The first episode of "Worst Cooks in America" was a mess, as it typically is, only this time, it was seven celebrities we know and love making that mess. Some showed potential pretty early on, while others could barely turn on the stove. From a simple grilled cheese, to nearly inedible apple sauce, to a surprisingly good eggplant parm, these celebs started the competition off with what seems like the only dish they knew how to make.
Competing on this year's show is Jenni "Jwoww" Farley from "Jersey Shore," former playboy bunny and reality star Kendra Wilkinson, Barry Williams from "The Brady Bunch," Jaleel White, who is best known for his role as Urkel on "Family Matters," former "Bachelor" Chris Soules, "SNL" alum Ellen Cleghorne and Superman Dean Cain. These seven stars came on the show with no prior cooking experience, hoping to learn, grow, and never have to hire a personal chef again.
Mentors, and Food Network's star chefs, Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray seemed excited and nervous all at the same time as these seven celebs cooked up their meal for the first challenge. They had one hour to make a meal that they would bring to a potluck dinner and in the end, not only were Burrell and Ray going to taste their food, but so would everyone else competing. Burrell and Ray would be choosing their teams based solely off of these seven dishes and towards the end of the cooking time, they threw in a major twist, letting the contestants know that one person would be going home right off the bat.
The cooking got messy as the stars could barely even figure out what tools were what in the kitchen. White created quite the mess at his station, but he came out with the prettiest dish. Jwoww had flashbacks to her "Jersey Shore" days as she made chicken parm, all while chugging a bottle of liquor to calm her nerves. Cleghorne threw pretty much any vegetable, including black beans, that she could find into a pan and threw it on top of pasta, while Williams added about a cup of cinnamon to premade applesauce, nearly choking himself. Cain's chicken was a good idea, but he lacked creativity and didn't really know what to do with his potatoes. Soules and Wilkinson were named the slowest cooks of the batch as they took almost the entire hour to cook tilapia and grilled cheese, which in reality should only take about 10-15 minutes each, but they stuck to what was comfortable to them.
In the end, Burrell and Ray had a hard time watching as these celebs attempted to cook and seemed pretty nervous to try just about everything. The potluck dinner was also hard to watch as most of them sat there in silence, afraid to tell their fellow teammates what was wrong with their dishes. Burrell and Ray cut right to the chase, honestly telling each of them what they liked, and mostly, what needed severe improvement. Here's what each celeb decided to make and what the judges thought of their dishes....
Dean Cain's Chicken, Potatoes and Broccoli
The entire table was silent, as he was the first to go. Anne bluntly said "it tastes like hospital food" and told him it's "not enjoyable to eat," while Ray loved the idea of a balanced meal but critiqued him on his lack of seasoning and inability to fully cook the vegetables.
Chris Soule's Spicy Tilapia and Hard Boiled Eggs
Nobody could seem to get past the fact that he served hard boiled eggs with tilapia, because let's be honest, it really makes no sense, but Soules insisted that this is what he makes for himself all the time. Jwoww and Wilkinson couldn't stop telling him how cute and charming he was, completely ignoring his food. Burrell told him the tilapia tasted like "a mud puddle," while Ray told him to "never make it again."
Kendra Wilkinson's Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomato Soup
The dish didn't look that bad, but no grilled cheese ever really looks bad. Everyone loved the fact that she chose a comfort food, even if it was a meal made for a five-year-old. Burrell critiqued her on the fact that not every bite had bacon in it and that it was unevenly cooked, while Ray told her it was a meal "filled with promise." The grilled cheese was a safe choice, but they want to see her step outside of her comfort zone.
Jaleel White's Eggplant Parm
This may have been the best looking dish of the bunch, and possibly the tastiest. White kept calling it his "third date meal" and insisting that this is the only thing he knows how to cook. Shockingly, this is Soule's first time having eggplant, and he absolutely loved it. Straight off the bat, White seems like the most experienced in the kitchen and this concerns everyone, especially Cleghorne who wonders why he's even there if he can apparently cook. "I'm on to you, Urkel," she told the camera. Burrell and Ray didn't have much criticism for him, except that he's a messy cook and that it needed more seasoning.
Jwoww's Chicken Parm
Cain was intimidated by her cooking skills from the start, even though Jwoww admitted many times that she typically gets her meals delivered to her and only knows how to make this from Sunday dinners at the Jersey Shore. She doesn't stop drinking the entire time as she's nervous for what the mentors are going to say, but they end up pretty pleased with her attempt.
Ellen Cleghorne's "Whole Wheat Black Bean Vegetable Surprise"
Cleghorne literally threw anything she could find, put it over pasta, and called it a sauce. The addition of ketchup really turned the mentors off, and everyone seemed really nervous to try it. "Whacky and random, like her," Soules said. Turns out, Burrell liked it "far more than she thought she would" and Ray absolutely loved her creativity and saw some potential in her.
Barry Williams's Pork chops and Applesauce
Everyone thought the applesauce was gravy because of the excessive amount of cinnamon, but he ended up throwing some apple chunks in there to even it out, and that kind of worked. As for the pork chops, he over cooked them and nobody could even cut into them. Everyone, mentors included, seemed to be chewing on the pork chops for way longer than one should have to, but Ray loved that he at least tried to save the applesauce.
Once they were done with their potluck dinner, Burrell and Ray chose their teams, leaving one sad star left to go home. Ray's blue team ended up being Cleghorne, White and Wilkinson, while Burrell's red team is Soules, Jwoww and Williams, leaving Cain to go home first. Cain seemed upset as he admitted he'd never been eliminated first on anything in his life, but Food Network did give him $5,000 to go towards his charity of choice, and he seemed please with this and believed he was a winner in his own eyes.
See what the remaining six stars make a mess out of in the kitchen when "Worst Cooks in America" airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Food Network.
