Where is MasterChef: The Professionals 2023 filmed? Filming location of series 16 of spin-off cookery show

MasterChef: The Professionals returns for a new season this month with 32 top chefs from across the country as they compete under the watchful eyes of Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti, and Gregg Wallace.

In the seven week competition, the chefs will take part in a series of heats, with the winners going on to semi-finals, and the six top cooks taking part in the grand final in December.

The original run of MasterChef, which aired from 1990-2001 on BBC One, was filmed at TVS Television Theatre in Kent for the first season before moving to Limehouse Studios in northwest London. 

The rebooted series which began in 2005 was filmed at City University, London student halls, before moving to Ram Brewery in Wandsworth in 2011, and then moving again to its present location in 2014.

The new season of MasterChef: The Professionals will be filmed in London for the last time for at least seven years, as production is moving to pastures new from 2024.

Where is Masterchef: The Professionals 2023 filmed? 

MasterChef and its spin-off shows have been filmed at 3 Mills Studio in Bromley, East London since 2014, with the exception of the 2021 season which was filmed close by in Newham due to social distancing regulations.

3 Mills is now a large studio space but when the building was first constructed in 1776, it was a gin distillery. Part of the building was destroyed in the London Blitz and rebuilt in the 1990s.

The Three Mills complex was used as a bottling site and warehouse for Charrington Brewery in latter half of the 20th century. In the 1980s three film studios opened at the site, and the following decade they merged into 3 Mills Studios.

Other projects filmed at 3 mills include reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, historical comedy drama The Great and Jude Law horror mystery series The Third Day.

With its nine filming stages, 11 theatre rehearsal spaces, and over 75,000 square feet it’s no wonder hundreds of TV commercials and music videos have been shot there.

Films shot at the studio include David Cronenberg’s gritty crime drama Eastern Promises, sci-fi romance Never Let Me Go, action comedy Attack the Block, and stop-motion features Corpse Bride, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. 

Where will MasterChef: The Professionals be filmed next year?

Although MasterChef has been filmed at 3 Mills for a decade, the show will move locations, with production taking place in an entirely different city from 2024.

The series will move from London to Birmingham in a six year deal with Digbeth Loc Studios, where the show and its spin-offs, Celebrity MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals, and Young MasterChef will be filmed.

Digbeth Loc Studios was founded by Steven Knight, executive producer of Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS Rogue Heroes, and is set to open in early 2024.  

As the studio has not yet opened it does not currently have any projects on its CV, however it is slated to play host to at least two upcoming Steven Knight projects - his upcoming ska and two-tone music drama This Town, and his highly anticipated Peaky Blinders film.

Digbeth Loc Studios is made up of three film studios housed in Victorian-era buildings. Banana Warehouse, where MasterChef will be filmed, is a grade II listed building built around 1840 and was originally owned by fruit traders Geest.

Speaking of the new studio, Strategic Director for Place, Prosperity and Sustainability at Birmingham City Council, Paul Kitson, said: “Digbeth is a fantastic part of our great city, boldly showcasing everything great about our past, present and future – it really is one of the leading creative quarters, not just in the UK, but internationally.”