MasterChef Season 9 arrives on Fox tonight — with the season premiere featuring an all-new group of contestants ready to show off their cooking skills.
Host and award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, acclaimed chef Aarón Sánchez, and renowned restaurateur Joe Bastianich serve as the three judges this season.
They are all set to provide summer viewers with a new twist that is sure to bring added excitement to the USA version of the show.
Each of the three judges has eight aprons to hand out as they construct a top 24. The home cooks will still compete for the title of MasterChef, but will also have an assigned mentor along the way. Which of the famous chefs will help mentor one of their choices all the way to the title this season?
A total of 43 contestants will prepare dishes on the MasterChef Season 9 premiere. It is from that group that the three judges will choose the 24 home cooks they want to mentor for the entire season. The slight change in format is reminiscent of the way that the judges on The Voice select their teams each year.
Fox is advertising that the initial group of home cooks for this season is a very eclectic mix of competitors. It includes a country singer named Jessica Meuse from Alabama, a pilot named Bowen Li from China, and a professional grocery shopper named Ashley Mincey from Florida. They even have a bus driver named Olusola Ogbomo from South Carolina and a drummer named Ryan Cortez from Texas.
The first two episodes of MasterChef Season 9 will each be two hours in length. Then, on June 13, MasterChef will begin serving as the lead-in to Gordon Ramsay’s new show. Called Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back, it covers the famous chef having just 24 hours to completely fix a struggling restaurant.
The series premiere for Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back is June 13 at 9/8c on Fox. It will follow the third episode of MasterChef this summer.
Who will join recently crowned Season 8 MasterChef Dino Angelo Luciano with all the fame and glory of winning this reality competition show?
With a cookbook deal and $250,000 up for grabs, the competition is going to be fierce!
MasterChef airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on Fox.