MasterChef: Renewed for Season Three

There’s certainly no shortage of Chef Gordon Ramsay over on FOX. The network recently announced that they were commissioning a new series called Hotel Hell, he’s the star of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, and is one of the judges on MasterChef. FOX has just announced the renewal of the latter for a third season.

Season two of MasterChef ran twice a week over this past summer. The series averaged a 2.2 in the 18-49 demographic and 5.27 million viewers on Monday nights and a 2.2 and 5.34 million on Tuesdays.

Here’s the press release from FOX:

FOX SERVES UP A THIRD SEASON OF “MASTERCHEF”

THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT “MASTERCHEF” BEGINS WITH OPEN CASTING CALLS STARTING SATURDAY, OCT. 29 IN LOS ANGELES

Casting Calls Continue in Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Austin, Savannah, Chicago, Seattle, New York and San Francisco

FOX has ordered a third season of the hit culinary competition series MASTERCHEF, it was announced today by Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

Chef Gordon Ramsay will once again give talented amateur cooks the chance to prove to him, and to fellow judges, restaurateur Joe Bastianich (Del Posto, Eataly) and Chef Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot, Grahamwich), that they have what it takes to make their mark on the culinary world. In the series, Ramsay, Bastianich and Elliot coach and critique the amateur cooks in a series of challenges designed to test their palates, knowledge and determination to follow their dreams of making a mark in the culinary world.

MASTERCHEF will travel to more cities than ever before to uncover the country’s very best amateur cooks. Open casting calls begin Saturday, Oct. 29 in the following cities:

Cities Dates Venues/Times
Los Angeles Saturday, Oct. 29 Le Cordon Bleu 6370 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Boston Saturday, Nov. 5 TBA
Miami Saturday, Nov. 5 TBA
Atlanta Saturday, Nov. 12 TBA
Washington, D.C. Saturday, Nov. 12 TBA
Austin Saturday, Nov. 19 TBA
Savannah, GA Saturday, Nov. 19 TBA
Chicago Saturday, Dec. 3 TBA
Seattle Saturday, Dec. 3 TBA
New York Saturday, Dec. 10 TBA
San Francisco Saturday, Dec. 10 TBA

Additional venues will be announced soon.

Over the past two seasons, the $250,000 grand prize and title of “MasterChef” have gone to Jennifer Behm, a realtor from Wilmington, DE; and Whitney Miller, a student from Poplarville, MS. Since winning the show, Whitney Miller released her first cookbook, while Jennifer Behm is currently writing a cookbook and already has established a successful private catering company.

Additional casting information, including forms and eligibility requirements, are available online at www.masterchefcasting.com.

MASTERCHEF is produced by Reveille and One Potato Two Potato and is based on a format created by Franc Roddam and Shine. Shine International handles distribution for the MASTERCHEF format. Elisabeth Murdoch, Robin Ashbrook, Gordon Ramsay, Adeline Ramage Rooney, Pat Llewellyn and Ben Adler serve as executive producers. Become a fan of the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/masterchef and follow the series on Twitter @masterchefonfox.

What do you think? Do you like MasterChef? How does it compare to some of the other cooking competition series on TV?