MasterChef fans urge Bowen to communicate with Shanika for the stressful tag team challenge in Episode 12

Fox's MasterChef Season 12 returned with an all-new stress-inducing episode on Wednesday night. This week, the Top 12 contestants faced their very first tag team challenge that required them to prepare three signature dishes from the menu of Gordon Ramsay's Michelin 3-star restaurant.

The teams struggled by running helter-skelter as they either tried to follow instructions or guide their teammate. But one team found themselves struggling right from the start. Shanika and Bowen found themselves getting worked up as they struggled to communicate effectively.

Episode 12 of MasterChef, titled The Grubhub challenge, featured the Top 12 contestants fighting for a chance at double immunity as they faced a very strenuous challenge. This week's tag team challenge put their culinary expertise to the test and brought their creativity and teamwork into question as well.

The team with the best dish would advance to the Top 10 and receive immunity for two weeks. On the other hand, one contestant from the bottom team would find themselves eliminated from the reality TV show. The chefs had to prepare three dishes in just 75 minutes. They had to present the judges with a risotto, beef wellington, and tarte tatin.

---

Bowen and Shanika run into communication issues during the tag team challenge on MasterChef

Gordon Ramsay announced that the chefs would be allowed to pick their own teams.

Shanika and Bowen revealed that they had worked together previously and decided to pair up once again. During her confessional, Shanika shared that she was happy to have Bowen on her team, but she mentioned that there was a lot of friction when they worked together.

The Masterchef contestant went on to add that Bowen got really "frazzled" when they worked together. However, she decided to put her ego aside and focus on creating the best dishes they could as a team. Although Shanika went into the team challenge with a positive outlook, the duo soon found themselves in hot soup as Bowen had trouble communicating with Shanika.

The entire premise of the tag team challenge was that one contestant would have to instruct their partner while standing on the sidelines until it was their chance to cook. Bowen stood on the sidelines, but his instructions weren't clear, and he started to get nervous. Instead of telling Shanika the steps to prepare the Beef Wellington, he kept yelling unhelpful instructions like asking her to move faster.

MasterChef judge Aaron Sanchez yelled at Bowen and asked him to actually talk to his partner. During her confessional, Shanika shared that she was trying hard to get the Beef Wellington assembled but found herself very confused by Bowen's directions.

Shanika added that she was aware that Bowen was nervous and that it was time for her to step up and lead so they could get to the next step.

Fans who watched the team struggle took to social media to share their opinions.

---

Fans claim that Bowen needed to communicate with Shanika in order to win the challenge

Taking to Twitter, fans urged Bowen to speak up and communicate with his partner. Some added that the team was dysfunctional but hoped they got through the challenge.

---

Despite facing issues during the challenge, Bowen and Shanika ended up creating some of the best dishes of the night. The judges complimented all three of their dishes and claimed that they were the closest to Gordon Ramsay's original dishes.

MasterChef airs every Wednesday night at 8:00 pm ET only on Fox. Readers can check their local listings for more information.