The first series of ''

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 contestant ...

'', the second spin off of the Australian

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

MasterChef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British '' MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Ca ...

'', began on 12 September 2010 and aired on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

Matt Preston Matt Preston (born 21 July 1961) is an English-Australian food critic, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's ''MasterChef Australia'' between 2009 and 2019, and for his weekly national food ...

George Calombaris George Dimitrios Calombaris (born 4 October 1978) is an Australian chef and restaurateur. Calombaris was one of the judges of the Network 10 series ''MasterChef Australia'' from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his role on ''MasterChef Australia'', Calom ...

and

Gary Mehigan Gary Mehigan (born 12 February 1967) is an English-Australian chef and restaurateur. Mehigan was one of the original judges of the Network 10 series ''MasterChef Australia''. Career Chef Mehigan trained at The Connaught and Le Souffle in ...

returned alongside new judge,

Anna Gare Anna Gare is an Australian musician, cook, television personality and author. Biography Gare was born 10 March 1969 in Subiaco, Western Australia and grew up in Fremantle. She attended the Lance Holt School, where as a student she ran a cantee ...

. The series finale was won by Isabella Bliss a 12-year-old girl from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Changes

In contrast to prior series, ''Junior MasterChef Australia'' is produced by

Shine Australia Endemol Shine Australia is an Australian production company and is a division of Banijay led by Rory Callaghan. Following an acquisition of shares, production company Endemol Australia merged with Shine Australia on July 26, 2015. They produce ...

.Shine Australia to produce Junior Masterchef
/ref> The series premiered on Sunday, 12 September 2010. It also added

as fourth judge during individual challenges. The series began with the Top 50 selected from the 5,500 applicants who auditioned for the show. The Top 50 featured five heats, with ten from the Top 50 who were best at the heat's team participating in each heat. Afterwards, the judges selected four to move forward to the Top 20. Furthermore, the Top 20 competed in two challenges to pick the Top 12. Contrast to other versions, contestants are not eliminated every week; rather, four are eliminated at every stage of the competition. Every eliminated contestant received a range of prizes, including those in the Top 50.Channel 10 show Junior MasterChef makes its debut next month
/ref>

Contestants

The top 12 contestants were chosen throughout the first week of challenges amongst the Top 50 and the Top 20. The full group of 12 were all revealed on Sunday, 26 September 2010: Notes: - Isabella and Sofia Bliss are

fraternal twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

.
- Jack Lark was 12 years old during his audition for the show, the maximum age for the cooks who auditioned. Afterwards, he turned 13 during their first week in the MasterChef Kitchen.

Special guests

* Callum Hann - Top 20 Cooking Challenge * Mark Jensen - MasterClass 1 *

Poh Ling Yeow Poh Ling Yeow (; born 1973) is a Malaysian-born Australian cook, artist, actress, author and television presenter. Early life and history Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, into a fifth-generation Malaysian Chinese family, and her mother is of ...

- MasterClass 1 * Donna Hay - Pressure Test 2 and Elimination Challenge 3 * John Lanzafáme - Elimination Challenge 1 * Justin North - Team Challenge 2 *

Matt Moran Matthew Moran (born 15 May 1969) is an Australian chef and restaurateur also known for being a guest on various TV cooking shows. Early life Moran was raised on a dairy farm at Badgerys Creek, west of Sydney, before moving to the outer-we ...

- Team Challenge 2, MasterClass Réunion, and Elimination Challenge 3 *

Jude Bolton Jude Bolton (born 15 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1999 and 2013. Early life Growing up, he supported the St Kilda Foot ...

- Team Challenge 3 *

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallis ...

- Team Challenge 3 * Luke Mangan - Team Challenge 3 *

Stephanie Alexander Stephanie Ann Alexander (born 13 November 1940) is an Australian cook, restaurateur and food writer. After studying to become a librarian and travelling the world at the age of 21, Alexander's first restaurant, Jamaica House, opened in 1964. ...

- MasterClass 3 and MasterClass Réunion * Peter Gilmore - Mystery Box 3 * Peter Kuruvita - Elimination Challenge 2 * Kylie Kwong - MasterClass Réunion *

Guillaume Brahimi Guillaume Brahimi (born 11 August 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born chef based in Sydney, Australia. He is currently head chef of Bistro Guillaume Sydney. Background French-born Guillaume Brahimi is one of Australia's most popular and accla ...

- MasterClass Réunion * Christine Manfield - MasterClass Réunion and Elimination Challenge 3 * Giovanni Pilu - MasterClass Réunion * Shannon Bennett - Finale Night *

Adriano Zumbo Adriano Zumbo (born 6 November 1981) is an Australian pâtissier and television presenter. He opened his first patisserie in 2007 before rising to prominence as a frequent guest on ''MasterChef Australia.'' Zumbo is the titular host of the Austra ...

- Finale Night

Episodes

Elimination Table

* Choose a Box Challenge was played as a Mystery Box variant. Sam was awarded one additional point for being most improved. * Alex and Emily were awarded one additional point for being most improved. * The Top 4 at this point (Sofia, Nick, Isabella and Pierre) were given a free pass to the Final 8. * A Tag Team Challenge was played as a Team Challenge variant. Nick was awarded one point after being excused from the challenge as he was not feeling well. * Nick and Pierre were awarded one point after being excused from the challenge as they were not feeling well. * Nick was awarded one point after being excused from the challenge as he was not feeling well. Sofia had the highest score at this point and was given a free pass to the Final 4. * Siena had the highest score at this point and was given a free pass to the Final 4. * Isabella and Jack competed against each other in two rounds consisting of an Invention Test and a Pressure Test. Points would be earned for each test, with the winner decided based on the final tally after the two tests.

References

{{MasterChef Australia 2010 Australian television seasons MasterChef Australia