YESSSS: Why Christina Tosi Is the Perfect Judge For MasterChef (Sorry, Joe Bastianich)

 

We were all too shocked when Joe Bastianich, Italian chef and TV personality extraordinaire, announced that he’d be departing the MasterChef franchise after the just-premiered third season of MasterChef Junior. Our calls, prayers, and pleas for a good judge have been answered: it’s Christina Tosi!

Baker and lady chef extraordinaire will be joining Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot for both MasterChef and MasterChef Junior, reports The Hollywood Reporter, making all baking challenges into sweat-inducing nightmares. From THR:

“MasterChef has been one of my favorite shows since it began, and like so many others, I fell in love with MasterChef Junior,” said Tosi. “I’m incredibly humbled by the opportunity and excited to pay forward all that I owe to learning what you’re made of in the home kitchen, and putting your neck on the line to show what you’ve got to the rest of the world.” …

“Christina is one of the most exciting, dynamic and inspirational people in food today, whose brilliant ideas and incredible work ethic have resulted in a meteoric rise in the culinary world,” added MasterChef judge and executive producer Gordon Ramsay. “I have tremendous respect for her opinions, and she’ll be an incredible judge and phenomenal mentor to the best home cooks in America.”

It’s sort of a genius move for MasterChef and FOX: not only is MasterChef and MasterChef Junior killing it in the 18-49 demographic, they now have a young, hip, compost cookie-makin’ chef to add on for the kidz. Now, what will this actually look like for the MasterChef panel of judges? We had gotten so used to Elliot playing nice guy among Bastianich’s death stares and Ramsay’s prowess. While we think Tosi will bring the sweet charm to the MasterChef Junior pastry-chefs-in-making, you can bet your a** that she’ll make any competitor on the grownup-version cry tears of syrup when they have to bake a pie for her. Baking competitions (ahem, Kids Baking Championship) will now have some serious credibility to live up to the good Tosi name. This. Will. Be. Good.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

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