Gord's cookie monsters

CAN you believe that we've reached the ninth series of MASTERCHEF JUNIOR USA, hosted by Gordon Ramsay? Me, I’m absolutely flabbergasted, not least because the first eight passed me by.

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Since it starts tonight — at 7pm on U&W, which is on Freeview 25, so you have no excuse not to watch, other than you may have better things to do — I’ve taken an early peek. Would it, I wondered, be like our nearest equivalent, BBCThree’s Young MasterChef?

Since I’ve also never watched BBCThree’s Young MasterChef, mostly on account of it being on BBC Three, I thought it might be hard for me to answer that question with authority.

However, just by sitting through 41 minutes of this US version, I think I'd be safe in guessing the similarities are few.