Celebrity chef and judge of MasterChef Junior US Graham Elliot had a gala time with creative kids. He shares funny moments from Season 2 where young cooks expressed weird wishes of having a floating kitchen and food being served with pneumatic tubes
What new and different can we expect from the forthcoming seasonIJ
I think that the cool thing is we start out strong because Alexander (winner of Season 1) comes back and gives each kid the lowdown of what to expect and sets the bar super high. The other fun element is that we have a challenge where the contestants have to do a pancake battle and the winner gets to save their judge who they pick to not get hit with a humongous 50 gallons of maple syrup. So, that’s always a good time if you get kids, judges and sticky stuff all together in the same room.
Tell us about one of your favourite moments from Season 2IJ
I think the biggest thing this season is how funny the contestants are without them even knowing it. When you ask them what kind of restaurant they would open, they give you an answer like and underwater restaurant where the kitchen is floating and the food gets to them by pneumatic tubes. That kind of stuff is always hilarious. Another girl said that with her $100,000 prize she would buy a pony. You can’t make that stuff up, it is all natural.
What was it like to have all that maple syrup poured on your headIJ
Someone had a chemical reaction to it, so it got messy for the rest of the day. We had to run and take showers and there are a few things in life that if doused over your head you can kind of wash it off, like we did with flour last year. But syrup is one of those things that I would not put on my biggest enemy.
How did you conceive and create the new challengesIJ
I think it is fun because when we judges sit down and talk to producers, it’s really what we would like to see and do as well, so there’s an equal amount of input. But with MasterChef Junior its what’s going to challenge them because everybody knows they were way more advance than any of us thought. We always thought ‘how do we make it harder, yet more funIJ’
Competition, its hard for anyone, but for these kids the pressure is probably beyond anything they’ve ever experienced. How heartbreaking does it getIJ
It’s always super sad, but I think Joe sums it up this season really well when he says, “Right now for the next hour you’re going to feel super sad, but then after that you’re going to realise that you had an awesome experience and you’re going to be friends for a long, long time.” And its what we always see. There can only be one winner. We wish we could give out blue ribbons to every single person, but that’s just how it goes.
Does it surprise you how different Joe (another judge) is from MasterChef adults to MasterChef JuniorIJ
Yes, its always funny to watch that because I think Gordon (judge) is super consistent. He has fun in the adult version; he has fun with the kids. I think in MasterChef, in general, he’s an awesome coach and gets the best out of people. But Joe seems to be totally different and is 100 per cent genuine with the kids. I don’t know why he gets so mean when the adults come in.
Can you describe the contestants of Season 2IJ
We have our youngest competitor ever, who is eight years old. She wants to open a restaurant where it’s a restaurant in the front and a veterinary clinic in the back because she loves animals.
(The show will be aired on Star World Premiere HD)