You might have seen the news I exclusively got to break last month that the BBC's reality food show Come Dine with Me will be filming a few episodes right here in South Africa. Now I can reveal that the TV diet is going to get even better:
M-Net is planning on doing a brand-new local version - and a whole season - of MasterChef, entitled MasterChef South Africa.
MasterChef South Africa - similar to MasterChef Australia currently on M-Net - will see South African wannabe chefs doing soufflés and saki (or is it maybe potjiekos and putu pap?) whilst racing against that killer clock going tick-tock...
This news also solves THIS riddle when, back in April, I asked M-Net channel head Pierre Cloete what's behind the strategy of the new daily episodes of MasterChef Australia on M-Net. Pierre Cloete told me there's a ''very specific reason''. And now we know: MasterChef South Africa! Start practising goggo's secret recipes people!
M-Net tells TV with Thinus that ''M-Net will definitely embark on another reality series this year'' when i asked - after I've heard production industry rumblings about MasterChef South Africa.
''It is true that M-Net has approached 14 production companies to pitch for a possible local version of MasterChef,'' the pay broadcaster tells me.
Want more? What is the latest with The X Factor, that other big buzz reality show? Sources are telling me M-Net definitely plans to show the American version of Simon Cowell's new reality show after it starts in a few months' time in America. The jury is still out on a local South African version, I'm told, which has to do with expensive rights' issues.
Regarding The X Factor M-Net is only saying, ''we are still looking at a number of possbilities, including The X Factor. M-Net has become the home of top mainstream reality shows and we are constantly evaluating possibilities.''
