Two Powerful Latina Chefs Join the Judging Panel in What Will Be the Most Challenging Season Ever with Exciting New Twists and $200,000 at Stake
MIAMI, FL – April 15, 2024 – A new season of Telemundo’s Top Chef VIP is set to kick off on May 21 at 7pm/6c introducing a wealth of exciting new twists and turns. Filled with adrenaline, drama, and endless surprises, this season’s 20 celebrity contestants won’t know what hit them when they step into the world’s most demanding kitchen and put their cooking skills to the test to win over the palates of three renowned Latino chefs in their search to win $200,000.
Renowned Mexican chef Antonio De Livier, better known as Chef Toño, will continue as a judge alongside two prominent Latina chefs who join the judging panel and promise to bring a unique twist to Hispanic TV’s most famous cooking reality competition. As one of the most beloved chefs in Mexican cuisine, De Livier is a restaurateur, author of the Let’s Cook recipe book, and recipient of multiple honors such as the Five Star Diamond Award, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the travel and restaurant industry.
With a strong and demanding personality in the kitchen, Chef Belén Alonso is a renowned professional chef born in Mexico City of Spanish descent whose passion for cooking began at a very early age. Years later, she moved to France to study at the famous culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Belén is an expert in European cuisine, especially French and Spanish. She has also served as a judge in several cooking competitions, positioning her as one of the most valuable culinary judges in the world.
Ambassador and creator of the New Dominican Cuisine, Inés Páez, better known as Chef Tita, has revamped over 100 traditional recipes from her native Dominican Republic. She is the recipient of important recognitions including the Gourmet Excellence Character Award in 2019 for her invaluable contributions to Dominican gastronomy, both nationally and internationally, and the Dominican Women’s Medal, among others. In 2021, she was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America and the Caribbean by Forbes.
The celebrities set to show off their cooking skills this season are: Alejandro López, Alicia Machado, Carolina Tejera, Daniela Castro, Danka Castro, David Salomón, Diana Reyes, El Niño Prodigio, Gary Centeno, Ivanna Jiménez, Jason Romo, José María Galeano, José Luis “El Puma” Rodríguez, Mariana Botas, Mark Tacher, Natalia Juárez, Pancho Uresti, Patricia Navidad, Polo Morín, and Rosie Rivera.
Download press kit here.
Top Chef VIP is a successful cooking competition that features a group of 20 renowned personalities who will put their cooking skills to the test in each primetime episode. Hosted by Carmen Villalobos,a demanding panel of judges will evaluate them each week to determine who advances and who leaves the competition. With the most innovative and unexpected challenges that will push celebrities out of their comfort zone, this edition will see all the rivalries, surprises, and fun inside the most famous kitchen on Hispanic TV. In the end, only one of the celebrity contestants will be crowned the champion, taking home the title of Top Chef VIP and the $200,000 cash prize.
This season of Top Chef VIP will dish out an elevated viewing experience from celebrity contestants navigating unique branded challenges to delicious custom content across social bringing foodies closer to the action. These can’t miss, mouth-watering moments will be served up to fans thanks to sponsors DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 4, Expedia® Group, Finish Dishwasher Detergent and Additives, Illumination’s Despicable Me 4, Miller Lite, Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place: Day One and Royal Prestige.
Audiences will be able to watch Top Chef VIP live on Telemundo, or catch up on the Telemundo app (available on Google Play Store and Apple Store) and Telemundo.com. New episodes will also be available to stream on Peacock. Viewers can visit TopChefVIP.com and the Telemundo Entretenimiento channel on YouTube to obtain exclusive content. Fans can join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook, TikTokand X by following @TelemundoRealities, #TopChefVIP3 and #TopChefVIPTLMD.
Top Chef VIP is a RCN production for Telemundo based on NBCUniversal Formats’ Top Chef franchise, under the executive production of Francisco “Cisco” Suarez, Executive Vice President of Programming for Realities and Primetime Specials of Telemundo, along with Luciano Cardinali and Fernando Lorente as executive producers.
About NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises:
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises leads the media industry in the production and distribution of Spanish-language content for U.S. Hispanics and audiences around the world. The company serves U.S. Hispanics through its national broadcast network, the cable network Universo, and digital platforms including the Telemundo app and streaming services, such as Peacock, among others. The Telemundo Network offers Spanish-language entertainment, news, and sports content reaching 95% of U.S. Hispanic TV households in 210 markets through 30 owned stations and 91 affiliate stations. Telemundo also owns an independent station serving Puerto Rico. Telemundo is the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language home of the world’s two most popular sporting events, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, as well as the Premier League and Mexican soccer team Chivas. The #1 producer of scripted Spanish-language content in the U.S., Telemundo Global Studios includes Telemundo Television Studios, Telemundo Streaming Studios, and Underground Producciones. Telemundo’s new Tplus content brand on Peacock features programming developed for the full spectrum of Hispanics. NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises is a division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
Media contact:
Gerardo Oyola
Director, Alternative Programming Publicity
