It’s like “The White Lotus” meets “Worst Cooks in America” 2026 tonight on Food Network. Fan-favorite chef Jeff Mauro and restaurateur Tiffany Derry are back to teach this group of reality TV stars how to make crab cakes after they competed in a head-to-head relay race through a faux-luxury resort, creating poolside platters on “Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check.” The contestants, which include “Dancing With the Stars” pro Val Chmerkovskiy and “The Challenge” star CT Tamburello, will then take on another main dish challenge. Find out who gets eliminated on “Worst Cooks in America” season 30 tonight with us during our “Worst Cooks in America” live recap below.
The Worst Lotus
The eight remaining contestants will be back in the kitchen tonight with the hopes of learning how to cook. They will be working with Jeff and Tiffany, who will be guiding them through different challenges to improve their culinary skills.
For this third episode, titled “The Worst Lotus,” the contestants will be working the faux-luxury resort to create some poolside platters. They will then be put to the test with the main dish challenge, which features crab cakes. The fight to be named the winner of “Worst Cooks in America” season 30 continues tonight. Follow along with our Live Recap below!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: THIS LIVE RECAP WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE, SO DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS.
January 18 Live Recap – Week 3
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The Worst Lotus Resort
The kitchen is set up as a poolside resort. For this first challenge, the teams will be competing in a relay-style race. They will make their way through the resort, having to make dishes appropriate for poolside snacking.
The challenge will start with two of the contestants from each team at Station 1, which has them creating spring rolls with a dipping sauce. However, they will do this while wearing an oversized spa robe for two. Each contestant will only have the use of one hand. They will then bring up the dish, and when done, the second pair from each team will have to replicate Thai lettuce wraps, but the ingredients are hidden in a sea of beach balls. At the final station, the contestants must replicate a tuna poke tower, but the recipe is hidden in coconuts!
To start, they will have to whip up a green juice for the judges. They will have 35 minutes to finish this challenge. The winning team will get an advantage in the next cook.
Team Challenge
The teams get their juices made, so it’s time for the first station. We have Julie and Beverly working together for the Blue Team, and Reza and Amara on the Red Team. They are really struggling with having the use of only one hand.
The Red Team finishes first and doesn’t look too bad. The Blue Team really struggled, but they got it plated. Now we have Manila and Val working on Station 2 for the Red Team, and Ryan and CT working on it for the Blue Team.
They gather the ingredients, as we now have CT and Julie cooking the dish, and they finish first for the Blue Team. They move on to Station 3, as CT and Ryan rip the coconuts off the tree to get the recipe for the tuna poke tower. Now, Val and Reza are working on their tower for the Red Team.
Challenge Results on ‘Worst Cooks in America’
The teams all finish the stations, and time for the judges to taste these dishes:
- Station 3 – Blue Team nailed the presentation. The tuna is smaller for the Blue Team, but not enough avocado. The tuna and avocado are large for the Red Team. The Blue Team wins this station.
- Station 2 – For the lettuce wraps, the Blue Team used poppy seeds. The Red Team sees lots of herbs. They both taste good. They had proper chicken, so the Blue Team wins again.
- Station 1 – For the spring rolls, all of the elements are there for the Red Team. The dipping sauce was thick, but the spring roll tasted great. The wrapping for Blue Team was terrible. They also missed some ingredients, so the Red Team wins this one.
The Blue Team wins this challenge with a 2-1 advantage.
Skill Drill Challenge
For this Skill Drill challenge, Jeff and Tiffany will be showing the contestants the proper way to make crab cakes. Since the Blue Team won the challenge, they will have all of the ingredients and equipment waiting for them at their stations.
The mentors guide the contestants through the proper techniques to prepare and cook the crab cakes. After the demonstration, the contestants now have 30 minutes to replicate the crab cakes. They cooked the crabs, but are really struggling to keep the shells out of the mix.
The crab cakes are coming together as the contestants are working on other aspects of the dishes. Cooking pine nuts is a struggle, as they all seem to burn them very easily. Ryan is struggling, so he uses some of CT’s pine nuts. The time runs out, as the crab cakes have been plated.
Challenge Tasting & Results
Time for the mentors to taste these dishes:
- Beverly – A lot of garlic. The crab cake is fantastic.
- Julie – Very good crab cake. The side dish is acidic.
- CT – He loved using the ring mold. Crab cakes are a little too done, but the sauce is great.
- Ryan – Jeff calls him out for using CT’s pine nuts. He didn’t dress the salad. He said it is the best crab cake, though.
- Manila – You have created the most beautiful crust on this crab cake. Her shallots got larger in pieces, but good job.
- Reza – The salad is too much on top. His crab cake is flavorful, and she loves the cuts that he did.
- Val – Crab cake tastes good, but wanted more veggies on it. She wanted more sauce on the plate.
- Amara – She finds a shell in the crab cakes. Inconsistencies in the cuts. Lots of flavor there, though.
Results – For the Red Team, Manila wins. For the Blue Team, CT wins. They will each win the Fillet Mate Advantage for the Main Dish Challenge. That means they will each get two minutes with their mentor to help fillet the fish.
Main Dish Challenge
Now it’s time for the mentors to show the contestants how to make this main dish. For the Blue Team, they’ll be making Red Seafood Curry with Branzino and Jasmine Rice. For the Red Team, they’ll be making Snapper with Yellow Curry and Jasmine Rice.
After the demonstration, the contestants now have 60 minutes to replicate these dishes. The contestants can use their own veggies to enhance their dishes and put their own spin on them.
Everyone seems to be struggling tonight. We have Amara struggling to open a can of coconut milk. Reza is struggling to pick a vegetable. Filleting the fish was a struggle for everyone. CT got help filleting the fish from Jeff, but now he is struggling to cook the fish, and it’s falling apart.
The struggles are real, but the time runs out, and the plates are put together!
Tasting & Results on ‘Worst Cooks in America’
The mentors will now taste all the dishes:
- Julie – Wonderful curry, great spice, and mussels are tender. She has a good sear on the fish, but it sat in the pan too long.
- Bev – Curry is excellent, and mussels are nicely cooked. He can’t find the squash, but the fish is a little overcooked.
- CT – A little sloppy in the butchering. Scallop needs it’s own space. The flavor on the fish and scallop is excellent.
- Ryan – The best-looking fish, it’s cooked perfectly. The rice is undercooked, and more zing on the curry.
- Amara – The curry is thick, but the flavor is intense. She wanted more water, and the shrimp is overcooked.
- Val – Nice brown on the callop, but it got tough. Rice is amazing, and the color of the fish is amazing. Curry is great, but needed more.
- Reza – The rice is cooked well, but little more salt in the water. Fish is good, but the dish is very tasty.
- Manila – The sauce is good, but the rice needed another dash of water. Fish is perfectly filleted. The lobster is beautifully cooked.
Results – The contestants with the best dishes are Reza for the Red Team and Ryan for the Blue Team. We have Beverly and Julie safe on Blue Team, and Manila and Val for the Red Team. That means up for elimination tonight are Amara for the Red Team and CT for the Blue Team.
Blind Elimination Challenge
For this challenge on “Worst Cooks in America” season 30, they will have 10 minutes to prepare a seared fillet of fish along with a tropical sauce or salsa of their choice. The mentors will taste the dishes, and the contestant with the least successful dish will be headed home.
It’s mass chaos, yet again. The teammates are trying to help them, so everyone is talking at once. The time runs out, and the plates are ready, so time for tasting:
- Amara – Fish skin looks crispy. Wants more seasoning. The sauce needs more salt.
- CT – The fish is properly cooked, but not as crispy. Nice to see some herbs.
The judges said this is a close one, but the recruit who is staying is CT. That means “Love & Hip Hop” star Amara La Negra has been eliminated tonight on “Worst Cooks in America” 2026.
GettyWhat do you think of tonight’s results?
