The eleventh edition of Masterchef premieres this Monday on TVE's La 1 starting at 10:05 p.m. with two outstanding novelties: twice as many applicants will participate (there will be 30) and the program will be broadcast two days a week, with a longer duration short and with only two tests instead of the usual three. In the first weekly installment (Monday) there will be two challenges on the set, one of them a knockout, and, in the second installment (Tuesday), an outdoor test and another elimination. Every week two contestants will say goodbye.
This new programming tactic will allow TVE to double its content by dividing it into two installments and will also advocate time reconciliation so as not to end at dawn, as many viewers requested with previous seasons. Macarena Rey, director of the production company Shine Iberia, pointed out during the presentation of the new season to the media that only the first chapter and the final duel will be a little longer and she also wanted to record that this new broadcast line has been a RTVE imposition that "should not be repeated".
"On both a physical and human level, it is very difficult to make two recordings a week, with twice as many contestants and everything that comes with it," Rey said. At the same time, he thanked the corporation and the production team for their support, since to shoot this edition another set had to be built, the existing ones redecorated and a deployment of 22 cameras, two crane and eight robotic for “ Don't lose detail."
This year 70,000 candidates presented themselves and, after several sieves, 60 were left to star in the first chapter, although only 30 of them will compete in the contest. Among the profiles already revealed are a 19-year-old cooking student, a former MasterChef Junior participant, an air traffic controller from Cádiz who wants to start a catering for airlines, a young creator on TikTok, a Harley-Davidson-loving judge, a priest Venezuelan Dominican and a technician from a Spanish telephone multinational, number one fan of MasterChef, capable of remembering everything about the format.
"The casting has been a nonsense: half of Spain is on the set, life itself recorded and taken to the world of cooking, everything has been very beautiful, extravagant and very human", pointed out the jury Pepe Rodríguez. For his part, Jordi Cruz pointed out that this edition had meant "twice as many hurdles to jump, twice the effort to make, and offers an analysis of how the kitchen is today" while Samantha Vallejo-Nágera defined the edition as "very entertaining, like a series that you get hooked on."
First program, on Monday 27. Applicants will debut with two Mystery Boxes. In the first, you will find basic ingredients and, in the second, preparations with flaws, such as salted cod, overcooked chickpeas, lumpy béchamel or hard rice. They must demonstrate that they are able to transform at least two of these inedible preparations into a great dish, using the ingredients from the first box. Tamara Falcó, winner of 'MasterChef Celebrity 4', will accompany you in this cooking challenge.
Second program, on Tuesday 28. On Tuesday, the applicants will face the first outdoor test, the most ambitious for culinary talent, which will take place in Toledo. The teams will cook a high-class menu signed by chef Adolfo Muñoz (one Repsol sun). Back in the kitchens of 'MasterChef', the jury will challenge the black aprons to work with a very tight budget: they will only have 70 euros to spend together. The third classified of 'MasterChef Celebrity 7', the fashion designer María Escoté, will give you some tips to squeeze the purse in this elimination test.
