Award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot return for Season Three of the culinary smash hit MASTERCHEF with a two-night season premiere event on Monday, June 4 (9:00-10:00 PM) and Tuesday, June 5 (9:00-10:00 PM) on FOX 50. 

Nearly 30,000 hopefuls auditioned at MASTERCHEF’s open casting calls in Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New York City, NY; San Francisco, CA; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC.  MASTERCHEF also hit the road for the first-ever food truck casting tour and made stops in cities throughout Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Only the best amateur cooks were flown to Los Angeles for a chance to compete for the coveted title of MASTERCHEF and the $250,000 grand prize. This season will feature contestants from all walks of life representing 23 states – including a stock broker, a professional opera singer, an emergency physician, a food photographer, a plastic surgeon, as well as the first blind cook to enter the competition – all with the hopes of turning their culinary dream into a reality.  

In the premiere episode, the hopefuls will prepare their signature dish and present them to the distinguished MASTERCHEF judging panel: Gordon Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay Steak, maze), Joe Bastianich (Del Posto, Eataly) and Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot, Grahamwich). The judges will taste for flavor, originality, creativity and presentation. But most importantly, the amateur cooks must demonstrate a genuine passion for food and a drive to win in order to earn a coveted white apron and move on to the next round. 

The auditions continue on Tuesday, June 5 (9:00-10:00 PM) as the judges critique the good and the bad and continue to winnow down the competition.  On Monday, June 11 (9:00-10:00 PM), the stakes are raised as the 36 remaining hopefuls will be put to the ultimate test in an intense ground beef challenge. By the end of the episode, those who impress the judges will earn a spot in the Top 18 and join the nation’s best crop of amateur cooks in the MASTERCHEF kitchen. Only those who put their best dish forward will move one step closer to becoming a culinary master.

Below are the hometowns, names and professions of the top amateur cooks who were flown to Los Angeles to compete on MASTERCHEF:  

State/Hometown		Name	Profession
Arizona
	Mesa	Anis "Nino" Jabbes	Server
	Page	Renee Berthiaume	Office Manager
		Laura Frederick	Retired Teacher
		Hollie Schoppman	Convenience Store Owner
		Dwayne Slate	Repossession Agent
		Nicholas Smith	Marine Mechanic
	Phoenix	Preethy Kaibara	Family Physician & Attorney
	Scottsdale	Jason Clouse	Contractor
California
	Apple Valley	Stacey Amagrande	Farmer's Market Manager
	Bakersfield	Gregg McDonnell	IT Manager
	Brentwood	Justin Weiss	Business Analyst
	Cluco	Vanessa Larsen	Hair Stylist
	Corona	Taylor Wilder	Sales Associate
	Hidden Hills	Carrie Portman	Senior Real Estate Account Executive
	Hollywood	Felix Fang	Food Runner
	Encino	Melanie Lowry	Account Executive
	Laguna Niguel	Jeff Cohen	Wealth Manager
	Los Angeles	Monti Carlo	Homemaker
		Trevor Janus	Composer
		Patti Negri	Witch
	Northridge	Regan Forston	Ventriloquist
	Playa Del Rey	Becky Reams	Food Photographer
	San Francisco	Laurence "Larry" Hing	Lawyer
	Santa Monica	Craig Victor	Call Center Assistant
	Studio City	Victoria Redstall	Author
		Kelly Ryan	Professional Speaker
Colorado
	Westminster	Barry "Bear"  Plunkett	Software Sales Executive
Connecticut
	Monroe	Jason Maur	Attorney
	Woodbury	Arnaud Bourgeois	Pilot/Captain
Delaware
	Newark	Tianna Wood	Inventory Control Specialist
Florida
	Aventura	Ladda Cooper	Restaurant Co-Owner
	Boyton Beach	Thomas Wright	Criminal Lawyer
	Davie	David Mack	Caviar Sales Director
	Deerfield Beach	Penny Suzuki	Firefighter and Paramedic
	Jacksonville	Sonya Welch	Administrative Assistant
	Miami	Samantha de Silva	Design Consultant
		Jordan Fein	Credit Services Director of Operations
		Zelick Gimelstein	Musician
		Dolores Royale	Real Estate Investor
		Charles Vidales	Interior Designer
	Miramar	Joel Ringrose	U.S. Army Station Commander
	Palm Beach Gardens	Kate D'Hondt	Bartender
	West Palm Beach	Andrew Rosenthal	Plastic Surgeon
Georgia
	Blackshear	Bubba Strickland	Singer
	Marietta	Lindsay Tarquinio	Non-Profit Co-Founder
	Powder Springs	Mike Hill	Contractor
	Rowell	Bobby Manheim	Primate Therapy for Special Needs Children (Monkey Doctor)
	Savannah	Alysha Augustus	Homemaker
Illinois
	Chicago	Tali Clavijo	Musician
		Vladimir Giuliano Djurkovic	Assistant Manager
		Aleithea Ellis	Student
		Greg Tomaras	Field Service Engineer
		Elisa Veal	Administrative Assistant
	Glencoe	David Martinez	Educational Administrator
Kansas
	Stilwell	Becky Reams	Food Photographer
Louisiana
	New Orleans	Heber Dunaway	Music Teacher
Massachussetts
	Cohasset	Julie Mitterando	Emergency Physician
	Boston	AJ Rossi	Director of Sales (Antiques and Fine Art Magazine)
		Anna Rossi	Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
	Fall River	Adam Camacho	Mechanical Engineer
	Nantucket	Pete Nevers	Carpenter
Maryland
	Baldwin	Helene Leeds	Health Coach
	Baltimore	Elizabeth Etzel	Real Estate Agent
	Bethesda	Amy Holmwood	President of Life Insurance Company
	Silver Spring	Kaimana Chee	Director of IT Training
	Windsor Mill	Sherine Taylor	Benefits Counselor
Michigan
	Ada	James Lee	Retired Police Officer
	Royal Oak	Brian Kho	Business Student
Mississippi
	Biloxi	Michelle Gollott	Food Services Sales Consultant
	Jackson	Joshua Marks	Contract Specialist for US Army
New Jersey
	Florham Park	Samantha McNulty	High School Student
	Manahawkin	Jessika Morgan	Nutrition Sales
	West Orange	Nandini Anant	Homemaker
New York
	Astoria	Luca Manfe	Restaurant Manager
	Brooklyn	Raiza Costa	Artist
		Jack Hazan	Children's Wear Assistant
	Earlville	Gabe Fowler	Journalism Student
	Harlem	Courtney Carey	Professional Opera Singer
	Holtsville	Frank Mirando	Stock Broker
	Katonah	Kim Maloof	Homemaker
	Levittown	Al Matousek	Teaching Assistant
	Long Beach	Alessio Vella	Sales Manager
	New York City	Ryan Umane	Unemployed
		Nichelle Wright	Dancer
	Woodside	Michael Petroff	School Aide
Ohio
	Cincinnati	Krystal Mandap	Food Sales Representative
Oregon
	Clackamas	Josue del Castillo Rios	On-Air Radio Personality
	Portland	Jessica Glenn	Book Publicist
Rhode Island
	Cranston	Cheryl Manzi	Admissions Representative
Texas
	Austin	Michael Chen	Meteorology Student
		Tanya Noble	Student and Hospitality Assistant
	Dallas	Rami Rassas	Used Car Salesman
	Frisco	Audrey McGinnis	Homemaker
	Houston	Christine Ha	Graduate Student
Virginia
	Annandale	Scott Little	Interactive Producer
	Arlington	Matthew Duffy	IT Manager
		Joe Maiellano	Political Consultant
Washington
	Kirkland	Shami Marangwanda	Recruiter
	Seattle	Jaeger Stoltz	Hair Stylist
Wisconsin
	Sun Prairie	Derek Distin	Medical Device Sales Representative

MASTERCHEF is produced by Shine America and One Potato Two Potato and is based on a format created by Franc Roddam and Shine. Shine International handles distribution for the MASTERCHEF format. Elisabeth Murdoch, Eden Gaha, Robin Ashbrook, Gordon Ramsay, Adeline Ramage Rooney, Pat Llewellyn and Ben Adler serve as executive producers. 

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