Halloween Baking Championship is one of Food Network’s spookiest shows of the season, but the winners of the reality competition series have gone on to have careers that are anything but frightful.
Since its premiere in 2015, the show has brought spine-chilling challenges and delicious treats to the screen alongside host John Henson and costume-clad judges, Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
“We call Halloween Baking Championship summer camp. Carla, John, and I — it’s our favorite time of year to be together,” Young told Mashed in 2022. “In many ways, it feels like community theater. Let’s put on a show.”
Each episode features a preheat that can earn one baker an advantage, and a main heat, which determines the winner of the week. At the end of each episode, the least successful baker gets sent home. Both challenges showcase dessert artists whipping up creative treats, albeit not always the most appetizing-looking.
Most recently, Melanie Bjork-Jensen, a self-taught baker from Utah, was crowned the victor of season 11 on Oct. 27.
So where are the Halloween Baking Championship winners now? See what the victors of the show have been doing since earning the grand title and prize.
Rudy Martinez, Season 1
Disney+
Rudy Martinez, a home bakery owner from Queens, N.Y., was the first winner of the Halloween Baking Championship in 2015.
These days, Martinez is still running his home bakery, Man Bakes Cake, but he’s also working on other projects.
The theater buff has been focused on performing and has appeared in local productions of In the Heights and Our Town, according to his Instagram.
Michelle Kortis (née Antonishek), Season 2
Disney+
Michelle Kortis (née Antonishek) was crowned the winner of Halloween Baking Championship season 2 in 2016.
Before appearing on the reality competition show, she had held positions in kitchens in New York City and Chicago before moving to the countryside with her family, according to her Food Network bio.
Since 2013, Kortis has been the executive pastry chef at Los Cuernos Ranch in Cotulla, Texas, per Facebook.
When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her family.
“Had a nice night out with the kids,” she shared in a post from October 2025. “Got to sneak in some grandbaby time before! Had a fun few hours at Top Golf and dinner in San Antonio!”
Jasmin Bell, Season 3
Xumo
Jasmin Bell, a pastry instructor from Seattle, won season 3 of Halloween Baking Championship in 2017.
Today, Bell is still the proud owner of Bells Pastries, through which she makes themed cookies and cakes, and teaches private and group baking classes.
One year after her Food Network win, Bell married her husband Toron Smith. They welcomed their daughter Saej in 2022.
Lyndsy Velasquez (née McDonald), Season 4
Xumo
The winner of Halloween Baking Championship season 4 in 2018 was Lyndsy Velasquez (née McDonald), a former executive pastry chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Fla.
Following her win, she appeared in another Food Network show called Chocolate Meltdown: Hershey’s After Dark in 2021, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time.
Away from the oven, Velasquez is married and a proud “mama bear of three,” per her Instagram.
She also brings out her pastry skills in her everyday life, like when she made a Paw Patrol cake for her son’s birthday in 2022.
Karl Fong, Season 5
Disney+
Karl Fong took home the win in season 5 of Halloween Baking Championship in 2019.
The bakery owner from Hercules, Calif., went on to star on Food Network’s The Big Bake: Under the Sea, which earned him yet another victory.
Today, Fong still runs his Cakes By Karl business.
“Nowadays … everything is so expensive. It’s a very hard time for small businesses,” he told the Times-Herald in 2023. I’m fortunate to still be open and have support from the community.”
Sinai Vespie, Season 6
Xumo
Sinai Vespie, a pastry chef from Mishawaka, Ind., won Halloween Baking Championship season 6 in 2020.
“It was a blast. You don’t want to fall on your face, but it was fantastic. I’d do it again,” she told the South Bend Tribune of the experience.
These days, Vespie is the executive pastry chef at the University of Notre Dame and was even nominated for the Greatest Chefs of Michiana fundraiser award.
Renee Loranger, Season 7
After coming in second place in season 6, Renee Loranger, a pastry chef from Waveland, Miss., took home the prize for season 7 in 2021.
“I have never done anything for TV before, but it has always been a dream to be on one of the Food Network shows,” she told the Sun Herald. “I especially like the Halloween Baking Championship show. So I was super excited to be chosen for that show in particular.”
Today, Loranger runs Sugar Pop Baking Co., a bakery she opened, thanks to her appearance on Food Network.
“Remember that time I got to go on Halloween Baking Championship! And then opened my own bakery with the prize money?” she shared on Instagram in September 2025. “It’s already been 4 years! Forever grateful.”
Blayre Wright, Season 8
Blayre Wright, a bakery owner from Lancaster, Penn., won Halloween Baking Championship season 8 in 2022.
“I by no means walked into this experience thinking I was going to win,” she told WGAL. “I feel like I’m a representative of Lancaster County, and I’m really proud.”
Now, Wright owns her own bakery, Flouretta, in New Hampshire, where she makes custom wedding cakes. She also hosts a baking business podcast called Whisk Management.
Hollie Fraser, Season 9
HBO Max
Hollie Fraser, a bakery owner from Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, won season 9 of Halloween Baking Championship in 2023.
“Going on this show was one of the most amazing things to happen to my career,” she shared on Instagram one year later in 2024.
She continued, “I’m so grateful for my time at the carnival and so grateful for the judges … for liking my [craziness], and a year later, I still can’t believe I met you all.”
Fraser went on to compete in several more Food Network reality shows, including Sweet Empire, Bake Master Battle and The Big Bake Halloween — the latter two of which she also won.
Additionally, she continues to run her business, Punk Rock Pastries.
Manny Martinez, Season 10
HBO Max
Manny Martinez, a bakery owner from San Antonio, Texas, took home the big win for season 10 in 2024.
“When they said my name, it felt like I blacked out,” he told My San Antonio. “I don’t remember what happened 5 to 10 seconds after. In reality, I started crying. I was a mess. I was overtaken with relief and joy and every other emotion possible.”
Now, Martinez continues to run his treat business, The Grim Bakers, with his wife, Monique. The couple also have two kids.
“This isn’t just a business. It’s a family cauldron of creativity,” they shared on Instagram. “Every cake, every spell, every sprinkle rooted in something real. Generations of magic in the making.”
