Shubhabrata Dutta
The fifteenth season of the beloved reality cooking competition show ‘MasterChef,’ subtitled ‘Dynamic Duos,’ brings an interesting change in the theme and judges’ setup. While Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich return as hosts, James Beard Award-nominee Tiffany Derry replaces Aarón Sánchez as the third judge. As for the format, the season features home cooks who participate in pairs and strive to become America’s new MasterChefs. This certainly ups the ante of the Fox show as each team brainstorms new recipes by incorporating the ideas of both participants, which can be a tough mix. As is tradition, ‘MasterChef’ continues its objective to find the best raw talent in cooking and let them showcase their skills in the greatest cooking show on the planet.
MasterChef Dynamic Duos Filming Locations
The ‘MasterChef’ team searched for culinary couples, partners, siblings, or friends, among whom the ones selected auditioned between mid-October 2024 and mid-December 2024. Filming of season 15 reportedly also took place towards the end of 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. This is a shift from the previous seasons, all of which were filmed in a studio facility in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.
Melbourne, Australia
‘MasterChef Dynamic Duos’ is seemingly filmed in the MasterChef Kitchen at the Centenary Hall at 7 Leonard Cres in Ascot Vale’s Melbourne Showgrounds. Ascot Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria. The Centenary Hall is the same place where MasterChef Australia has been shot since season 5, which premiered in 2013. The decision to shift to Australia may have been due to cost efficiencies, although there has been no decline in quality whatsoever.
While speaking to Eater Dallas about how she was chosen as the new co-host of MasterChef, Derry said, “I didn’t hear anything else for weeks. We had similar conversations about five years ago that went nowhere, so I decided not to get excited. Then, all of a sudden, I got a call and they were like, ‘Congratulations!’ and they told me they’d like me to be the new judge.” “There is so much conversation about every aspect of where you’re going to be, where the contestants will be, how everyone will maneuver, how the cameras will move, the challenge times — it’s a lot of information, and I love it. I’ve never been part of a production where I’m helping to not just call shots but help make it better,” she stated when asked about filming as a judge for the first time.
Food and drink are integral parts of Melbourne’s popularity, and the city is home to many food festivals, including the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Considered one of the world’s best cities for eating and drinking, Melbourne is a melting pot of cultures, which has resulted in a wide range of bistros, bars, cafes, and restaurants. Among the most well-known food districts in the city are Smith Street between Fitzroy and Collingwood, Chinatown on Bourke Street, Sydney Road in Brunswick, Richmond and Victoria Street in Abbotsford, and Carlton’s Lygon Street. Famed MasterChef Australia contestant Reynold Poernomo also has his dessert bar, the KOI Dessert Bar, at 100 Queen Street. Melbourne has hosted many other popular reality shows, like ‘The Real Housewives of Melbourne,’ ‘All Star Family Feud,’ and ‘My Kitchen Rules.’
Read More: Where is American Idol Season 23 Filmed?
