MasterChef Junior fan favorite Ben Watkins dies of cancer at age 14

USA Today

Watkins, who was a contestant on the sixth season of the Fox reality competition in 2018 at age 11, died Monday after a year-and-a-half-battle with the rare illness angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma. In 2017, both of Watkins' parents died in what authorities describe as a murder-suicide. "Our Ben went home to be with his mother Monday afternoon," said a statement from his grandmother Donna Edwards and uncle Anthony Edwards posted on the #Love4Ben GoFundMe fundraising page. "We have marveled at Ben's strength, courage and love for life. He never ever complained. Ben was and always will be the strongest person we know." In August, Gordon Ramsay filmed a video with Watkins' MasterChef Junior colleagues expressing their support. "We lost a Master of the @MasterChefJrFOX kitchen today," Ramsay tweeted today. "Ben you were an incredibly talented home cook and even stronger young man. Your young life had so many tough turns but you always persevered. Sending all the love to Ben Watkins’ family with this terrible loss Gx."