| Young MasterChef | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality show |
| Created by | Franc Roddam |
| Judges | Poppy O'Toole Kerth Gumbs Big Has |
| Narrated by | Callie Cooke (2023) Aimée Kelly (2024) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (2023) 60 minutes (2024) |
| Production company | Shine TV/Ziji Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Three |
| Release | 2 January 2023 – 5 February 2024 |
| Related | |
Young MasterChef is a cooking competition broadcast between 2 January 2023 and 5 February 2024 on BBC Three. A derivative of MasterChef (1990-2001, 2005-), the series was open for young adults between 18 and 25. [1]
The BBC announced the show in February 2022 [1] and Poppy O'Toole and Kerth Gumbs as hosts in July 2022. O'Toole started playing Poppy Cooks on TikTok after losing her job to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, while Great British Menu finalist Kerth Gumbs was head chef of The Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street. [2] [3] The show was co-produced by Banijay derivative Shine TV and by Ziji Productions. [4]
Five chefs started each of three heats, with three advancing to the final. [5] Over the course of ten episodes, challenges included cooking a meal within a budget of £30, [6] cooking pizza, [7] and replicating a fine dining recipe by Great British Menu champion James Cochran. [6] Of the finalists, the Knebworth entrepreneur Jordan Pomerance was described by V-land UK as the first vegan chef to appear in a UK MasterChef final [8] [9] and the Nottingham law student Keziah Whittaker won the series. Their final challenge was to cook a starter and a showstopper. [10] Gumbs left the show in August 2023 and was replaced by Big Has, another social media chef. [11] [12]
Series two lasted for five episodes [13] and featured nine contestants [14] including TikTok er Rima Aishah Begum. The third episode featured as guest judge Danny Malin of the YouTube channel Rate My Takeaway, who challenged the contestants to create fakeaways. [15] The final episode saw finalists recreate a recipe from Tom Booton, who had been head chef at The Grill at The Dorchester in London, and then cook a two-course meal for their families and the judges. The series was won by Famara Kurang, an intern from Brixton Hill. [16]
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 January 2023 | 23 January 2023 | 10 |
| 2 | 8 January 2024 | 5 February 2024 | 5 |