Joe Bastianich has announced he will step down from the popular Fox cooking reality show MasterChef after the completion of the third season of MasterChef Junior.

Bastianich is one of three judges on the show, including celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Michelin-starred chef Graham Elliot. Producers have started looking for a replacement for Bastianich, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In a joint statement, producers Shine America, One Potato Two Potato, and Fox said that Bastianich had played an “integral role in the success of both MasterChef and MasterChef Junior,” and that he will “always remain a member of the MasterChef family.”

Bastianich is a successful restaurateur with establishments in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, as well as Singapore, and he has served as a judge on all MasterChef seasons for both the adult’s and the kid’s versions, along with Ramsay and Elliot. The latest season of MasterChef Junior, which will be his last, will begin Jan. 6.

Bastianich said that he has decided to step down after several years on the show in order to focus his time on continued global expansion of the group that he co-owns, the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, as well as Eataly. He said it has “been a pleasure working alongside Gordon and Graham on five seasons of MasterChef and three sasons of MasterChef Junior.

He said he plans to continue working with production company Shine America and is expected to appear in season two of CNBC’s Restaurant Startup, which returns in January. He will remain on as a judge for MasterChef Italia, and acquired Italian production company Todos Contentos. He will produce season two of On the Road for Italy’s Sky Network.

On the restaurant front, his group will be opening Regina Ristorante at the Maritiem Hotel in New York. He also will open Eataly outposts at the World Trade Center and in Sao Paolo.