It expands its kitchens and opens a new lounge and restaurant, and will have two broadcasts each week, with only two tests and one eliminated person in each programme.
Some 70,000 people signed up for the casting: former ‘MasterChef Junior’ contestants, an air traffic controller, a TikTok creator, a judge, a Dominican friar and the number one fan of the format.
Premiere on Monday 27 March at 22:00 on La 1 and RTVE Play.
MasterChef’ returns to La 1 in XL format. In this eleventh edition, the culinary talent produced by RTVE in collaboration with Shine Iberia has become the gastronomic experience never seen before: twice as many contestants will cook, the competition will be at its highest and the participants will face the largest number of tests in history. The programme will be broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays, starting on 27 March.
“MasterChef’ is back in a big way: double the number of contestants, double the number of tests, double the number of broadcasts…”, said RTVE’s Director of Communication and Participation, María Eizaguirre Comendador. “It has been a very hard edition, it has not been easy to make this programme two days a week”, said the CEO of Shine Iberia, Macarena Rey, for whom this is “the edition of contrasts”.
The jury, with María Eizaguirre and Macarena ReyThe jury, with María Eizaguirre and Macarena Rey
“The casting has been amazing: half of Spain is on the set, life itself recorded and brought to the world of cooking, everything has been very beautiful, extravagant and very human”, said Pepe Rodríguez.
Samantha Vallejo-Nágera said she was “very happy with the experience. This is our life two, which has eaten into life one, but it’s a very fun life of work, of having a good time, it’s a very entertaining edition, like a series that you get hooked on”.
For Jordi Cruz, this edition has meant “twice as many hurdles to jump, twice as much effort to make, and it offers an analysis of the current state of cooking”. “And on a social level, we have learned a lot and it has been a very gastronomic edition and very interesting because of the mix
New mechanics
Two weekly programmes will be broadcast with only two tests, instead of the usual three. In the first weekly instalment there will be two on-set challenges, one of them elimination, and in the second weekly instalment there will be an on-set test and another elimination. The contestants must give 100% in each challenge because two contestants will say goodbye each week.
The casting team has doubled its efforts to find the best candidates. Some 70,000 amateur cooks signed up and in the final selection, 60 will fight for the white apron. For the first time, a 19-year-old student chef, a former ‘MasterChef Junior’ contestant, will return to the kitchen. An air traffic controller from Cadiz will land with the aim of starting up an airline catering business. The jury will have to deal with a young creator in TikTok, capable of revolutionising everything. Also trying their luck will be a Harley-Davidson-loving judge, a Venezuelan Dominican priest and a technician from a Spanish multinational telephone company, the number one fan of ‘MasterChef’, capable of remembering everything about the format.
The winner will win a cash prize of 100,000 euros, the programme’s trophy and the chance to publish his or her own recipe book. In addition, the Basque Culinary Center Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences in San Sebastian will award prizes to the first three winners. The winner will receive a Master’s Degree in Cuisine, Technique and Product; the second winner will receive a Master’s Degree in Pastry Making and the third winner will receive an eight-week Specialisation Course.
The new edition will bring twice as many emotionsThe new edition will bring twice as many emotions
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The tests
The candidates will be faced with all kinds of challenges: preparing a gourmet delivery, using ancestral preservation techniques, competing in the veal race or the battle of the honey, cooking all kinds of international dishes, presenting a sandwich without bread and even making a cocoa tree entirely out of chocolate.
Once a week, the kitchens will travel the country in search of the most amazing places and the best products. Their dishes will be served in the cloister of Toledo Cathedral, in the depths of the Oceanogràfic in Valencia, on the snowy slopes of the Andorran ski resort of Grau Roig, in the latest show of the Circus of Horrors, in a retirement home and in Cuenca, Spanish Capital of Gastronomy 2023.
Miguel Bosé, Toñi Moreno and more guest stars
Well-known TV stars will visit the ‘MasterChef’ kitchens, such as the international artist and ‘Cover Night’ judge Miguel Bosé and the presenter Toñi Moreno, who hosts ‘Plan de tarde’. Also returning will be renowned chefs, friends of the programme and almost all the winners of the different formats of the talent show and its most beloved contestants:Miki Nadal, Juanma Castaño, Carlos Latre, Mercedes Milá, Tamara Falcó, Anabel Alonso, Bibiana Fernández, Boris Izaguirre, Mario Vaquerizo, La Terremoto de Alcorcón, Terelu Campos, Carmina Barrios, María Escoté, Isabelle Junot, Ruth Lorenzo, Raquel Meroño, Lorena Castell, Belén López y María Lo.
MasterChef 11′ premieres kitchens
The ‘MasterChef’ studio has been completely refurbished for this edition, with two new sets. The first, which includes the supermarket, the living room and the kitchens, has been enlarged by more than 600 square metres and more work stations have been installed in the kitchens so that 30 people, the largest number of contestants, can compete at the same time. The contestants’ gallery, the privileged place where the saved contestants go upstairs, has an extra six metres and has been decorated with an incredible bookcase with more than 2,000 books.
The second set is almost 300 square metres and consists of the new restaurant and a multi-purpose area, with a walk of fame with photos of all the winners, where some of the tests are presented. It will also feature impressive set designs, such as an American prom, a rodeo with a mechanical bull, a fortune-telling booth, a wedding banquet and a performance by the Sakura Duo.
Among the new areas are those created by the studio of acclaimed international interior designer Lorenzo Castillo, who has put his stamp on two important rooms: the lounge and the set’s restaurant, which is shaped like a gallery open to the sea.
The kitchen has 12 fixed chambers, one hot head and eight robotic ones. The other set is equipped with 10 fixed cameras and a hot head. In this way, the control is able to simultaneously record up to 16 signals.
The new kitchens are ready to welcome the contestants.
What’s new on social media
MasterChef España has more than 5.1 million followers across all its social media platforms. It closed its tenth digital edition crowning María Lo as the contestant with the most followers on Instagram (346K) in the history of the format.
MasterChef’ consolidates this season its relationship with Pinterest to launch a super challenge to the most relevant food profiles on the platform. For 6 weeks, ten food lovers will challenge each other in a duel preparing recipes that will be uploaded to their personal accounts and evaluated by Fabián, from ‘MasterChef 1’, and then replicated on their official Pinterest profile. The final prize will be to go to the kitchens to record a very special recipe with Fabián.
Masterchef’ is sponsored by Supermercado El Corte Inglés and Bosch Electrodomésticos.