Past Seasons Discussion

[katisha]

4 hours ago, retrograde said:

Not looking forward to Ben Ungermann's wacky ice creams every week again.

Me either. But there will be a lot more competition than he faced in his season so hopefully he will be an early boot.

[TVbitch]

8 hours ago, retrograde said:

As the only person on the planet who liked the Australian MC: The Professionals, I think I'll like this format, though.

Nope, I liked it. A lot actually. It got better as it went on. Wish we got more than one season. I don't see why it failed.

[SnideAsides]

I would have loved MC: The Professionals if there weren't as many glorified Hell's Kitchen service challenges and if the cast was a bit more dynamic. I think the ideas were there (I loved the concept of the fusion invention test, and MPW's glee that they bought camel meat in case Moroccan got randomly picked was hilarious), it's just that when you've got a cast almost totally devoid of charisma doing challenges that aren't particularly challenging for them or entertaining for us, it's hard to get invested.

[retrograde]

On 2/21/2020 at 5:19 AM, katisha said:

Me either. But there will be a lot more competition than he faced in his season so hopefully he will be an early boot.

One hopes, but even on his season, he never got called out for the relative lack of effort compared to the other contestants.

19 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

I would have loved MC: The Professionals if there weren't as many glorified Hell's Kitchen service challenges and if the cast was a bit more dynamic. I think the ideas were there (I loved the concept of the fusion invention test, and MPW's glee that they bought camel meat in case Moroccan got randomly picked was hilarious), it's just that when you've got a cast almost totally devoid of charisma doing challenges that aren't particularly challenging for them or entertaining for us, it's hard to get invested.

It's true that, as the immunity challenges on the regular seasons often prove, many talented chefs have zero charisma on TV. And yes, hopefully this new season will focus more on cooking interesting dishes than service challenges. 

 

[seltzer3]

Ugh both Bens are back.  Taco Ben and Ice Cream Ben.  Rose is back too.

Wished the following came back
S1 (Julia, Justine)
S2 (Marion, Alvin)
S3 (Billy)
S4 (Kylie, Audra, Mindy)
S8 (Karmen, Trent, Brent)
S9 (Karlie, Eliza)
 

[TVbitch]

MC UK has started! 

Edited February 25, 2020 by TVbitch

[Rosenrot]

I'm totally late to the party, but YAAAY! I'm excited as hell about the new season. Though I said in the summer that I'll miss Matt, Gary & George, I think that having some fresh faces doing the judging is nothing but a good thing. (And I think I'll miss them less after just finished watching S1 for the first time - they were so rude and just... not nice at all during that season! 😄) I don't know who Melissa Leong is and I only know Jock's face because he's visited MCAU in the past, but I'm ready to give them all a chance.

Stoked to see Poh, Brendan, Jess, Khanh, Tessa, Hayden, SIMON 🥰 and even Taco Ben (I liked his personality). Some I'd rather not watch again - like S1 Chris with his stupid hats and S6 Emelia with her permanently pissed-off face -, but there you are.

Also, I didn't know until now that Ice Cream Ben is an actual Ice Cream Ben with his ice cream shop! This, once again, calls for a "take a shot every time Ben makes ice cream" drinking game. I have missed it. 

[SnideAsides]

So has your shotglass.

[katisha]

We have a start date: 13th April. It'll be good to have Masterchef to keep things a bit more normal during all this upheaval. Speaking of that, I hope all my fellow MC AU posters are safe and well.

[TVbitch]

I'm ready! In the meantime, Masterchef UK is on now and great as usual! 

[retrograde]

Ice Cream Ben kicked off the show after an arrest "of a personal nature"!?

Suggests they haven't taped the whole season yet. Which means it will just... stop at some point, I guess. Unless filming is still allowed under Victoria's lockdown? I wouldn't have thought so. 

[Rosenrot]

16 hours ago, retrograde said:

Ice Cream Ben kicked off the show after an arrest "of a personal nature"!?

Woah! That's a first (I think). 

Does that mean he did something in the competition and got arrested? I don't know, like… beat somebody up in the MCAU house or something? 😄 

Well, maybe not… but I'm dead curious.

E: It said on another news site that the arrest was "unrelated to the show" which, now that I think about it, they probably meant by "personal". Sometimes I post before I think. 🙄

Edited March 26, 2020 by Rosenrot

[Christina]

On YouTube, I was watching a show from Nigeria called Battle of the Chefs. It's in English but it's clear that it isn't the primary language for some of them. I enjoy it.

It gave me a suggestion of The Chefs' Line. There are only a few episodes on YouTube, though. Anyway, is that kitchen the Masterchef Australia kitchen? It looks really familiar and I originally thought it may be the Masterchef New Zealand kitchen, but they mentioned being in Australia. The three episodes I watched were great but it doesn't look like it's online anywhere else, so I can't watch more. 

Maybe all the kitchens look alike because the best layout for filming purposes doesn't change, but the background on this show is super familiar.

[limecoke]

Quote

I find Gordon more tolerable when he is outside the U.S. I guess he feels he has to be a over-acting buffoonish asshole to appeal to American audiences.

Not all of us.  Speaking for myself, I despise American cooking shows, especially those that include Gordon Ramsey.  I especially abhor the US version of Masterchef with all its silly drama and buffoonery.  I love MCAU and pretty much every cooking show from the U.K., Masterchef, GBBO, etc. A lot of us appreciate kindness and respect from both cooks and judges.  

Pretty much ok with the returnees.  We’ll see.  Very much looking forward to the season, new judges and all.

Hope everyone is well!  Be careful out there.

Edited March 30, 2020 by limecoke

[SnideAsides]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:52 PM, retrograde said:

Ice Cream Ben kicked off the show after an arrest "of a personal nature"!?

Suggests they haven't taped the whole season yet. Which means it will just... stop at some point, I guess. Unless filming is still allowed under Victoria's lockdown? I wouldn't have thought so. 

The lockdown excludes workplaces (and the cooktestants count as employees of Ten just like the production crew).

[retrograde]

1 hour ago, SnideAsides said:

The lockdown excludes workplaces (and the cooktestants count as employees of Ten just like the production crew).

You're correct, they are still filming. This seems... incredibly ill advised (I write this from New York, trust me) but there you go. 

[SnideAsides]

It's not (yet) a complete lockdown on the level of China or Italy or the US though. It's more of a "if you don't need to leave the house, don't" requirement. The players are locked down in their lodgings anyway and depending on how many are left right now, they may not even need the full crew.

I think it's pretty clear we're not getting any international trip week this season though.

 

[retrograde]

Spoiler

Gordon Ramsey will "dominate" first week of MC, only one immunity pin all season, and Nigella Lawson and Heston Blumenthal have dropped out. 

 

[Myriad]

Guys! I'M SO EXCITED! That our show is on the eve of a new season is the best news amidst this chaotic time.

And my boy Callum has grown into quite a piece of man. Rooting for him from the get go, yes indeed. Mwah!

I hope everybody is well, and well protected, and I'm excitedly looking forward to share another go at ice cream/parfaits snarks with you all. ^_^

 

[katisha]

On 4/12/2020 at 12:05 PM, Myriad said:

Guys! I'M SO EXCITED! That our show is on the eve of a new season is the best news amidst this chaotic time.

And my boy Callum has grown into quite a piece of man. Rooting for him from the get go, yes indeed. Mwah!

I hope everybody is well, and well protected, and I'm excitedly looking forward to share another go at ice cream/parfaits snarks with you all. ^_^

 

Myriad! *waves excitedly* So glad to have you here for this season! 

I'm letting down the Aussie side tonight as I am a lifelong fan of the Goodies and felt that watching a couple of my favourite episodes in honour of the late, great Tim Brooke-Taylor (who sadly passed away overnight after contracting the horrible bug) had to take precedence over watching the MC season opener but I'll catch up tomorrow after work and relay my snark in time for the new episode.  But I'm really looking forward to see how my favourites go.  How did I know you'd be a Callum fan too? 🙂

[Sarnia]

I've watched the "preview and retrospective" bit which is actually also the first 7 minutes of Ep1. They make it sound as Masterchef Australia was the origin of all the Masterchef shows around the world after its season 1 in 2010. But the UK version was already going on in its revived version since 2005, so I don't really understand? Is it really the Australian version that prompted other countries' interest in doing their own version of Masterchef?

[katisha]

10 minutes ago, Sarnia said:

I've watched the "preview and retrospective" bit which is actually also the first 7 minutes of Ep1. They make it sound as Masterchef Australia was the origin of all the Masterchef shows around the world after its season 1 in 2010. But the UK version was already going on in its revived version since 2005, so I don't really understand? Is it really the Australian version that prompted other countries' interest in doing their own version of Masterchef?

To the best of my knowledge, you're right and the UK was first. Sounds like the producers on the Australian version are doing a bit of creative writing!

[TVbitch]

UK version final is this week and it has been a great season with amazing dishes. Still my favorite. But I will be here for MCAU even if they are poaching their glory! : D

[dnagirl]

So excited for this season!  I love Dani and Laura and Lynton and Amelia and Callum and Khahn and...and...Reece isn't annoying me (I think it's because he got rid of that awful hair. What can I say, I'm shallow.)

It doesn't look like Jess has matured very much since S10.  That dish from Dani looked so good, although so did the other three top dishes (pass that eclair through my television straight to my couch, thank you!).  I like Reynold, but I really really hope he does branch out from the desserts like he said.

I was cracking up at Reece and his balloons.  Everyone is frantically running around.  Reece blows up a balloon.  Everyone is cooking madly.  Reece blows up a balloon.  Reece runs by with a bowl of stuff...while blowing up a balloon.  I was dying.

It will be interesting to see how they handle Ben Ungermann's departure.  I was surprised he had a talking head in E1.  I find Poh as annoying as always.

Rose. Why is Rose there?  Why?

[limecoke]

I liked it.  Liked the new judges and didn’t miss George, et.al., as much as I thought I would.

The only things that annoyed me were Jess (why is she there?), Poh (she always annoys me), and as much as I like Reynold, I’m afraid his amazing desserts and all the tongue baths he’ll receive will annoy me too because he’s there for the long haul, that’s for sure.

I love Tessa, Callum and, yes, even Lynton.

Good start.

[TVbitch]

Good show, but why not at least show us a glimpse of all the dishes. God knows they had plenty of time to do that! 

I only recongized a few people, cuz I have zero memory skills. Lots of great dishes and I'm quite glad not to have to slog through the "audition" rounds. The new judges are fine and don't miss the old ones. Having said that I am glad they included them in the intro instead of trying to make it like they never existed like some show do. 

Um, perhaps I have been housebound for a bit, but there are a lot of fine looking gents in the mix. The two male judges are hot too, and I even find Gordon attractive when he is not trying to be !!AMERICAN!! 

Kind of glad there is only one immunity pin. Hope they also swich up the replication elimination challenge which has always been my least favorite. How many episodes will there be each week? 

[SnideAsides]

UK version came first but they're correct, it wasn't until MCAU started that anyone else was even interested and all of a sudden there were like 70 versions of the show overnight.

[dnagirl]

7 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

UK version came first but they're correct, it wasn't until MCAU started that anyone else was even interested and all of a sudden there were like 70 versions of the show overnight.

I always found it interesting that MCUK follows a completely different format, while all others have chosen to follow the MCAU format.  I like both TBH, it's a nice switch to watch the UK format with the rounds.

BTW @TVbitch I was also wondering how many epis per week, if they're cutting out an immunity challenge, will they replace it with something else or air one less episode per week?

[retrograde]

Yaaaaaaay! Man, after more than a month of lockdown, I really need this in my life right now. 

I like the new judges, but Gordon was really running the show, so will reserve my full judgement until after he's gone. Also I always forget that I quite like Gordon when he's on this show! He did a good job pretending he remembered who any of them were and how they did in the competition previously.

I don't know what Ben was arrested for but... he wasn't looking so well compared with three years ago. 

[Myriad]

It has begun, yay!

Heading in with Gordon was good marketing (and when he appeared, I did not swallow my tongue in girly-fan surprise, what a ridiculous thought). Bring the crowd in immediately, plus use him as a transfer sheet to present the new judges, since many heads in said crowd have declared not wanting to watch the show without the original trio.

No auditions, and also no going through multiple episodes figuring out who's who.  Yeah, thanks, show, for once you're not peppering us with a shower of look-alike blonds; the only season it wouldn't have been an additional suffering puzzle.

5 hours ago, dnagirl said:

Rose. Why is Rose there?  Why?

We need a few villains.  This one comes for free as we don't have to cross dangerous rivers to find her. But yeah, why oh WHYYYY?

5 hours ago, dnagirl said:

I find Poh as annoying as always.

 

4 hours ago, limecoke said:

Poh (she always annoys me)

I thought she was very popular among the fans and that my "Ugh, no no no no no" internal reaction upon seeing her face would be an isolated one.  Well, hello friends of not friends of Poh!  Poh: Villain number 2. Or might be number 1 since she's bound to have more screen time than Rooooose.

3 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Um, perhaps I have been housebound for a bit, but there are a lot of fine looking gents in the mix.

Lady! I should say "get out of my head" but... No, stay there! We'll have fun telepathying (this exists as of now, quarantine is free time to do whatever) over eye candies.  First, yes, rooting for my boy Callum is a given, then the Fantastic Khanh, then of course Get-Lost-Emma-Should-Have-Been-Lynton, my teddy bear Simon... slight feeling of guilt in the absence of a favourite lady.  There could be Courtney and Laura, but they've matured so much that I don't recognize their vibrations.  Emelia?  50's Sarah? Check back in a few episodes?

Clearly, the dishes will be something else since they're all pros now. Can you all see that poor ice cream disappearing down the road in front of us, sadly melting under her baluchon? Can't say we hardly knew you, Ice Cream.

[Iris987]

29 minutes ago, retrograde said:

Yaaaaaaay! Man, after more than a month of lockdown, I really need this in my life right now.

Same. I haven't really watched this since Season 5 (excluding the finals because I like the insane desserts they have to make) but mindless cooking shows look really good right now. I'm glad there are quite a few people from the early days that I recognise and I'm glad we get another round of the greatest bromance on tv staring Ben and Andy. Watching them fall in love was the best part of their season.

[Sarnia]

Ok, that was a good distraction and I think I like the new judges (the old ones were becoming a bit of a caricature of themselves). But one and a half hour and we saw only half the dishes? (and half of the contestants, it seemed). I wish they would put the names and seasons  on each talking heads, there are some people I really don't remember (sometimes the names were there, and sometimes not, it was weird). I watched very steadily until season 5 and 6, and then a lot more loosely after that so maybe that's why.

I'm also in the Callum fan group (season 2 is my all-time favorite), and he aged up quite nicely. But Ben (the one from Ben and Andy) looks like his own dad! (I don't know what his dad actually looks like, to be frank, but he looks like a really different person. Maybe the haircut. I didn't recognize him until they put some pictures of his season).

Gordon was almost bearable. The level difference in cooking skills between this show and MCUS must be astonishing for him ("and now for the elimination round, let's do your own take on mac and cheese!").

So far I'm here for the ride. Just hoping for not too much drama.
 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Sarnia

[katisha]

So I've watched last night's episode and caught up on tonight's and I have a few random and somewhat scattered obervations.  Apologies but I started a new job just over two weeks ago and my brain is a lot more full than it has had to be in ages because we're doing our training entirely from our homes, which is quite challenging for an old chook like me...hehe!

• I didn't watch Reynold's season and so far I veer between thinking he's quite brilliant and thinking he's an overly pretentious wannabe Heston.  But he sure is purty. [/shallow] And of all the overly pretentious wannabe Hestons that have come afterwards (yes, I'm looking at you, Reece, and you, sooky Jess), he was at least the MC AU original.
• I also didn't watch S1 so I never got to see Poh as a contestant.  Add me to the list of people who find her really annoying. Was she always like this? And was Chris "the meat guy" also always irritating?
• Callum is still an awesome guy, and rather than staying in his dessert pigeonhole, look how he's branched off into being really good with savoury too.
• I'm so glad Sarah Tiong has shorter hair this time because I don't think I could bear a fresh batch of hysterical Facebook posts about how much hair she must be dropping into her food.
• I just randomly remembered that we used to call redheaded Sarah the Carrot Lady...lol!
• Now that I've had a chance to look at all he contestants, a couple I didn't think I knew or remembered have popped back into my mind, such as Tracy.  I quite liked her in her season. Emilia also came back into focus and she was definitely a little unlucky not to get right to the end in her season.

I think that's all I've got for now except to say that I'm quite shocked how little thought I've given to any of the former judges!

 

[Rosenrot]

Ahh. MCAU is back on. It feels like everything is alright in the world again. ❤️

Ugh Gordon and his forehead wrinkles, tho'. And I have to watch him for MULTIPLE DAYS. Akk. Blergh. (Ok I might be a bit of a drama queen because I actually found him tolerable. But that might still change.) 

SIMON! *hugs the TV* I legit didn't recognize everybody there. (Is THAT Reece?? He's almost a bit hot!) Some faces I recognized, but had no idea what season they were on. And I've watched all the seasons over a very short time period not long ago, so I should remember. Goes to show what a wreck my memory is, but still, I wish they would've properly introduced everybody. 

6 hours ago, Iris987 said:

and I'm glad we get another round of the greatest bromance on tv staring Ben and Andy. Watching them fall in love was the best part of their season.

I MEAN. 20 minutes in and they were already exchanging loved-up glances with each other. 😄 

36 minutes ago, katisha said:

I didn't watch Reynold's season and so far I veer between thinking he's quite brilliant and thinking he's an overly pretentious wannabe Heston.  But he sure is purty. [/shallow]

I'll go for the latter. He is purty, though. [/shallow]

37 minutes ago, katisha said:

And was Chris "the meat guy" also always irritating?

YES.

[limecoke]

Quote

Gordon was almost bearable. The level difference in cooking skills between this show and MCUS must be astonishing for him ("and now for the elimination round, let's do your own take on mac and cheese!").

It’s quite early in my part of the US but thanks for this, my first huge laugh in over a week!  Now I’ll start scouring the interwebs for episode 2.  Always fun.

Edited April 14, 2020 by limecoke

[retrograde]

Did we really have to do a scream-y service challenge on day 2? It seems particularly silly when they have now-pros competing with amateurs and cookbook writers. That said, surprised at how many who have apparently worked in professional kitchens still shit the bed. 

Big ratings for the premiere. Will be interesting to see if that keeps up.

[seltzer3]

57 minutes ago, retrograde said:

Did we really have to do a scream-y service challenge on day 2? It seems particularly silly when they have now-pros competing with amateurs and cookbook writers. That said, surprised at how many who have apparently worked in professional kitchens still shit the bed. 

Big ratings for the premiere. Will be interesting to see if that keeps up.

In fairness I think everyone is just getting their feet wet.  Also its kind of weird when you have such a disparity of kitchen experience.  Like you have people like Hayden who are more like casual "cooks", while someone like Reynold who has tons of pastry on the line experience.

I actually do like Poh, Chris (maybe because I have a softie for the older people).  But it looks like almost all of the older contestants (Chris, Poh, Callum) are really out of their element.  Pretty ballsy of Amina to be the leader, considering she is probably the least experienced.

I know people like Reynold, but I feel like its going to kind of uneventful in the team challenges.   Reynold is really good at what he does, but I notice he doesn't really make a lot of baking desserts.  Its always molds/mousses/creams

Edited April 14, 2020 by seltzer3

[TVbitch]

I hope all the guys that wear hats in the kitchen are eliminated first! : D

If we had this version of Gordon in the US, I might actually watch US Masterchef! 

I love how when Gordon calls them over for an URGENT 30 second meeting, Simon is totally not paying attention and even looks at his fingernails like he is thinking "whatever dude"! LOL Love me some Simon. I am hoping he makes it far since they haven't featured him at all yet. 

Gordon is propping up the judges, as @Myriad said. They were pretty bland at their table of blah. I wish we could keep him!

[dnagirl]

9 hours ago, katisha said:

I also didn't watch S1 so I never got to see Poh as a contestant.  Add me to the list of people who find her really annoying. Was she always like this? And was Chris "the meat guy" also always irritating?

I've found Poh annoying since her audition, where she should have been sent home. I mean seriously, she cooked them a dish they hated then said, "oh but what I really wanted to make you was this OTHER dish" and they said, "OK well make us that dish and then come back!"  I'm pretty sure she panicked in a lot of the cooks. Then at another point in the season she screwed something else up and they let her go back to the store or something to fix it.  At least that's how I remember it, maybe I'm wrong.

As for Chris, he has always been a superdouche.  He's another one of the "villians" that @Myriad comments about them always needing.  While Rose brings incompetence but she's not an ass, Chris manages to be an ass and incompetent. Although, I guess he and Julia have a fairly successful restaurant?

So here in epi 2 the three "dessert masters" end up screwing up dessert.  Glad the green team added the lamb to the main and good on the boys for cooking it perfectly. Did Gordon say, "I have eyes in my asshole" or did I mishear that?  I hope to god I misheard that.  I'm still not annoyed by Reece and Gordon didn't bother me too much either.  I must have a fever.

Speaking of Gordon, I am so glad they replayed that salmon clip. The first time I saw that, I laughed so hard I had to rewind and watch it three more times.  The poor soul who had to dig that piece of fish out from under that wall thingy!

I do like the twist.  Less immunity pins and less safety.  I like it.  I wish more shows would do it. (do you hear me, Survivor?) 

So elimination doesn't happen until Sunday?  Hm, maybe only three episodes per week then.

[seltzer3]

Also, what was up with the Hibachi grills on the first day?

It was kind of crazy seeing so many contestants use that.  I wonder if that will be our Ice Cream this season.  Also looks like Ben is going to make an ice cream tomorrow (Stop it Ben!)

There were certain contestants I was surprised not to see come back.  I also thought it was odd to see Rose come back.  Georgia, Jessi, Matthew, Stephen, and Jessica were all better contestants.

Season 4 was pretty stacked as well.  Kylie, Mindy, and Audra were really good cooks as well.

Quote

As for Chris, he has always been a superdouche.  He's another one of the "villians" that @MYRIAD comments about them always needing.  While Rose brings incompetence but she's not an ass, Chris manages to be an ass and incompetent. Although, I guess he and Julia have a fairly successful restaurant?

Also, kind of surprised Julia wasn't asked back.  I know she wasn't the most interesting personality, but she was the first contestant to beat a celebrity chef.

Edited April 15, 2020 by seltzer3

[katisha]

24 minutes ago, seltzer3 said:

It was kind of crazy seeing so many contestants use that.  I wonder if that will be our Ice Cream this season.  Also looks like Ben is going to make an ice cream tomorrow (Stop it Ben!)

Was I the only one who feared ICB (Ice Cream Ben) was going to take over his team's dessert and insist they make a black garlic ice-cream? 🤮🤮🤮

Edited April 15, 2020 by katisha

[SnideAsides]

8 hours ago, retrograde said:

Did we really have to do a scream-y service challenge on day 2? It seems particularly silly when they have now-pros competing with amateurs and cookbook writers. That said, surprised at how many who have apparently worked in professional kitchens still shit the bed. 

Big ratings for the premiere. Will be interesting to see if that keeps up.

Big ratings for Episode 2 as well. First time we've had back-to-back episodes get over a million viewers since 2016, and the first time *any* episode except a premiere or finale has reached that figure since 2017 (where literally one immunity challenge episode did it and that was it).

It's almost like George was damaging to the show's brand and they should've gotten rid of him sooner.

[Iris987]

4 hours ago, dnagirl said:

As for Chris, he has always been a superdouche.  He's another one of the "villians" that @Myriad comments about them always needing.  While Rose brings incompetence but she's not an ass, Chris manages to be an ass and incompetent.

I never minded Chris. I started watching Season 1 about halfway through when it had exploded with popularity and I had been reading about this Satan's Minion named Chris. I was like "that's it"? I come from the school of Jonny Fairplay on Survivor pretending his grandmother died to win a sandwich type of villainy. If I don't come away wanting to start a grass fire on your front lawn then you're not a villain. The edit Chris got always seemed sort of half assed, as if the editors were thinking "reality tv needs a bad guy and we are nowhere near as good at it as our American counterparts but we'll try this". Ice cream Ben annoyed me more. And that comes from only watching the grand final that year.

I'm liking the new judges. It was time. I've always liked Gary and Matt I'm neutral on but George's behavior in the real word really damaged the brand. He's like Pete Evans on MKR- I can't tolerate them because they are such ignorant assholes. And I'm sorry but I absolutely would order a potato rosti as an entree. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Iris987
.

[katisha]

That was a thoroughly enjoyable episode and it only got better after the team I wanted to win the most actually won - woot! Callum will always be a favourite of mine as he's never changed from the time he was first on the show as a callow 20-year-old.  He was sweet and polite and a thoroughly decent guy then and he's just the same now.  I did watch S5 when She Who Shall Not Be Named won but I've blocked most of it from my memory, which is why at first Lynton didn't seem familiar but now I do recall him (and just quietly, he was SOOOO robbed!).  And it appears that since her season, Carrot Lady Sarah has really upped her game and made what seemed an excellent dish.  And the best part about this team winning was that it meant Poh's team lost (although, poor Tessa - Poh was really kind of rude to her, I thought).  I think we can all resign ourselves to the fact that Poh will be around a long time in this season but as long as she doesn't win every single challenge on the way, I can live with it. 

Funny moments were Hayden saying that if Ice Cream Ben's hair was a wave he'd want to surf it, and Simon telling Amina and Rose he was off to the kitchen and asking if they wanted anything, to be greeted by a resounding chorus of crickets! Bahaha!

 

[Rosenrot]

13 hours ago, Iris987 said:

I come from the school of Jonny Fairplay on Survivor pretending his grandmother died to win a sandwich type of villainy.

LOL I remember Jonny as well. And to be fair, I personally don't think Chris is a "villain" as such - I just found and find him annoying and if I was asked why, I probably couldn't pinpoint it. Same with many other contestants and virtually every other TV show. Some people just rub you the wrong way and you can't explain why.

However, I love Poh (95% of the time, anyway - the remaining 5% she can be slightly annoying) and I seem to be in the minority, which somewhat shocks me. 😄 

14 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

There were certain contestants I was surprised not to see come back.  I also thought it was odd to see Rose come back. 

Was Rose really Top 4 of her season? I'd have to check, but I guess so. I was also quite surprised to see her back. I didn't remember her at all until I saw her face - when everybody went "oh no Rose is back" I was like "who the F is Rose?" Memory. Crap. Again.

(In retrospect, I cannot understand what my reasoning possibly could have been to start a diet literally one day before the season premiere. Whatever it was, it was ill-advised. This could turn out to be a very short-lived diet indeed.)

Edited April 15, 2020 by Rosenrot

[zibnchy]

On 4/14/2020 at 1:41 AM, Myriad said:

Well, hello friends of not friends of Poh! 

I don't know very much about Poh but she gives me the impression of someone who practices her facial expressions in the mirror. "Here's my shocked but amused face." "Here's my humble Oh Shucks face." However, sometimes her "I'm going to kill you" face comes out. Anyway I don't trust her. I was surprised that Gordon told her (in ep 1) that he'd heard that she is the favorite. Really?

On 4/14/2020 at 8:13 AM, katisha said:

I just randomly remembered that we used to call redheaded Sarah the Carrot Lady...lol!

I call her Sarah Carrots 3 Ways. She seems to have grown as a cook. I'd probably like her more if she'd stop with the damn hair bows. (I get that production probably encourages her to wear them.)

19 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Gordon is propping up the judges, as @Myriad said. They were pretty bland at their table of blah. I wish we could keep him!

I feel like the new judges are trying waaaaay too hard but I can't actually blame them for that. I don't know their names but I like Scottish guy the best of the three. Black Beard needs to dial it down a few notches (and be less bland) and The Woman Judge just seems blah to me.

All in all, thru 3 episodes, we've already seen some great cooking so I'm hoping for an exciting season.

 

[ppl]

I think bringing back past contestants was a very smart move. At least there's something to watch for everyone.

Out of the 3 new judges, I like Melissa the most. Her comments are on point and she is giving great commentary. Jock's been pretty good as well. I like Andy and I was rooting for him to win back in season 4 but he's been less outspoken than the other 2 and tries to play up his bogan style which is fine for now but it might get a tad annoying later on.

When I watched Reynold back in season 7, he was one of my favourites along with Billie and Jessie but after re-watching that season over and over, he seemed to be very set in his ways. Deliberately making small portions just to make a plate aesthetically pleasing. Screwing up honeycomb twice or 3 times. Making tiny sized choux pastry during the team challenge. He puts presentation over flavour and it seems he hasn't learned from his mistakes.

I still dislike Simon, Sarah (red head) and Khanh. Dani doesn't seem nearly as annoying unlike in season 3 but it's still early days.

Does Poh have amnesia or something? She didn't seem to be this forgetful before.

I really enjoyed seeing Callum, Laura, Emelia, Tessa, Sarah T (season 9), Amina again.

Ben (season 4 - Andy's bro) isn't a great cook. I hope he doesn't go far otherwise the bromance is going to be insufferable.

Gordon sucks even when he is nice. His comments are terribly shallow and are surface level comments only. I can't wait till he's gone.

I really disliked the tag team relay meal challenge. There's way too many people to feature and not enough time spent on the cooking. If they're going to do this challenge again, it should only be done with 2 teams of 3 (6 dishes) vs. 4 teams of 3 (12 dishes). Even 6 dishes is pushing it but it might be doable.

[ppl]

Apparently, Gordon is to blame for the pork belly fiasco according to Chris.

Quote

Speaking to news.com.au today, Badenoch claimed there was actually plenty of pork left over and it was Ramsay who had miscounted the portions, not him.

“I watched it last night when it went to air and I was having a good laugh at it,” he told news.com.au. “He (Ramsay) got the numbers wrong, that’s what I was laughing under my breath at.

“He (Ramsay) didn’t write down a few tables that had gone out, plus there were eight portions sitting on the pass that he didn’t notice.”

Badenoch claimed that when the service was over, he still had plenty of meat leftover.

“I was like, ‘what the f**k am I meant to do with this giant tray of pork?’” he said.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/masterchef-chris-badenoch-hits-back-at-gordon-ramsay-after-outburst/news-story/e6b4b92976e2ecb93f7757ced7263a76

[retrograde]

11 hours ago, Rosenrot said:

However, I love Poh (95% of the time, anyway - the remaining 5% she can be slightly annoying) and I seem to be in the minority, which somewhat shocks me. 😄 

I also like Poh! And I want to eat her crepes.

8 hours ago, ppl said:

Out of the 3 new judges, I like Melissa the most. Her comments are on point and she is giving great commentary. Jock's been pretty good as well. I like Andy and I was rooting for him to win back in season 4 but he's been less outspoken than the other 2 and tries to play up his bogan style which is fine for now but it might get a tad annoying later on.

I also like Melissa the most, she's really good at articulating how something tastes and why it's good or bad. Andy seems to be helpful in giving advice during the challenges, but barely speaks in the actual judging and when he does, it's basically "that was good."

[katisha]

Callum! The editors tried their best to make me think he was a goner with a few "deer in the headlights" camera shots and the dreaded tiny fish bone, but he wouldn't have done so well on this show both times he's been on it if he didn't handle pressure well. I love it when nice guys win (although on this season, the guys are pretty much all in that category!)

Sarah Carrot Lady - I did remember her having a son called Elvis but I thought she also had a husband from Brazil and I get the feeling she may no longer be married after she said tonight, "I moved to Tasmania with my son", not "we".  Or am I going nuts?

Wonder how the show will go ratings wise now that Gordon's left the building?

One last thing - is it a coincidence that these five contestants are featured in the MC AU Facebook cover picture?

Edited April 16, 2020 by katisha