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19-year-old Shayne Wells will be back as one of the contestants on Season 12 of MasterChef. The reality cooking competition will premiere on Fox on Wednesday, May 25, at 8.00 pm ET. The fan-favorite trio and culinary legends Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, and Joe Bastianich would be on the judging panel.
MasterChef has maintained its legacy of being the most-watched cooking show ever and is set to ramp up its quality with the new installment. This time, the chefs or contestants are coming 'Back to Win.' The competition will feature participants from previous seasons who are back with more motivation and energy to try and aim for the coveted title.
The grand finale of Season 11 aired back in September 2021, when Kelsey Murphy, a physical therapist, was crowned the winner. An exciting journey awaits the contestants as they strive to win not just the title but also a $250,000 grand prize and a state-of-the-art Viking kitchen.
Who is MasterChef Season 12 contestant Shayne Wells?
Shayne Wells, a 19 years old Texas native, who will compete in Season 12 of MasterChef: Back to Win, was previously a contestant on Season 5 of MasterChef Junior. He was among the top four semi-finalists and placed third with fellow contestant Adam Wadhwani. He will be back this time, not only as an adult but also with more experience working in different areas of food and culinary skills.
Popularly known as "Shayne The Train," he has been cooking since a very young age and has a passion for creating unique and delectable dishes, which prompted him to appear on MasterChef Junior Season 5.
His school's football team gave him the nickname because of his style of always taking on the largest player on the opposing team. Whether he was helping his mom and grandmother in the kitchen back home or his uncle in Dowagiac, the MasterChef contestant always wanted to cook.
According to Leader Publications, he began cooking on his own after learning knacks from his family, adapting several recipes he discovered on various websites and adding his own Texas flavor. He soon caught the eyes of the MasterChef production team during an open tryout in Houston in late 2015.
At 13, he became one of the oldest contestants, along with fellow cast members Mashu Nishi and Mark Coblentz. He quickly emerged as one of the fan favorites in the competition and left viewers disappointed when he faced elimination ahead of the season finale.
Shayne got a job at a restaurant called Fu Muchang in Texas and appeared on Disney+ cooking show Be Our Chef along with his family.
The MasterChef contestant has over 3K followers on Instagram, where he constantly updates them with fishing adventures with his family, his culinary skills, and travels with his friends.
Other contestants competing in Season 12 are Season 5 contestants - Willie Mike and Christian Green, Season 6 - Tommy Walton, Derrick Peltz, Shelly Flash, and Amanda Saab, Season 7 - Brandi Mudd, Season 8 - Gabriel Lewis and Caitlin "Cate" Meade, Season 9 - Samantha Daily, Bowen Li, Shanika Patterson, and Emily Hallock, Season 10 - Brielle "Bri" Baker and Fred Chang, Season 11- Andrew and MasterChef Junior Season 1 contestant Dara Yu.
