This season, MasterChef has taken on the theme of Global Gauntlet, and it has divided the world into four areas: Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas. After four weeks of auditions, white aprons have been awarded to five of the best home cooks in each of the regions, who are based in the United States but cooking to reflect their heritage.
So, the season is focusing on the contributions that immigrants have made to the food culture in the United States.
“What makes the food and the culinary scene that we have in the US amazing is that it truly is a melting pot of cultures from all over the world,” judge Tiffany Derry tells Parade in this exclusive interview. “One of the things that we’re doing is highlighting and celebrating the four regions, but even within every region, there’s so much, right? When you think of Africa, the continent of Africa is incredible with cuisine and so different – the spices, the flavors. You’re dealing with Egyptians, Moroccans, South Africans, all of that is just completely different.”
🎬SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
As the show highlights the breadth and width of the food scene and the diversity of the people who create the food, it does somewhat change up the challenges from previous seasons, but not completely.
“It changes it a little bit because you’re a team, but you’re not really. In the beginning, you’re cheering for the group. You want Team Asia Pacific, or you want Team Europe to win because when a team wins, you feel safe as well. If you didn’t have maybe the best dish, then perhaps if your team can win, then all of a sudden you’re safe. So, you’re going for your team, [as] you do in any team sport. But at the end of the day, it’s only one person that’s winning. So, you’re also calculating and figuring out, ‘Okay, I got to watch such and such over there, and I got to be careful with this person,’ right?”
Every season the judges say that the home cooks get better, which is hard to imagine after 16 seasons. But this season, what makes it different is that in celebrating food from all over the world, dishes that may be familiar are done a different way.
“You have people cooking foods from where they’re from, where their family heritage is from, which is very different sometimes than how you would cook if you’re just cooking your everyday. You might want to experiment with cuisines and different flavors. But here they’re highlighting their family heritage,” Derry says. “And so yes, they’ll change it up to whatever that challenge is, but there’s always still that North star of what exactly makes this dish fit within, whether it’s Africa, whether it’s Asia-Pacific, wherever you are, there’s still that thread that is still consistent.”
Parade also spoke to Derry about her days as a contestant in cooking competitions, what we might not know about Gordon Ramsay or Joe Bastianich, and her surprising favorite food.
Related: ‘Chopped Castaways’ Season 1 Cast Includes ‘Top Chef,’ ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Stars
One thing that you bring to this that, that Gordon and Joe don’t have is you actually competed in a competition on Top Chef.
Many actually! Many competitions.
Does that make you different somehow as a judge? Do you look for different things? Are you more empathetic?
I think it does make it a little different. Both Joe and Gordon have done this for so long [that] there’s just not much that can ever pass them. And I mean, I’ve competed for a really long time; I think I’ve heard it all. I have been happy, been sad, cried, overjoyed, like every emotion that you can get from competition. And I remember thinking that the day that I am on the other side of this, I am going to always tell them something that makes them better. I am going to be honest with them in hopes that they’ll make it to the next round and be able to use what we’re talking about.
And so, whether I seem like I am being straightforward – I prefer the word straightforward – if I’m being straightforward or not, it’s all with the idea of, I hope that they learn from this and grow. So yes, sometimes I feel like I am in a really good position, considering that I’ve been on both sides for a long time now.
What’s it like during the actual competition when the three of you are in the back room, and you have to pick the best dish and the worst dish because somebody wins and somebody goes home? Is there consensus on that? Do you disagree a lot? What happens when you disagree?
I don’t really hide much. I don’t really care to. I just feel like I’m at a point where if I disagree, I just say I disagree. My mom used to say, “Fix your face.” And so, my face is exactly how I feel usually. You’ll see that.
But what we do well is, at the end of the day, each of us, whoever we’re fighting for, I’ll say, we have a good case that we’re making. We all don’t always agree, but there are always points that we do agree on. When we start really getting into the season, it can get tense. And it’s gotten to a point where it’s tense, even after we finish. And I’m like, “I don’t agree, but okay.” Or they get that way as well. And then sometimes we’re like, “Yeah, I agree.”
But most of the time, we’ve made the right decision, and you’ll see a few episodes later, you’re like, “Okay, this person was perfectly right for this one”. So, there’s just different ways to go about it. There are always feelings involved in it as well.
Photo credit: FOX
You’ve completed two seasons now, even though we are just starting to see the second one. Talk about what surprised you about working with Gordon or Joe, or something that we as fans would love to know about them.
I don’t think people see the side of Joe that I see every day. Gordon, you see who he is. He’s exactly who you think he is. Whether he is critiquing a dish and trying to make you better, or whether he’s joking and laughing and having a conversation with you.
I feel like most people don’t see the side of Joe that is funny and a little silly. There are moments where he cooks and does things and he sings. I just feel like there’s layers to it that. I feel like I get a little chance, little glimpse to see. So, the rapport between us three, I feel like being together that long and doing those two seasons… it definitely was different than even last year, which was fabulous.
What do you think is the thing that contestants mostly do wrong? What do you think is the biggest mistake that we’re going to see this season?
There’s always technical difficulties. But sometimes you can get over a technical difficulty of whether it means that they didn’t sauté something perfectly. They didn’t braise something long enough. They didn’t season something with enough salt or acid or spice. For me, it’s always, what was the challenge? This was a challenge we gave you, and you disregarded the challenge and decided to just do whatever you wanted to do. And that is something that I see where it’s like, “I’m maybe not comfortable cooking or doing something, and I don’t want to take that gamble, so I play it a little safe.” And it’s not what you want to do on MasterChef. You do not want to play it safe. You want to make sure that every dish you put out is a representation of you, and you have truly gone for it.
Related: Gordon Ramsay’s Net Worth in 2026 Makes Him a Truly ‘Next Level Chef’
Do you have a favorite region of the world where you love the cuisine?
It’s such a hard question. It’s like picking your favorite child. I am often prone to go into Asia, like more Southeast Asian food. I cook a lot of it. I eat a lot of it, more than most people realize. And it’s even funny because during the show, both Gordon and Joe are now realizing how much of that I eat and what I know about it.
They’re like, ‘wait a minute,’ and so they’ll look at me and go, “What do you think?” And I’m like, “Well, you know, this and that.” So, it’s really nice to see. It’s cool.
Is there a food that you won’t eat?
I haven’t found it yet. I’ve eaten some crazy stuff. And because I do travel a heck of a lot, I’m always looking for something. I don’t know anything that I wouldn’t eat right now. I mean, I’ve had some crazy stuff.
Like bugs and stuff like that?
Oh yeah. Those little crunchies, you know?
And what about a guilty pleasure? What would you consider your guilty pleasure? I talked to Gordon years ago and he said he liked In-N-Out burgers.
Actually, I like them, too, but you know what? I am a shaved ice fanatic. I would have it over any dessert. I will have it over any chocolate in the world. I love the texture of perfectly shaved, fluffy ice. I love a sweet and sour syrup. So, any kind of citrusy fruit with a bit of acid, too. Ooohhh and then top it off with the cream. That is my jam. In fact, I wish I had one right now.
I actually have a machine that does shave ice. But because I grew up in East LA, I grew up knowing raspados, which are snow cones.
Yes, absolutely. In Mexico, yeah.
But then lately we have Hawaiian shaved ice trucks. So, it’s more universal than you would think.
Oh, it’s very universal. In fact, I’m actually getting ready to open a shaved ice shop next month. It’s really such a global thing like in Korea, they do one called Bingsu, to obviously the shaved ice, Kakigori, from the Japanese and to Louisiana as well. It’s sooooooo much that people are like, it’s a universal love. Honestly, it is.
Where’s your store going to be?
It’s going to be in Grand Prairie, which is like the suburbs of DFW. It’s called Surf and Snow.
MasterChef airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX. Streams next day on Hulu.
Related: ‘MasterChef’ Returns With an International Theme for Season 16 in 2026 — What to Know
