Season 1
Celebrity MasterChef South Africa is a South African competitive cooking reality show co-produced by Quizzical Pictures and Lucky Bean Media as an M-Net Original Production and a spin-off from MasterChef South Africa, in which celebrities who have no experience in the food industry attempt to turn into a MasterChef and win money for their charity.
The contestants are the ones feeling the pressure and breaking a sweat, and this time round the names and faces that greet us are more than a little familiar.
Celebrity MasterChef South Africa brings with it some big names from the entertainment industry. The diverse kitchen crew are radio presenter Alex Jay; model Lerato Moloi; photographer Merwelene van der Merwe; TV presenters Lunga Shabalala, Sade Giliberti and Lorna Maseko; comedians Chris Forrest and Tol A$$ Mo; pop star Patricia Lewis and actor Terence Bridgett.
As glamorous and exciting as the culinary world may appear, it is exemplified by gritty demands and high-pressure challenges. The reason people pursue this obstacle-strewn path is their passion for food and creativity, and without it you will not survive.
The contestants have thus always been people who are driven and committed to making their dream work, but because the celebrity season comes with a batch of contestants who are pursuing dreams of other sorts, their mission it to make the lives of others a little brighter.
Instead of playing for themselves, each celebrity has picked a charity to represent and winning challenges consists of collecting cash prizes for their respective organisations, raising funds and awareness for a variety of noble causes.
The judges – a grand trio of South Africa's finest chefs, and celebrities in their own right – are back. Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng and Reuben Riffel will be on hand to dish out the various challenges, while commenting, criticising and complimenting the contestants along the way.
We can also look forward to special guests from South Africa and abroad, bringing flavour and fun to the mixing pot of foodie entertainment that is MasterChef South Africa.
The series is executive produced by Harriet Gavshon and Donald Clarke for Quizzical Pictures.
Winners
Season 1: Chris Forrest (comedian)