MasterChef Greece is a Greek competitive reality television cooking show based on the original British MasterChef. The show began airing on 3 October 2010 on Mega Channel and aired two seasons until 2013. From 2017, the show is airing on Star Channel. Until now eight seasons have aired on Star Channel.
The first and second season of the show aired on Mega Channel from 2010 to 2013, with Eugenia Manolidou and Mary Synatsaki as presenters, respectively.
In March 2017, Star Channel acquired the rights to the show, thus reviving MasterChef after four years and this time was not a presenter like the previous seasons.
Format[]
MasterChef Greece airs five nights a week from Monday to Friday. Each night features a different episode format and depending on the season, some episodes modify the format slightly. The typical episode formats are as follows:
- Monday is the Challenge night. It can range from a variety of challenges, including a Mystery Box Challenge, where each contestant is given the same box of ingredients and are to create a dish using only those ingredients. The Judges then pick the best dishes based on technique and visual appearance and a winner will be chosen. There can also be an Invention Test, where contestants have to invent a dish relevant to a theme using a core ingredient. The top contestants who made the best dishes are selected by the judges and a winner will be chosen. After this, the bottom contestants are revealed and will face off in the Pressure Test on Tuesday.
- Tuesday features the Pressure Test. The bottom contestants from the previous night's challenge are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted, before all contestants are seated in front of the judges for critiquing. The judges then eliminate the contestant out of the bottoms that performed least adequately in the test.
- Wednesday features a Team Challenge. The contestants are split into teams, and are given a task, and a set amount of time to complete the challenge. Tasks have included presenting a three course meal to a celebrity guest, running a restaurant for an evening or catering an event such as a birthday party or wedding. Once completed and judged the teams are given the results, which can be determined by which team the judges think did the best or receiving the most votes or making the most money by the people the teams had to cook for, with members of the losing team facing an elimination the next night.
- Thursday features the Team Challenge Results & the Immunity Challenge, The teams from Wednesday sit down with the judges discussing about the challenge and how they performed. The judges will then announce the winning team and they will not only be safe from elimination, they would also receives a reward in the form of lunch at a top restaurant. The losing team will then compete in the Immunity Challenge where they are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted and winners will be chosen.
- Friday features the Nomination Ceremony & the Pressure Test. After Thursday's Immunity Challenge, the remaining losing team will vote to nominate 2 or 3 contestants. They cannot vote for the winners of the Immunity Challenge as they are safe. The bottom contestants with the most votes will compete in the Pressure Test. They are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted, before all contestants are seated in front of the judges for critiquing. The judges then eliminate the contestant out of the bottoms that performed least adequately in the test.
Host & judges[]
| Seasons | Host | Judges | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eugenia Manolidou | Dimitris Skarmoutsos | Lefteris Lazarou | Yiannis Loukakos |
| 2 | Maria Synatsaki | |||
| 3 | N/A | Panos Ioannidis | Sotiris Kontizas | |
| 4 | Sotiris Kontizas | Leonidas Koutsopoulos | ||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
Series sypnosis[]
Season 1 (2010)[]
The first season of MasterChef premiered on 3 October 2010 and ended on 28 December 2010 and was hosted by musician and television presenter Eugenia Manolidou. The judges of the Greek show were Yiannis Loukakos, Lefteris Lazarou, and Dimitris Skarmoutsos. The winner was Ákis Petretzikis.
Season 2 (2012–2013)[]
The second season premiered on 24 December 2012. This season was hosted by Maria Synatsaki and all three chefs remain as judges. The show was put on hiatus after the penultimate episode due to financial difficulties of both the production company, Studio ATA, and Mega Channel itself, resulting in both finalists being declared winners. The two winners are Kostis Kampas and Babis Koudouris.
Season 3 (2017)[]
The third season premiered on 4 May 2017. The judges of the third season were Dimitris Skarmoutsos, Panos Ioannidis and Sotiris Kontizas. The winner of season 3 was Lambros Vakiaros.
Season 4 (2018)[]
The fourth season premiered on 10 January 2018. Ioannidis and Kontizas returned for their second series while Leonidas Koutsopoulos was the new judge of the series. The winner of season 4 was Timoleon Diamantis.
Season 5 (2019)[]
The fifth season premiered on 21 January 2019. All three chefs from the previous season returned as judges. The winner of season 5 was Manolis Sarris.
Season 6 (2020)[]
The sixth season premiered on 27 January 2020. All three chefs from the previous season returned as judges. The winner of season 6 was Stavros Varthalithis.
Season 7 (2021)[]
The seventh premiered on 23 January 2021. All three chefs from the previous season returned as judges. The winner of season 7 was Margarita Nikolaidi who became the first female MasterChef Greece winner.
Season 8 (2022)[]
The eighth season premiered on 10 January 2022. All three chefs from the previous season returned as judges. The winner of season 8 was Panagiotis Koumoundouros.
Season 9 (2023)[]
The ninth season premiered on 16 January 2023. All three judges returned. This season also include previous contestants from Season 3 to 8. The winner of season 9 was Season 6 Semi-Finalist, Maria Bey.
Season 10 (2024)[]
The tenth season premiered on 15 January 2024. All three judges returned. This season's Top 24 will be divided into 2 teams throughout the entire season. The winner of season 10 was Lefteris Zafeiropoulos.
Season 11 (2025)[]
Series Overview[]
| Season | Premiered | Ended | Contestants | Episodes | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 October 2010 | 28 December 2010 | 20 | 72 | Ákis Petretzikis | Michalis Kalavrinos |
| 2 | 24 December 2012 | 14 March 2013 | 25 | 83 | Babis Koudouris & Kostis Kampas | |
| 3 | 4 May 2017 | 30 July 2017 | 20 | 72 | Lambros Vakiaros | Konstantinos Tsiatsios |
| 4 | 10 January 2018 | 8 May 2018 | 22 | 84 | Timoleon Diamantis | Xristos Glossidis |
| 5 | 21 January 2019 | 22 May 2019 | 21 | Manolis Sarris | Spyridoula Karaboutaki | |
| 6 | 27 January 2020 | 17 June 2020 | 24 | 77 | Stavros Varthalitis | Stavros Georgiou |
| 7 | 23 January 2021 | 9 June 2021 | 92 | Margarita Nikolaidi | Dionysios Sarakinis | |
| 8 | 10 January 2022 | 15 June 2022 | 96 | Panagiotis Koumoundouros | Kalliopi Bezante | |
| 9 | 16 January 2023 | 14 June 2023 | 34 | 86 | Maria Bey | Nikos Trakas |
| 10 | 15 January 2024 | 13 June 2024 | 24 | 90 | Lefteris Zafeiropoulos | Xristina Xristofi |
| 11 | January 2025 | June 2025 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
See also[]
- Junior MasterChef Greece