Suchismita Ghosh
Premiered in 2018, Netflix’s ‘Nailed It!’ is a bake-off competition that sees each episode play host to amateur bakers as they battle it out to replicate extremely complicated cakes, hoping to win the coveted cash prize of $10,000 and the prestigious trophy. Season 2 of the series released in the same year as the first and had some very interesting participants do their best to whip up noteworthy confectionaries to impress the guest judges and viewers till one in each episode managed to stand out amongst their contemporaries. As several years have passed since the season came to a close, fans of the show can’t help but wonder where their favorite winning bakers are nowadays.
Chris Elam is Working on Furthering His Photography Career
Chris Elam, an Army veteran from Spokane, Washington, emerged as the winner of the second episode in season 2, titled ‘Fictitious and Delicious.’ Having spent his whole life casually baking, Chris had never expected that he’d be the one to impress the judges with his adorable unicorn cake. Elam had a career in customer service before he entered the show to try his hands at baking. Upon winning the cash prize, his first plan was to get his wife a wedding ring since she had given it away for their family to buy a home.
He wanted to use the rest of the prize money to purchase a new car. Chris has found his passion in photography and has chosen to turn it into a thriving career. He takes various pictures, particularly weddings, portraits, senior photography, and events. On the personal front, he is leading a blissful family life with his wife of over a decade, Angie, and their adorable daughters, Emma and Ava.
Mark Mendez Now Maintains a Low Profile
Mark Mendez is a corporate professional who participated in episode 3 of the bake-off, titled ‘Tailgate, Failgate.’ With the special guest being Israeli American chef Ron Ben-Israel, he took home the coveted prize by baking a barbeque grill closest to the original. Residing in New Providence, New Jersey, Mark has made some strides in his personal life. On January 24, 2020, he married Nicole Mendez, and the two are proud parents of two kids. Professionally, he has been working at Coaction Global since 2021 as a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist. As far as his social media presence is concerned, Mark is staying away from the spotlight amidst the familiarity of family and friends.
Knephaunatoria Smith is the Owner of an Upcoming Cake Business
Knephaunatoria Smith, who also goes by Tori Smith, was episode 4’s winner. Tori has since decided to take her love for baking to greater heights and has turned it into a business. She now runs Tori’s Sweet Shop and bakes customized cakes using decadent ingredients like fondants and showpieces. The cakes are beautiful to look at and are intricately designed. She also has a little helper, in her son Xade, who often helps his mother whip up a storm. Tori’s social media profile, which shows the digital creator in her element, also poses a heartwarming picture of a close-knit family who love to do everything together, including hype their loved ones. In January 2024, she shared the details of her son’s first school fundraiser and urged people to contribute by buying gourmet popcorn.
Kate Christenbury is Now Happily Engaged
Episode 5 winner Kate Christenbury was a part of the ‘Zoo you Bake?’ challenge. Her life since the fun yet demanding bake-off has gone on a high, both personally and professionally. In her professional life, she now works as a DEI Advisor at ConocoPhillips since 2022. She’s been associated with the company for the last 13 odd years and celebrated her tenth anniversary in 2021. Meanwhile, her personal world has had a massive change as well. Her boyfriend surprised her by driving down to Colorado Bend State Park in March 2023 and proposed. The couple are now preparing for their grand wedding.
Ashley Jennings Now Works as a Video Game Developer
So proud of the company I work for and how they’re finding ways to help the local community!! Thank you @HiRezHelps! https://t.co/yKAHjwhxjQ
— Ashley Jennings (@a_s_jennings) April 7, 2020
Georgia Tech alum Ashley Jennings was the undisputed winner of episode 6. Tasked with making close-to-perfect space-themed cosmic cupcakes surrounding a massive solar system cake, Jennings accomplished the best possible replica to take the award and the ‘Nailed It’ title home. Ashley’s career graph has been on an uppish curve for the past few years. After working with Walt Disney Imagineering as an Associate Media & Art Pipeline Developer for nearly two years, she was a part-time professor at Savannah College of Art and Design. This was followed by a long stint with Hi-Rez Studios. Since March 2023, she’s worked with Insomniac Games as their Manager in Technical Art. While her professional career is on a high, Ashley prefers to keep her personal life private.
Bobby Berk Also Wears the Hat of an Author Today
The final episode of the season saw four renowned names of the television world grace the series in an attempt to showcase their baking abilities. Titled ‘Bonus: 3,2,1…Ya Not Done!’ the final cupcake cake pop challenge needed the four to make a cake pop of one for one of their fellow members from ‘Queer Eye.’ Bobby Berk, the four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, ended up winning the final challenge. On September 12, 2023, he released his first book, ‘Right at Home.’ In the same year, Berk and his maxillofacial surgeon husband, Dewey Do, decided to start living in Portugal part-time, along with their beloved furry friend, Bimini.
He is also set to open a private boutique resort, Casa Mallorca, sometime in late 2024. Berk already has a thriving vacation property, Casa Tierra, in Palm Springs, California, as well as a massage service called Mellow Massage in San Diego and Los Angeles. In the 2023 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Berk and the team ‘Queer Eye,’ won the award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program, and the sheer happiness and excitement were clearly visible on all their faces when he shared snippets of their time on the red carpet after receiving their awards.
Read More: Is Nailed It! Real or Scripted?
