CTV Celebrates the Season with MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL, December 15

– In a first for the format internationally, MASTERCHEF home cooks are joined by their families –
– Standalone two-hour special features returning MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1 home cooks as they participate in seasonal culinary challenges to win $10,000 for the charity of their choice –
– Kraft Canada and Ontario, Yours to Discover announced as partners –

To tweet this release: http://bmpr.ca/1xZ3OD2

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2014 /CNW/ - The holidays are set to take over the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen in MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL (@MasterChefCDA), premiering Monday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, and also available live and on demand on CTV.ca and CTV GO. Debuting as part of CTV's holiday lineup, the two-hour special welcomes four Season 1 home cooks back to the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen where they cook up a series of festive dishes with their families – serving up holiday favourites inspired by their diverse traditions and cultures. Featuring acclaimed judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile, the special is a first for the format internationally and was created in collaboration with Proper Television and Shine International. MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL is a complementary spinoff of MASTERCHEF CANADA, which returns to CTV with its highly-anticipated second season in Winter 2015.

Averaging 1.8 million viewers in its inaugural season, MASTERCHEF CANADA became the most-watched Canadian series in the country for the 2013/14 broadcast season, and is the first and only homegrown series in more than a decade to land in the Top 10 list for A25-54 and A18-49.

MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL features four Season 1 home cooks: fun-loving Albertan Dora Cote; spicy Trinidadian twin and runner-up Marida Mohammed; loveable Italian dad Pino DiCerbo; and larger-than-life flavour queen Tammara Behl – who are all joined by their families for the chance to win $10,000 for the charity of their choice. MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL will also air on Thursday, Dec. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on M3, as part of a monster three-day MASTERCHEF marathon beginning Wednesday, Dec. 24 that will include complete airings of the most recent seasons of MASTERCHEF and MASTERCHEF JUNIOR.

**Media Note** – Download photography for MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL at BellMediaPR.ca

"Canadians truly embraced the first season of MASTERCHEF CANADA, and we've responded with this festive take on the MASTERCHEF franchise," said Phil King, President - CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming. "Joining CTV's popular holiday lineup, and promising to satiate fans in advance of the MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 2 premiere early next year, MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL is sure to be enjoyed by the entire family."

CTV also announced today that Kraft Canada and Ontario, Yours To Discover have signed on as partners  of the first-ever MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL. As part of the partnership, Kraft Peanut Butter is integrated into a holiday baking challenge tackled by the home cooks, and Ontario, Yours To Discover is airing custom creative during commercial breaks in the broadcast on CTV.

MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL features the returning home cooks and their families as they participate in a Mystery Box Potluck Challenge, a Seasonal Skills Race, a Tag-Team Bake-Off, and a final Festive Feast, where the final two families go head-to-head with an elevated version of their favourite holiday meal.

Meet the MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL families:

Team Dora (Blue Apron) – @dorathedistroya 
Who: Dora Cote, MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1, Top 11
Currently resides: Rocky Mountain House, Alta. 
Family members (L to R): Dora's son Devyn, her cousins Lisa and Jeff, and her mom Deb
Charity of choice: Canadian Diabetes Association

Team Marida (Red Apron) – @MaridaMo
Who: Marida Mohammed, MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1, Top 2
Currently resides: Toronto
Family members: Marida's daughter Myla, her twin sister Narida, her nephew Jonny, her brother Fareed, and her aunt Joyce  
Charity of choice: Daily Bread Food Bank

Team Pino (Green Apron) – @dicerbop
Who: Pino DiCerbo, MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1, Top 6
Currently resides: Mississauga
Family members: Pino's wife Anna, his sons Adam and David, his sister Ange, his niece Samantha, and his mother Filomena
Charity of choice: Brandan's Eye Research Foundation

Team Tammara (Yellow Apron) – @ChefTammara
Who: Tammara Behl, MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1, Top 4
Currently resides: Calgary
Family members: Tammara's husband Rick, her daughters Breannah and Abby, her brother Dave, her godson Ee-han, and her aunt Tippy
Charity of choice: Canadian Mental Health Association

Viewers can also visit CTV.ca in the coming weeks for seasonal recipes from the judges, as well as videos of the judges recounting their holiday memories. In addition, CTV.ca will feature in-depth interviews with each of the home cooks, plus photos and exclusive interviews with the winning family.

MASTERCHEF is represented internationally by Shine International, the sales and distribution arm of the Shine Group. The show was originally revived as MASTERCHEF GOES LARGE in 2005 by Shine TV in the UK and is based on a format originally created by Franc Roddam.

MASTERCHEF CANADA: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL is produced by Proper Television in association with CTV. President of Proper Television, Guy O'Sullivan is executive producer, along with Proper's Vice-President and Creative Director, Cathie James. Shine America's Paul Franklin is Creative Consultant. For Bell Media, Tina Apostolopoulos is Production Executive, Factual and Reality, Independent Production. Robin Johnston is Director, Factual and Reality, Independent Production. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks. Phil King is President - CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter:
#MCC
@CTV_PR
@CTV_Television
@MasterChefCDA 
Michael Bonacini – @MichaelBonacini 
Alvin Leung – @TheDemonChef 
Claudio Aprile – @ClaudioAprile 
Dora Cote – @dorathedistroya / #TeamDora
Marida Mohammed – @MaridaMo / #TeamMarida
Pino DiCerbo – @dicerbop / #TeamPino
Tammara Behl – @ChefTammara / #TeamTammara

Facebook:
facebook.com/ctv 
facebook.com/MasterChefCDA

Instagram:
@MasterChefCDA

About Shine International
Shine International, the international sales and distribution division of Shine Group, is one of the world's leading independent distributors of content with a catalogue of over 4,500 hours of high quality scripted and unscripted programming from both third party producers and Shine Group's collection of production companies. These include the award-winning UK based Kudos (scripted), Dragonfly (factual), Princess Productions (entertainment and multi-genre), Shine TV (factual and factual entertainment) and Lovely Day and Brown Eyed Boy (scripted); eponymous established production businesses Shine America, Shine Australia, Shine France, Shine Germany and Shine Iberia alongside Shine Nordics (formerly Metronome Film & Television), the Nordic region's largest production group. Shine International specialises in the distribution of both finished programming and is a leader in the licensing of format rights including MasterChef (now produced in over 50 terriories), The Biggest Loser and One Born Every Minute, and has been voted number one worldwide TV distributor by its peers in the Broadcast Magazine Distributors Survey for two consecutive years, 2013 and 2014 and awarded Best International Programme Sales for Broadchurch in 2014.

About Proper Television
Proper Television is a leading provider of factual entertainment, reality, documentary and docu-dramas for Canadian, US and International markets. Headed by former BBC director Guy O'Sullivan, Proper Television has earned a distinguished reputation for creating original series and adapting international formats including MasterChef Canada, Canada's Worst Driver, Come Dine with Me Canada, and Storage Wars Canada. Proper Television's shows and formats are sold internationally by Proper Rights. 

About Bell Media Independent Production
Bell Media has commissioned some of Canada's most-watched and most-acclaimed original programming, working with the best Canadian independent producers in the country. Hit CTV series include ratings success stories SAVING HOPE, THE LISTENER, MOTIVE, and THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, the record-breaking, Canadian-produced complementary version of the hit international series. New to CTV in 2014 are hit international format MASTERCHEF CANADA and multi-cam office comedy SPUN OUT, one of the most-watched new comedies of the season. Among the scripted series on Bell Media pay and specialty channels are the three-time Emmy®-nominated hit DEGRASSI, the internationally acclaimed ORPHAN BLACK, the most-watched original series in Space history BITTEN, Bravo's most-watched new drama 19-2, TRANSPORTER – THE SERIES, dramedy SENSITIVE SKIN, and the upcoming KILLJOYS. Bell Media specialty channels are also home to hit factual series HIGHWAY THRU HELL and CANADA'S WORST DRIVER, among others.

About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 13 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at CTV.ca.

Source: Numeris (BBM Canada), Sept 23, 2013 – May 25, 2014, final data. 

CTV electronic audience databases and Top 20 records incorporate data beginning in 1994 and 2004, respectively. 

Audiences prior to August 31, 2009 based on BBM Nielsen Media Research Mark II meters.

SOURCE: CTV

Tanya Koivusalo, CTV Networks, 416.384.2664 or [email protected]; Christy Sullivan, CTV Networks, 416.384.3624 or [email protected]; Meghan Hardy, Proper Television, 416.598.2500 x.485 or [email protected]