MasterChef USA is an American competitive cooking show that aired on PBS from 2000 to 2001. The series was hosted by Gary Rhodes. The series format was based directly on BBC's MasterChef, which used Rhodes as host during 2001. The show had two seasons. The first season premiered on April 1, 2000 with a total of 13 half-hour-long episodes and 1 hour-long special. 27 contestants arose from the auditions held in each region, in which office manager Nancy Vaziri of Homewood, Illinois won the title of MasterChef 2000.