“The biggest competition for amateur cooks in France” is back on the PAF. Seven years after its last broadcast, the show MasterChef returns this Tuesday, August 23 on France 2 for a season 6 rich in novelties. Starting with the animation, which is embodied by Agathe Lecaron, the leading face of public service.
Who says change of channel, also says new jury for the culinary competition. If viewers find the historical juror of the show Yves Camdeborde (seasons 1 to 4 on TF1), the latter is joined by chefs Thierry Marx and Georgiana Viou. If the first is a big name in gastronomy, the second cut its teeth in the first edition of MasterChef in 2010.
Well known to fans of the program, Georgiana Viou has nevertheless had a very unique career. Born in Benin in 1977, the young woman spent her childhood on the African continent. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, she left her country to settle in France and continue her studies in 1999. “In Paris, I was preparing a master’s degree in languages: French and German, with the aim of then integrating a school of translation. and interpreting in Geneva,” she told Zenchef magazine last July.
However, the one who aspired to become a conference interpreter will see her life turned upside down with the arrival of a first child. It was then that Georgiana Viou decided to take care of her son Steven and came to settle in the south in Marseille. “It was here that I had the click that I will not continue my studies. But also because I learned Mediterranean cuisine there”, she admits to our colleagues. For three years, the young woman officiated in events, reports Le Point. She devotes herself above all to her passion for cooking and wants to open her restaurant later, like her mother later on.
In 2010, Georgiana was revealed in the first season of the MasterChef contest hosted by Carole Rousseau. Signed up at the time by one of her friends on the show, she made a strong impression on gastronomy stars such as Frédéric Anton, Sébastien Demorand and Yves Camdeborde. “The first season was unique, we had a very human relationship with them, they gave us real feedback on what we produced”, recalls the mother of three children who will climb to the final before bowing to the face. to the winner Anne Alassane.
Despite this defeat, the show was a great springboard for the Franco-Beninese who has come a long way. She trained with great chefs in Marseille before opening her first establishment Chez Georgiana in 2014. She also published two books Ma Cuisine de Marseille in 2011 and Le Gout de Cotonou in 2021. That same year, she resumed the Rouge restaurant with chef Denis Allegrini at the Chouleur Margaret hotel. The award-winning chef by Gault and Millau “is inspired by the Gardois terroir and the richness of its origins, around an instinctive Mediterranean cuisine” indicates the website.
From her self-taught status, Georgiana Viou is now recognized in the profession. As a sign of success, she is now a sworn on the show he revealed her to twelve years before. “When the show called me to be part of the jury this year, I immediately accepted, because I found the story beautiful. I told them “Myself, I would have called myself”, s’ she amuses. Focus on the journey of the female juror of MasterChef in our slideshow.
