Primedia Studios, local media giant Primedia’s television content and distribution arm, has secured the rights to whip up a fresh season of MasterChef South Africa. In 2024, the local version of the world’s biggest television cooking game show, represented internationally by media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay, will be served on SABC‘s S3 channel for the enjoyment of all South Africans.
The acclaimed Cape Town-based production house Homebrew Films, which created the sizzling previous season of MasterChef South Africa for pay television, will hold the production reins again, while Pick n Pay returns as the show’s headline sponsor.
“It’s an honour to collaborate with these formidable television content creators to extend MasterChef South Africa’s reach by inviting more Mzansi foodies and families to join us in the hottest kitchen on TV,” says Primedia Studios’ President, Jan du Plessis. “MasterChef has been a winning television recipe across the globe and a local media sensation. The new South African season will have all the ingredients this blue-chip show has become famous for, but the menu will also be spiced up to cater for a broader audience alongside existing fans.”
MasterChef celebrates the passion and creativity of cooking by following a group of amateur chefs on their journey to become culinary champions. These home cooks are tested in various food-making techniques throughout the season – from creating signature dishes to mastering complex recipes. The judging panel – comprising the crème de la crème of the culinary industry – evaluates the dishes based on taste, presentation, and originality and then eliminates contestants along the way until the grand finale, where the winner scoops the title of “MasterChef” and the prize money that comes along with it.
South Africa’s new MasterChef will take home R 1 000 000,00.
MasterChef is the most successful cookery television format (Guinness World Records), and in 2023, the independent media intelligence organisation K7 crowned it the “Spin-Off Superstar”, with the eighth spin-off, MasterChef: Dessert Masters, launching in Australia last year. Commissioned across 70 markets, the life-changing show has broadcast more than 10,000 episodes to date and, in 2021, aired its milestone 500th season globally since its reboot in 2005. Created by Franc Roddam and first launched in 1990, the show is a super brand known and enjoyed around the world.
On behalf of SABC, Lala Tuku, Head of Local Content at the public broadcaster, said: “We’re thrilled to add MasterChef South Africa to S3’s 2024 schedule. “Deal or No Deal South Africa and The Masked Singer South Africa proved that SABC audiences have a huge appetite for high-quality, exhilarating local versions of top-notch international formats. Besides providing on-the-edge-of-your-seat entertainment, MasterChef South Africa will shine the spotlight on the country’s rich, diverse culture and cuisine whilst transforming the lives of contestants with culinary dreams.”
For headline sponsor Pick n Pay, MasterChef South Africa perfectly matches the mega-retailer’s everyday product ranges. Andrew Mills, Chief Marketing Officer at the Pick and Pay Group, expressed: “Knowing that South Africa is a food-loving nation, we want our customers to be able to recreate the tantalising dishes from the show – or create their own delicious recipes – by visiting their closest Pick n Pay or by placing an order through PnP asap! to have it delivered to their door within an hour. Consumers know our best ingredients can turn any home cook into a MasterChef!”
MasterChef South Africa Season 5 will be on the S3 schedule from June 2024. The judging panel will be announced in due course, while more details about how South African home cooks can enter to show off their skills in the MasterChef kitchen will be available at the end of January 2024.
