Junior MasterChef

Junior MasterChef is a British TV cookery competition, broadcast by the BBC, in which nine- to twelve-year-olds compete to be crowned "Junior MasterChef". It is a spin-off from the main UK series of MasterChef.

Junior MasterChef first ran from 1994 to 1999, presented by Loyd Grossman. After a long hiatus, it was revived in 2010 in a revamped format,^[1] presented by writer and actress Nadia Sawalha, who won the 2007 series of Celebrity MasterChef, and professional chef John Torode, who also presents MasterChef. The revival series was commissioned by CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist and produced by Shine Television, and was broadcast on CBBC and BBC One. A further series was commissioned in 2012 for broadcast on CBBC^[2] and again in 2014.

Original series

Based on the MasterChef format, and using the same set, the original Junior MasterChef was for cooks up to the age of 16. It ran from 1994 to 1999 (with no series in 1998) and was presented by Loyd Grossman.

Revival series

Junior MasterChef was briefly revived in 2008 for a Children in Need special. It was won by Billy.

The first new series, for children aged 9 to 12, began on 10 May 2010 as part of the children's programming block on BBC One. India Fisher provided the voiceover as usual, while the judges were John Torode and former Celebrity MasterChef champion Nadia Sawalha. Georgia, who had become 13 yrs old by the time the finals occurred, was the 2010 winner.^[3] From the 2012 series, Sawalha was replaced by Irish cook Donal Skehan.^[4]

Age limit rules

The online application form^[5] for the CBBC series filmed in 2012 clearly shows that applicants had to be between 8 and 13 years old on 6 August of that year. Filming of the early heats would start on that same date.

Competition

CBBC version

There were over two thousand applicants for the first series of Junior MasterChef. Out of two thousand, only thirty one chefs were successful and made it through to the heats. From each heat, one chef was chosen for the quarter- final and then from the quarter- final group, two chefs proceeded to the semi-finals. The four chefs in the semi- final were 11-year-old Amber, 12-year-old Georgia, 12-year-old Hajra and 11-year-old George. In the first part of the semi-final, the chefs were asked to cook both the Doctor and his Companion, Amy Pond, from Doctor Who's favourite dishes. The task in the second part of the semi- final was to make food for the British boy band, JLS based on their favourite dishes and also to cook food for three authors: Andy Stanton, Dame Jacqueline Wilson and Charlie Higson.

In the grand finale, the four chefs, who were the same as those from the semi- final, were asked to make their own three course meal for the presenters. They received very good comments from the judges. The eventual winner was 13-year-old Georgia Bradford from Leigh-on-Sea.^[6]

The second series, which features cooks aged between eight and 13 years old, consisted of 15 half-hour episodes: eight heats, two quarterfinals, four semi-finals and a final cook-off.

Winners

Transmissions

Original series

Revived series

International adaptations

Legend:      Still in production        No longer airing  

Country	Name	Host(s)	Judges	Network	Air dates
Australia	Junior MasterChef Australia	George Calombaris Gary Mehigan	Gary Mehigan George Calombaris Matt Preston (Season 1) Anna Gare Matt Moran (Season 2)	Network Ten	12 September 2010 – 15 November 2010 (Season 1) 25 September 2011 – 23 November 2011 (Season 2)
Belgium (Dutch)	Junior MasterChef Belgium	unknown	Wout Bru Fatima Marzouki	vtm	18 January 2012 – 2012
Finland	Junior MasterChef	Tomi Björck Meri-Tuuli Lindström		Nelonen	19 August 2012 – 7 October 2012
France	Junior MasterChef	Carole Rousseau	Frédéric Anton Yves Camdeborde Sebastian Demorand	TF1	22 December 2011; 5 July 2012; 27 December 2013
Greece	Junior MasterChef Greece	Maria Mpekatorou	Yiannis Loukakos Lefteris Lazarou Dimitris Skarmoutsos	Mega Channel	27 November 2011 – 5 February 2012
India	Junior Masterchef Swaad Ke Ustaad	Kunal Kapoor Vikas Khanna Surjan Singh Jolly		Star Plus	17 August 2013 – 2 November 2013
Indonesia	Junior MasterChef Indonesia	Rinrin Marinka Bara Pattiradjawane (Season 2-) Arnold Poernomo Degan Septoadji (Season 1)		RCTI	6 April 2014 – present
Israel	Junior MasterChef Israel	unknown	Haim Cohen Eyal Shani Micahl Anski Yonatan Rochfeld[8]	Channel 2 (Keshet)	22 April 2012 – present
Italy	Junior MasterChef Italia	Joe Bastianich Carlo Cracco	Bruno Barbieri Lidia Bastianich Alessandro Borghese	Sky Uno Cielo	13 March 2014 – present
Netherlands	Junior MasterChef	N/A	Alain Caron Peter Lute	Net 5	28 November 2011 – 24 December 2011
	Junior MasterChef	N/A	Alain Caron Ron Blaauw	SBS 6	12 October 2012 – present
Philippines[9]	Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition	Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo	Fern Aracama Rolando Laudico JP Anglo	ABS-CBN	27 August 2011 – 18 February 2012
Spain	MasterChef Junior	Eva González	Pepe Rodríguez Jordi Cruz Samantha Vallejo-Nágera	La 1	23 December 2013 – 6 January 2014 (Season 1) 30 December 2014 – 3 February 2015 (Season 2)
Sweden	Sveriges yngsta mästerkock	Tina Nordström Leif Mannerström Markus Aujalay		TV4	9 April 2014 – present
Thailand	Junior MasterChef Thailand	Patiparn Pataweekarn Ban Boribun Chef Chatchaya Ruktakanit		Channel 3	3 February 2013 – present
United States	MasterChef Junior	Gordon Ramsay	Joe Bastianich Graham Elliot	Fox	27 September 2013 – present

See also

• MasterChef

References

External links

• Junior MasterChef at BBC Programmes