Dubai: Think you’ve got what it takes to be the next Jamie Oliver? Now you can find out: Fatafeat, the Dubai-based Arabic and English food channel, is giving you a shot at winning your own cooking show with the launch of a new reality show.
Fatafeat’s Next Great Chef is due to air next year, and the hunt for contestants from across the Middle East begins later this year.
The show is part of a rebrand the channel will undergo on June 15 this year, just ahead of its all-important Ramadan season.
“Next Great Chef will be launched in spring 2015, but development is starting now,” Fatafeat head of channel Darine Al Khatib told tabloid!. “The show is looking for the next star of Fatafeat, and it’s an eight-episode series where we are trying to find that face. At the end, they win a weekly show on Fatafeat and their cookbook across the region.”
Will it be the Arabic answer to the popular Next Food Network Star? “You could say that but it’s completely different,” adds Darine. “We’re going to develop it in-house. We will have some international guests such as Buddy Valastro [The Cake Boss].
The channel has also announced its bouquet of Ramadan shows — typically its most-watched period — starting June 28. Highlights include Modern Cuisine, by chef Mohammad Orfali, where he will present molecular cooking; On A Budget, with Selma Soliman; and Salt and Pepper, by chef Wafa Al Kandary.
“We’re changing the look and feel, the skin of the channel. You’ll see a new logo, everything is going to look different. The new packaging is colourful, modern fresh, passionate, warm, inclusive and vibrant,” said Darine of the eight-year-old channel, which was acquired by Discovery Networks in 2012.
