Masterchef New Zealand

After a seven-year hiatus, twenty-seven amateur cooks travel to Queenstown to impress the judges, Nadia Lim, Vaughan Mabee and Michael P. Dearth, with their signature dishes, and secure one of the sixteen aprons.

Auditions continue as the judges decide which of the remaining cooks receive the last 10 aprons, finalising the top 16.

The top 16 cooks arrive in the Masterchef kitchen, and compete in a mystery box challenge to impress the judges and avoid being in the first elimination.

The top 14 cooks compete in the first Team Challenge, where they cook outdoors using fire and ingredients endemic to New Zealand.

Award-winning chef Monique Fiso enters the MasterChef kitchen for the contestants' first pressure test.

The cooks tackle an invention test where chocolate must be the hero ingredient, and the winner will get a huge advantage in the next challenge.