Halloween Baking Championship features a West Jordan nurse competing in Season 11 on Food Network

Season 11 of Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship, which aired on September 15, 2025, features West Jordan resident and nurse Melanie Bjork-Jensen as one of 10 contestants competing for a $25,000 prize.

Filmed in a haunted mansion setting, the competition includes seven episodes of themed baking challenges that test each participant’s skill and creativity.

For Bjork-Jensen, who currently works as a traveling labor-and-delivery nurse at St. Mark’s Hospital in Millcreek, the experience combined her professional discipline with her self-taught baking background. 

Everything to know about Melanie from Halloween Baking Championship season 11

From nursing to national television

Bjork-Jensen’s path to the Food Network began outside of a professional kitchen. She taught herself to bake through online tutorials and gradually began making wedding cakes.

The earnings from her side business helped fund her way through nursing school. Before entering the competition, she worked as a trauma nurse and later transitioned to travel nursing.

This was her second time applying for the Halloween Baking Championship. After her first application went unanswered, producers reached out the following year to confirm her continued interest.

Bjork-Jensen explained that the producers contacted her to see if she was still "interested," and she confirmed that she was.

Competing in a Haunted Kitchen

The show’s opening challenge required each contestant to create a dessert that depicted their greatest Halloween fright, and to make it “pump blood.”

According to Bjork-Jensen, the bakers were provided with tubing and a pump to simulate the effect.

She explained that they had to make the blood edible, ensure it matched the flavor of their creation, and be able to slide the tubing through without "messing" the dessert. She explained.

“We had to do it live on camera, in front of the judges, and it was so terrifying.”

The filming schedule was demanding, and Bjork-Jensen described the competition as an intense environment.

She said she developed close bonds with her fellow contestants through the shared pressure of the challenges.

The nurse also mentioned experiencing a difficult moment during filming, calling it a “meltdown,” though she noted that it was part of the process.

“I have a background as an emergency nurse, but I feel like [the show] brought me to the breaking point,” she said.

Health challenges and family support

Four years prior to joining the show, Bjork-Jensen survived a brain tumor. After her operation, a condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid, and it gets worse if gluten is consumed.

As a result, she got a double challenge on the scene; she was not able to taste her cakes.

In a particular episode, Bjork-Jensen discovered that her recipe was wrong and wanted to figure out the mistake through tasting, but she was unable to do so.

She said that as she had "sugar" been omitted from the recipe, she took a small mouthful and then spit it out to find out what was wrong.

Bjork-Jensen said her two children were her biggest supporters during filming. They visited her in California on one of her days off and have since shared her experience with their friends.

The nurse said the show offered her an opportunity to focus on personal growth and perseverance. She said:

“I tend to be unkind to myself, and I haven’t been very patient with myself, like allowing myself to learn new things. So being able to give myself the right to do poorly and learn and to do better shows I’m worth the effort.”

Stay tuned for more updates.