LegendaryChef: After Hours (Series 1)

**"LegendaryChef: After Hours"** is a British reality television series that premiered in 2032 as a spin-off of the long-standing and esteemed "LegendaryChef" franchise. This innovative series was introduced during the 36th season of "LegendaryChef" and is notable for offering viewers a glimpse into the lives of the contestants beyond the intensity of the competitive kitchen. The series was created by Oskar Sanford, the third showrunner of "LegendaryChef," and represents a departure from the original show's format by incorporating elements typical of a reality TV show focused on the interpersonal dynamics and personal journeys of the contestants.

Set in a grand residence, "After Hours" follows the chefs as they cohabitate and interact in their daily lives, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their experiences throughout the competition. The show is divided into three daily segments that capture the morning routines, the preparations for the cooking challenges, and the reflections and social interactions following the day's culinary events. The series also introduces a new tradition where each evening, the contestants who have passed the day's culinary challenges bid farewell to those who have been eliminated.

Hosted by Nancy O'Connor, a veteran presenter since Series 28 of "LegendaryChef," and Zaki Smith, a new addition to the presenting team in Series 36, the show aims to create a deeper connection between the contestants and the viewers. "LegendaryChef: After Hours" is broadcast on ITV and has been praised for its fresh take on the cooking competition genre, blending the high stakes of culinary excellence with the emotional and narrative depth of reality television.

## Episode Timeline

### Day 1

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 1)

On the 1st day and the first morning segment episode, the contestants that passed the Pre-Trials round had entered the house for the very first time as this had been a new introduction. At the beginning, the newly passed candidates (now contestants) were meeting each other and finding out what this was all the house was about. For some time the contestants were discussing if they thought the format had changed from previous seasons knowing that Oskar Sanford is the new Showrunner.

As it was the first time in the house, the hosts (Nancy O'Connor & Zaki Smith) had a 10 minute interview with the brand new 18 contestants over the TV in the house. Following the interview, the contestants then decided to start preparing for the upcoming round which is the Trials round. Some contestants were using the kitchen to prepare but knowing there wasn't enough space for all, some had to wait to prepare a while longer than others.

As the Morning Segment came to the an end, it was now time to wait to see the first main series episode of the series which is the Trials round.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 1 - Trials Round)

During the main series, the contestants were in the competition properly for the first time. They were in the Trials round, with a brand new format that differed from the previous series, with the new show of After Hours. The closeness of the competition was already much more than previous, letting people realise that this was harder than ever.

During the Trials Round, Declan Fields (18th place) and Eve Bradley (17th place) were eliminated. All the contestants had to say goodbye to both of the contestants due to them not returning to the house afterwards.

#### Evening Segment (After Hours, Episode 2)

At the beginning of the Evening Segment episode, it began with Nancy and Zaki interviewing both Declan and Eve in which they were talking about their short duration on the show and other aspects about the competition. Following the interviews, the contestants headed back to the house which they returned back for the first time after going to the trials round.

Not long after they were settling in and finding out more about each other, there was an announcement from Nancy in which she told everyone that they must start the immunity voting. As everyone got at least an overall grade 3 in the Trials Round, everyone was able to get a chance to get voted for in the immunity voting.

##### 1st Immunity Voting

At the end of the first immunity voting, Karina Olsen obtained the highest votes, with a total of 4 votes. She was the first contestant of the show to obtain an win the immunity from the immunity voting. At the immunity voting, the hosts explained the immunity and declare button rules and information through the house microphones.

##### 1st Declare Button Operation

After the immunity voting and information was explained, the declare button was turned on for the first time in the show. The contestants were now wondering about who held the immunity vote for a chance to obtain it for themselves if they pressed the declare button and got it right.

As the contestants started continuing getting to know each other, some contestants were discussing who they thought was holding the immunity vote. Erika Campos openly declared that she believed Mia Christian held the immunity vote but she didn't press the declare button. She stated this with a group of people which exceeded more than 2 people in the group which isn't allowed. Following this, Nancy had announced that Erika had broken the rules and must press the declare button to officially declare someone. She also stated that it was against the rules to discuss and declare the individual they believe with a group of more than 2 at a time. Erika was forced to not be allowed in the immunity voting the next round.

As the episode came to a close, the Declare Button wasn't pressed and some contestants were practising food, getting to know eachother or going to sleep. As the Declare Button remains open, the viewers wait to see what happens during the Morning Segment to see if anyone pressed it.

### Day 2

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 3)

At the beginning of the Morning Segment, the contestants started waking up for the first official day in the house. Since the previous night, the Declare Button had remained in operation, and there was still time to press it before the next round began.

Some contestants woke up early just to get into the kitchen practicing early before others started utilising the kitchen. As the contestants were all awake, they were using this time to create allies and friends knowing that there's another immunity voting after the next round has been complete.

A few hours after waking up, it was announced that Erika Campos had pressed the Declare Button. Following the previous nights incident, she believed that declaring Mia Christian who she had unofficially declared would've been the right idea. As she pressed it, it was of course announced that Mia Christian wasn't the holder of the immunity. Therefore, as Erika was already punished for unofficially declaring Mia the previous night, Erika had been not allowed to be in the immunity voting for the 2 next rounds no matter her overall grade. Following this, Mia and Erika had a conversation about why Erika had voted for her in more detail.

After the declare press, the contestants were getting ready to begin the next round which was the Pre-Quarter-Finals. The contestants were all trying to practise cooking as much as possible in the few hours left before they had to leave the house for potentially the last time.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 2 - Pre-Quarter-Finals)

During the start of the Pre-Quarter-Finals, it was confirmed by the Judges that Karina Olsen was the contestant who had successfully won the first immunity vote. The Pre-Quarter-Finals round resulted in Isaac Calhoun (16th Place) and Julian Edwards (15th Place) to be eliminated from the show due to having done the worst performance in that round. After they were announced to leave, they all had their short time to say their goodbyes before returning back to the house.

#### Evening Segment (After Hours, Episode 4)

Following the elimination of both Isaac Calhoun and Julian Edwards, it was clear that this competition was going to be ending quicker than they realise. They were all talking about the round and how they didn't realise Karina Olsen had obtained immunity. Some groups dispersed and were chatting about how Karina was holding the immunity and no one figuring it out.

It then went to show the interviews with the most recent eliminated contestants, interviewed by the hosts, Nancy and Zaki.

As it returned back to the view of the house, the contestants were all thinking about the immunity vote and how some were worried and upset that they didn't manage to get the overall grade of a three. This gave a lot of reasons to start practising in the kitchen area. A lot of contestants that didn't achieve an overall grade 3 on the Pre-Quarter-Finals round started getting on practising their skills to ensure they are able to get at least an overall grade 4 on the next round to be able to get into the immunity voting which will be quite a challenge to do so.

##### 2nd Immunity Vote

A few hours after returning back from the Pre-Quarter-Finals, the contestants had to begin voting for who they wished to obtain the immunity in the Quarter-Finals. Hasan Goodwin, Addie Doyle, Erika Campos, Mia Christian & Bibi Lamb did not achieve an overall grade 3 meaning they were ineligible to be voted for but still must vote for someone. Following the 2nd immunity vote, Anais had obtained four votes which was the highest in the vote. Anais had won the second immunity vote.

##### 2nd Declare Button Operation

As the 2nd immunity button had completed, it was time for the Declare Button to turn on for the second time of the competition. Knowing how important the immunity is, it's extremely important everyone looks around for any potential clues.

Most contestants were either having conversations or practising for the Quarter-Finals at this point. During the rest of the episode, people were thinking about pressing it but didn't have enough evidence to prove their reasons which led to no declare button presses this round.

As the 2nd day came to a close, it was time to sleep as the next day was the Quarter-Finals and it only gets harder from here. Some contestants were still practising late in the night to ensure their food is fantastic for the next round allowing them to get into the next immunity vote.

### Day 3

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 5)

As the new day began, the Declare Button and the Quarter-Finals were all on their mind. The competition is getting harder each round and it's only the 3rd round, so far. The contestants started practising and deciding who the holder of the immunity could be.

Around an hour after the majority of contestants woke up, Natalia Bonilla had apparently heard Anais talking to Alannah and Louis talking about the immunity, thinking that Natalia wasn't around. Due to this, Natalia decided that the right thing to do was press the Declare Button. As she pressed it, she declared that Anais was the holder of the immunity and it announced that she was correct. Following this, Anais was forced to lose the immunity and chose someone else to have it secretly. She chose Karina to hold the immunity because she realised that if she chose Alannah or Louis, the other contestants will most likely get it right if they press it and she said that no one will think she would choose Karina as she had immunity the previous round.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 3 - Quarter-Finals)

At the beginning of the Quarter-Finals, it was announced that Karina was holding the immunity again as Anais had chosen to give the immunity to her. At the end of the Quarter-Finals, Karina had performed the best achieving a "Gold Chef", showcasing that even though she had immunity, she definitely didn't need it to succeed.

The ending resulted in Bibi Lamb (14th Place) and Erika Campos (13th Place) to be eliminated from the show due to unfortunately having the worst performance this round. The contestants quickly said goodbye to them before returning back to the house.

#### Evening Segment (After Hours, Episode 6)

After returning back to the house, Zaki announced over the house microphones and warned them for the Semi-Finals which was upcoming. It was said that the lowest 4 contestants will be leaving the next round which means practising and hard work is a must if they was to proceed to the next stages of the competition. As the next immunity voting was upcoming, it was in everyone's best interests to get the immunity and that the Declare Button is a must if they want to obtain it. This is really where alliances and friendships are tested as they can use knowledge to obtain the immunity.

##### 3rd Immunity Voting

The 3rd immunity voting began with Nancy announcing that Leona, Anais, Hasan, Addie, Mia and Abubakar were not eligible to be voted for as they didn't achieve the required overall grade 4. Karina, Natalia, Cameron, Alannah, Louis and Sally were all eligible to be voted for this round as they had all achieved an overall grade 4 or above. At the end of the voting, Cameron obtained the highest votes with a total of four. Karina was one point away from four, and obtained 3. This led Cameron being the third contestant to have won the immunity vote.

##### 3rd Declare Button Operation

As the 3rd Immunity vote came to an end, as always, the Declare Button came back online allowing contestants to potentially obtain the immunity.

6 minutes after the Declare Button was turned on, it was pressed for the first time in the Evening Segment and the quickest press time after turning on. Karina pressed the Declare Button in which Louis had told her that he had obtained it. She used this information to take the immunity away, and she believed he was telling the truth. As she pressed it, she knew that she wouldn't get it herself but this would potentially allow another one of her allies to potentially gain it. As Louis had it, he had to give it away to someone else. He gave the immunity to Alannah another alliance, (which both Alannah and Karina are in an alliance). This also left Louis to not be eligible for the next immunity voting.

Around 23 minutes after the Declare Button press, the house heard Nancy speak through the house microphones. She told everyone to come over to the living room immediately, and she announced that a group of people had broken the rules. She stated that Mia told Natalia to press the Declare Button, she said that contestants should not ask another contestant to press the Declare Button. Therefore, Nancy had stated that Mia was made ineligible for the next immunity vote.

The majority of the evening segment consisted of many contestants focusing on practising their cooking to ensure they do well in the next round, knowing 4 contestants are going to be eliminated. As the evening segment was coming to a close, Anais had pressed the Declare Button around 10 hours after it was turned on around 4am when everyone was asleep. During this, using her potential knowledge from being allies with Louis, she had declared that Alannah was the holder of the immunity. As she was correct, Alannah was told to wake up afterwards, and as she woke up, she was told that someone declared her as the immunity holder and got it correct. Alannah chose Karina as the new holder of the immunity vote, which makes it Karina's third time holding the immunity vote and leaves the Declare Button left on until 12pm.

### Day 4

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 7)

In the morning, everyone found out what happened early in the morning, while everyone was asleep. They found out that the Declare Button was taken and that someone new is the holder. Everyone realised that obtaining the immunity was important to pass the four contestant elimination.

Around 2 hours after waking up, Leona over heard Karina and Alannah and Karina discussing that one of them holds the immunity, and realised that Karina or Alannah may be the current holder. She pressed the Declare Button and realised Karina could definitely be holding it again and she declared Karina was the holder with the reasoning of what she heard. Leona was correct and Karina had to choose someone else to hold the immunity. Karina chose Anais to be the holder of the immunity.

As the Morning came to a close and the Semi-Finals were in a few hours, the contestants were all showcasing their preparation to do well in it. After this, there was no more Declare Button presses.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 4 - Semi-Finals [Round 1])

At the beginning of the round, Anais was announced as the holder of the immunity. At the end of the round, Cameron (12th Place), Abubakar (11th Place), Addie (10th Place) & Leona (9th Place) were all eliminated and had a short goodbyes to the contestants that had successfully passed to the second semi-final round.

#### Evening Segment (After Hours, Episode 8)

As the contestants returned back from the Semi-Finals, the contestants that left had made quite a large empty feeling and made everyone realise that the competition is coming to a close after not long even being in the competition.

Around 10 minutes after returning back, Nancy had made an announcement over the microphones which she congratulated everyone for passing the first Semi-Finals round. She stated that the second Semi-Finals round was upcoming and once again, another 4 contestants would be leaving meaning that while they had time to congratulate themselves, it was far from over. The competition was getting much harder now, with another 4 leaving.

##### 4th Immunity Voting

An hour after returning back to the house, it was time for the usual immunity vote to begin. This was the last immunity vote in the series, as the next round was the Finals and no immunity is permitted at the highest stage and point. Mia and Louis successfully obtained an overall Grade 5 which was required to be eligible to be voted for in this immunity voting. Karina, Sally, Alannah, Anais and Hasan did not achieve an overall grade 5 meaning they weren't eligible to be voted for. At the end of the immunity voting, Louis had the most votes with a total of 5. Mia achieved 3, which meant Louis was the fourth person to win the immunity vote.

##### 4th Declare Button Operation

Following the fourth Immunity Vote, the Declare Button was turned on for the last time of the series. The immunity was the one chance to be granted a place in the Finals. At this stage, the contestants were mostly focusing on cooking to ensure they pass the second round of Semi-Finals.

The episode ended with many contestants still practising early in the morning to ensure they go through the next round. There was no Declare Button presses this round, showcasing that they were completely focusing on food practising instead of alliance changes and building.

### Day 5

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 9)

At the beginning of the episode, a couple of contestants were still awake from the previous episode still practising their cooking skills. This episode began with Nancy announcing over the microphones that Larissa Hurst (Head Judge) has cooked a massive course meal for all the contestants to enjoy as they are spending the last morning with 8 contestants.

As the episode went, the contestants were enjoying their time knowing that their small "holiday" is coming to an end. The episode concluded with the contestants getting ready to leave the house ready for the second and last Semi-Finals round. The contestants were saying their goodbyes knowing that they potentially won't be seeing their friends returning after the round is completed.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 5 - Semi-Finals [Round 2])

At the beginning of the round, Louis was announced to be holding the last immunity of the series. The round ended with Hasan (8th Place), Anais (7th Place), Alannah (6th Place) and Mia all being eliminated from the competition. They had a small goodbye as usual before the passing contestants return to the house for the last time. The Judges congratulated everyone who passed and left as everyone did a great job to get to the 2nd Semi-Finals round.

Following the ending, the Judges personally walked the four contestants back to the house.

##### Evening Segment (After Hours, Episode 10)

The contestants having returned back to the house after the Semi-Finals (Round 2), with only Louis, Karina, Sally and Natalia going into the finals. At the beginning of the episode, the Head Judge (Larissa Hurst) and Assistant Head Judge (Ollie Huffman) entered the house with them and said they would be cooking them dinner. The contestants watched both of them cooking and seeing how well they themselves cook. After they cooked the meal, they left them and once again congratulated them for getting this far as they would be crowning the Series 36 LegendaryChef Winner.

This episode consisted of much more light hearted way as everyone wasn't concerned about the immunity voting or the Declare Button. The contestants through this episode either were preparing for the last round or were having deep conversations about how the 5 day journey has been, even though it was short, they believed it was extremely special.

##### Wild Card Voting

Before the contestants were getting ready to stop cooking preparations and started relaxing, Nancy was heard on the microphones through the house. She called everyone to come to the living room. She announced that there would be a Wild Card and the public will be voting for who they wanted to return as the Wild Card. She also announced only the contestants who reached Semi-Finals (Round 1) would be eligible for this. The vote would remain for 2 hours after the announcement.

The Wild Card Voting turned out with Alannah receiving 90.41 million votes, which was the highest out of all of the contestants. Hasan was the closest amount of votes to Alannah but was still 49 million votes down from her. Due to the Wild Card votes, Alannah was announced the winner of the Wild Card voting and was announced to the contestants in the house by Nancy that Alannah would be returning back to the house. Karina and Alannah would be reunited as they were allies/friends. She would also be reunited with Louis as they were also allies/friends.

 Alannah Byrd
 Anais Becker
 Hasan Goodwin
 Leona Walsh
 Addie Doyle
 Abubakar Wise
 Cameron Perez

As the episode came to an end, it was clear that the contestants were focusing on the remaining evening with everyone to ensure the rest of the competition is as fun and happy as possible.

### Day 6

#### Morning Segment (After Hours, Episode 11)

As the morning began, it was the last time the contestants would be in the house. It was time to witness the contestants prepare for the final round and to prepare like never before. During this time, the contestants spent time saying goodbye knowing that they wouldn't be returning to the house afterwards.

#### Main Series (LegendaryChef, Episode 6 - Finals)

The episode begun with the Judges congratulating everyone for getting to the Finals and it was very close to the Winner, Runner-Up and Third place to be announced.

After Natalia achieved an overall score of 4, she was announced 5th Place. Shortly after another announcement was that Sally Dunlap came fourth place after obtaining an overall score of 4. A little while later, Alannah was announced as the third place after achieving an overall score of a 4. Some time after, there was another announcement in which Karina was announced the winner and obtained an overall score 5. Louis was announced Runner-Up, obtaining an overall score of a 4.5.

Following the results, the contestants said their goodbyes and had an interview with Nancy and Zaki. After this, the LegendaryChef Series 36 had been completed and the 1st Series of "After Hours" was over.