What These 9 MasterChef Junior Winners Are Up To Now

Every new season of "MasterChef Junior" has uncovered a winner with plenty of potential. But what happens to them after they leave the show? It turns out that the fame from their "MasterChef Junior" title opens up all sorts of doors. While some of the winners have stayed the course with a steady focus on food, others have branched out into different avenues as they've gotten older.

Being a winner on "MasterChef Junior" comes with plenty of opportunities if you take them, like meeting celebrities and getting to appear on television shows. A couple even cooked for governors and presidents. However, it can also be an opportunity to find a way to give back to society through motivational public speaking events and charity events. There isn't one singular path that these kids follow after their win. Each path they take is as unique as the kids themselves. Some are extremely ambitious and seem to have racked up more on their resume in their first few years post-win than many adults have in a lifetime. Meanwhile, others are still out there being kids and exploring their options. So, the opportunity this win gives them is certainly what they make of it. If you're interested in what the "MasterChef Junior" winners are all doing now, be sure to give this a read.

Alexander Weiss, the very first winner of "MasterChef Junior" in 2013, has had plenty of time to develop from being just a winner to being a professional chef. After his initial win, he was invited to restaurants in his home state of New York and all over the world. Plus, he participated in a MasterChef cruise.

He used his prize money to upgrade his kitchen and get his New York company called Dinners by Alexander off the ground in 2019. He posted an email address online that would allow anyone to contact him to book his services as a private chef, which is different from a personal chef. Ultimately, his win inspired him to follow his dream to become a professional chef and go to culinary school, graduating from the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park in 2020. That was also the year he started an internship at The Barn at Blackberry Farm, in Maryville, Tennessee, which is a James Beard Award-winning restaurant focusing on using Appalachian ingredients.

In 2022, he was able to return to the show that made him famous, making a guest appearance on "MasterChef Junior" as a judge. As of the writing of this article in 2025, he's a private chef in California. As a private chef, he's able to create dishes for families who need food tailored to meet their particular dietary needs every meal of the day.

Even before Logan Guleff was a "MasterChef Junior" winner, one of his recipes won him a trip to the White House for a Healthy Lunchtime Challenge hosted by Michelle Obama. So, he was already off to a running start in 2012. However, his 2014 "MasterChef Junior" win launched him even further into celebrity chefdom.

In 2016, two years after his "MasterChef Junior" win, Guleff was named one of Time's 30 Most Influential Teens of the year, Southern Living's Best New Southern Cook, and was among Fortune Magazine's 18 Under 18. He also was the winner of a James Beard burger contest. In 2017, Guleff's book "Logan's Chef Notes & Half Baked Tales – Cooking Dreams" hit shelves. It's one part cookbook, one part manga-style graphic novel and features a foreword by Jessica Biel and notes from Chef Graham Elliot. The cookbook won a Gourmand award in 2018. In 2017,Guleff teamed up with the home meal delivery service Chef'd to create Southern-inspired recipes for them.

Since those whirlwind early years after his win, he's continued to keep busy with giving Ted Talks, making his own spice rub (Logan's Rub), judging, cooking, charity events, food demos, blogging, creating the World's first virtual dining experience NFT, and representing various food brands. Guleff was declared one of the Top 22 Young Entrepreneurs in the World by Marketing91 in 2024. Currently, he's a Youth Advisor at City Harvest, an organization helping to end hunger in New York City.

Nathan Odom was declared the winner during the "MasterChef Junior" finale in 2015. However, instead of launching straight into culinary opportunities, he waited until after finishing high school to pursue his dreams. Within the next few years, Odom worked with charity organizations like Make a Wish and Mama's Kitchen. After graduating from high school in 2019, he decided to study Japanese cuisine in Japan. While there, he learned from interning intensively in a Michelin 3-star restaurant for two years. 

Since then, he's worked in several restaurants. Plus, in 2021, he created Restaurant Neo, which offered private dining and catering services. However, it didn't renew its business license for a second year. However, not everything Odom has been doing relates to food. He's become a whiz at leatherworking, making beautiful bags, watches and other leather items. Furthermore, in 2024, he started inking tattoos, following in his father's footsteps. After all, an artist doesn't have to choose just one medium.

When Addison Osta Smith won "MasterChef Junior" in 2016, she became both the first girl and the youngest contestant to take the prize. However, cooking wasn't all she was interested in when she was 10; she also enjoyed dancing.

Not only did Smith try another cooking competition, "MasterChef Junior: Celebrity Showdown", but she also showcased her dancing skills on "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors" in 2018. That year, as a result of her "MasterChef Junior" fame, she appeared on the "GMA Day" TV show and got to participate in a MasterChef cruise, which many of the adult MasterChef winners have joined. Plus, she used her cooking skills to help support charity organizations like Housing Forward, which helps feed unhoused people in West Cook County, Illinois. You can also find some of her recipes in the "MasterChef Junior Cookbook".

Transitioning from childhood to adulthood, she has an account on TikTok that she regularly updates. However, her videos don't give a lot of insight into what she's doing these days, and that's just fine. We don't have to know everything.

Jasmine Stewart was 12 in 2017 when she won "MasterChef Junior." She was lucky to get to compete during the season when one of her idols, Michelle Obama, visited the series as a judge. Stewart's win immediately jump-started a new era in the spotlight, which she embraced completely.

That first year, Stewart appeared on various radio and TV shows for interviews. Plus, she got to judge the Taste of Atlanta teen cook off. In 2018, she became even busier, becoming a keynote speaker for B'Fly Girls Butterfly Ball and appearing on TV shows like "Good Morning America". Additionally, she served as a mentor at culinary camp, taught online "Cooking With MasterChef Junior" classes, and did a cooking demonstration for charity. She also got to return as a guest on "MasterChef Junior" and contribute to the "MasterChef Junior Cookbook." In 2019, she was back on the show again and got to guest judge for Taste of Hartsfield-Jackson. In 2020, her GirlBags were featured in South Fulton Lifestyle magazine. In 2021, she was honored with a Jasmine Stewart Community Garden in Roswell and spoke to the Roswell Rotary Club.

In 2022, Stewart appeared on the "Good Day Atlanta" TV show. Then, in 2022 and 2023, she served as a Regional Teen President for the Southeastern Region Teens chapter of Jack and Jill America, doing many public speaking events for them. Once she started college, Stewart was able to find a program at New York University that let her choose classes to custom-make a major that worked for her, and she chose Black Food and Multimedia Studies. She also became a PR intern. Stewart's latest adventure is studying abroad in Italy, which she began in January 2025.

Season 6 Winner Beni Cwiakala is full of contagious happy energy and has done a lot since her win in 2018. Food has always been an integral part of what she's done since being named the top chef on "MasterChef Junior," but since she's still in high school, she's still exploring.

One of the first things he did after her win in 2018 was to make pancakes for a huge crowd of first graders from a Cicero, Illinois elementary school. However, she also started appearing on TV shows like "Windy City Live," helping with classes at "MasterChef Junior" camp, volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and doing cooking demos. Her TV appearances and cooking demos also continued in 2019. Plus, she started hosting dinner events to help benefit Operation North Pole Chicago which provides help and happiness for terminally ill children, as well as supporting other charitable initiatives. She also got to appear on "MasterChef Junior" again as a guest. Her in-person cooking demos gave way to virtual cooking demos and telethons in 2020 and 2021 for the charitable organizations she supports.

2020 was also the year when Cwiakala started really getting into making her own videos on Instagram. She started with personal cooking videos and recipes. Then, she branched out to add book reviews in 2021. By 2024, she was doing a segment called Misfits With Beni, where she tried on outfits she'd often obtained from thrifting. A bit of behind-the-scenes work with the video production and marketing company Bottle Rocket Media in 2022 ultimately led to a high school internship with them in 2024. After learning more about editing, writing, and producing film, she's made some interesting Chicago food and drink review videos for her Instagram page.

Since being the winning contestant on "MasterChef Junior" in 2019, Che Spiotta has stayed in the limelight. He's appeared publicly in the same capacity as some of the other winners while also showcasing his cooking skills on social media.

Like the other winners, Spiotta was invited to be on TV shows ranging from "Live With Kelly and Ryan" to "Stephen Colbert". He also stayed involved with "MasterChef Junior," joining its live tour, appearing in the video game version of the show, helping to judge the next season, and teaching at camp. Beyond the "MasterChef Junior" franchise. he also accepted gigs to present awards and do judging for other shows. Like many of his fellow champions, he went on to provide cooking classes and demos for charity events, latching onto groups like the New Jersey Children's Alliance and Child Advocacy Centers, Good Grief NJ, and Make a Wish Metro NY. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was conducting these charitable cooking classes via Zoom. Plus, he's been on podcasts like "Kojo for Kids" and various radio shows. He also accepted a Pride of Ulster County award related to his TV win.

In recent years, Spiotta has participated in restaurant breakfast pop-ups. However, he's been incredibly active on social media. He started posting food pictures and videos on Instagram even before he won on "MasterChef Junior." He has continued posting his food videos on Instagram and TikTok and sells food-themed merchandise on his website.

Liya Chu won the top award on "MasterChef Junior" in 2022 when she was only 10 years old. While her current personal direction does contain some cooking, that's not all she excels at doing. Rather than going on tons of American TV shows like the previous winners, Chu's family's Taiwanese-American heritage had her being honored in Taiwan during the days after her win in 2022. She appeared in the Taiwanese version of the Marie Claire magazine, was invited to be on Taiwanese TV shows, and even got a chance to cook with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. Then, she got a chance to go on the road with the MasterChef live tour. She was able to cook again for President Tsai Ing Wen when the Taiwanese president visited Chu's home state of New York in 2023.

While Chu still posts cooking videos on Instagram from time to time, she's also been pursuing other passions, like public speaking and golf. She placed in a speech tournament at Yale in 2023 and competed in the New York State Junior Amateur Golf Tournament with her brother that same year. In 2024, she won an award at the New York State Championship in JVOI Speech, and her high school golf team became the NYSPHSAA state champs for New York. She also went on to attend the Yale Invitational and the Princeton Invitational debate competitions, with her fourth place finish qualifying her for the NY State Forensics League State Championship for Oral Interpretation and the Tournament of Champions.

About a year before Bryson McGlynn was a "MasterChef Junior" winner in 2024, he started posting cooking videos on social media under the name Cookin' With Cheese Curd and doing live cooking demos. So, he had already launched himself headlong into being a public cooking figure before his win.

Throughout the season he was on "MasterChef Junior," a local newspaper kept up with his progress. He was also invited to speak at an Opelika, Alabama, Rotary Club luncheon before the win. Academy Sports even gave him a shopping spree to get some great barbecue grilling supplies for his future cooking endeavors before his win. After the finale aired, began getting even more congratulatory products from companies that wanted his endorsement. He's continued doing cooking demos under the Cookin' With Cheese Curd name on social media, with grilled meat being a particular specialty. Many of his social media videos started featuring a wide variety of shiny new products from companies offering free products in return for using them in his videos.

After becoming the "MasterChef Junior" winner, McGlynn got to meet and cook for Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. Plus, his local Fox TV station hosted a community celebration for him with food and drinks. And with barbecue being his specialty, he participated in the 2024 Atlanta Grill Company Fire Show, the 10th annual Opelika Burger Wars, the AWF Wild Game State Championship (which he won), and many more grilling cook off competitions. In 2025, he was also able to collaborate with and create a menu with other "MasterChef Junior" chefs at the Dreams Natura resort in Cancun, Mexico. As of the time of writing, McGlynn's MasterChef reign has only just begun.