After exit, SR native says: What's next?
SLIPPERY ROCK — Nathan Barnhouse’s run on Fox’s show “MasterChef” came to an end Wednesday, in an episode where the Slippery Rock native was literally pushed to his limit during a team challenge.
It was the second challenge of the night — a team challenge that required contestants to create a romantic, picnic-style platter for two, when things went sideways for the Slippery Rock native, who passed out during the competition.
“I started to get really dizzy, and the next thing you know, everything around me felt like it was going to fall apart,” he said. “Next thing I remember I was sitting in the chair (with) the paramedic right beside me and Gordon (Ramsay), and they were checking me out to make sure I was OK.”
Ultimately Barnhouse was allowed to return to the action and help his partner. Shaun O’Neale, finish off the platter. But his efforts weren’t enough to save his spot on the show. Barnhouse said he was shocked by the judges’ decision to cut him from the competition.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was this gut-wrenching feeling; like I let everyone down,” Barnhouse said. “I let myself down, let every kid (down) out there I was trying to encourage. I felt like I let them all down.”
He was subsequently diagnosed with hypoglycemia, a condition in which a person’s blood glucose levels dip dangerously low and can result in a person experiencing seizures or, as with Barnhouse, passing out.
With his elimination Wednesday, Barnhouse’s bid to win prize money and a book deal on the show came to an end. He said he’s still struggling with sorrow over his exit from the competition, but also feels proud of how much confidence he gained from putting himself out there time and again on the broadcast.
And Barnhouse’s future is far from empty. This week he begins college at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., where he plans to major in theater — something he said he never had the confidence to do as a teenager because of bullying. He’s looking at this experience as a way to remind himself of the lessons he learned while on “MasterChef.”
“Yeah, you can feel this feeling, but you can bounce back,” he said. “I want people who look up my name to say ‘what is he going to do next?’ Don’t focus on your defeat. Focus on what’s next.”
Above all, he said, he wants people to know he thanks God every day for showing him it’s OK to be himself.
“I would not be where I was without God,” he said. “It’s OK to be who God made me to be. And God made me to be this weird, quirky kid who wears bow ties and does theater productions. My biggest struggle growing up was accepting that. And once I did, I’m unstoppable.”
