MasterChef Canada Season 9 Premiere Results: Four Cooks Out, Top 12 Set

Sixteen home cooks walked into the MasterChef Canada kitchen on Tuesday night and twelve are still standing. Gordon Ramsay set the first test, a Beef Wellington, and the four best plates were rewarded with the first White Aprons of the season.

The four who packed up were Amanda Baker, Dre Pao, Marshall Gu and Ral Onyeachonam. Nobody had put those names in writing when this page first went up; they've since been confirmed twice. Here's what the broadcast and Bell Media's own material confirm, the full starting cast, and how the cut worked.

Short version:

• The Season 9 premiere, “Battle Wellington,” aired Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.
• Four cooks earned White Aprons in the Wellington round; the rest cooked a restaurant-memory dish, and the field was cut from 16 to a Top 12.
• Amanda Baker, Dre Pao, Marshall Gu and Ral Onyeachonam were the four eliminated. Episode 2 aired Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Who went home on MasterChef Canada last night?

Four home cooks, which is the arithmetic of a 16-person cast becoming a Top 12. Bell Media's Sept. 2 release set that format out in advance, and Daily Hive's preview of the Vancouver cooks described the same cut.

Update, Sept. 30: the four are Amanda Baker (Ottawa), Dre Pao (Hamilton), Marshall Gu (Toronto) and Ral Onyeachonam (Toronto). The Extra Mile named them in an exit interview published Sept. 24, and Windspeaker reported the same four. We held the names back on the morning after the broadcast because no outlet had published them yet. What happened next is in our Episode 2 update.

How did the Beef Wellington challenge work?

Ramsay, appearing as a special guest, asked all 16 to make his signature Beef Wellington. It's a dish with nowhere to hide: pastry, duxelles and a fillet that has to come out pink in the middle, and you only find out when it's sliced.

The strongest four went straight through with White Aprons. Everyone else had a second shot, cooking a plate inspired by a restaurant meal that pushed them toward cooking in the first place. Only the dishes Mary Berg, Hugh Acheson and Craig Wong liked most moved on, per Bell Media's episode description.

Who are the 16 MasterChef Canada Season 9 cooks?

Every name, age, hometown and job below comes from Bell Media's official cast release. Twelve of these cooks made the Top 12: everyone except Baker, Pao, Gu and Onyeachonam.

Where are this year's cooks from?

We counted the cast list by province. Ontario sends seven (four from Toronto, two from Ottawa, one from Hamilton), British Columbia four, and Manitoba, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador one each. No cook comes from Saskatchewan, P.E.I., New Brunswick or the territories.

The median age is 34, and the average works out to 34.2. Aliyaan Amlani-Kurji, 23, is the youngest in the kitchen; Geraldine Russ, 52, from Haida Gwaii, is the oldest. Ontario tilts the other big CTV competition too: 10 of the 22 players in the Traitors Canada Season 4 cast list an Ontario hometown.

When is MasterChef Canada on next?

Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CTV. Season 9 runs 11 episodes in the Tuesday slot. That second episode, “Rice, Rice Baby,” has now aired.

That 7 p.m. start is early for a CTV competition show. Our Season 9 start-time guide explains the slot, and every Canadian reality premiere this fall is listed in one place.

Where can I stream the premiere in Canada?

Crave, from Wednesday, Sept. 23. Bell Media says each episode lands there the day after its CTV broadcast, and earlier seasons are on Crave too.

A TV provider login works through Crave too, now that the CTV.ca player and CTV app are retired. Our guide to streaming Canadian reality TV sorts out which app has which show, and the sister site lists everything new in Canada on Wednesday. For the week ahead, see this week in Canadian reality TV; the last result we posted was Tina and Liz winning The Amazing Race Canada.

FAQ

How many cooks are left on MasterChef Canada?
Twelve after the premiere, which cut the cast from 16. Rebecca Abbott left in Episode 2 on Sept. 29, so 11 after that; see the Episode 2 results.

Is Gordon Ramsay a judge on MasterChef Canada now?
No. He was a special guest for the Beef Wellington challenge only. Mary Berg hosts and judges alongside Hugh Acheson and Craig Wong.

How much does the MasterChef Canada winner get?
$100,000 and the title, according to Bell Media.

Sources

• Bell Media — 16 new home cooks enter the MasterChef Canada kitchen Sept. 22 on CTV
• Daily Hive — The Vancouver home cooks on the next season of MasterChef Canada
• The Extra Mile — Season 9 exit interview with the first four cooks out
• Windspeaker — MasterChef Canada profile of Geraldine Russ
• Wikipedia — MasterChef Canada (Season 9 premiere and judges)
• CTV Television on YouTube — MasterChef Canada Season 9 clip

By the CA Reality On Air desk · Updated Oct. 1, 4:06 a.m. ET