Overview:

MasterChef New Zealand is a New Zealand competitive reality television cooking show based on the original British version of Masterchef. The first episode aired on 3 February 2010 at 7:30pm on TV ONE. The show currently features judges Ray McVinnie, Josh Emett and Simon Gault. The series is similar to the format of MasterChef Australia whereby contestants compete in weekly elimination challenges, including team challenges. The major difference is the New Zealand series only has one episode per week compared to Australia's five per week. The first series was won by Brett McGregor, over runner-up Kelly Young, in the grand finale which was screened on 28 April 2010. Nadia Lim won the second series, beating runner-up Jax Hamilton in the finale. The third series was won by Chelsea Winter, who beat runner-up Ana Schwarz in the finale.