Losing Matt, Gary and George is what Masterchef needed to become as diverse as the food it celebrates
The exit of judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris has been controversial, and potentially damaging, for the Masterchef brand. But, explains 3PM’s Marnie Vinall, it’s an opportunity to refresh the judging panel so that the franchise is represented by people as diverse as the food it celebrates.
Tuesday night was the final time we saw George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan give their hot takes on a Masterchef contestant’s meringue. After pay negotiations with Ten fell apart, it was revealed that all of the judges would not be returning to the show next season, leaving three huge, celebrity-chef-shaped spots to fill.
There’s no denying that Calombaris, Preston and Mehigan have been the centre of the Masterchef brand since the show first aired in April 2009 and have helped propel it to the heights it’s reached. But, with their departure, Channel Ten has an important opportunity on their hands: giving the hosting roles to people who aren’t cisgender white men.
Adam Liaw, the winner of the second series of Masterchef Australia was right in his tweet last night.
Would love to see a statement made about the diversity of Aussie food. Someone like Mark Olive or Luke Nguyen would be great, but then it also needs at least one female judge too.
” Lashana Lynch as the next 007.” is not factual. It has only been “reported” by a “leak from an unknown inside source” as far as I can tell.
And I’m sorry, but saying that “Beer is a 74-year-old woman” is just as irritating and pointless as that hackneyed phrase “middle aged white men”.
What has age got do do with it? Or ethnicity for that matter.
And don’t forget ‘cisgender white men.’
Cisgender White Men are to blame for everything!
We have not watched this show from the beginning but These 3 judges are what actually made this show watchable. Most other MasterChef (USA) for example has Sanchez, Ramsay & moma’s boy Joe who are all ridiculous and unhelpful to the contestants. Rude people and stupid things happen on all these shows of MasterChef all over the world. Canada is barely watchable. Do not underestimate the lure of these 3 chef judges. They will be missed and they set the professional tone for this show.
yes totally agree – lets have a couple of female judges.
Lashana Lynch is not going to be the new BOND
I disengage immediately when I see the word cisgender
And what about the Wiggles? 75% white male! Where’s the balance?
Where’s is Roberta the Builder?
Don’t get me started on Thomas the Tank Engine. That fat-shamed controller’s life must be hell.
Hafta say I never watched it because it was so obviously contrived, and the way the competition was constructed was grossly unfair, such as team challenges. My husband watched, along with other ‘reality’ television silliness… he likes to criticise.
And I hate to say I never liked the judges, so that was another no brainer for me – the bullying ‘tactics’ and weirdness. I also never understood why grown adults would so actively seek approval from total strangers, behave like pre-baked victims and be like infants being scolded by mummy when it went pear shaped. Of course you want enough approval to win, but it seemed to go deeper than that. Then I remembered that so-called professional chefs like to bully and behave badly in real kitchens – so yeah – infantile much? (I had a boyfriend who was a chef – he ran a tight ship, but there was no yelling, no ‘yes chef’ [read ‘jawohl mein fürer’], none of the ingrained Prima Donna tantrums you find in other places. His kitchen is quiet and efficient – he is still successful today)
So I thought that perhaps we’ll get a good refresh, ditch the bad behaviour, and I might watch it.
Then the announcement came about who the new judges were likely to be. I don’t actively dislike them but don’t like them either…remains to be seen about the format, but still won’t watch! After all when it comes to food, it’s a very personal thing. Gimme good, flavoursome, ugly street food over tweezered nonsense, any day. Still calling it Master Pfaff.
@Marnie. Why are you only viewing diversity across 3 spectrums, in this case sexual preference, race and gender? This is such a lazy interpretation of diversity it’s mystifying. Diversity exists across an almost infinite number of spectrums; there is little data suggesting that a group of “cisgender white men” cannot be as, or more diverse that any other group (let’s think about background, social class, education, height, weight, upbringing). But of course, in your world, diversity is purely about what you can see. It’s based on race. It’s based on gender. It’s lazy stereotyping like this that makes for great click bait, but little in the way of adding to the debate
Well said.
Is a small, portly Greek man not diverse??
3 wonderful entertaining and passionate people dismissed out of hand because the are men, straight and white.
Shame, shame, shame.
Its OK to be male, straight and white, in fact is great.