'MasterChef Junior' Snags Second Season, Gordon Ramsay Back For Fox Series [VIDEO]
An exponentially kinder Gordon Ramsay will be back to whip more young cooks into shape during a second season of MasterChef Junior.
Staring Masterchef judges Joe Bastianich, Graham Elliot, and Ramsay, the Fox reality series has been renewed for a sophomore run. The series, which reaches out to an underrepresented segment of the cooking community (ex: children ages 8 to 13), allows 24 hopefuls to train under the three highly acclaimed chefs. Challenged through individual, team, elimination, and mystery box challenges, the young cooks are weeded out by talent over the course of seven episodes.
After premiering this fall on Friday nights, the culinary endeavor boosted the network's ratings by 58 percent for adults 18-49, many of whom may have been sitting down for the program with their youngsters.
"MasterChef Junior is one of the few shows on television that the entire family can truly enjoy together, and I can't wait to see what Gordon, Joe, Graham and the next round of rambunctious, ridiculously talented junior chefs cook up in Season Two," said Fox's Chairman of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly, in a statement.
While 13-year-old Alexander Wiess clinched the competition during season 1 (see video below), MasterChef Junior is on the lookout for new talent. The series will be conducting auditions in New York City and Chicago on Jan. 18 and in Los Angeles and Dallas on Jan. 25.
