‘MasterChef Junior’ Ben Watkins Dies At 14 After Battle With Cancer

Ben Watkins, a former competitor on “MasterChef Junior”, has died. He was 14 years old.

How Ben Watkins passed away

The young chef died in a Chicago Children’s hospital on Monday, his family attorney Trent A. McCain said.

Watkins was undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for Angiomatoid Fibrous Histiocytoma, which caused aggressive tumors that afflicted his spine, shoulder and lung. Doctors told his family he was one of only about a six people in the world to suffer from the rare condition.

“Our Ben went home to be with his mother Monday afternoon after a year-and-a-half battle with cancer,” his maternal grandmother Donna Edwards and uncle Anthony Edwards said in a statement.”

Ben Watkins’ parents died in a murder-suicide in 2017, just months before season six of “MasterChef Junior” premiered. He was cared for by his uncle, McCain said.

“After losing both of his parents in September 2017, we have marveled about Ben’s strength, courage and love for life. He never, ever complained. Ben was and will always be the strongest person we’ve known.”

Cancerous tumor

After having a tumor the size of a softball cut out of him, Watkins had been undergoing six months of chemotherapy in the hope of shrinking the tumors to a manageable size. His struggle made national news, garnering coverage from “Today” and E! Online.

Ben Watkins competing on MasterChef Junior (Photo: FOX Network)

The family concluded by saying that they have “taken solace” in knowing that Watkins is no longer suffering, and that “he was loved by so many.”

FOX, the network on which the show aired, and distribution company, EndemolShine North America, released a similar joint statement as well.

“It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Ben Watkins, a beloved member of the MasterChef Junior family,” they said. “Ben overcame so much in his life with a remarkably positive attitude. He was a tremendous role model for chefs of all ages and will be dearly missed by everyone at EndemolShine North America and FOX Entertainment.”