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Junior MasterChef facts for kids

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Junior MasterChef
Genre Cookery
Created by Franc Roddam
Karen Ross
John Silver
Presented by Loyd Grossman (1994–1999)
John Torode (2010–2014)
Donal Skehan (2012–2014)
Nadia Sawalha (2010)
Narrated by India Fisher (2010, 2014)
Sharon Horgan (2012)
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 5 (original)
3 (revival)
No. of episodes 65 (original)
38 (revival)
Production
Running time 25–30 minutes
Production company(s) Shine TV and Ziji Productions
Distributor Banijay
Release
Original network BBC One (1994–99)
CBBC (2010–2014)
Picture format 4:3 (1994–99)
(2010–2014)
Original release Original series:
14 August 1994 (1994-08-14) – 1 August 1999 (1999-08-01)
Revived series:
10 May 2010 (2010-05-10) – 21 November 2014 (2014-11-21)
Chronology
Related shows MasterChef UK

Junior MasterChef is a fun British TV cooking competition. In this show, young chefs from 9 to 12 years old compete. They want to win the title of "Junior MasterChef". It is a special version of the main UK MasterChef show.

The show first aired from 1994 to 1999. Loyd Grossman was the presenter back then. After a break, the show returned in 2010. It had a new look and new presenters. These were writer and actress Nadia Sawalha and professional chef John Torode. Nadia had won Celebrity MasterChef in 2007. John Torode also presents the main MasterChef show.

The new series was made by Shine Television. It was shown on CBBC and BBC One. More series were made in 2012 and 2014.

The First Junior MasterChef Show

The very first Junior MasterChef show was based on the regular MasterChef format. It even used the same TV set. This original show was for young cooks up to 16 years old.

It ran for five years, from 1994 to 1999. Loyd Grossman was the presenter for all these years.

Junior MasterChef Comes Back!

Junior MasterChef had a short return in 2008. This was for a special Children in Need episode. A young chef named Billy won this special show.

The first brand new series for kids aged 9 to 12 started on May 10, 2010. It was shown on CBBC. India Fisher was the voiceover artist. The judges were John Torode and Nadia Sawalha. Georgia, who turned 13 during the finals, won in 2010.

For the 2012 series, Irish cook Donal Skehan joined as a judge. He took Nadia Sawalha's place.

How Old Do You Need to Be to Compete?

The rules for applying to the CBBC series were clear. For the 2012 show, applicants had to be between 8 and 13 years old. This age limit was set for August 6 of that year. Filming for the first rounds also started on that date.

Junior MasterChef Winners

Here are the talented young chefs who won Junior MasterChef:

Year Winner
1994 Camilla Askaroff
1995 Jenna Tinsle
1996 Lucy Wright
1997 Jamie Lee Morgan
1998 Adam Cowley
1999 Tim Walmsley
2008 Steve Raby
2010 Georgia Bradford
2012 Tom Barlow-Kay
2014 Phoebe Riley

When Junior MasterChef Was On TV

This table shows when the different series of Junior MasterChef were broadcast. It includes the original and revived shows.

Series Start date End date Episodes
Original series
1 14 August 1994 13 November 1994 13
2 16 July 1995 22 October 1995 13
3 4 August 1996 27 October 1996 13
4 11 March 1998 31 May 1998 13
5 18 April 1999 1 August 1999 13
Revived series
1 10 May 2010 28 May 2010 13
2 5 November 2012 23 November 2012 15
3 10 November 2014 21 November 2014 10

Junior MasterChef Around the World

Junior MasterChef is so popular that many other countries have made their own versions! Here's a list of some of them.

Key:      Still on TV        No longer on TV  

Country Name Host(s) Judges Network Air dates
 Albania MasterChef Junior Albania Redjan Mulla (narrator) Sokol Prenga
Xheraldina Vula
Julian Zguro
RTSH 27 March 2018 – 12 June 2018 (season 1)
 Australia Junior MasterChef Australia George Calombaris
Gary Mehigan
(Season 1-2)
Andy Allen
Melissa Leong
Jock Zonfrillo
Gary Mehigan
George Calombaris
Matt Preston (Season 1)
Anna Gare
Matt Moran (Season 2)
Andy Allen
Melissa Leong
Jock Zonfrillo
Network Ten 12 September 2010 – 15 November 2010 (Season 1)
25 September 2011 – 23 November 2011 (Season 2)
11 October 2020 (Season 3)
 Belgium Junior MasterChef Belgium unknown Wout Bru
Fatima Marzouki
vtm 18 January 2012 – 2012
 Brazil MasterChef Junior Ana Paula Padrão Erick Jacquin
Paola Carosella
Henrique Fogaça
Band 20 October 2015 – 15 December 2015
 Chile ' Diana Bolocco Christopher Carpentier
Yann Yvin
Ennio Carota
Canal 13 21 March 2016 – present
 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
 Cyprus
Junior MasterChef Greece Maria Mpekatorou Yiannis Loukakos
Lefteris Lazarou
Dimitris Skarmoutsos
Mega Channel 27 November 2011 – 5 February 2012
Eleni Psyhouli
Manolis Papoutsakis
Magky Tabakaki
Star Channel 13 September 2018 - 24 December 2018
 Hungary MasterChef Junior Hungary N/A István Pesti
Zsófia Mautner
Bence Szendrei
Viasat 3 13 October 2018 – 15 December 2018
 India Junior Masterchef Swaad Ke Ustaad N/A Kunal Kapoor
Vikas Khanna
Surjan Singh Jolly
Star Plus 17 August 2013 – 2 November 2013
 Indonesia Junior MasterChef Indonesia N/A Arnold Poernomo
Degan Septoadji (Season 1)

Rinrin Marinka
Bara Pattiradjawane (Season 2)

RCTI 6 April 2014 – 17 March 2015
 Israel Junior MasterChef Israel unknown Haim Cohen
Eyal Shani
Micahl Anski
Yonatan Rochfeld
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
 Jordan Junior MasterChef Jordan Mahmoud Al-Omari Soumia Khalifa
Ahmed Saaed
Firas Mamdouh
Amman TV 6 May 2019 − present
 Morocco ماستر شيف جونيور
(MasterChef Junior Morocco)
Mariam el Kamil Mariam Ettahri
Moha Fdal
Khadija Bensdira
2M 9 October 2018 – present
 Mexico Junior MasterChef México Anette Michel Adrián Herrera Díaz
Benito Molina Dubost
Betty Vázquez
Azteca Trece (Azteca) 3 April 2016 – 3 July 2016
5 March 2017 – 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 Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo Fern Aracama
Rolando Laudico
JP Anglo
ABS-CBN 27 August 2011 – 18 February 2012
 Poland ' Michael Moran Michael Moran
Mateusz Gessler
Anna Starmach
TVN 21 February 2016 – 24 April 2016 (Season 1)
19 February 2017 – 23 April 2017 (Season 2)
 Portugal Masterchef Júnior Teresa Fernandes (narrator) Manuel Luís Goucha
Rui Paula
Miguel Rocha Vieira
TVI 22 May 2016 – 31 July 2016 (Season 1)
2017 (Season 2)
 Russia MasterChef Deti Alexandr Belkovich
Andrey Shmakov
Giuseppe D'Angelo
STS 7 November 2015 – 25 December 2016
 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)
1 December 2015 – 5 January 2016 (Season 3)
20 December 2016 – 17 January 2017 (Season 4)
20 December 2017 – TBA 2018 (Season 5)
 Sweden Sveriges yngsta mästerkock Tina Nordström
Leif Mannerström
Markus Aujalay
TV4 9 April 2014 – present
 TaiwanChinese: {{{1}}} Kid's Kitchen William Hsieh
Big Stomach
LIZ
SOAC
CTS September 2015 – present
 Thailand Junior MasterChef Thailand Patiparn Pataweekarn
Ban Boribun
Chatchaya Ruktakanit
Channel 3 3 February 2013 – 2 June 2013
MasterChef Junior Thailand Piyathida Mittiraroch [th] M.L. Pasan Sawasdiwat [th]
M.L. Kwanthip Dewakul
Pongtawat Chalermkittichai
Channel 7 19 August 2018
 Turkey MasterChef Junior Turkey Danilo Zanna
Somer Sivrioğlu
Mehmet Yalçınkaya
Exxen 2021
 Ukraine MasterChef Dity (Kids) Hector Jimenez-Bravo (1-2)
Tatiana Litvinova (1-2)
Mykola Tischenko (1)
Sergey Kalinin (2)
Dmitriy Gorovenko (2)
STB 3 February 2016 – 25 May 2016 (Season 1)
31 January 2017 – 30 May 2017 (Season 2)
January 2018 (Season 3)
MasterChef Pidlitky (Teens)
 United States MasterChef Junior Gordon Ramsay Joe Bastianich (Seasons 1-3 & 6)
Graham Elliot (Seasons 1-4)
Christina Tosi (Season 4-)
Aaron Sanchez (Season 7)
Fox 27 September 2013 – present

 Vietnam

Junior MasterChef Vietnam N/A Jack Lee
Phan Tôn Tịnh Hải
Alain Nguyễn
VTV3 2 October 2016 – present

In the Taiwanese version, called Kid's Kitchen, the show is a bit different. There are no "mystery box" challenges. Also, contestants usually don't get eliminated. Sometimes, a contestant might leave if they are not feeling well.

After the first cooking challenge, there are team challenges. In these, the team captains cannot go into the pantry to get ingredients. The person who earns the most points wins. If you are a winning team captain, your points are doubled! The final winner receives home appliances as a prize.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Junior MasterChef para niños

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