Ryan Lochte Will Appear on Reality Cooking Show ‘Worst Cooks in America’

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Six-time Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Ryan Lochte will join the cast of Season 30 of the television show Worst Cooks in America, where he will compete for a $25,000 prize for charity. That’s less than the $50,000 that has historically been awarded for celebrity seasons.

Lochte is one of 10 contestants on season 30 and the only professional athlete on the season.

The show, which has had about a dozen celebrity seasons in 30 seasons, takes contestants who are really bad in the kitchen and puts them through a ‘culinary boot camp’ led by professional chefs Tiffany Derry and Jeff Mauro. The mentors give the contestants training in basic cooking techniques throughout the season.

Contestants are eliminated throughout the season until they get down to three final contestants, who each cook a three-course restaurant-quality meal for the judges, with the best meal being chosen as the winner.

The show airs on the food network, with the premier scheduled for Sunday, January 4, 2026.

This has been a whirlwind week of news for Lochte. He made headlines earlier in the week for announcing the release of his memoir and for putting three of his Olympic gold medals up for auction.

This is not Lochte’s first foray into reality television: he had his own reality show on E! called What Would Ryan Lochte Do during the height of his fame in 2013, and was eliminated in Week 8 of Dancing With the Stars during the 2016 season. He also appeared on Season 2 of Celebrity Big Brother in 2019, an episode of Celebrity Family Feud, and The Traitors on Peacock in 2023.

Season 30 Contestants

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