MasterChef: What is Season 9 winner Gerron Hurt doing today?

One of the most appealing parts of MasterChef is the fact that everyone on the show is a home cook. No restaurant owners, no sou-chefs, no Iron Chefs or Top Chefs. These are all people who just love to cook and have taken it upon themselves to improve and learn to make better meals.

So the fact there is a show like MasterChef that gives them a place to showcase what they learned and maybe change their lives is just amazing. The winner of MasterChef could be you, me, or anyone else who loves food and has taken their abilities up a notch.

That was the case with Gerron Hurt. He was an English schoolteacher from Louisville, Kentucky before appearing on MasterChef. Just a guy who loved Southern cooking and enjoyed making his favorite foods for himself and his family and friends.

Of course, that all changed when he began his MasterChef journey. Hurt would go on to be crowned the winner of Season 9 and nothing in his life would ever be the same.

Gerron Hurt went from MasterChef winner to being a full-time chef

Hurt won $250,000 for his MasterChef victory and that helped him be able to leave teaching so he could concentrate on food full-time. According to Mashed, this led to several wins at many cooking competitions, including one for Celebrity Day at the Track at the Kentucky Derby.

He then launched Family on a Plate, which offers services to help families spend more time in the kitchen cooking together. It offers cooking lessons for families as well as dinner party services.

This all led to the dream for any MasterChef winner, opening your own restaurant. In Hurt’s case, it was the Southern Ego food truck that launched in November of 2019. Located in Dubuque, Iowa, fans flocked to the location to try some of Hurt’s hot-fried chicken.

Of course, like every other restaurant, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern Ego had to shut down, and right now there’s no word if it will reopen.

As any MasterChef fan is aware, Hurt married his girlfriend Brandi Beckham on the series during Season 10 in a ceremony officiated by none other than Gordon Ramsay. Since then the couple has welcomed a baby girl named Harlee Michelle into their lives.

Not bad for a guy who was teaching English before being selected to appear on MasterChef.

We, like everyone else, hope that Southern Ego is back up and running sooner rather than later and that Hurt is back doing what he was obviously born to do. Cook great Southern food.

So Guilty Eaters. Would you ever consider trying to get on MasterChef and becoming the next Gerron Hurt? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages.