MasterChef (British TV series)

In 2001, the show underwent a makeover in response to declining ratings. It was moved from its traditional Sunday afternoon slot on BBC One to a Tuesday night slot on BBC Two and the format of the show was modified. The celebrity judge was no longer included and the contestants had to cook two courses in 90 minutes, which was extended to two-and-a-half hours for three courses in the final episode. As an additional requirement, each contestant had to use the same key ingredient in each course.[8]

In October 2000, Grossman quit in anger over the proposed changes and was replaced by chef Gary Rhodes, who had previously presented MasterChef USA.[9] Rhodes' advice to contestants was more critical than Grossman's and the show received acclaim for its more serious tone, which would later inspire the MasterChef Goes Large format and other cooking competitions like Hell's Kitchen.[10][11] However, the new version of the show did not revive ratings as hoped and was cancelled by the BBC after the first series.

Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace at MasterChef Live, London, 2009

Each series airs five nights a week for eight weeks. During the first six weeks, the first four episodes of each week are heats and the fifth episode is a quarter-final. Six contestants enter each heat and the winner becomes a quarter-finalist. At the end of each week, the four quarter-finalists compete and a semi-finalist is chosen. After six weeks, the six semi-finalists compete in the final two weeks.

In 2010, the judges were given more flexibility, allowing them to advance more than one contestant to the quarter-finals or, in one instance, none at all. Series 7 of Master Chef featured auditions with a format similar to The X Factor, in which hopeful chefs cooked in front of the judges to secure a spot in the competition. More than 20,000 people applied to audition for the series.[14]

The heats follow a three-round format:

• The Market Test: the contestants must invent a dish using ingredients from the show's market. They have 15 minutes to select ingredients and 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook the meal. Three contestants are eliminated from the competition and those remaining advance to the Impression Test.
• The Calling Card: the contestants must invent a dish from scratch in 75 minutes (originally 40 minutes until 2009). The contestants can choose any ingredients they like.
• The Invention Test: the contestants are given two boxes: one with sweet items and the other with savoury items. They must pick a box and make a dish using its ingredients within 75 minutes.
• The Impression Test: the contestants must cook a two-course meal in 75 minutes for past winners and finalists of MasterChef. They are given one hour to serve the main course and 15 minutes afterwards to serve dessert. This segment was first featured in 2017.

The format of the quarter-finals has changed over the years. Before 2010, the format featured three rounds:

• The Ingredients Test: the contestants were asked to identify a selection of ingredients or produce.
• The Passion Test: the contestants each had one minute to convince the judges of their overwhelming passion for food.
• After eliminating one contestant, the remaining three quarter-finalists each produced a three-course meal in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

In 2010, the quarter-final format was cut down to two rounds:

• The Choice Test: the contestants were given 15 minutes to cook their choice of either a pre-selected fish recipe or meat recipe with the judges supervising. At least one contestant was eliminated after this round.
• The remaining quarter-finalists each produced a two-course meal in one hour.

The current quarter-final format consists of two rounds:

• The Palate Test: Judge John Torode cooks a dish for the contestants, and they must identify the ingredients and try to recreate the dish using the ingredients available to them.
• The Choice Test: the contestants have 80 minutes to create a showstopping dish for the judges and a special celebrity food critic.

The sixth week is called "Comeback Week" and features contestants from previous series of MasterChef who did not advance past the heats or quarter-finals. The format changes for this special week. It includes:

• The Skill Test: the contestants have 25 minutes to cook one of two pre-selected recipes. Some contestants may be eliminated after this round.
• The Palate Test: Torode cooks a complex dish and asks the contestants one by one to taste the dish and identify its ingredients. Some contestants may be eliminated after this round.
• The Pressure Test: the contestants work a lunchtime shift at a busy restaurant under the supervision of a professional chef who comments on their performance.
• The remaining contestants have one hour to cook a two-course meal. One contestant is selected to advance to the quarter-final.
• The comeback quarter-finalists then cook head-to-head in a larger version of the Invention Test, cooking one dish in an hour. One contestant is selected to advance to the semi-finals.

The winner from each year is in bold text.

• 2006: Matt Dawson, Arabella Weir, Charlie Dimmock, David Grant, Fred MacAulay, Graeme Le Saux, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Helen Lederer, Ian McCaskill, Jilly Goolden, Kristian Digby, Lady Isabella Hervey, Linda Barker, Marie Helvin, Paul Young, Richard Arnold, Roger Black, Rowland Rivron, Sarah Cawood, Sheila Ferguson, Simon Grant, Sue Perkins, Tony Hadley and Toyah Willcox.
• 2007: Nadia Sawalha, Midge Ure, Craig Revel Horwood, Jeremy Edwards, Chris Bisson, Martin Hancock, Sunetra Sarker, Gemma Atkinson, Sherrie Hewson, Pauline Quirke, Rani Price, Chris Hollins, Matthew Wright, Angela Rippon, Sue Cook, Lorne Spicer, Emma Forbes, Jeff Green, Darren Bennett, Sally Gunnell, Mark Foster, Matt James, Robbie Earle and Phil Tufnell.
• 2008: Liz McClarnon, Linda Robson, Louis Emerick, Debra Stephenson, Christopher Parker, Joe McGann, Steven Pinder, Mark Moraghan, Vicki Michelle, Sean Wilson, Clare Grogan, Hywel Simons, DJ Spoony, Claire Richards, Denise Lewis, Noel Whelan, Andi Peters, Andrew Castle, Michael Buerk, Kaye Adams, Julia Bradbury, Josie D'Arby and Ninia Benjamin.
• 2009: Jayne Middlemiss, Colin Murray, Wendi Peters, Simon Shepherd, Janet Ellis, Deena Payne, Iwan Thomas, Rav Wilding, Pete Waterman, Stephen K. Amos, Gemma Bissix, Shirley Robertson, Ian Bleasdale, Paul Martin, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Brian Moore, Saira Khan, Rosie Boycott, Michael Obiora, Joel Ross, Shobna Gulati, Dennis Taylor, Siân Lloyd, Jan Leeming and Joe Swift.

There was also a week of Comeback contestants featuring Joe McGann, Marie Helvin, Linda Barker, Claire Richards, Rowland Rivron, Ninia Benjamin, Steven Pinder, Wendi Peters, Helen Lederer, Tony Hadley, Martin Hancock and Jeff Green.

• 2010: Lisa Faulkner, Neil Stuke, Richard Farleigh, Nihal Arthanayake, Alex Fletcher, Tessa Sanderson, Jenny Powell, Colin Jackson, Tricia Penrose, Martin Roberts, Christine Hamilton, Chris Walker, Dick Strawbridge, Danielle Lloyd, Marcus Patric, Dean Macey, Mark Chapman, Jennie Bond, Mark Little and Kym Mazelle.
• 2011: Phil Vickery,[17] Kirsty Wark, Nick Pickard, Darren Campbell, Linda Lusardi, Michelle Mone, Ruth Goodman, Aggie MacKenzie, Ricky Groves, Margi Clarke, Colin McAllister, Justin Ryan, Shobu Kapoor, Sharon Maughan, Tim Lovejoy and Danny Goffey.[18]
• 2012: Emma Kennedy,[19] Danny Mills, Michael Underwood, Zöe Salmon, Gareth Gates, Cheryl Baker, Laila Rouass, George Layton, Diarmuid Gavin, Richard McCourt, Rebecca Romero, Jamie Theakston, Jenny Eclair, Javine Hylton, Steve Parry and Anne Charleston.[20]
• 2013: Ade Edmondson, John Thomson, Heidi Range, Shane Lynch, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Denise Black, Phillips Idowu, Speech Debelle, Brian Capron, Les Dennis, Matthew Hoggard, Katy Brand, Shappi Khorsandi, Joe Calzaghe, Jo Wood and Janet Street-Porter.[21]
• 2014: Sophie Thompson, Christopher Biggins, Todd Carty, Tina Hobley, Kiki Dee, JB Gill, Wayne Sleep, Alison Hammond, Tania Bryer, Amanda Burton, Jason Connery, Ken Morley, Millie Mackintosh, Emma Barton, Russell Grant, Alex Ferns, Leslie Ash, Jodie Kidd, Charley Boorman and Susannah Constantine.[22]
• 2015: Kimberly Wyatt, Keith Chegwin, Sarah Harding, Yvette Fielding, Arlene Phillips, Samira Ahmed, Andy Akinwolere, Syd Little, Amanda Donohoe, Craig Gazey, Tom Parker, Patricia Potter, Chesney Hawkes, Danny Crates, Mica Paris, Sheree Murphy, Natalie Lowe, Scott Maslen, Rylan Clark and Sam Nixon.[23]
• 2016: Alexis Conran, Donna Air, Neil Back, Amelle Berrabah, Marcus Butler, Tommy Cannon, Amy Childs, Richard Coles, David Harper, Audley Harrison, Cherry Healey, Liz Johnson, Tina Malone, Louise Minchin, Laila Morse, Jimmy Osmond, Sid Owen, Gleb Savchenko, Sinitta and Simon Webbe.[24]
• 2017: Angellica Bell, Rebecca Adlington, Abdullah Afzal, Kate Bottley, Patti Boulaye, Brian Bovell, Tyger Drew-Honey, Lesley Garrett, Dev Griffin, Barney Harwood, Stephen Hendry, Jaymi Hensley, Ulrika Jonsson, Henri Leconte, Debbie McGee, Aasmah Mir, Jim Moir, Nick Moran, Julia Somerville and Rachel Stevens.[25]
• 2018: John Partridge, Michelle Ackerley, Chizzy Akudolu, Keith Allen, Clara Amfo, Martin Bayfield, Jay Blades, Frankie Bridge, Gemma Collins, Josh Cuthbert, Carol Decker, Anita Harris, Jean Johansson, Zoe Lyons, Spencer Matthews, Lisa Maxwell, Monty Panesar, Stella Parton, AJ Pritchard and Stef Reid.[26]
• 2019: Greg Rutherford, Élizabeth Bourgine, Joey Essex, Alex George, Andy Grant, Rickie Haywood-Williams, Judge Jules, Josie Long, Oti Mabuse, Kellie Maloney, Dominic Parker, Vicky Pattison, Martha Reeves, Zandra Rhodes, Neil Ruddock, Jenny Ryan, Tomasz Schafernaker, Mim Shaikh, Dillian Whyte and Adam Woodyatt.[27]
• 2020: Riyadh Khalaf, Shyko Amos, John Barnes, Jeff Brazier, Baga Chipz, Phil Daniels, Karen Gibson, Gethin Jones (withdrew due to illness),[28] Amar Latif, Lady Leshurr, Dominic Littlewood, Judi Love, Felicity Montagu, Judy Murray, Matthew Pinsent, Sam Quek, Crissy Rock, Thomas Skinner, Myles Stephenson and Pete Wicks.[29]

MasterChef was involved in a controversy during the 13th episode of its 14th series when Wallace and Torode criticized a rendang dish made by Malaysian-born contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin for its supposedly poor quality, despite the fact that Zaleha had attempted to make the dish in thirty minutes when it normally takes several hours to prepare. The judges deemed the dish inedible because the chicken skin was not crispy. However, many commentators, particularly from Malaysia and Indonesia, pointed out that rendang is usually cooked as a stew and is not intended to be crispy,[30] and that both judges had failed to differentiate between "crispy" and "under-cooked".

Najib Razak, the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time, joined the conversation with a subtle tweet denouncing the judges' opinion.[31] Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed also joined in, suggesting that the judges were confusing rendang with KFC.[32]

Note: The original MasterChef series did not air in 1998.

The show's original name returned in series 4 in 2008.

• Happy 10th Birthday MasterChef: TX 18 June 2000
• Tales from the MasterChef Kitchen: Series 1, 10 editions from 2 July 2000 – 3 September 2000
• Celebrity Special: TX 27 August 2000

The show's original name returned in series 4 in 2008.

Specials

• What The Winners Did Next – featured winners from series 1 and 2 of MasterChef Goes Large, aired on 22 January 2007

Specials

• A Recipe for Success – Six-part series looking back over 15 years of Celebrity MasterChef, first episode broadcast on 6 August 2020.
• Christmas Cook-off - 2 episodes, where past contestants compete to hold the title of Christmas champion; first episode broadcast on 21 December 2020, second episode broadcast on 23 December 2020.