Mary Berg is a Canadian television host, author and cook, most noted as the winner of the third season of ''

MasterChef Canada ''MasterChef Canada'' is a Canadian competitive cooking reality show, part of the ''MasterChef'' franchise, open to amateur home cooks. It premiered on CTV on January 20, 2014, and has aired its seventh season. The show stars three judges: Cla ...

''. She has been the host of two television cooking shows, '' Mary's Kitchen Crush'' and ''

Mary Makes It Easy ''Mary Makes It Easy'' is a Canadian television cooking show hosted by Mary Berg, which premiered on CTV Life Channel in 2021. The show, which is shot in Berg's real home kitchen, is designed around simple, easy-to-make recipes for people who strug ...

'', and has released two cookbooks, ''Kitchen Party'' and ''Well Seasoned''.

Early life

Berg was born in

Pickering, Ontario Pickering (2021 population 99,186) is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada, immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region. Beginning in the 1770s, the area was settled by primarily ethnic British colonists. An increase in population occurre ...

. When she was four years old, Berg was in a car accident in which her father died. Her mother and brother survived the accident with injuries. Berg helped out preparing meals for her family from about age 7 and by age 13 was cooking dinner for her family on her own. Berg obtained her bachelor's degree from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

, double majoring in history and English. She then pursued a master's degree in

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Career

After university, Berg became an insurance broker. She left her job to compete in

in 2016. Berg was the winner of season 3 of MasterChef Canada and the first ever female winner of the show. Since winning MasterChef Canada, Berg has appeared as a regular food expert on television shows like ''

Your Morning ''Your Morning'' is a Canadian breakfast television program that is broadcast on CTV and CTV News Channel. It debuted on August 22, 2016 and airs live from 6-9 a.m. in the Eastern Time Zone and simulcast elsewhere in Canada according to local sc ...

'' and ''

The Marilyn Denis Show ''The Marilyn Denis Show'' is a Canadian daytime television talk show which debuted on January 10, 2011, on CTV and CTV 2 (formerly A-Channel). Hosted by Marilyn Denis, the show airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on CTV and 11 a.m. ET on CTV 2 (timeslots ...

''. In 2017, Berg starred in an eight-episode cooking show on Gusto called ''Mary's Big Kitchen Party.'' Berg is the first MasterChef Canada winner to host her own cooking show, '' Mary's Kitchen Crush''. The show premiered on CTV in April 2019. ''Mary's Kitchen Crush'' won the

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

for Best Lifestyle Series, and Berg won for Best Lifestyle Host, at the

8th Canadian Screen Awards The 8th annual Canadian Screen Awards were originally scheduled to be held on March 29, 2020, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019.9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...

, where Berg also won Best Lifestyle Host. Berg's first cookbook, ''Kitchen Party'', was published in September 2019. In 2021, Berg premiered the new series ''

'', designed around simple, easy-to-make recipes for people who struggle with their cooking skills, on

CTV Life Channel CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home improvement and real estate, along with scripted dr ...

. That same year, she released her second cookbook, ''Well Seasoned''. Well seasoned won the gold medal at the 2022 Taste Canada Awards for best general cookbook. On April 6, 2022, Berg won the

for Host, Lifestyle at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were held on April 10, 2022, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2021.Etan Vlessing"Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Receive Canadian Screen Awards Special Honor" ''The Hollyw ...

. ''Mary Makes It Easy'' also won the award for Lifestyle Program or Series, on which Berg is a co-executive producer. On April 12, 2023, Berg hosted the

11th Canadian Screen Awards 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

ceremony for Lifestyle and Reality Television categories. ''Mary Makes It Easy'' won in three categories, including 'Best Lifestyle Program or Series', 'Best Direction, Lifestyle or Information', and 'Best Photography, Lifestyle or Reality/Competition'. In February 2022, ''Mary Makes It Easy'' premiered on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

in the USA. She served as co-host for the CTV show, '' Cross Country Cake Off'', which premiered in December 2022.

Bibliography

* ''Kitchen Party: Effortless Recipes for Every Occasion'' (Appetite by Random House, 2019) *''Well Seasoned: A Year's Worth of Delicious Recipes'' (Appetite by Random House, 2021)

Personal life

Berg lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband, engineer Aaron Mariash. She has been a

Pescatarian Pescetarianism (; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is the practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet. Pescetarians may or may not consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Approximately 3% of adul ...

for more than 15 years, though she cooks meat on her show.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Mary Canadian television chefs Participants in Canadian reality television series 21st-century Canadian women writers Women cookbook writers MasterChef Canada Wilfrid Laurier University alumni University of Toronto alumni People from Pickering, Ontario 1990 births Living people Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian cookbook writers Canadian women chefs