Noelani Gray of Makawao, Maui, is only 8 years old and has never been in a cooking contest before, but entered the “MasterChef Junior” national TV competition with confidence.

Her attitude: “I’m willing to fight for it and don’t know how many people I have to push away to get it!”

Also representing Hawaii is Sophia Stark, 12, of Honolulu, who won the 2015 Keiki in the Kitchen contest at the Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival.

The Season 6 premiere airs Friday, featuring celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi in Los Angeles.

Noelani and Sophia are among 40 cooks between the ages of 8 and 13 who will take on a series of challenges from whipping up dishes representing their family heritage, to a dinner for a newlywed couple.

The contestants will be winnowed down to 12 girls and 12 boys after the first round, Friday’s two-hour episode at 7 p.m. on KHON-TV, called “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / The Boys Are Back in Town.”

Those who make the cut will continue competing through the series’ regular time slot, beginning at 7 p.m. March 9, for a trophy and the $100,000 grand prize.

Both young chefs have been honing their skills cooking for their families.

Noelani, a student at Makawao Elementary School, started cooking with her grandmother and mom a few years ago, and is a regular viewer of “MasterChef Junior.”

She’s been making dinner all by herself, and her favorites include pork katsu curry, loco moco and fruit-filled crepes.

Sophia, who is home-schooled, has been helping her parents in the kitchen since she was 6, and bakes a lot of desserts.

“Everyone is just crazy” about her pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, she added.

Sophia won the 2015 Keiki in the Kitchen contest for her crispy panko eggplant with spinach salad, which “really helped me with skills and experience,” she said.

Although she’s taken some classes, “mostly it’s just practice, doing recipes over and over.”