Riviera Nayarit, Mexico - Chef Betty Vázquez, Culinary Ambassador for the Riviera Nayarit, was named as one of the three judges for the first-ever Master Chef Mexico, a reality cooking show in search of the country's most talented amateur chef.

"The show airs very soon. It's a very well produced series born of a lot of effort on behalf of its participants and months of searching throughout Mexico for the first #MasterChefMx. I'm very proud to be a part of it," said Chef Betty Vázquez.

Betty has championed the cuisine of Nayarit, placing it front and center stage during her years of traveling around the world together with the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau. Now she will be on Tv Azteca for 16 consecutive Sundays starting on June 28, 2015.

"The destination brought us together and gave us the opportunity to be a part of this marvelous project," she added. She also stated, "the challenge for participants is to win thanks to their talent as cooks and proudly represent the first generation of participants in Master Chef Mexico."

The Tv Azteca production was completed in conjunction with Discovery Home & Health, which will start transmitting the programs throughout Latin America on July 9th.

There are 18 hand-picked participants from several regions in the country, chosen from a casting call of 9,000. The 18 contestants passed several qualifying rounds and will now vie for the top award and take home a prize of one million pesos.

Anette Michel will host the program; Benito Molina and Adrián Herrera will join Betty Vázquez at the judges' table. For more details (in Spanish) and a video teaser, visit eltrece.mx/masterchef.