Junior MasterChef Australia

Junior MasterChef Australia (known colloquially as MasterChef Kids) is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is a spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and featured contestants aged 8 to 12. The first season of the show began production in July 2010 and included 50 contestants. Over 5,000 children from around the nation auditioned for the series.

Junior MasterChef Australia
Junior MasterChef Australia logo (Original series)
GenreCooking
Game show
Created byFranc Roddam
Written byGeorge Dodd
Directed byJo Siddiqui
Judges
Narrated byNicholas McKay (2010–11)
Theme music composerRobbie Williams and Guy Chambers (2010–11)
Opening themeKids (2010–11)
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes51
Production
Production locations
  • Sydney (2010–11)
  • Melbourne (2020–)
Running time60 minutes (including commercials)
Production companyShine Australia
Original release
NetworkNetwork Ten
Release12 September 2010 (2010-09-12) –
23 November 2011 (2011-11-23)
Release11 October (2020-10-11) –
9 November 2020 (2020-11-09)
Related

In contrast to prior series, Junior MasterChef Australia was produced by Shine Australia.[1] The promo was seen during the final episode of the second season of MasterChef Australia. The series premiered on Sunday, 12 September 2010.[2]

On 27 April 2020, it was announced that a third season of Junior MasterChef Australia had been commissioned, nine years after the second series aired.[3][4][5]

Changes

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In the Junior series, contestants are not eliminated every week, though four are eliminated at a time once the finalists are decided. Every eliminated contestant receives a range of prizes.[6]

From series 3, casting was extended to children aged between 9–14 years old, as opposed to 8–12 years old.[4][5]

Hosts and judges

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Timeline of hosts, judges and other personnel
Starring Seasons
1 2 3
Current
Jock Zonfrillo Host & Judge
Melissa Leong Host & Judge
Andy Allen Host & Judge
Former
Gary Mehigan Host & Judge
George Calombaris Host & Judge
Matt Preston Host & Judge
Anna Gare Judge
Matt Moran Judge

Winners

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Season Numbers of
Contestants
Name Age State Occupation Date Won
1 12 Isabella Bliss 12 New South Wales School Student 15 November 2010
2 20 Greta Yaxley 11 Western Australia 23 November 2011
3 14 Georgia Eris 11 Victoria 9 November 2020

Series synopses

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Season 1 (2010)

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Production of a junior version of the show was initially suggested in October 2009. The first series of the show, featuring 8- to 12-year-old contestants, was filmed after the second series of MasterChef Australia and began airing 12 September 2010 on Ten. In contrast to prior series of the main show, Junior MasterChef Australia was produced by Shine Australia.[7] Isabella Bliss won the contest to become Australia's first Junior MasterChef.

Season 2 (2011)

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Junior MasterChef was officially renewed on 15 November 2010. Filming started on 28 July 2011, with the season premiering in October 2011.

Matt Moran replaced Matt Preston as a judge[8] and Callum Hann was a guest in the series.[9]

11-year-old Greta Yaxley from Western Australia won the Junior MasterChef title for 2011.[10]

Season 3 (2020)

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A revamped third series of Junior MasterChef Australia was announced on 27 April 2020, nine years after the second series last aired. Applications for casting were opened on 25 April 2020 for children across Australia aged from 9–14.[4][11]

Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo returned from the main series to undertake the role of judges.[5][12] As of late-July 2020, the program began filming at the Melbourne Showgrounds in Flemington.[13][14]

The series premiered on 11 October 2020.[15]

11-year old Georgia Eris from Victoria won the title with 12-year old Filo from Victoria and 11-year old Carter from New South Wales as the runners up.[16]

Reception

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Ratings

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Series Premiere date Finale date Episodes Premiere
ratings
Rank Finale ratings
(Grand final)
Rank Finale ratings
(Winner announced)
Rank Series Average
1 12 September 2010 15 November 2010 17 2.202 #1 1.532 #2 1.853 #1 1.313
2 25 September 2011 23 November 2011 21 1.129 #5 0.934 #10 0.911 #12 0.844
3 11 October 2020 9 November 2020 13 0.524 #8 0.652 #12 0.881 #5 0.539

International syndications

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The network in bold also broadcasts their own version of Junior MasterChef.

Country Network Dubbed or Subtitled?
  Afghanistan STAR World Subtitled in Dari
  Arab League Subtitled in Arabic
  Bangladesh Subtitled in English
  Belgium Vitaya Subtitled in Dutch
  Bhutan STAR World India Subtitled in English
  Brazil TLC Dubbed in Portuguese
  Burma STAR World Subtitled
  Cyprus Nova (Forthnet) Subtitled
  Mexico
  Colombia
  Venezuela
  Argentina
  Peru
  Ecuador
  Bolivia
  Chile
  Uruguay
  Paraguay
  Panama
  Costa Rica
  El Salvador
  Guatemala
  Honduras
  Nicaragua
  Dominican Republic
TLC Dubbed in Spanish
  Argentina Discovery Home & Health Dubbed in Spanish
  Finland Liv Subtitled
  Greece Cosmote TV Subtitled
  Hong Kong TVB Pearl Subtitled (English and Selectable Cantonese) and Subtitled (Cantonese)
STAR World Subtitled in Cantonese
  India STAR World India Dubbed in Hindi
  Indonesia B Channel Subtitled
  Ireland Watch
  Italy Sky Uno and Cielo Dubbed
  Macau STAR World Subtitled in Cantonese
  Malaysia Subtitled
    Nepal STAR World India Subtitled in English
  New Zealand Prime and TVNZ
  Pakistan STAR World Subtitled
  Philippines
  Poland TV4 Polish lector
  Portugal SIC K and SIC Mulher Subtitled in Portuguese
  Slovenia Planet TV Subtitled
  South Africa M-Net
  Sri Lanka STAR World India Subtitled in English
  Singapore STAR World
Okto
MediaCorp Channel 5
  South Korea Food TV Subtitled
  Sweden TV8 and TV3 (Sweden)
  Taiwan STAR World
  Thailand
  The Netherlands NET 5 Subtitled in Dutch
24Kitchen
  United Arab Emirates StarWorld HD Subtitled in Arabic
Fox Subtitled In Arabic
  Vietnam STAR World Subtitled
VTV6 Subtitled (Vietnamese)
  Kuwait STAR World HD Subtitled in Arabic
Fox Subtitled In Arabic
  Brunei
  Cambodia
  Hong Kong
  Indonesia
  Macau
  Malaysia
  Maldives
  Myanmar
  Palau
  Philippines
  Singapore
  Taiwan
  Thailand
  PNG
Lifetime Asia Subtitled

References

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  1. ^ Shine Australia to produce Junior Masterchef
  2. ^ "Airdate: Junior MasterChef". Tv-Tonight.com.au. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  3. ^ Whitehead, Mat (27 April 2020). "Attention Tiny Chefs: Australia Is Looking For Its Next Junior MasterChef". 10 Daily. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Apply Now for Junior MasterChef Australia — Are you between 9 - 14 and love to cook?". 10 Play. Network Ten. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Knox, David (20 July 2020). "Jock, Melissa, Andy back to judge on Junior MasterChef". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  6. ^ Channel 10 show Junior MasterChef makes its debut next month
  7. ^ "Shine Australia to produce Junior Masterchef". 29 January 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  8. ^ Ellis, Scott; Burns, Mia (26 July 2009). "MasterChef unveils its newest ingredient: kids". Melbourne: theage.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  9. ^ Callum slip that he'll be involved
  10. ^ "Greta Wins Junior MasterChef 2011". masterchef.com.au. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  11. ^ "Junior MasterChef Australia Casting". eTribez. 25 April 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  12. ^ Whitehead, Mat (20 July 2020). "Jock, Melissa And Andy Return For Junior MasterChef". 10 Play. Network Ten. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. ^ Knox, David (20 July 2020). "Jock, Melissa, Andy back to judge on Junior MasterChef". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Jock, Melissa And Andy Will Be Right Back.-YouTube". YouTube. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  15. ^ Knox, David (29 September 2020). "Airdate: Junior MasterChef S3". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  16. ^ Knox, David (9 November 2020). "Airdate: Junior MasterChef S3". huffington post. Retrieved 10 November 2020.