What MasterChef Winner Gerron Hurt Is Doing Now
If you've read the news lately, you may have heard that Gordon Ramsay — yes, the chef Gordon Ramsay — may be taking a break from cooking to pivot to something else entirely: hosting game shows. Meanwhile, Gerron Hurt, one of Ramsay's kitchen prodigies from his hit show MasterChef, is just getting started with his own culinary career!
The season nine MasterChef winner turned heads when he took the crown in 2019. While every MasterChef contestant starts out as an amateur chef with no professional experience, viewers were especially fond of Hurt, who was a humble English schoolteacher from Louisville, Kentucky (via RealityTV Revisited). According to the outlet, Hurt's Southern-inspired menu was key to landing his first place win.
Nowadays, Hurt is no stranger to TV or the kitchen. As a matter of fact, Reality TV Revisited also reports that he's since left his teaching gig to focus on food full-time.
Gerron Hurt has hit professional and personal milestones since winning MasterChef
After his win, Gerron Hurt's path to success was clear. According to Courier Journal, the chef has quickly built a career out of celebrity appearances and offering cooking classes all over the country. He combined his teaching experience with his newfound cooking career at Chicago's Camp MasterChef, where he gave lessons to kids aspiring to be chefs. Hurt was even invited to the Kentucky Derby, where he participated in — and won — a cooking competition for Celebrity Day at the Track on Derby Week. The $100 prize was nothing compared to the chunk of change he took home after his MasterChef win ($250,000!), but it cemented a great foundation for his growing cooking career.
Hurt scored two personal wins since his MasterChef debut, too. He and fiancé Brandi Beckham returned to the series to tie the knot in a season ten special. Not only did Gordon Ramsay officiate the ceremony, but the 14 remaining contestants also competed to cook up lobster and filet mignon for the reception (via Parade).
In October 2020, Hurt turned to Instagram to announce his latest life update: the birth of his first daughter Harlee Michelle!
Gerron Hurt is now a full-time and in-demand Southern chef
According to LinkedIn, Gerron Hurt now owns and operates Family on a Plate LLC, which focuses on getting families cooking together in the kitchen. The business offers private chef and dinner party services, as well as cooking lessons.
After spending some time simply offering personal chef services, Hurt jumped head first into a lifelong cooking career with the launch of his Southern Ego food truck in November 2019. The Dubuque, Iowa-based joint was less of a food "truck" and more of a hole-in-the-wall, but Yelp reviews raved about Hurt's hot fried chicken. According to Southern Ego's latest Instagram post, the truck was forced to close and offer catering only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the pandemic hasn't been too friendly to restaurants and chefs, Hurt has been determined to adapt. He keeps the Family on a Plate website up to date with blog posts — one even suggests a full list of grocery list staples to get through staying at home. And if you're one of the many folks stuck indoors and passing time by learning how to cook, you can still order some of Hurt's staple Southern recipes that won him the MasterChef title in the first place.