MTV3 prepares Hell’s Kitchen

Finnish commercial broadcaster MTV3 has commissioned ITV Studios Nordic to produce a local remake of Gordon Ramsay cooking format Hell’s Kitchen.

ITVS Nordic will create a 12x60mins series to premiere in Finland in the autumn. Michelin-starred chef Sauli Kemppainen will front the show in the Ramsay role first made famous on Fox in the US. It will be shot in a Helsinki restaurant that will open in July.

Aram Aflatuni and Heli Koskela will executive produce the series, with Koskela also producing alongside Heidi Räihä.

The format sees a forceful professional chef attempt to teach a group of amateurs to run a kitchen and judge the results.

Pete Paavolainen, head of formats, MTV3, said: “We are extremely excited to finally get the chance to bring Hell´s Kitchen to Finland. It is by far the biggest and most dramatic of all the cooking formats around, a perfect match for MTV3 which is the biggest commercial channel in the territory.”

The format has been formatted in 13 territories worldwide, including on ITV1 in the UK, RTL in Germany and Telecinco in Spain. More recently, Romania’s Pro TV ordered its own version.

ITVS Nordic CEO Hans Engholm added he anticipated the Finnish programme to “prove equally as popular with local viewers as it has with audiences worldwide”.

Meanwhile, season 11 in the US premiered on Fox last month to 5.4 million viewers, including a sizeable chunk of ad-friendly 18-49s. Distributor ITV Studios Global Entertainment has today unveiled sales of seasons 7-12 to Discovery in India and season 11 to South Korean entertainment group CJ. ITVSGE’s VP of sales for Asia, Hyeonza Hong, senior sales exec for pan-Asia, south east Asia and India Elsie Choi brokered the deals.