Food Network is back with the tenth season of Holiday Baking Championship. The twelve contestants were excited to compete for the grand prize of $25,000. The first episode aired on 06 November 2023, and the show will continue till 18 December 2023.
The tough-love judges are Duff Goldman, Carla Hall, and Nancy Fuller. Meanwhile, Jesse Palmer is back with his hosting, which he has been doing since the fourth season. Carla Hall replaced Lorraine Pascale in the seventh season.
The out-of-the-box bakers from the USA must create small pastries in the Preliminary Heat competition and create a bigger masterpiece according to the episode’s holiday theme in the Main Heat competition. Finally, one baker gets eliminated at the end of every episode.
Bert Alvarado
Bert Alvarado is a culinary enthusiast, pastry chef, and dad from Las Vegas, Nevada. He prefers making sweet and edible food items, desserts, and meal prep kits and offers chef services. Moreover, he is the co-founder and co-partner of Flour & Fleur, a service offering flowers and desserts together, according to his Instagram profile.
Talking about Bert’s performance in the Holiday Baking Championship 2023, he proved to be an average performer in the first episode.
Greg Ballenger
The home cook from Dallas, Texas, Greg Ballenger, claims to be ‘happily taken’ on his Instagram profile. His love for baking does not run in his family, though his great-great-grandmother was the baker of the family.
Thus, Greg, 30, wants to make her proud by proving himself in the Holiday Baking Championship. He tried his luck in the art of decorating sugar cookies during the pandemic to earn more. Doing both things was not easy, but people who loved his work pushed him to do so.
Jennifer Carey
Jennifer Carey is a survivor of the 9/11 attacks, a specialist in custom cake designing, and a bakery owner from Brooklyn, New York. She offers personalized consultations, dessert catering for all occasions, and workshops. According to her, baking is the pillar of her life. However, she turned out to be an average performer in the first episode of Holiday Baking Championship 2023.
Kevin Conniff
Kevin Conniff, from Alberta (Georgia), works at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and owns Sweet Bella Chocolates. He has two kids. The elder loves to bake with him, while the younger prefers eating more than baking. Besides being a busy family man, he loves being a Pastry Chef Instructor at SAIT. He won the Main Heat competition in the first episode of the Holiday Baking Championship 2023.
Alex Jacks
Holiday Baking Championship 2023 is an opportunity for Alex Jacks to prove herself before the audience and her family because baking brings her happiness. She gained more followers on Instagram after her appearance on the show. She is a single mom, server, and home baker, who decorated sugar cookies at the beginning of her career.
Josh Juarez
Josh Juarez, the Bakery Owner from Brooklyn, New York, won the Christmas Cookie Challenge in 2019, which aired on the Food Network. Apart from that, he owns a grooming salon because his friend pushed him to do two things together: baking and grooming. However, he initially worked in a hotel banquet and the hotel pastry team.
Ashley Landerman
Ashley Landerman is a crafty lady, Baker, and mother. She co-owns 2tarts, a small business started in July 2010 in New Braunfels, Texas. Ashley won the 2019 Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network and considers it the best season she has seen. She got closer to the cast because they were trauma-bonded.
Sharrod Mangum
Army service runs in Sharrod Mangum’s family. Moreover, he served in the military for five years and knows how to do necessary things properly. According to the executive pastry chef, Sharrod, he loves to spend time with his family during a vacation in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thoa Nguyen
Thoa Nguyen was the last baker to be called safe in Holiday Baking Championship Season 10 Episode 1. She is an experienced bakery/deli Owner from Englewood, Colorado. Thoa has owned the Bánh & Butter Bakery Café since January 2022. Previously, she owned New Saigon Bakery & Deli from February 2012 to August 2021 and Mon Petit Chou Bakery from January 2018 to November 2019.
Apart from that, Thoa worked as a Pastry Chef Instructor, associate team leader, and bakery team leader at different organizations. She finished Baking and Pastry Arts from Johnson & Wales University in 2010.
Justine Rota
Justine Rota owns Sweet Standards Bakery, a small business. She engages in local events and gives back to the community to encourage other small businesses, women, and youth. Apart from baking, she worked as an office manager in a transport company and Assistant boutique team leader in another.
Justine prefers high food standards, freshness, flavor, and organic ingredients. She wants a sustainable environment by lowering her carbon footprint. She sources ingredients from local businesses and uses recyclable and compostable packaging.
Javier Trujillo
Javier Trujillo did not like baking, though his grandma owned a bakery. Now, he earns bread and butter by baking. Javier is a pastry chef from the Greater Chicago Area, though he was born and raised in Mexico. He spends his Christmas decorating his Christmas tree.
Ali Kenis
Ali Kenis co-owns the Sugar Lab Bake Shop in Ventura, California. Previously, she auditioned for a few things, including the Christmas Cooking Challenge. However, she landed in the Holiday Baking Championship 2023.
Ali could not keep it a secret because her husband, kids, and whole team knew about it. Unfortunately, she was eliminated in the first episode on 06 November 2023.
