MasterChef

MasterChef is a reality television cooking competition which began in the United Kingdom. The show is very popular and has different versions in over 40 countries. The original show aired from 1990 to 2001. It came back in 2005. MasterChef airs on BBC.

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Format

Each series is broadcast on five nights a week for eight weeks. During the first six weeks, the first four episodes of each week are heats and the fifth episode is a quarter-final. Six contestants enter each heat and the winner becomes a quarter-finalist. At the end of each week, the four quarter-finalists compete and a semi-finalist is chosen. After six weeks, the six semi-finalists compete in the final two weeks.

The judges decide who leaves and who stays in the show. The current UK judges are Gregg Wallace and John Torode. They are sometimes joined by a guest judge.

Other versions

• Celebrity MasterChef is a version of the show where the contestants are famous people. Sometimes, the celebrities are competing to win money for charity. Celebrity MasterChef seasons tend to last for a shorter period of time.
• MasterChef: The Professionals is the same as the main show but has professional chefs as contestants instead.
• Junior MasterChef features contestants who are children who enjoy cooking.
• MasterChef All-Stars is a version of the show which aired in Australia. Contestants and winners from previous seasons (of the Australian show) returned to compete again.
• MasterChef Teens is similar to the Junior version. This one had teenage contestants. It was created for the Ukrainian version.

Versions in other countries

The show was very popular and has been adapted into other versions such as an Australian one and American one (which had Gordon Ramsay as a judge).