''MasterChef Italia'' is the Italian version of culinary talent show ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and J ...

''. The first edition was aired from 21 September to 7 December 2011 on Sky Uno. The judges are chefs Bruno Barbieri, Carlo Cracco, Antonino Cannavacciuolo by the fifth edition and restaurateur Joe Bastianich (judge of MasterChef U.S.). Voiceovers are made by

Simone D'Andrea Simone D'Andrea (born November 20, 1973) is an Italian voice actor. Biography D'Andrea contributes to voicing characters in anime, cartoons, movies, video games and other content. For example, he is well known for providing the voice of James in ...

and Luisa Ziliotto. Carlo Cracco quit the program after the end of 6th season and was replaced by Antonia Klugmann in the 7th. Antonia Klugmann was in turn replaced by

Giorgio Locatelli Giorgio Locatelli (born 6 April 1963) is an Italian Michelin starred chef and restaurateur working and living in the United Kingdom. Early life Locatelli was brought up in Corgeno in the comune of Vergiate on the banks of Lake Comabbio, nort ...

for Season 8. MasterChef Italia winners earn €100,000 in gold coins and get to publish a recipe book (published by RCS Rizzoli). The success of the first edition included parodies of the program, including '' The Scoured'', '' Crozza in

Wonderland Wonderland may refer to: Places Municipalities * Wonderland, California, a ghost town in Plumas County * Wonderland, Ohio, a ghost town in Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Roads, streets, and trails * Wonderland Avenue, a roadway in Laurel Canyon, Los Ang ...

'' and '' Made in Sud'' with the parody ''Mastrochef''

Format

* ''Mystery Box Challenge'': Participants have to prepare a dish following the instructions of the judges and the ingredients contained in their Mystery Boxes. The judges taste the three most interesting dishes, and the winner is given an advantage for the next challenge. * ''Invention Test'': the participants have to re-create a dish decided by the judges or, often, by a guest (including renowned figures such as

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the '' enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White becam ...

Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show ''Iron Chef'' and its spinoff '' Iron Chef America''. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food. Career Morimoto received practical training in sus ...

and

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 ...

). The winner of the Mystery Box Challenge is given an advantage over the other participants, which could go as far as being exempted from the challenge. The duration of this test is variable, and here the judges, after tasting all dishes, nominate the winner of the test (who can choose their own team in the challenge in external as well as having other benefits) and the three cooks with the worst outcome, and between them at least one is eliminated (sometimes the others are sent directly to the Pressure Test). * ''Team Challenge'': In this test, the candidates are divided into two teams (or challenge each other) and have to prepare dishes to be served in a particular situation, usually outside MasterChef's kitchen, and for a considerable number of people, ranging from 100 to 10. MasterChef Italia has visited several locations in Italy and abroad, including Norwegian

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, the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The winner of the invention test can choose the components of either teams and, at times, the courses to prepare, or have other particular advantages, such as advice from local chefs. The winning team will be voted upon by the guests they prepared food for, by simple majority. * ''Pressure Test'': The members of the losing team will compete against each other in a task (or set of tasks), usually with a very strict time limit, until at least one of them is eliminated. * ''The Final'': In the Season Finale, the two (or three) remaining participants face each other in a 2-hour long duel, during which they have to serve their own degustation menu, composed of at least four courses.

Season One

The first season of MasterChef Italy aired from 21 September to 7 December in 2011 on

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and saw Spyros Theodoridis come out the winner. In addition, on 21 and 28 December, two special episodes were aired dedicated to the background and to the comments of the protagonists.

Contestants

Season Two

In February 2012

Sky Italy Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...

opened up the casting for the second edition. The winner of the second edition was attorney Tiziana Stefanelli. Unlike the previous edition, the first MasterChef aired on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1 ...

from 13 December 2012 to 21 February 2013. On days 19, 20 and 21 November 2012, three special introductory episodes had aired: ''Joe Bastianich: Family Affairs'', ''Carlo Cracco:The Squaring Of The Egg'' and ''Bruno Barbieri: Chef 7-Star''. In addition, the three judges were guests in an episode of '' X Factor Italy'', of '' That Heavenly Goal!'' and ''

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''.

Contestants

Season Three

In February 2013 casting opened for the third edition. The race started 19 December 2013 and ended on 6 March 2014. The winner of the third edition was Francesco Federico Ferrero, a medical intern. Unlike the other two editions, the winner was announced live at the General Stores in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. The season will be broadcast again on Cielo, a DTV channel, in September 2014.

Contestants

Season Four

In February 2014 casting opened for the fourth season scheduled for the second half of 2014 again on Sky Uno. Filming of these episodes will begin in June. Masterchef Italy started on 18 December 2014 and the winner was Stefano Callegaro. The winner's name was leaked by the media and published before the final episode of the season.

Contestants

Season Five

In February 2015 casting opened for the fifth season started on December 18, 2015, on Sky Uno. By this season there was a new entry, Antonino Cannavacciuolo as a new judge. The Season Finale aired on March 3, 2016, and the winner was Erica Liverani.

Contestants

Season Six

In February 2016 casting opened for the sixth season scheduled for the second half of 2016 on Sky Uno. The winner of this season was the youngest winner in MasterChef History, Valerio Braschi (18 years old).

Contestants

Season Seven

In February 2017 casting opened for the seventh season scheduled for the end of the year. The 7th season started airing in December 2017 until April 2018. Carlo Cracco was replaced by the first woman judge, Antonia Klugmann. This edition was won by Simone Scipioni.

Contestants

Season Eight

The 8th season of Masterchef started airing in December 2018 until April 2019. Antonia Klugmann left Masterchef after only one season, being replaced by chef

. The winner was Valeria Raciti from Sicily. She then published the book "Amore curiosità istinto. La mia cucina felice".

Contestants

Season Nine

The 9th season of Masterchef started airing in December 2019. Joe Bastianich left Masterchef after eight seasons, Bruno Barbieri is now the only judge left from the original cast. Antonio Lorenzon is the winner of this season.

Contestants

Season Ten

The 10th season of MasterChef started airing on December 17, 2020. The contestants include American journalist, Maxwell Alexander. The winner was Francesco Aquila.

Contestants

Season Eleven

The 11th season of MasterChef started airing on December 16, 2021. The winner was Tracy Eboigbodin.

Contestants

Season Twelve

The 12th season of MasterChef started airing on December 15, 2022.

Contestants

Spin-Off Celebrity Masterchef Italia

In 2017 the first season of Celebrity Masterchef Italia ended with the victory of Roberta Capua, an Italian TV host.

Contestants

Spin-Off Celebrity Masterchef Italia 2

In 2018 the second season of Celebrity Masterchef Italia ended with the victory of

Anna Tatangelo Anna Tatangelo (born 9 January 1987) is an Italian pop singer and television personality. At the age of 15, she became the youngest person to win the Newcomer's Award at the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival singing contest. Her repertoire con ...

, an Italian singer.

Contestants

Spin-Off Junior Masterchef Italia

On 16 April 2013 it was announced the MasterChef inspired spin-off, MasterChef Italy Junior, would involve children between 8 and 13 years of age. The casting began on 17 April 2013. The judges are Bruno Barbieri, Lidia Bastianich and Alessandro Borghese. The first season aired from 13 March to 10 April 2014. After three seasons, the spin-off was put on hiatus.

Spin-Off Masterchef All Stars

Note

External links

Official Website of MasterChef Italy

Official MasterChef Italy on Facebook

Official Account of MasterChef Italy on Twitter

Official Account of MasterChef Italy on Instagram
* {{MasterChef 2011 Italian television series debuts

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Italian reality television series Italian television series based on British television series Sky Uno original programming Cielo (TV channel) original programming