‘MasterChef’ Tests Remaining Dynamic Duos With All-New Recipe Telephone Challenge

Over the last 22 seasons, “MasterChef” has challenged hundreds of home cooks to prove their culinary prowess to its panel of celebrity chef judges, including Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich, all in hopes of earning the title of “MasterChef” and a grand prize of $250,000. 

For its currently-airing 15th season, however, “MasterChef” is shaking things up. Not only does the new season, which debuted on May 21, feature the first ever cast composed entirely of teams, as well as a brand-new judge in the form of Michelin-star chef and restaurateur Tiffany Derry, the “Dynamic Duos” competitors will similarly face a brand new challenge, called Telephone Recipe, in tonight’s July 16 episode. 

‘MasterChef’ Judges Requires ‘Dynamic Duos’ to Split-Up in New Challenge

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Since its debut in 2010, “MasterChef” has recycled some of its most popular challenges, which forced competitors to prepare gourmet meals on a $50 budget or using a basket of mystery ingredients, in subsequent seasons. While Season 15 first saw its “Dynamic Duos” compete in head-to-head cook-offs to earn their white aprons and an official spot on the “MasterChef” cast, the 12 winning teams have since competed in challenges that tested the home cooks on their ability to combine sweet and spicy flavours and whip a hearty meal for 100 fishermen. 

Duos who performed well in the challenges were spared from the dreaded Pressure Test and subsequent elimination from the competition. Ahead of tonight’s episode, nine pairs of home cooks remain in the “MasterChef” kitchen, including brothers Adam and Joel, divorced exes Azu and Javier, and former “MasterChef Juniors” competitors Kayla and Ryan Kate. 

In a sneak peek at tonight’s episode, “MasterChef” revealed that the remaining competitors would face an all-new challenge called “Recipe Telephone.” According to FOX, the challenge requires contestants to take turns cooking the same dish. While one player from each “Dynamic Duo” will start prepping the food, the other will take over halfway to finish it after having been sequestered during the first half of the challenge. 

Mother-Daughter Duo Struggle in First Look at Latest Episode

A preview of the upcoming challenge shows home cook Tonna, who is competing alongside her daughter Cait on the season, as she struggles to keep her cool as things heat up in the “MasterChef” kitchen, mistaking white radishes for parsnips in front of Gordon Ramsay himself. 

After Ramsay gives the clearly nervous Tonna a pep-talk to get her back on track, he similarly advises her to “leave clues” for her daughter, who will be responsible for completing the dish without any knowledge of what her mother set out to cook. 

“Give a little indication of what to do,” said Ramsay, who wants to test the competitors on their teamwork and intuition this episode. Check out the full preview clip for Episode 8 of “MasterChef: Dynamic Duos” below.

While Tonna can later be seen spiraling as she struggles to cook without Cait, we’ll have to wait until tonight’s episode airs at 8:00pm ET on FOX to find out if the mother-daughter duo avoid elimination. 

Can’t catch “MasterChef: Dynamic Duos” on cable? New episodes of the series can be streamed the day after their premiere on Hulu.