BBC AMERICA GREENLIGHTS NEW ADVENTURE COOKING SERIES "NO KITCHEN REQUIRED"

Three chefs to be dropped in ten remote locations and challenged to cook for the locals

New York - November 22, 2011 - BBC AMERICA's General Manager, Perry Simon, today gave the green light for the new adventure cooking competition series, No Kitchen Required, which will premiere in Spring 2012. The new original unscripted series, (10 x 60), sees three chefs being dropped into a remote location where each must work with the locals to hunt, forage and collect ingredients to create a locally-inspired meal that will be judged by the community.

The three fearless chefs are award-winning New York restaurateur Michael Psilakis, first ever Chopped Grand Champion chef Madison Cowan, who has roots in London, Detroit and Jamaica, and New Zealand chef Kayne Raymond. The trio will leave the comforts of their kitchens and are dropped into ten different remote locations including Thailand, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Australia and New Zealand as well as the Louisiana Bayou, South Carolina's Outer Banks, Big Cypress, Florida and Hawaii. The series will be hosted by British presenter Shini Somara (BBC's One Show, BBC World News' The Health Show), who will join the chefs on the adventure.

No Kitchen Required is a BBC AMERICA original series and will be produced by Notional, an IAC company, with Kevin Greene and Notional's Chachi Senior and Dave Noll serving as executive producers.

Perry Simon, General Manager, Channels, BBC Worldwide America says: "No Kitchen Required is a unique hybrid food/travel/adventure show that gives our audience fascinating insights into diverse cultures, making it a perfect fit for the BBC AMERICA brand and an exciting addition to our ever-expanding original programming slate. We look forward to welcoming our three charismatic chefs, Michael, Madison, and Kayne, as well as our host Shini, to the BBC AMERICA family."

Chachi Senior, President, Notional LA says: "We really wanted to create a cooking competition series as big in scope as The Amazing Race or Survivor, with No Kitchen Required we're confident that we've succeeded. Each week our chefs are dropped out of a helicopter into a super-remote part of the world and the audience is invited along for the awesome ride."

In a new location every episode, each chef is free to choose whatever indigenous ingredients he wants - the catch is that each must acquire and prepare the ingredients in the same manner as the locals. Whether it's hunting wild boar or diving for oysters, this series is about getting your hands dirty, pushing boundaries and experiencing incredible situations the audience would never expect to encounter in a typical food show. The chefs' meals will ultimately be judged by the community and only one will be crowned the winner each episode.

No Kitchen Required is the latest commission to join BBC AMERICA's stable of all-new original programming, along with the new comedy panel show Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton, which premieres on December 3 as part of the Ministry of Laughs, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! special on December 23 and a series of specials featuring Chris Hardwick as The Nerdist premiering on December 24, plus Richard Hammond's Crash Course and scripted drama Copper debuting in 2012.

Note to editors Twitter: @BBCAMERICA Hashtag: #NoKitchenRequired

BBC AMERICA delivers U.S. audiences high-quality, innovative and intelligent programming. Established in 1998, it has been the launch pad for talent embraced by American mainstream pop culture, including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, and successful programming formats including ground-breaking non-scripted television like Top Gear and top-rated science-fiction like Doctor Who. Owned by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, BBC AMERICA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including an Emmy(R), four Golden Globes(R) and ten Peabody Awards. The channel attracts one of cable's most affluent and educated audiences and is available on digital cable and satellite TV in more than 71 million homes. It broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, with content available On Demand across all major digital platforms. Online, www.bbcamerica.com is the place to go to dig deeper into pop culture with a British twist.