'MasterChef Junior' Season 3 Premiere: The Cooking Competition Junior Edition Is Back On January 6, 2015! Judge Joe Bastianich Bids Good Bye To The Show

Fox has already ordered for the renewal of "MasterChef Junior" Season 3 even before the second season has begun filming. On January 6, 2015, viewers will get to watch its premiere.

TV Line reported that Fox's reality boss, Simon Andreae, said that "'MasterChef Junior' has proven itself to be the little show with a big bite". "It's incredible to see how unbelievably creative and skilled kids can be in the kitchen - some before they've even learned how to spell what they're cooking."

However, "MasterChef Junior" Season 3 will be the last for one of its judges, restaurateur Joe Bastianich, as he is set to leave the cooking competition in 2015. He announced this in his Facebook page.

He said, "As co-owner and partner of the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, as well as Eataly throughout the Americas, I will be focusing my time and energies on their continued global expansion. It has been a pleasure working with Fox and alongside Gordon and Graham on five seasons of MasterChef and three seasons of MasterChef Junior, and I look forward to continuing my current collaborations with Shine America."

"MasterChef Junior" has gone a long way as it prepares itself for Season 3 premiere this January 6, 2015. When it was announced that "MasterChef" will have its kid edition, where 8- to 13-year-olds can join, not everyone liked it. They can't imagine kids being hurt by criticisms from the judges and by being eliminated. But viewers were able to see the soft side of the judges, particularly Gordon Ramsay. Kids earned friends not foes. More important, it has become an amazing sight to see kids preparing dishes that not all adults will be able to.

According to the report of Variety, the second-season premiere of "MasterChef Junior" "averaged a series-high 1.8 rating/5 share in adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers overall in the 8 o'clock hour".

Catch the "MasterChef Junior" Season 3 premiere on Fox on January 6, 2015.