| Bgcolour: |
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| Num Episodes: | 12 (includes two special episodes) |
| Network: | TLC |
| Prev Season: | Season 2 |
| Next Season: | Season 4 |
| Episode List: | List of Next Great Baker episodes |
The third season of Next Great Baker aired from November 26, 2012, to February 11, 2013. Like the previous season, this season was set at the Carlo's Bake Shop facility at Lackawanna Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. Unlike the previous two seasons, the finale for this season took place outside of the greater New York City area – in this case, in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Venetian Las Vegas.
The winner of this season was Ashley Holt, who won $100,000 and a spread in Redbook magazine, and will work beside Buddy Valastro in the bakery.[1]
Thirteen contestants competed during this season:[1] [2] [3]
| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Owner/Operator of LA Sweets | Miami, Florida | ||
| 41 | Owner of Brown's Bakery | Lexington, Kentucky | ||
| 30 | Bakery Management Consultant/Owner Cake Face Cakery | Staten Island, New York | ||
| 29 | Possessor of knowledge. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
| 36 | Owner of Cupp's Café & Bakery | Colchester, Vermont | ||
| 21 | Owner of Pete's Sweets | East Longmeadow, Massachusetts | ||
| 25 | Country Club Pastry Chef/Owner of Sugar Monster Sweets | Louisville, Kentucky | ||
| 32 | Owner of Jen's Cakes | San Jose, California | ||
| 29 | Sales Executive | Roseville, California | ||
| 33 | Owner of Couture Cake Creations/Co-owner of Sweets Couture | Chesterfield, Virginia | ||
| 30 | Stay-at-Home Mom | Peoria, Illinois | ||
| 30 | Owner of Skinny Batches | Los Angeles, California | ||
| 36 | Cake Artist at Fabulous Baker Boy | Waverly, Tennessee |
As episode 5 ("New Year's Eve, Hoboken Style!") and episode 11 ("Road to the Finale") were not competition episodes, there are no columns for those episodes in the following table.
| Place | Contestant | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4< | -- There is no episode 5 here because it was not a competition episode. --> | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10< | -- There is no episode 11 here because it was not a competition episode. --> | Episode 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker's challenge winner(s) | Chad | Gretel-Ann Jen Letty Melissa | Ashley Garrett | Ashley[4] Chad Gretel-Ann Paul Peter[5] | Jen Letty | Gretel-Ann | Ashley | Ashley | Ashley | Ashley | None | |||
| 1 | Ashley | WIN[6] | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | LOW | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | WINNER | ||
| 2 | Gretel-Ann | LOW | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN[7] | WIN | WIN | LOW | LOW | LOW | SECOND | ||
| 3 | Jen | LOW | LOW | WIN | LOW | WIN | WIN[8] | WIN | WIN[9] | IN | THIRD | |||
| 4 | Paul | WIN[10] | WIN | LOW | WIN | IN | LOW | LOW | WIN | OUT | ||||
| 5 | Chad | LOW | IN | LOW | WIN | WIN | LOW | LOW | OUT | |||||
| 6 | Chris | HIGH | WIN | HIGH | LOW | IN | WIN | OUT | ||||||
| 7 | Letty | LOW | LOW | WIN | WIN | LOW | OUT | |||||||
| 8 | Peter | HIGH | IN | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||
| 9 | Garrett | LOW | WIN | IN | WD[11] | |||||||||
| 10 | Jessica | WIN | WIN | HIGH | OUT | |||||||||
| 11 | Melissa | HIGH | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||
| 12 | James | LOW | WD | |||||||||||
| 13 | Emme | OUT | ||||||||||||
(WIN) The baker(s) won the challenge.
(WIN) The baker won individual immunity and the elimination challenge.
(HIGH) The baker(s) had one of the best cakes for that challenge, but did not win.
(IN) The baker(s) did not win nor lose and advanced to the next week.
(LOW) The baker(s) was/were a part of the team who lost, but was not the last to move on.
(LOW) This baker was singled out as one of the worst teammates, and was/were the last to move on.
(OUT) The baker(s) was/were eliminated.
(IN) The baker(s) had immunity.
(WD) The baker(s) voluntarily withdrew from the competition.
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original air date | Contestant eliminated |
|---|
Contestant James Brown withdrew from the competition prior to the December 3, 2012 broadcast, after having been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and being affected by the stress of his upcoming medical treatment. In a statement, Brown said, in part, "I have been focused on my health and am working with my doctors to prepare for surgery to remove the tumor, which will happen early next year."[12]
Following the competition, Buddy hired contestant Paul Conti to work at Carlo's Bakery alongside Ashley, after Paul lost his job and home due to Hurricane Sandy.[13]
Chad Durkin was also later hired by Buddy for his pastry skills, and can be seen in the 2015 season of Cake Boss.