DARIEN, Conn. — A young girl from Darien is competing on the newest season of the hit FOX show "MasterChef Junior."
Eleven-year-old Ivy Childs is going up against 15 other young chefs to showcase her talents, and of course, bring home some hardware and $100,000 in prize money.
Childs said she's always enjoyed watching "MasterChef Junior" and being able to compete on the show, and learning from the contestants and judges helped her grow.
"My experience on the show really did help with coming out of my shell and conquering my fears and saying stuff," Childs said. "Like actually being my own person and saying what I wanted to, and really showing my love for stuff."
Although she's only 11, she said she's basically been in the kitchen most of her life, as she often helped her mom prepare food for family gatherings.
"Once I was old enough to climb up on the counter, I would help my mom set up the parties and cook for them," Childs said. "She always let me use real utensils and so I learned how to not chop off my finger."
When speaking about her experience on the show, she said it's helped her balance having fun and being competitive, a tool she now uses in her extracurricular activities.
The future is bright for this young Darien girl, she has aspirations to one day open a restaurant of her own called Breakfast at Ivy's.
Sixteen junior chefs will compete in what's being described as one of the toughest seasons yet.
This season's challenges include cooking a meal for diners at a historical renaissance fair, participating in a WWE-themed episode, competing to see how they size up to monster trucks at a motocross track, and welcoming Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Tilly Ramsay, into the kitchen for a donut challenge.
In Thursday night's premiere episode, the junior chefs must punch a hole through a wall of mystery ingredients, and make a dish featuring the item in their respective squares.
You can root for Ivy at home! Tune in to the "MasterChef Junior" season premiere Thursday at 8 p.m.
Symphonie Privett is an anchor and host of The Buzz at FOX61 News. She can be reached at sprivett@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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