Cade Ortego’s time in the national spotlight and a chance for $100,000 may have ended last Friday when he was eliminated from Season 6 of MasterChef Junior during the 11th episode. However, he placed within the Top 9 contestants on the popular Fox show.
His Achilles heel? The Chocolate Beignet.
“I chose the Chocolate Beignet because it is a hard thing to do in an hour’s time,” said 12-year-old Cade, who attends Oak Grove Middle School. “But, it was kinda at that point in the competition where you had to be all in. Mikey did a New York-style cheesecake, he went all in and it worked out. I went all in and it didn’t. It was at that point in time in the competition.”
For Cade, the road apparently ends with Season 6. He said he doesn’t think he could go through the competition again.
“I heard people say, ‘I wish I could start right now,’” he said after he endured the pressure-packed cooking shootouts. “As much as I loved the experience, I don’t think I could have done it again like that. At the time, it seemed like it was the most important time in my life, and it probably was.”
Cade rode the ups and downs of the competition during his 11 episodes on the show. On Episode 4, he and Ariana won the chicken and waffles challenge to be team leaders on Episode 5, when they served a wedding reception. However, Cade’s team lost the challenge and he was in the bottom three contestants. Two contestants went home.
“I was definitely a contestant that went up and down,” he said. “Sammy was like, ‘Cade, what’s with the rollercoaster? Everyone was so proud of you.’ It’s definitely a crazy ride.”
Mikey, who teamed with Cade on the Chinese appetizer tag team competition, was a likeable guy, Cade said.
“Mikey was probably my best friend through the whole show,” he said. “I still keep up with him. I was friends with everyone there, but I stayed around Mikey, Anthony, Beni, Sammy and Camson. The crazy part was when they started to get kicked off, you started making new friends. I got to meet just about everyone.”
Cade is a little freer to talk about the show because he’s just been eliminated. With Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Christina Tosi as judges, the mood changed when the judging started, Cade said.
“I think all of the judges are very intense when it comes to the judging,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s because they have to tell me the truth, TV or there’s just no telling. I think they were definitely a lot nicer when it didn’t come to the judging part. That’s why we were so nervous, I guess, especially when we were getting judged by Gordon Ramsay.”
Being judged by highly professional chefs took its toll. Cade said the only change he would make to his time on the show would be a more casual attitude.
“I definitely enjoyed my time there and made great friends outside of set,” he said. “Probably, when I was on set, I would want to be more relaxed. When anyone saw me while I was on the set, I was super stressed. I would probably want to be not as stressed and take it more casually.”
The younger competitors were able to handle the pressure, Cade said.
“The funniest part was there only about two of us – maybe Ariana or Evan, some of the older kids – actually realized, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m actually in a competition,’” he said. “People like Mikey, Beni or Avery were just like blind; I never saw them sweat.”
Cade carried the standard as a Mississippian throughout the series, certainly using his love for Cajun and Southern food as his comfort zone.
“I wanted people to know that we can do things in Mississippi as well or better than anywhere else,” he said. “Sometimes, people think, ‘Mississippians can’t cook. Mississippians can’t play soccer.’ That’s totally not true. I think people think that about the states that aren’t bigger states.”
Cade still will appear in one more episode before Season 6 ends.
“I’ll be in the finale since I was in the Top 12,” he said. “I was out there for two months. The craziest part is that we were in a hotel for two months. I knew that hotel in and out. I could name what room everyone was in. We had our only little community there.”
Cade still continues his called, “Catch Cade,” with Sydnee Durham and Quin Sirmon, both Oak Grove students.
Because last weekend was such a busy time, Cade said some of his were tied up with other activities when the show aired Friday night.
“Last Friday was definitely really a busy night locally,” he said. “So, some of my friends were doing something (instead of watching the show). I definitely got the question, ‘Wait, I missed it. What happened?’ I said, ‘You’ll have to watch.’ I didn’t want to tell them I got eliminated because then they might not want to watch it.”
Cade Ortego’s trip through “MasterChef Junior” with episode number, food challenge (what Cade cooked), result and place in the series included:
1. Didn’t participate. Girls-only show.
2. Chicken breast, received chef’s apron as Top 24 of 40 contestants.
3. Alphabet challenge (Fruit Tart), in the Top 22.
4. American Classics (Cajun-spiced Fried Chicken, Corn Meal Waffles and Bacon Corn Pepper Salsa), won challenge to advance to Top 20.
5. Wedding service, as Blue Team leader, his team lost challenge, in bottom trio to face elimination, advanced to Top 18.
6. Sugarless family classic (Blackened Shrimp with Buttermilk Biscuit, Okra and Praline Sauce), faced elimination in final four, advanced to Top 16.
7. Tilly’s Burger and Fries, advanced to Top 14.
8. Room Service, on losing Blue Team in challenge, passed risotto challenge, advanced to Top 12.
9. Five-dish Chinese appetizers, tag team with Mikey, advanced to Top 10.
10. Eggs Benedict, winning Blue Team, advanced to Top 9.
11. Chocolate (Chocolate Beignet), eliminated.
