Britannia to star on UKTV’s Battlechefs show
Marco Pierre White is set to judge the cooking skills of celebrities including Alex James and Keith Duffy in competitive new travelling cookery show set at sea. P&O Cruises newest ship Britannia is to be the star of Battlechefs, from award-winning television network UKTV.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
P&O Cruises is teaming up with Spark Media to bring the show to its flagship entertainment channel Watch. The show will see ten amateur celebrity chefs including Alex James (Blur), Keith Duffy (Boyzone) and John Partridge (EastEnders) board Britannia and take it in turns to command the kitchen. Their talents will be judged by British celebrity chef and P&O Cruises Food Hero Marco Pierre White.
Filmed over two Mediterranean cruises on Britannia, each itinerary will be host to its own self-contained competition featuring five celebrities, who will each assume the role of head chef and prepare a meal for the Captain and his VIP guests. In each episode, we follow the untrained chefs as the ship sails from port to port they discover charming and captivating stories about each location and the food that is grown and produced locally.
Using the new cooking techniques they’ve learnt, they will each try to impress the Captain with their skills. Their competitors will help prepare the meal, but as they also get a chance to score each other, will they play tactically as they fight it out to become Battlechefs Champion?
The new series was ordered by Dave General Manager, Steve North. In partnership with P&O Cruises, the show was brokered by UKTV’s Director of Commercial Partnerships, Sally Quick, Spark Media Partner founders Mark Baker and Steve Havers and P&O Cruises Marketing Director, Christopher Edgington.
UKTV Commissioning Editor Victoria Summer commented, “Travel, food and healthy competition come together in Battlechefs. It’s an energetic show which centres on challenge and good-hearted rivalry, which sits perfectly alongside Watch viewer favourites such as the hugely popular Masterchef Australia. Seeing whether our celebs can pull off the menus they’re given against the clock is going to be very entertaining.”
P&O Cruises marketing director Christopher Edgington said, “We are very excited to be making Battlechefs on Britannia. Watch provides an ideal audience to encourage newcomers to cruising and will showcase our food ethos. Our cookery school on board provides the perfect backdrop for the show as the celebrities prepare speciality dishes from around the Med."
UKTV’s Sally Quick added, “We’re very excited to be announcing our first advertiser-funded programme for Watch. We work within the commissioning team to keep the brands really close to the action of making brilliant, must-watch TV. We are delighted to be working with P&O Cruises and Spark Media on this project, they both really understand how to make great content.”
Spark Media’s Mark Baker said, “Battlechefs is part travelogue and part game show. It’s a TV hybrid that features celebs who are passionate about food. They’ll be on Britain’s biggest cruise liner as it tours the Med in the world’s first floating cookery competition.”
Battlechefs will air on Watch in 2016. It joins a raft of new content coming to the channel including Singing in the Rainforest, starring well-known celebrities including Myleene Klass and the Happy Mondays, Nigel Marvin’s Cruise Ship Adventures, which travels to some of the world’s most exotic locations discoveringincredible wildlife and top rating US acquisition Secrets and Lies.
About P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises has a fleet of eight ships offering holidays tailored to British tastes combining genuine service, a sense of occasion and attention to detail, ensuring passengers have the holiday of a lifetime, every time. Azura was launched in April 2010 – officially named by Godmother Darcey Bussell CBE. Small ship Adonia was added to the fleet in May 2011, named by Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE. Britannia, a new 141,000 ton ship, was named by HM The Queen on March 10, 2015.
For further press information please contact:-
Michele Andjel, michele.andjel@carnivalukgroup.com 023 8065 6653 / 07730 732 072
Jenny Hadley, jenny.hadley@pocruises.com 023 8065 6650 / 07825 120 088
