There aren’t a lot of reality TV shows out there featuring kids that we’d actually watch, and Chopped Junior is definitely one worth watching. Not only is the show appropriate; it also shows friendly competition with real high stakes. The Chopped spinoff has been a success, currently with 8 seasons ongoing under its belt. Season 8 of the kids cooking show just premiered recently, and we’re immediately reminded how exciting it is to watch these kid chefs go head to head in the classic Chopped fashion. Chopped Junior first aired in 2015 and has had a steady production of 13 episodes each. The show took a break in 2017, but it’s now back in full action. Let’s take a look at how the show has evolved since season 1.
The premise of the kid show mirrors that of its adult predecessor. The show starts with four contestants. The only difference is that the contestants all have to be between 9 to 15 years old. If that isn’t impressive enough, majority of these kids that come onto the show have been cooking all their lives. For example, this one Chopped Junior champion has been playing in the kitchen since she was 4 years old, according to Foodnetwork.com. Cassidy Tryon won her episode back in 2016, and that was no feat. This article from Stargazette.com talks about how the young 12-year old (at the time of her competition) had to beat out 5,000 other young and hopeful young chefs just to get into the final four on the show. It’s surprising that so many kids want to get in on the challenge, but only a handful few really have the ‘chops’ to cook on reality TV.
Thinking about it more, however, it probably wasn’t a shock that so many kids want to give the show a go. The price money is the same as what you would get if you were to compete as an adult–$10,000. That might be a great deposit for most adults, but imagine what that number might mean for a teen or a preteen. You also get a real Chopped Junior chef’s coat if you win plus bragging rights, of course. That alone is more than enough motivation for these kids to try their best efforts. But the price money is the same amount in season 8, and money is definitely a big goal.
The stakes seem to have changed a bit. The challenges seem to be harder; the talent on the show seems to become more and more impressive every year. We can probably say that kids today are more exposed to the idea of being in the kitchen. With so many apps and videos on “fun” cooking and baking, kids are becoming more interested in the culinary field. It’s a great thing, and the enthusiasm of some of these kids on the show is infectious. We’re not afraid to admit that some of them might even cook better than we do. Every single contestant on Chopped Junior gets the same time allotment–30 minutes for appetizers, 30 minutes for entrees, and 30 minutes for dessert. By the time we get to the dessert portion, we’re usually completely blown away by the dishes we’ve seen.
Throughout the seasons, we’ve seen some familiar faces and some different ones. Ted Allen remains to be the host of the show, and he does a great job of keeping it competitive while still kid-friendly. In an interview with Themainedge.com, Allen talked about how amazing some of these kids truly are. These kids know what to do and how to cook even the most obscure ingredients, basically stuff that 9 year olds wouldn’t have known about even just a decade ago.
The combination of child-like creativity and boldness and a host of mystery boxes is why the show is exciting even after 8 seasons. Allen explained that some of the kids he encounters on the show are just open to doing anything with food. If they don’t know something, they are almost always willing to experiment no matter what the cost may be. It takes a lot of work on the part of the production crew to make the show work, but it’s even more work for the kids that get on the show. Most days on set are 12-hour days, but even with that knowledge nowadays, kids aren’t fazed.
Aside from having Ted Allen as host, we’re also going to see some more celebrity judges–some new, some we’ve seen before. The premiere featured Food Network judges Scott Conant and Amanda Freitag. Over the years, we’ve seen celebrity judges ranging from Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ayesha Curry, Martha Stewart, Danica Patrick, and even the Duchess of Sussex herself, Meghan Markle. We’ve also seen many of our favorite Food Network stars as judges on the show. Some of these chef judges include Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, Marc Murphy, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian, and more. For Chopped Junior season 8, we’ll be seeing What Not to Wear’s Clinton Kelly, actress and businesswoman Jessica Alba, wrestler Nikki Bella, actors Anthony Anderson, Bailee Madison, and more. Having these celebrity judges on the show just adds to the already wonderful dynamic of the adult judges and the kid chefs. The show has done a great job of bringing in fabulous names over the years, and this season is no different.
While nothing much has changed from the format of the show over the last few years, Chopped Junior has had a couple of spinoffs. We’ve seen some of the winners of the show come back for Chopped Junior Champions. We’ve also seen some of the kids behind the judges’ table in an interesting spinoff–Chopped Junior: Make Me a Judge. The future is certainly bright for all of the kids on this kitchen stage, and the future is looking just as good for the Food Network show as well.Meghan Markle
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