Repping Fort St. John: Contestants face first challenges in MasterChef Canada premiere

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the premiere of MasterChef Canada season eight. 

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — It turns out Fort St. John has not one, but two connections to this season of MasterChef Canada.

Daniel Ebanks joins Fort St. John’s Marianne Smeaton in the season eight contestant line-up on MasterChef Canada, which kicked off on October 2nd.

Ebanks now lives in Winnipeg, but he called Fort St. John home between 2012 and 2016. 

An IT sales professional by trade, Ebanks described cooking as his “creative outlet”.

He often celebrates his Jamaican heritage through his cuisine and has been inspired by his wife, who is a vegetarian, to experiment with more plant-focused meals.

In the season premiere, Ebanks first faced a challenge requiring him to cook a dish comprising of grilled medium lamb with polenta, mint chimichurri and vegetables. 

While he didn’t win a coveted white apron in his initial challenge, he fought his way through the final round and impressed the judges with his signature dish: a charred cabbage wedge with gochujang sauce. His performance secured his spot in the competition.

Meanwhile, Smeaton is also off to a strong start. In her opening challenge, she and four other contestants were tasked with creating a Chinese-Jamaican hybrid dish, jerk tiger shrimp in a crispy taro basket, in just 30 minutes.

Smeaton rose to the occasion, winning a white apron and advancing directly to the next stage.

As the only contestant who currently resides in the Peace region and B.C. as a whole, Smeaton said she is proud to represent her hometown on the national stage. 

“I love Fort St. John, so I’m excited to represent this awesome little town,” she told Energeticcity.ca before the season premiere.

MasterChef Canada’s season eight premiere will air again on October 7th. New episodes will then air weekly on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, beginning October 14th. Episodes will also be available to stream on Crave the following day.