Gordon Ramsay takes us behind the scenes at MasterChef

When season 11 of MasterChef premieres on Wednesday, it’ll be with a legendary twist. This time around, hosts Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich, and Aarón Sanchez will be joined each episode by a different culinary “legend,” be it Emeril Lagasse, Roy Choi, Nancy Silverton, Iron Chef’s Masaharu Morimoto, or even (gulp) Paula Deen. Contestants will take inspiration and instruction from those legends, and, ultimately, one contestant will be named season 11's MasterChef.

The A.V. Club talked to Ramsay, Bastianich, and Sanchez about this season’s twist live, from the set, when they were filming this past fall. We also talked about the show’s shutdown last March around the global outbreak of COVID-19, and how the show, its contestants, and maybe even the culinary industry as a whole regrouped in the pandemic’s wake.

MasterChef season 11 premieres Wednesday, June 2. New episodes air every Wednesday on Fox.