My husband will tell you, I have previously scheduled my life around MasterChef – but my review of series 19 is in and it’s more insipid than appetising…
Don’t get me wrong, the amateur cooking show is still perfectly palatable. But rather than being glued to the screen, I’m a quarter watching, and three-quarters browsing Ocado. I won’t even pause it when I go to the loo!
This is a shocking admission from a former super-fan, who would never miss an episode. So what’s gone wrong, and what can they be doing better? Here’s my brutally honest review of MasterChef.
Does MasterChef need new hosts?
For years, my husband has rolled his eyes at my dedicated commitment to watching every single episode of MasterChef. There’s been 19 series since the show first launched in 2005, so that’s a LOT of episodes…
My DH has always failed to see the appeal, and mocked – yes, mocked! – Gregg Wallace and John Torode’s carefully scripted chats to the camera. And I’m seriously beginning to agree with him (well, there’s a first for everything).
No sooner has John Torode suggested a contestant is being “brave” for attempting a soufflé, then the camera cuts to a very sorry attempt at the egg-based dish… Or perhaps he warns us that the “fat has to be rendered to perfection” and then, well, it isn’t.
Every year, Gregg says something along the lines of “the competition at this stage in the quarter-final is absolutely ferocious” or it’s the “toughest challenge so far”.
I feel like I know what John and Gregg, also known in my house as Jegg, are going to say before they even say it. Which is why I think the BBC One flagship show needs a facelift. Or even a face swap?
Much as I love Jegg, I’d be totally behind the BBC making a bold decision and mixing up the hosts a bit. And I’d argue the series is about the contestants, not the hosts anyway.
Matt Tebbutt would be a brilliant addition – he’s full of cheeky banter but has the cooking skills, too. I’d vote for Nadiya Hussain, or TV faves David Myers and Si King, too. Or dare I suggest former winner Lisa Faulkner, John’s wife, take over? And I’d love to be a fly on the wall when she told him!
MasterChef series 19 review – yawn!
Truthfully, I need more from a show these days than an undercooked potato. There’s so much on the box, and MasterChef is a huge commitment… Each series is 24 episodes, which is a lot of hours.
Although I adore cooking shows – including watching people cook, watching people mess up, seeing chefs sweat under pressure – the MasterChef format is tired.
The American version of MasterChef airs on FOX, with Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich, and Aarón Sánchez as judges. Every series has a theme – the 12th season, Back to Win, aired between May and September 2022. The 13th season set to premiere any day now, has the subtitle United Tastes of America…
Of course, it’s totally over-the-top, and unnecessarily glossy. But it has a live audience, which adds an element of tension. And, unlike the British version, the contestants seem to form informal teams, but also have to partner with their competitors.
Like in MasterChef: The Professionals, perhaps the contestants could judge each other’s food – with brutal honesty. Maybe I’m a bitch, but the former contestants who return to judge the food are way too nice. Of course, they’ve been through it before so are very sympathetic.
In the fourth quarter-final, four more cooks returned to fight for a place in Knockout Week. 2020 champion Thomas Frake, 2010 champion Dhruv Baker and 2021 finalist Alexina Anatole all returned. “We didn’t need these tomatoes” is perhaps the most cutting critique of one of the dishes.
Masterchef review – the show needs a facelift!
In 2022, MasterChef was named the ‘world’s most popular reality show‘ but I would argue it’s not really reality. It’s heavily staged, and we barely learn anything about the contestants. I like learning more about the budding chefs and their real lives, like we do on GBBO and The Apprentice.
The only thing that changes every year is the contestants, so let’s give them more airtime. Surely they can’t all be as lovely as they seem? Is there a Nasty Nick in there somewhere? Or a chef with a dark past?
Some might argue that the food should take centre-stage, but I disagree. There’s only so many times I can see a deconstructed trifle, or an undercooked duck breast!
The sets need a spruce up, too. Have they even changed it since 2005? And don’t get me started on the new floor manager, whose only job seems to be to tell the time? No offence mate, but you’re not needed!
Read more: Celebrity Masterchef viewers make same complaint about this series’ winner
MasterChef continues on Monday, May 08, 2023 at 8pm on BBC One.
What do you think of Masterchef these days? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.