Viaplay serves up `Celebrity MasterChef’ as next Dutch local production

• Celebrity MasterChef’ features 10 Dutch celebrities and an all-star jury
• Reality format joins `Dragons’ Den’ on Viaplay’s Dutch slate
• Viaplay launched in the Netherlands on 1 March

Viaplay will bring the world-famous reality format `Celebrity MasterChef’ to the Netherlands for the first time starting this autumn. The 12-episode first season, produced by SimpelZodiak, a Banijay Benelux company, sees 10 Dutch personalities taking on a series of culinary challenges in front of an all-star jury and competing to become the next `Celebrity MasterChef’. Viaplay launched in the Netherlands with a unique combination of original productions, international films and series, kids content and premium live sports.

The `Celebrity MasterChef’ jury consists of Soenil `The Spicy Chef’ Bahadoer, founder of the renowned De Lindehof restaurant, which received its second Michelin star in 2014; Angélique Schmeinck, one of only two female Dutch Mastercooks (the country’s most prestigious culinary title) and head chef for 12 years at the Michelin-starred De Kromme Dissel; and Joël Broekaert, a well-known food critic, columnist and TV host.

The show’s 10 celebrity contestants will be announced shortly.

Filippa Wallestam, NENT Group Chief Content Officer: “High-quality local productions are a key focus for Viaplay in all our markets. Viewers everywhere have been enjoying the famous `MasterChef’ format and its spin-offs for over 30 years, and `Celebrity MasterChef’ will be an ideal addition to Viaplay’s fantastic menu in the Netherlands.”

`Celebrity MasterChef’ is produced by SimpelZodiak (`Expeditie Robinson’; `Hunted’; `Ik Vertrek’) and by Martijn de Bruin for Viaplay.

Created by Franc Roddam, `MasterChef’ has been named `Most Successful Cookery Television Format’ by Guinness World Records and the most successful format ever by The WIT. First aired in the UK in 1990, 49 series were produced in 33 territories in 2021. The `MasterChef’ format and finished programmes are represented internationally by Banijay. Viaplay has produced `MasterChef’ in Denmark since 2011.

In January, Viaplay announced `Dragons’ Den’, the globally successful show that gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, as its first local production in the Netherlands.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Nordic Entertainment Group AB (publ) (NENT Group)’s Viaplay streaming service is available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the US and the Netherlands. Viaplay will launch in the UK in 2022, followed by Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland by the end of 2023. We operate streaming services, TV channels, radio stations and production companies, and our purpose is to tell stories, touch lives and expand worlds. Headquartered in Stockholm with a global perspective, NENT Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (`NENT B’).

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• News release as PDF
• Celebrity MasterChef NL Photo Ivo Geskus SpecialPixels Michael Floor Martijn de Vré
• Filippa Wallestam NENT Group Photo Peter Knutson