Gordon Ramsey, Fox to Launch New Reality Cooking Show
Varietyreports that Fox is expected to order 12-15 episodes of a reality chef series called Masterchef. Gordon Ramsay will co-produce and have a role in the series which is based on an Australian cooking reality show.
Fox is expected to order 12-15 hourlong segs of the series, with production to start in the near future. Fox confirmed that it cinched a deal with Reveille but declined comment on other details.
"Masterchef," owned by Reveille parent Shine Group, has aired on the BBC in various incarnations on and off since 1990. In the series judges winnow a pool of 132 culinary amateurs for the title of Masterchef. An Australian version of the show bowed in April and quickly became a mammoth hit for Network Ten.
The Hollywood Reporterstory on the new show says it involves a nationwide search for the best U.S. amateur chef. Auditions are held around the country with finalists competing in cooking challenges on the show.
"This is a huge, nationwide search for the best amateur chef in America," said executive producer Howard T. Owens of Reveille. "It's about people who are lawyers, construction workers and stay-at-home moms but whose real passion is to make great food. This is their shot to prove they have what it takes."
The details for Fox's "MasterChef" are being worked out, but the show will most closely resemble the Australian edition. In each season, contestants from around the country audition by creating a dish for a panel of three judges to earn spots as semi-finalists. The remaining contestants compete each week via team-based and individual cooking challenges until only one remains.
It sounds sort of like a cooking version of American Idol.
