In case anyone else was wondering, as I was:
In an exclusive statement to Yahoo Lifestyle, Lourdes explained her absence saying, “I had an important surgery that was unable to be missed.”
In a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle on Wednesday, Steve revealed that he decided not to return to the kitchen for the second-chance cook because he needed to take care of his mother Dahlas.  “My mother is in hospital and is very unwell,” he said. “My father passed away during Covid, so I need to support my mother and it would be unfair on my family to return to filming with this in mind.”