Overview
- FOX launched the season with 24 contestants divided among Pro, Social Media, and Home categories.
- Episode one began in the basement, where auditioning pros had 20 minutes to turn scraps into a finished dish.
- Judges advanced seven chefs to the middle level after tastings, with one contestant eliminated in the first round.
- The second challenge on the middle tier asked each chef to recreate the dish that began their culinary journey.
- A tense on-air scare involving what looked like an ear injury was later identified by medics as sriracha, not blood.