Question: How long has America's Worst Cooks been on?

Worst Cooks in America

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Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series that premiered on January 3, 2010, on the Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set.[1][2] The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including: baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant quality three-course meal for three food critics.

History
The show premiered on January 3, 2010. The show was initially hosted by chef Anne Burrell and chef Beau MacMillan in Season 1. MacMillan was replaced by chef Robert Irvine on Season 2, followed by chef Bobby Flay for Seasons 3–5. On November 20, 2014, a Food Network press release announced that chef Tyler Florence will be paired with chef Burrell to host Season 6, to debut on January 4, 2015. Burrell was the winning instructor in seasons 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 with Flay winning in Seasons 4–5. Rachael Ray and Burrell hosted the Season 7 special celebrity edition, which premiered September 23, 2015. During the finale of Season 7, a trailer previewing Season 8 was shown and was aired in January 2016 with the return of Tyler Florence.
Season 1: 2010
Chefs Beau MacMillan and Anne Burrell lead an intense culinary boot camp. They have six recruits each, and every week they must eliminate one recruit from each of their teams until there is only one from each team left. The final two create a three-course meal to fool a panel of restaurant critics into believing that the meal was created by the acclaimed chefs.
Recruits
Twelve chefs competed in the first season of Worst Cooks in America. Hometowns and occupations are available from the Food Network website.[3][4] Chef Anne's team was known as the Red Team and Chef Beau's team was known as the Blue Team.

Contestant Progress and Episodes

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
* Initially a member of the other team but switched after Chef Beau won the bet on whose team member made the best crepes.
Episode 1:
Baseline Challenge: 24 of the Worst Cooks in America were brought to Boot Camp. With 45 minutes on the clock, the chef had to cook a dish and whoever has the worst dishes were to be picked for teams. What the recruits didn't know was that Anne and Beau would only select the 12 worst of the worst for boot camp, and they also didn't know that Anne and Beau would pick for their opponent's team.
Team Selection: Beau gives Anne Jenny, Eddie, Hamed, Rachel, Rebecca, and Kelly. Anne Gives Beau Sophia, Susie, David, Wilhelmina, Marque, and Jen.
Main Dish: Anne made Tuscan Fish Stew, while Beau made Poached Tiger Prawns with Littleneck Clams, Bok Choy, and Shiitake Mushrooms. Each team had one hour to replicate their respective chef's dish. During the challenge, Hamed, Wilhelmina, Eddie, and David all struggled. Hamed forgot to put his clams on the plate, Eddie overcooked his shrimp and used too much saffron, Wilhelmina's Broth had too much soy sauce, and David messed up the garnish.
Elimination: After tasting, Rebecca and Marque were named the winners on their respective teams, and Sophia, Rachel, Jenny, Jen, Kelly, and Susie didn't have the best dishes, but they also didn't have the worst dishes and they were deamed safe from elimination. Hamed and Eddie were the bottom two on the red team, and Wihelmina and David with the bottom two on the blue team, but in the end, Hamed and Wihelmina were sent home.
Episode 2: 
Skill Drill: The chefs bring the recruits to Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse to teach them about classic knife skills such as Julienne and Slicing.
Season 2: 2011
Casting for season 2 of Worst Cooks in America was held at the LA Marriott Burbank Airport, Hotel & Convention Center on March 27, 2010.[5] The Food Network also began accepting online video applications for season 2.[6] Food Network's website announced that Robert Irvine would replace Beau MacMillan for season 2. Season 2 debuted on January 2, 2011.[7] In this season the chefs had eight recruits each.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
* Initially a member of the other team but switched after Chef Robert won the bet on whose team member made the best burgers.
Differences between seasons 1 and 2
In the first episode, a group of selected novice cooks were to prepare a dish from scratch so the chefs would get an idea of how poor their skills were. After tasting all the items, the chefs took turns picking team members for their rival chef. The first season started off with 24 novice cooks but only the worst 12 were chosen for a team. In the second season, the first episode began with 16 amateurs and all took part for the remainder of that episode.
In the penultimate episode of the season, the remaining four recruits learned and replicated a dessert. After this, in the first season, the recruits had to instruct a group of high school students how to replicate the dessert recipe. In the second one, the recruits were assigned the dessert to serve after both chefs, and a special guest enjoyed a main dish.
After learning and replicating a dessert, the recruits had to prepare a meal for both chefs and a surprise guest, usually a spouse or other family member. The first season's main dishes were an improved version of the recruits’ audition meal. The special guests in the second season got to choose what they wanted the students to make them.
Two recruits remained in the final episode and had to prepare an appetizer, main dish, and dessert for a panel of three food critics. The critics in season 1 thought that the final meal was prepared by the chefs until after they sampled all the courses. In season 2, the critics learned their meal was prepared by the recruits immediately after entering the restaurant.
Season 3: 2012
Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay hosted season 3 replacing Robert Irvine.[8][9]
Recruits

Contestant progress

: In Episode 3, Team Bobby (blue team) won the first challenge, he therefore got to choose one person from Team Anne (red team) to go to his team, and then choose one person from his team to go to the other team. He chose David to go to Team Anne's team and chose Melissa from Team Anne's team to join his team.
Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition
 (QUIT) The contestant volunteered to quit
Season 4: 2013
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.

†: Contestant died after filming.
Season 5: 2014
Recruits

Contestant progress

: In Episode 3 Team Anne (red team) won the first challenge, she therefore got to choose one person from Team Bobby (blue team) to go to her team, and then chose one person from her team to go to the other team. She chose Stephanie to go to Team Bobby's team and chose Carie from Team Bobby's team to join her team.
Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
 (IN) The contestant get switched by the host to the other team. Ex: A member of the red team goes to the blue team, and a member of the blue team goes to the red team.
Season 6: 2015
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host seasons 6, replacing Bobby Flay after 3 seasons. The season premiered on January 4, 2015 to 2,123,000 viewers.[11] The second episode was lower at 1,456,000 viewers,[12] with the third episode rising to 1,732,000 viewers[13] and the fourth episode reached 1,689,000 viewers.[14] the 5th episode reached 1,634,000 viewers. The sixth episode received 1.55million viewers.[15]
Recruits

Contestant Stephanie Streisand was deemed too ill to continue on January 11
Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
 (WDR) The contestant withdrew from the competition due to illness.
Season 7: Celebrity Edition
Rachael Ray joins Anne Burrell to host season 7. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. Because this season had only 7 total recruits, each team's worst recruit from that week's Main Dish challenge competed head to head in a quickfire elimination challenge instead of eliminating both recruits each week. This challenge involved more basic cooking techniques (e.g. knife skills) and the winner would be decided by a blind judging from both Anne and Rachael. The winning recruit stayed in the competition while the losing recruit was eliminated.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Season 8: 2016
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host season 8.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Season 9: Celebrity Edition 2
Rachael Ray returns with Anne Burrell to host season 2 of the Celebrity Edition. The winner earns a $50,000 donation for their chosen charity. The season premiered on September 14, 2016 to 1,185,000 viewers.[16]
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Season 10: 2017
Rachael Ray joins Anne Burrell to host season 10. The season premiered on January 1, 2017.[17]
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
 (SAVE) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge but was saved by their respective team mentor.
In Episode 6, Both Chef Anne and Chef Rachael decided not to send anyone from their teams home.
Season 11: Celebrity Edition 3
Rachael Ray returns with Anne Burrell to host season 3 of the Celebrity Edition. The season premiered on August 23, 2017.[18][19]
Recruits

•Note: Vivica was originally eliminated on September 20. In Episode 7, airing on October 4, both Vivica and Sean returned to the competition for a redemption skill drill. Vivica won the drill, re-entered the competition and was then eliminated following the main challenge.
Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
 (WDR) The contestant withdrew from the competition due to illness or injury.
 (RTN) The contestant won the redemption Skill Drill and returned to the competition.
 (SAVE) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge but was saved by their respective team mentor.
Season 12: 2018
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host season 12.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (TIE) The contestant tied with another contestant as the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
 (QUIT) The contestant volunteered to leave the competition.
In episode 5, contestants Lacey and Spencer switch teams instead of being eliminated, Lacey on Chef Anne's Team and Spencer on Chef Tyler's team.
Season 13: Celebrity Edition 4
Tyler Florence returns with Anne Burrell to host season 4 of the Celebrity Edition. This is the first Celebrity Edition to not feature Rachael Ray as a judge. The season premiered on April 15, 2018.[20]
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenged and was out of the competition.
Season 14: 2018
Robert Irvine joined Anne Burrell to host season 14.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Season 15: 2019
Tyler Florence joins Anne Burrell to host season 15. Since the number of contestants is odd, one of them is eliminated before getting into the teams.
Recruits

Contestant progress

Key
  (WINNER) This contestant won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst".
 (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was the runner-up in the finals of the competition.
 (WIN) The contestant did the best on their team in the week's Main Dish challenge or Skill Drill and was considered the winner.
 (BTM) The contestant was selected as one of the bottom entries in the Main Dish challenge, but was not eliminated.
 (OUT) The contestant lost that week's Main Dish challenge and was out of the competition.
Judging records

Notes