‘It’s a real competition, with real stakes, and it genuinely changes people’s lives’: Cooking up MasterChef’s new season

Nathan Jolly

April 24, 2024 6:30

MasterChef Australia returned to screen this week for season 16, entering into the rare air occupied by TV franchises that have lasted for generations while still finding new audiences.

The premiere episode launched on Monday night to a national average audience of 776,000, reaching 1.42 million viewers during the initial airing, with those viewership tallies likely to swell considerably once the 10Play stragglers catch up.

Season 16 of MasterChef kicked off with a fresh panel of judges, featuring journalist Sofia Levin, French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, and season one runner-up, Poh Ling Yeow, who was drafted in last season as a guest judge.

The season premiere took the top spot in the competitive 7.30pm timeslot, and was the top entertainment show overall for the 16-39 demographic during Monday night, drawing 15% more viewers than last season’s average.

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Nathan Jolly

Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.

Topics

Adriano Zumbo Anna Polyviou Clare Smyth curtis stone Darren Purchese Guillaume Brahimi Hugh Allen Josh Niland Luke Nguyen MasterChef Network 10 Paramount Sarah Thornton Sofia Levin