MasterChef Italia

MasterChef Italia is the Italian version of culinary talent show "MasterChef". The first edition was aired from 21 September to 7 December 2011 on Sky Uno.
The judges are chefs Bruno Barbieri, Carlo Cracco, Antonino Cannavacciuolo by the fifth edition and restaurateur Joe Bastianich (judge of MasterChef U.S.). Voiceovers are made by Simone D'Andrea and Luisa Ziliotto. Carlo Cracco quit the program after the end of 6th season and was replaced by Antonia Klugmann in the 7th. Antonia Klugmann was in turn replaced by Giorgio Locatelli for Season 8.
MasterChef Italia winners earn €100,000 in gold coins and gets to publish a recipe book (published by RCS Rizzoli).
The success of the first edition included parodies of the program, including "The Scoured", "Crozza in Wonderland" and "Made in Sud" with the parody "Mastrochef"
Season One.
The first season of MasterChef Italy aired from 21 September to 7 December in 2011 on Sky and saw Spyros Theodoridis come out the winner. In addition, on 21 and 28 December, two special episodes were aired dedicated to the background and to the comments of the protagonists.
Season Two.
In February 2012 Sky Italy opened up the casting for the second edition.
The winner of the second edition was attorney Tiziana Stefanelli. Unlike the previous edition, the first MasterChef aired on Sky One from 13 December 2012 to 21 February 2013. On days 19, 20 and 21 November 2012, three special introductory episodes had aired: "Joe Bastianich: Family Affairs", "Carlo Cracco:The Squaring Of The Egg" and "Bruno Barbieri: Chef 7-Star". In addition, the three judges were guests in an episode of "X Factor Italy", of "That Heavenly Goal!" and "The Barbarian Invasions".
Season Three.
In February 2013 casting opened for the third edition. The race started 19 December 2013 and ended on 6 March 2014. The winner of the third edition was Francesco Federico Ferrero, a medical intern. Unlike the other two editions, the winner was announced live at the General Stores in Milan. The season will be broadcast again on Cielo, a DTV channel, in September 2014.
Season Four.
In February 2014 casting opened for the fourth season scheduled for the second half of 2014 again on Sky Uno. Filming of these episodes will begin in June. Masterchef Italy started on 18 December 2014 and the winner was Stefano Callegaro. The winner's name was leaked by the media and published before the final episode of the season.
Season Five.
In February 2015 casting opened for the fifth season started on December 18, 2015 on Sky Uno. By this season there was a new entry, Antonino Cannavacciuolo as a new judge. The Season Finale aired on March 3, 2016 and the winner was Erica Liverani.
Season Six.
In February 2016 casting opened for the sixth season scheduled for the second half of 2016 on Sky Uno. The winner of this season was the youngest winner in MasterChef History, Valerio Braschi (18 years old).
Season Seven.
In February 2017 casting opened for the seventh season scheduled for the end of the year. The 7th season started airing in December 2017 until April 2018. Carlo Cracco was replaced by the first woman judge, Antonia Klugmann. This edition was won by Simone Scipioni.
Season Eight.
The 8th season of Masterchef started airing in December 2018 until April 2019. Antonia Klugmann left Masterchef after only one season, being replaced by chef Giorgio Locatelli. The winner was Valeria Raciti from Sicily. She then published the book "Amore curiosità istinto. La mia cucina felice".
Season Nine.
The 9th season of Masterchef started airing in December 2019. Joe Bastianich left Masterchef after eight seasons, Bruno Barbieri is now the only judge left from the original cast. Antonio Lorenzon is the winner of this season.
Season Ten.
The 10th season of MasterChef started airing in December 17, 2020. The contestants include American journalist, Maxwell Alexander. The winner is Francesco Aquila
Spin-Off Celebrity Masterchef Italia.
In 2017 the first season of Celebrity Masterchef Italia ended with the victory of Roberta Capua, an Italian actress.
Spin-Off Junior Masterchef Italia.
On 16 April 2013 it was announced the MasterChef inspired spin-off, MasterChef Italy Junior, would involve children between 8 and 13 years of age. The casting began on 17 April 2013. The judges are Bruno Barbieri, Lidia Bastianich and Alessandro Borghese. The first season aired from 13 March to 10 April 2014. After three seasons, the spin-off was put on hiatus.