User reviews

I'm a fan of this along with the other Ramsay reality shows, LIke Kitchen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen, and Masterchef (aduts).

The kids are precocious, to be sure. And one wonders how they can cook so well. But wonders about that in reference to the adult "home cooks" in their version.

I recall reading about the adult version that there are many cooking lessons and coaching going on behind the scenes, so to speak. This might explain why so many contestants (kids and adults) say things like, "I've learned so much while being here," or "Mary/Joe is one of my friends." I wouldn't learn a think just cooking something and having it judged, but I would if, along the way, I were being tutored in some way. I wouldn't have a friend there if I only encountered them while on the set and in competition.

There is a lot going on we never see. Duh.,

Anyway, one does wonder how they all -- kids and adults -- know basically how to make all this stuff. Like a macaroon. They all basically know how to proceed while admitting, "I've never made a macaroon before!" Oh? Then how did you produce one (good or bad)? None seem to do what I'd do . . . stand there and have no idea what the mixtures should be. They did not arrive there knowing how to basically make all this stuff.

Today watching Season 5, I started wondering if there were recipes taped to the counter or something, you know, how much flour to mix with how much powdered sugar, or whatever. What a Gnocchi is/are and how to make one.

OK. So none of that detracts from the show or its appeal to me. It's a produced show, I know, edited (heavily if not nearly dishonestly) and all that. I believe it's reasonable to assume the kids have some skills and, with proper tutoring, "get better" along the way (as they claim) and rise or fall on what we see broadcast: the details of the execution. I think of it as rehearsal. What we see is based on on the cooking itself, not on the vast knowledge they've supposedly (but couldn't possibly have) brought to the event from home.

I don't know if they get acting lessons or not, but they do all seem to have camera appeal, don't look in the cameras (not in the shots we see), and probably go through "make up" or something before entering the set. None are simply mumbling or drooling, but again, all we see is what the Directors and Editors want us to see.

It's like this. When the kid present the dish to the judge, there is often a slow pan over the dish obviously not filmed in real time. And the things the judges say just before a commercial break are only part of what they've supposedly said after the break, or after the break they aren't saying everything they said before the break. Etc. Basic editing. Sometimes, it's so obviously edited, I get annoyed.

Before the Break: "Holly, did you know the lamb was raw? Why did you cook it like that?"

After the Break, recapping what had happened before the break: "Holly, why did you cook it that way?"

It's the kind of editing CNN does to slant the news!

So, I take it as a SHOW, a production, a "product." The kids are usually enchanting, funny, quirky, emotional, enthusiastic -- the kinds of personalities that sell. I find myself rooting for this and liking that kid. As I do watching a movie, as intended. I just give myself to it, pretend it's real, and have a good time.

BTW, same with Kitchen Nightmares or Hell's Kitchen. I have no idea what "really" happens. Most of it is implausible in "real time."

I don't confuse "reality show" with "unedited footage of what took place" just as I don't confuse CNN "news" with "unedited reporting of what took place."

It's all theater.

I watched a few episodes of Season 1, but didn't really get into MasterChef Junior until Season 2, starting from about the 3rd or 4th episode.

First off, I must say that all these children can definitely cook. It's inspirational and shocking to see them so talented at such a young age, and to even think about what they could become in the future is jaw-dropping. Throughout the entire series, you can see their imagination and creativity flourishing in the dishes they make, and even their accomplishments wow the judges to no end.

However, even though I do enjoy watching these kids cook, and the judges aren't as strict and mean as they are on the adult version of MasterChef, I am not enjoying the arrogance and personalities portrayed by some kids.

On national television, TV personalities and in this instance, these kids should be role models for the youngsters watching this show. Yes, they can cook, which is inspiring, but there are many phrases and comments they say that should not have been in the show at all. They should have been edited out. Like others have said, bullying was present along with these kids giving each other snide, hurtful remarks. These are not scenes that you want your children to look at and learn from - after all, it is a show tailored towards kids of all ages. From the show, some of the kids act like they are know-it-alls and better than the rest, and when the judges praise them for their performance...that indirectly states that they're okay with that behaviour.

In an already tough and stressful world, we don't need more generations learning from such behaviour on television, especially a reality one with kids as a main audience.

If they could tone down the arrogance and spiteful remarks that these kids have for each other, and just keep the fun, playful and competitive components, then this show could have a lot of potential. As of Season 2, the amount of arrogance and bullying seen in the episodes has turned me off of watching future seasons.

I can't believe how talented these kids are! They are wonderful to be able to cook at that kind of level! I give them so much credit!

Frankly from what i've seen so far i didn't see any bullying but then again, the other kids do shout at one another to support them and motivate them. Perhaps that can be concieved as bullying? That i'm not too sure about but the show is definitely amazing to watch especially when a 9 year old can cook like that. simply amazing.

In the day and age we're in, facing a huge problem with bullying, I think last nights show was terrible. Troy bullied that little girl almost the whole time they were in the kitchen and he gets kudos for it. I know no one patted him on the back for it but the underlying message is that it's OK to have bullying, even in a working situation and it's NOT. Parents have a hard enough time trying to teach their kids the right way to treat people and last nights episode fell right through the cracks. I've worked in kitchens and that is just not acceptable! Kids have a hard enough time growing up as it is now. They are forced to be small adults before they're even ready too. To be accepting of that kind of behavior is wrong. There's enough bullying in school, on the playgrounds, and sadly in jobs to be allowing it to happen on a kids based show. I do agree that kids should learn; age appropriately, that there will be winners and losers and at some point you will be on each end of it. I do not however believe we should be promoting a winner as someone who treats people like Troy did, I don't care how good the kid cooks - teach the lessons parents are stressing to teach their children!!

Great fun program but in season 1 one of the children made me feel a bit worried. Sarah a 9yo really needs some attitude check by her parents. I get it is a competition but that's when you can see what they are really like as people interacting with others. She seems to lack empathy for others, enjoying when they mess it up and thriving when they get eliminated whilst the other kids get emotional showing sympathy for the other kids. Her saying you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer sounds like something you would hear from a sociopath adult not a 9 year old girl. Parents need to pay attention to these nasty behaviours while they are young, they will not always be small and cute and growing up without good values will not only hurt them but others.

That said, season 8: a kid named A'dan is the biggest punk I've ever seen on the show. Clearly his parents didn't raise him right. Little snot who can't get along with anyone. Self centered, bossy, and thinks he knows it all. Even the judges had to get him in line. Something his parents clearly never did ...

I was OK with the seasons leading up to this. It's amazing to see what the kids can do. And it's fun to watch them make their dishes. And you kind of get to know the kids over the season. It does put a lot of pressure on the kids and sometimes I think the hosts are intentionally cruel. I've been watching this show with my grandchildren who are 11 and eight. They are often appalled at the treatment of the kids and the pressure and rudeness that they are subjected to.

The judges are always kind of mean about things, but they also have had constructive and nice things to say about the kids. Not in season 8. I wonder if that's why the other woman host is not on this season. Maybe she didn't want to have any part of the bullying and brow beating this season.

Season eight is ridiculous. They've been giving these kids the hardest stuff that they've had in the whole eight seasons. Taste this and then cook it for me? Crazy! Cook with things They (and I) have never eaten and maybe never even heard of. Giving these kids things like Monkfish, frog legs sweetbreads, octopus, don't be ridiculous! And the hosts this season are especially rude and cruel. Also, I don't really get a feel for who these kids are. Usually I have kids that I think "oh I hope they win." Not this season. The kids who won MasterChef juniors in the past seasons had much more reasonable challenges, I believe.

I don't know what they're doing this season but it just seems thrown together. The hosts are mean-spirited and way too critical. It's no longer fun. It's just nerve-racking, annoying and upsetting.

AndI'm never going to buy one of their master said Junior cooking sets that they started advertising on the show this year!

I may never watch the show again!

Waiting for the adult version and watched this it's genius. Absolutely better then adult version and some great dishes. I love it.to see children of such an age cooking with this skill is amazing and should always be supported. I was lucky to be in a school that let me cook with the girls and it was pivotal in my upgrowing. This is one of the few I won't check out who won I will be binge watching this. Any of theses kids could cook for me and I would be happy. I'm in uk and unfortunately the can mostly only cook nuggets and chips sorry fries good luck to the winner I can't wait to find out ...

A very enjoyable show, great seeing how skilled these kids are in the kitchen, the way that they are able to put together some very impressive dishes at such a young age and go through a variety of challenges to push towards that finish line every season.

Gordon Ramsay shows that he is great with kids, encouraging their talent but also giving that tough push when they're not living up to what he believes they're capable of. Sometimes it's tough to watch them get eliminated, but he does it in a way that they leave knowing that they had a good experience and a good run on the show.

Some of the best times are when he and the other judges set up contests for the kids to douse them in various messy ingredients, looks very enjoyable for the kids and helps push them a little bit more towards winning the test by giving them a little bonus for doing so.

All in all, great show, plenty of guests and helps young chefs learn a valuable skill while having fun, and providing great entertainment for us all, and some really good meal ideas from various states across the country to try.

I have seen most of the seasons of "MasterChef Junior" (I haven't seen the latest one) and there are two things about the show that really surprised me. First, while Gordon Ramsey has a reputation for being an angry guy who loves to scream at the chefs, here he is amazingly sweet with the kids...as are the rest of the cast. The only times I saw him really yelling involved kids about to serve way undercooked chicken...which could really hurt someone. In this case, his anger did seem appropriate. Second, the kids on the show are amazing....with unbelievable skills and great talent. Combining the two, you get a show which is wonderful to watch and quite clever.

This show is uninteresting.

There use to be a chef show with kids back in the day and it was done a lot better than this show.

Its just mindless drama and hand holding.

Not fun.

Verdict: how many shows does chef Ramsay have? wasn't one enough? All he does is judge people cooking in every show. Get off the TV!

SHow is 99% fake.... Many kids are actors, like Troy from last season was on Modern family and does those fake "Kids react" videos on youtube. The kids get acting lessons before the show. They have the recipes under their bench, they have been instructed how to make the dishes ahead of time. Real Chefs come in and help them cook and plate the dishes for the challenges! All the confessions and dialogue are scripted... fake fake fake fake

SHow is 99% fake.... Many kids are actors, like Troy from last season was on Modern family and does those fake "Kids react" videos on youtube. The kids get acting lessons before the show. They have the recipes under their bench, they have been instructed how to make the dishes ahead of time. Real Chefs come in and help them cook and plate the dishes for the challenges! All the confessions and dialogue are scripted... fake fake fake fake

Why do they always make kids' renditions if the popular TV programs? I honestly hate that. No show was ever good with kids in it. This one too. It's just phony and the kids are usually unlikable because everyone caters to them just because they're kids. Also, I do not appreciate making little adults from these kids, it annoys me to no end, so this one gets 2 stars from me as I found no enjoyment in watching it, it was plain boring.

I feel this trend needs to stop and I do realize this show is old, but please, let it die. I watched a few episodes and I can't see it becoming better, but I can clearly see it becoming much worse. Who'd wanna watch that?

Yawn.

I thought it was cute at first. But by season 2 I feel like the judges started to play favoritism. The show started to get predictable. They know who they want to win, and I feel as if they sent some kids home before their time. I really don't care for Chef Ramsey and watching this did not change my perspective of him. I watch quite a few cooking shows. I enjoy most of them. I will continue to avoid ones with him front and center. He's not the best role model in my opinion. But whatever to each its own. Moving on to the next cooking show. That's all I have to say!

Oh and I had his Beef Wellington at one of his restaurants in Vegas. Sadly it was soggy.

Max min character requirement?🙃

I used to watch the original MasterChef, with the adult contestants, when it first came on. Despite not being a fan of Chef Ramsay (I was addicted to Kitchen Nightmares, but don't approve of how he screams and curses at people on HK. I've wondered if he has psychological issues, or if he just changed personas according to what show he was doing. He has the ability to control his emotions depending on the type of environment he's in, so he does have some sense), I loved it - if I remember correctly, I'd watch every week - but over time, I got turned off by all of the nasty attitudes. Reality shows always bring out the worst in people. Fast forward several years later, and they change it to having kids as the contestants. While it is a nice idea, and the kids are cute, I honestly can't watch it. Don't get me wrong, kudos to them for having such fantastic cooking skills. I'm 31 and I can't stand to cook. I can do scrambled eggs and pancakes (it's a miracle if I'm able to flip them without screwing up). The only other thing I know how to make that's not breakfast food is stovetop macaroni and cheese. The problem I have with this show, is I don't like to watch kids use knives. I'm sure medical personnel are on hand to render first aid if they cut themselves. That doesn't make me feel any better though. I don't have kids, but I still care about their safety. I think 8-, 9-, and 10-years-old is way too young to be cooking without direct supervision by an adult - and direct means standing next to them, not watching off in the distance. Also, maybe they shouldn't have eliminations. This one little girl cried when she was told she would be getting sent home. Yes, I know the world is cruel and mean, and if you're a parent, you can't shield your kids from disappointment forever, but why can't this show just be pure fun?? Besides them handling sharp kitchen objects, the eliminations are a major reason I can't bring myself to watch this. I guess you can't have a competition if you're not going to send anyone home. So in that case, they might as well have not made this show into a kid's version.

And my goodness, can you say nepotism??? The episode I watched on Monday night: Chef Ramsay's daughter, Dr. Oz's daughter... I got sick of seeing her. Once The Chew ended, and I had stopped watching shows that she frequently made appearances on (The Rachael Ray Show) because I started working in the morning, she never even crossed my mind, so when I saw her a few days ago I was like oh yeah, I forgot she existed. I also don't understand why Chef Ramsay's daughter is there. It's not like either of them have done anything to warrant being famous. The judges try to be playful with the kids, but it just doesn't come off as genuine. It looks staged. I hope this show ends. Can't believe it's been on for 11 years now. Of course I wish the kids all the best in their future culinary careers (or, if they ultimately decide they don't want to become a chef, whatever career path they choose), but this show is a waste of air space.

What a great program but I am giving 4 stars only becaue it cannot get more off putting than seeing a preview on the begging of every episode what is gonna happen. It is a total spoiler and it should be taken off. I gave up on the second season because it got on my nerves. Fix it plz masterchef!

I am far to be fan of this kind of competitions. First, because I believe than each of us is unique. Second, because the kids are not adults and the childhood must not be a battle field too early.

But I saw this contest for simple truth than the imagination and ingenuity of children is ust important as examples for adults.

Some of that exists.

Unfortunatelly, not very much.

But enough for a nice program . And for few revelations, joy and way to see the young people .

So, not a bad experience. Only not the most seductive.