Worst Cooks in America is back for a flirty season 26 “Love at First Bite”

The Worst Cooks in America are back in action for a 26 season. And this year Anne Burrell and Jeff Mauro are taking on 16 flirty singles for the “Love at First Bite” season.

To kick things off, our new recruits have to make their signature dish that would “seal the deal” when it comes to love. Of course, this is going to give our two culinary expertise a chance to see exactly what kind of cooks these singles really are.

Once Anne and Jeff try all of the recruits dishes, they will get the chance to choose their teams. And then it is onto the main dish challenge, where the recruits will learn the fine art of making duck.

The Worst Cooks in America are back for a season of love

In this “Fiery First Date,” our Worst Cooks in America start off by showcasing their best dishes for romance. So what did our recruits cook up for our chefs in 60 minutes?

• Charles – Crab Cakes with asparagus
• Denz – Surf and Turf with potato salad
• Sterling –  Mac and Cheese
• Jessica – Spicy honey chicken
• Matthew – Meatballs with Spaghetti
• Terri – Seafood paella
• James – Chocolate pasta and banana bread
• Toneata – Halibut lemon piccata with zoodles
• Etherio – Spaghetti, catfish, and garlic bread
• Amy – Eggs Benedict
• Allegra – Butter chicken with a broccoli salad
• Lou – Steak with garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach
• Zach – Pretty Thai for a White Guy
• Sami – French Toast Sandwich
• Kermit – Shrimp tacos with Spanish rice
• Michael – Bacon cheeseburger with fries

As one might expect from this first outing in the kitchen, our Worst Cooks in America recruits are living up to the show’s name. From undercooked food to overcooked food and the weirdest combinations, these cooks need all the help Anne Burrell and Jeff Mauro can give them.

Before Jeff and Anne pick teams, the cooks have to get “handsy” and feel up food in a box and guess what they are feeling. Shockingly, quite a few of the cooks are able to feel up the mystery foods and get them right!

And now it is time for the main dish challenge. Instead of picking teams before this demonstration, Anne announces the cooks have another chance to impress them first. This means the cooks have to make their own duck dishes after watching Jeff and Anne do their duck demo.

The recruits have just 60 minutes to recreate the dish Jeff and Anne made. And pretty quickly it seems like these cooks are struggling. In the course of 60 minutes we get to see things catch on fire, we see duck get mangled, and of course the dreaded red fingers.

After a stressful main dish challenge, Jeff and Anne are trying all the recruits dishes. And this tasting will determine which recruits are on which team.

Honestly, one of the best parts about watching the tasting was seeing Kermit spending his entire time eating in the background after declaring himself the worst cook ever.

So how did the recruits do? Who will end up on which team? This is season is about love and couples, so that means the teams are made up of duos, so each chef is picking their team in twos. And the picks are as follows:

• Sterling and Matthew – Team Jeff
• Sami and James – Team Anne
• Michael and Allegra – Team Jeff
• Amy and Etherio – Team Anne
• Toneata and Zach – Team Jeff
• Charles and Terri – Team Anne
• Denz and Lou – Team Anne
• Kermit and Jessica – Team Jeff