SINGAPORE – Three judges are set to sizzle up the screen for MasterChef Singapore series to hunt for an amateur chef to take on the coveted cookery title in the Singapore culinary world. They are chefs Bjorn Shen, Damian D’Silva and Audra Morrice.
Chef Bjorn Shen
Judge Bjorn Shen, is the chef and owner of Artichoke, Singapore’s first Modern Middle Eastern restaurant, established in 2010. On screen, he holds leading roles on television shows such as Eat List Star (Mediacorp Channel 5), Savouring the Future (Channel NewsAsia) to guest roles on shows such as MasterChef Asia (Lifetime Asia). Known for his rebellious personality and renegade spirit, Chef Shen celebrates outrageous creations and elevates ‘ordinary’ food into the extraordinary.
“It’s about time MasterChef came to Singapore. We are a nation of very proud home cooks, and I’m sure many of my fellow Singaporeans have been waiting a long time to show off their chops on a TV show of this level. As one of the judges, I’m feeling particularly excited to taste what these guys have got up their sleeves, not literally of course,” said Chef Shen.
Chef Damian D’Silva
Cooking runs in the family for Chef Damian D’Silva. A champion of Singapore heritage food that evokes old Singapore, he started cooking at an early age in both his grandfather and grandmother’s kitchens. Currently, he is the executive chef of Folklore restaurant, with a menu that constitutes a nostalgic homage to the food he grew up with as a child of Eurasian-Peranakan heritage.
“Very honoured to be chosen as one of the judges for MasterChef Singapore. Will do my utmost to invoke the cooking spirit from every contestant, so that they can find their true self.”
Chef Audra Morrice
A cook, an author, a producer of her range of all natural gluten free products and a television host. Audra’s career in the culinary world took off after her stint as a finalist in MasterChef Australia in 2012 and she now runs a catering business in Sydney for both private and corporate events and also hands on cooking classes in Sydney and Singapore.
“I am incredibly excited about the new MasterChef Singapore series. This will be a great opportunity to showcase and harness not just the wonderful multicultural cuisine and people of this beautiful country but hopefully inspire and encourage more people to get back into the kitchen and discover their hidden “MasterChef” talents! Along with my fellow judges, we will bring lots of great cooking, great stories and great experiences to everyone out there!”
MasterChef Singapore will air on Mediacorp’s Channel 5 from 2 September at 9.30pm and will be made available on Toggle’s Video on demand. The nationwide casting call for contestants which has closed, saw an overwhelming response from people representing different races and from all walks of life to participate.
Originally created by Franc Roddam, the format was revived as MasterChef Goes Large in 2005 by Shine TV in the UK. MasterChef is the most successful cookery television format in the world having been adapted locally in 54 countries, it is seen in over 200 countries and watched globally by over 250 million viewers. The MasterChef brand extends into a huge range of successful commercial activities across multiple platforms including extensive publishing, consumer products, live events, travel, digital and B2B activities.
Global content investment and rights management company, Motion Content Group, had acquired the rights to produce and broadcast MasterChef Singapore from Endemol Shine Group.
