Junior Chef Showdown Explained

Junior Chef Showdown is a Canadian reality cooking competition television series, which premiered in 2020 on Food Network Canada. The series is a competition for emerging chefs between the ages of 9 and 13, judged by Jordan Andino, Anna Olson and Lynn Crawford.^[1]

The first season aired in 2020 and was won by Audrey MacKinnon of Brantford, Ontario,^[2] and the second season aired in 2021 and was won by Nazaree Arandjelovic of Toronto.^[3]

The series received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, for Best Casting in a Non-Fiction Series (Meredith Veats) and Best Writing in a Lifestyle or Reality/Competition Program or Series (Elvira Kurt).^[4]

Season 1

Contestants

• Audrey
• César
• Cristian
• Élie
• Katie
• Katlin
• Kinza
• Imal
• Matthew
• Mia-Rose
• Noah
• Nyasia
• Patrick
• Sophia

Notes and References

1. Greg David, "Young chefs showcase their culinary skills in Food Network Canada’s Junior Chef Showdown". TV, eh?, March 13, 2020.
2. Kate McCullough, "The first-ever winner of Junior Chef Showdown is a 12-year-old Brantford girl. Here’s how she’s been spending quarantine". Hamilton Spectator, July 20, 2020.
3. Tracey Tong, "Meet the new ‘Junior Chef Showdown’ champion". Toronto Star, July 25, 2021.
4. Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, 'Sort Of' & 'Scarborough' Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.