D'Andre Balaoing was a contestant on Season 7 of MasterChef. He ranked in 13th place.
Personality
D'Andre was gay and proud, coming into the competition with a vibrant, flashy, and stylish vibe who wanted to better himself and the LGBT community. However, similar to Diana, he was a consistently poor performer and his cooking skills were also subpar at best, often dodging the bullet many times whenever he was in the bottom. Although he tended to recognize his mistakes, he failed to adjust them and messed up everything he did while cooking, which led to his elimination
Season 7
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 18/19
Competition Table
| Week 3 | In/Low |
|---|---|
| Week 4 | Low |
| Week 5 | In/In |
| Week 6 | In/Immune |
| Week 7 | Win |
| Week 8 | In/Eliminated |
Season 9
Episode 8
D'Andre appeared as a guest at fellow Season 7 winner Shaun O'Neale's Wedding.
Season 10
Episode 4
D'Andre made an appearnce as a guest at the Season 10 Pool Party.
Post MasterChef
- After his appearance, D'Andre is a Pastry Chef at Scarpetta in Las Vegas and on the Street Team for True Cooks, a chef wear company. In 2020, he was a chef for Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson's cruise line.
- He is now a self employed baker and also creates cakes to order.
Trivia
Quotes
- (While in the pantry) "I'm grabbing orange carrots and all the while, I'm watching the boys grab couscous and I'm like 'Eh they're stupid boys' because I know that couscous isn't couscous."
- (After being eliminated) "I'm without words; I thought I was one step closer to being the next MasterChef, but my food dream is to teach cooking classes to LGBT homeless youth. Just because I'm leaving the MasterChef Kitchen today doesn't mean my dream is over."
Gallery
Season 7
Season 9
Season 10
External links
D'Andre Balaoing on Instagram: dandre_to_go
References
| MasterChef U.S. Season 7 |
|---|
| Judges |
| Contestants |
|
Diamond Alexander • Tanorria Askew • D'Andre Balaoing • Nathan Barnhouse • Diana Bilow • Brittany Craig • Katie Dixon • Andrea Galan • Eric Howard • Lisa-Ann Marchesi • Brandi Mudd • Terry Mueller • Shaun O'Neale • Dan Paustian • Cassie Peterson • Barbara Savage • Alejandro Toro • Bill Travers • Manny Washington • David Williams |