunity and the advantage.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Mike Newton
  • Elimination Challenge: For winning the mystery box challenge, Newton was able to separate the contestants into two groups of seven — one weak group and one strong group. After this, Newton was given the choice to send one group into the elimination challenge. He chose the strong team, which meant the weak team was immune from the elimination challenge. Cate and Yachecia cook the best dishes and are safe. Gabriel, Jason, and Necco were named the bottom three.
  • Immune: Adam Wong, Brien O'Brien, Caitlin Jones, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Dino Luciano, Jenny Cavellier and Reba Billingsley
  • Challenge Winners Cate Meade and Yachecia Holston
  • Bottom three: Gabriel Lewis, Jason Wang, and Necco Ceresani
  • The judges eliminate Necco.
  • Eliminated: Necco Ceresani
09 Episode 809 (U.S.) - Holy Cannoli August 2, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The judges select Adam and Caitlin as team captains to lead their teams in creating a meal for food providers based on the ingredients they sent to the MasterChef kitchen. Caitlin picked Daniel, Cate, Jenny, Gabriel, Reba and Jason for her Blue Team while Adam picked Brien, Eboni, Newton, Yachecia, Dino and Jeff for his Red Team. The Blue Team won by a score of 19-11.
  • Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Caitlin Jones, Cate Meade, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Gabriel Lewis, Jason Wang, Jenny Cavellier and Reba Billingsley
  • Pressure Test: The judges exempt Yachecia from this pressure test. The remaining chefs competed in a pressure test to make six cannoli with two different flavors. Dino and Eboni made the best cannoli of the six. Newton's were also deemed good enough to make it to safety.
  • Immune: Yachecia Holston
  • Bottom three: Adam Wong, Brien O'Brien and Jeff Philbin
  • Adam and Jeff are saved, eliminating Brien.
  • Eliminated: Brien O'Brien
10 Episode 810 (U.S.) - The MasterChef Returns August 9, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: Season 7 champion Shaun O'Neale provides the mystery box of ingredients he has chosen, and he cooks alongside the contestants. Caitlin, Yachecia and Cate have the three best dishes, and Cate wins the challenge.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Cate Meade
  • Elimination Challenge: The judges announce the theme of this challenge will be coconut, and Cate gets to choose for each contestant if they must cook a sweet or a savory dish. She assigns a sweet dish to Jeff, Yachecia, Adam, Dino, Jenny, and Jason. She assigns a savory dish to Newton, Caitlin, Daniel, Eboni, Reba, and Gabriel. Daniel and Dino have the two best dishes, while Caitlin, Jeff, Reba and Newton are all called out for the bottom.
  • Challenge Winners: Daniel Pontes-Macedo and Dino Angelo Luciano
  • Bottom four: Caitlin Jones, Jeff Philbin, Reba Billingsley, Mike "Newton" Newton
  • Caitlin and Newton are saved first, then Reba is sent home.
  • Eliminated: Reba Billingsley
11 Episode 811 (U.S.) - Vegas Deluxe & Oyster Shucks August 16, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The contestants are flown to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas where they will be split into two teams to feed 50 VIP guests. Daniel and Dino are made the team captains since they won the last challenge, and Dino is given the choice of either selecting his team or selecting the protein and he elects to choose his team. Daniel chooses sea bass leaving Dino with rib cap. Dino's Red Team is Jason, Eboni, Adam, Jenny and Cate, while Daniel's Blue Team is Caitlin, Yachecia, Jeff, Gabriel and Newton. Each diner will taste both plates and choose a favorite dish, and the winning team will be safe. The Red Team wins with 68% of the total vote.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Adam Wong, Cate Meade, Dino Angelo Luciano, Eboni Henry, Jason Wang and Jenny Cavellier.
  • Pressure Test: The judges announce that the pressure test will be held then and there and that only two members will compete. Daniel gets to choose the two and he chooses Yachecia and Newton. They must replicate a dish of champagne poached oysters in 45 minutes. No winner is announced as the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
  • Immune: Caitlin Jones, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Gabriel Lewis and Jeff Philbin
  • Bottom two: Mike Newton and Yachecia Holston
  • Eliminated: None yet, will be announced next episode
12 Episode 812 (U.S.) - In a Pinch August 23, 2017
  • Yachecia returns from the last episode, meaning that Newton was eliminated.
  • Eliminated: Mike Newton
  • Skills Test: The contestants have 20 minutes to clean the most crawfish perfectly. The five who do the best will be safe from the next challenge. Yachecia, Jason, Daniel, Cate, and Dino are the top five.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Cate Meade, Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Dino Angelo Luciano, Jason Wang and Yachecia Holston.
  • Pressure Test: The remaining contestants must use the crawfish meat to replicate a crawfish dumpling dish as demonstrated by Gordon in 20 minutes. Eboni, Jeff, Caitlin and Gabriel are saved, leaving Adam and Jenny in the bottom.
  • Bottom two: Adam Wong and Jenny Cavellier
  • Jenny is eliminated.
  • Eliminated: Jenny Cavellier
13 Episode 813 (U.S.) - Gordon's Game of Chicken August 23, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The judges allow the contestants to pair up with a partner of their choice. The teams are Eboni and Cate, Dino and Jeff, Jason and Daniel, Adam and Caitlin, and Gabriel and Yachecia. They must make a dish featuring chicken and potatoes in 60 minutes. The winning dish will be featured in Family Circle magazine and the team will be safe as well as win a five-year subscription to the magazine. Also, Aarón and Christina will team up and cook alongside the contestants but with 30 minutes to cook. Eboni and Cate are the winning team, while the teams of Dino and Jeff and Jason and Daniel are also safe. Gabriel and Yachecia are the last team saved.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Cate Meade and Eboni Henry
  • Immune: Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Dino Angelo Luciano, Gabriel Lewis, Jason Wang, Jeff Philbin and Yachecia Holston
  • Bottom two: Adam Wong and Caitlin Jones
  • Pressure Test: Adam and Caitlin must replicate Gordon's dish of chicken and potatoes in 45 minutes and they are allowed to taste it and ask a few questions first. Caitlin wins and Adam is eliminated.
  • Eliminated: Adam Wong
14 Episode 814 (U.S.) - A Mexican Tag Team Challenge August 30, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The contestants must make a breakfast dish featuring Nutella in one hour. Gabriel, Jason, and Cate are called out as the top three, and Jason wins the challenge.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Jason Wang
  • Team Challenge: Jason gets to pair up the remaining contestants for the next challenge. He teams Cate with Dino, Yachecia with Eboni, Jeff with Caitlin, and Daniel with Gabriel. The teams must replicate a platter of Mexican food in one hour but must switch out cooks every ten minutes as this is a tag-team challenge. Cate and Dino are the winners, while the teams of Daniel and Gabriel and Yachecia and Eboni are also safe.
  • Challenge Winners: Cate Meade and Dino Angelo Luciano
  • Bottom two: Caitlin Jones and Jeff Philbin
  • Caitlin is eliminated.
  • Eliminated: Caitlin Jones
15 Episode 815 (U.S.) - The Great Outdoors August 30, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The contestants travel to Big Bear Lake where they are split into teams. Cate captains the Red Team with Jason, Eboni, and Gabriel, while Dino captains the Blue Team with Daniel, Yachecia, and Jeff. Both teams must cook two separate rainbow trout dishes in a campground kitchen for the judges in one hour. Once they are finished, Gordon announces that the judges will only taste one of the dishes and that the teams must choose their best dish. The Red Team wins the challenge.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Cate Meade, Eboni Henry, Gabriel Lewis and Jason Wang
  • Pressure Test: Back in the MasterChef kitchen, the Blue Team must now recreate a box of nine chocolate truffles with three different flavors in one hour. Dino is saved first.
  • Bottom three: Daniel Pontes-Macedo, Jeff Philbin and Yachecia Holston
  • Jeff and Yachecia are told to say goodbye to Daniel as he is eliminated.
  • Eliminated: Daniel Pontes-Macedo
16 Episode 816 (U.S.) - Chopsticks & Pasta September 6, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The mystery box contains chopsticks, as the contestants must make an Asian-inspired dish in 60 minutes. The top three dishes belong to Dino, Jason and Jeff, and Dino is the winner.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Dino Angelo Luciano
  • Pressure Test: The remaining contestants must make a homemade pasta dish, and Dino gets to choose which contestant cooks which style of pasta. He assigns pappardelle to Jason, farfalle to Eboni, cannelloni to Gabriel, cavatelli to Cate, tortellini to Yachecia, and egg yolk ravioli to Jeff. Eboni wins the challenge while Jason is also a top dish. Yachecia and Gabriel are called out as the bottom two.
  • Challenge Winner: Eboni Henry
  • Bottom two: Gabriel Lewis and Yachecia Holston
  • Gabriel is eliminated, but Gordon offers to send him to culinary school for training and Aarón offers him a job in New Orleans once his training is done.
  • Eliminated: Gabriel Lewis
17 Episode 817 (U.S.) - Pop-Up Restaurant September 6, 2017
  • Team Challenge: The contestants are taken to Triunfo Creek Vineyard where they are split into two teams. Eboni and Jason are the team captains for having the best dishes in the last challenge. Eboni's Blue Team includes Cate and Jeff; while Jason's Red Team includes Dino and Yachecia. They will cook two appetizers and two entrées in a pop-up restaurant and the judges will determine the winning team based on guest feedback. The Red Team wins the challenge.
  • Challenge Winners/Immune: Dino Angelo Luciano, Jason Wang and Yachecia Holston
  • Pressure Test: Back at the MasterChef kitchen, the Blue Team members must make a chocolate soufflé in 35 minutes.
  • Bottom three: Cate Meade, Eboni Henry and Jeff Philbin
  • The judges decide not to eliminate anyone, as all three contestants served perfect soufflés.
  • Eliminated: None
18 Episode 818 (U.S.) - Something Fishy September 13, 2017
  • Mystery Box Challenge: The six finalists faced a Mystery Box Challenge to cook a dish inspired by their family members. Eboni, Cate, and Yachecia delivered the top dishes with Cate winning.
  • Challenge Winner/Immune: Cate Meade
  • Elimination Challenge: As the winner of the Mystery Box Challenge, Cate assigned different time limits to the other contestants to cook dishes with salmon to join her in the semifinals: Jason got 60 minutes, Eboni had 50 minutes, Yachecia had 40 minutes, Dino had 30 minutes and Jeff had 20 minutes. Yachecia and Jeff were called out as the bottom.
  • Bottom two: Yachecia Holston and Jeff Philbin
  • The judges eliminated both Yachecia and Jeff.
  • Eliminated: Yachecia Holston and Jeff Philbin
19 Episode_819_(U.S.)_-_The_Semi-Finals September 13, 2017
  • Semi-Finals Skills Test 1: The contestants compete in a three-round Skills Test from each of the judges. The winner of each challenge will advance to the Finale. For the first round, Christina gave them a task to bake profiteroles in 45 minutes. Jason was the first contestant to advance in the Finals.
  • Winner: Jason Wang
  • Semi-Finals Skills Test 2: Aarón challenged the remaining contestants in the 25-minute second round to bake a Latin-inspired molten lava cake and it was Eboni who won.
  • Winner: Eboni Henry
  • Bottom two: Dino Angelo Luciano and Cate Meade
  • Semi-Finals Skills Test 3: The last round tasked Dino and Cate to bake a cheese soufflé by Gordon to secure the last place in the Finals. Dino won the round over Cate.
  • Winner: Dino Angelo Luciano
  • Eliminated: Cate Meade
20 Episode 820 (U.S.) - The Finale, Part 1 (Season 8) September 20, 2017
  • The judges are joined by former MasterChef judge Joe Bastianich for the judging of the finals. The three finalists will have one hour for each course to prepare four portions of their best appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
  • Appetizer: Jason serves an uni custard with prawns, clams, and a miso vinaigrette. Eboni serves pan-seared scallops with charred romanesco, rainbow chard, and a pea purée. Dino serves squid ink capellini with calamari, clams, and cherry tomatoes.
  • The entrées begin cooking as the first hour ends.
21 Episode 821 (U.S.) - The Finale, Part 2 (Season 8) September 20, 2017

Entrée: Jason serves a tofu-skin wrapped black cod with bay scallops, maitake mushrooms, and a cucumber-pea tendril sauce. Dino serves rack of lamb on a lamb belly and sunchoke caponata with a balsamic glaze. Eboni serves a honey-glazed duck breast with sweet potato mash, collard greens and crispy heirloom carrots.

Dessert: Dino serves a roasted pistachio tiramisu with orange mascarpone cream, espresso caviar, and a pistachio tuile. Eboni serves a chocolate orbit cake with a macadamia crumble and a passion fruit coulis. Jason serves a black sesame japonaise with chocolate-yuzu mousse and berry-shiso coulis.

Final Three: Dino Angelo Luciano, Eboni Henry and Jason Wang

Winner Revealed: After reviewing all of the meals from the contestants, the judges name Dino the winner of this year's MasterChef, winning him the $250,000, the trophy, and the cookbook deal.

MasterChef Winner: Dino Angelo Luciano


References

Trivia

  • Casting call auditions were held in February 2016. Filming commenced in Autumn until late 2016/early 2017.
  • This is the third season to be won both by a male contestant and the second Italian-American male champion.
  • Along with Season 7, this season has a total number of 20 contestants.
  • This is the second season where a contestant was eliminated in Las Vegas, since Season 4.
  • This is the last season where Christina Tosi hosted as a main judge, although she later guest starred in a Dessert baking Pressure Test in Season 9.
  • This is the first season where Aarón Sanchez co-hosted as a main judge, having guest starred as a guest judge in Season 7.
  • This season has the most amount of "Skills Test" quickfire challenges, with 3.
  • This season had the latest double elimination in the history of the competition.
  • Former judge Joe Bastianich returned to the show following a three year absence since the controversial Season 5 finale by guest starring as a guest judge in Season 8's three-way finale, making it the first time he has witnessed 3 finalists battle it out in a ring like arena, since the first five seasons featuring him, Graham and Gordon only had two finalists.
  • Future Appearances:
    • Cate & Gabriel returned in Season 12: Back To Win to compete, Daniel, Newton, & Brien also returned but failed to get an apron.

References

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