MasterChef fan favourite Poh Ying Leow has opened up about the “unpredictable” move that turned around the fate of the TV cooking competition.
In July 2019 Australia was stunned when Channel 10 announced that it had parted ways with Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris after 11 seasons.
Three months later, the TV network shocked everyone again when it named a new trio of judges, Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo.
The three personalities were nowhere near as well known as the former judges and many doubted they’d be able to fill the sizeable shoes of the veteran hosts.
But they were wrong.
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Leong, Allen and Zonfrillo breathed new life into the program and MasterChef went on to become one of the most successful TV shows of 2020.
Ratings during 2019 season of MasterChef slumped to as low as 366,000 viewers – but in 2020, about a million viewers were tuning in to each episode.
And a large part of the credit is down to the new judges, according to Season 12 contestant, Poh.
“I was really upset when that whole thing happened,” she told news.com.au about Matt, Gary and George’s departure. “One of the reasons I wanted to do it (Season 12) was because I wanted to hang out with my three food dads again and just to feel that familiar dynamic.”
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When the new judges were announced, Poh said she was “unsure” about Ten’s choice.
“I was so surprised,” she told news.com.au. “There were so many names that were in the press, Maggie (Beer), Curtis (Stone), all these people who I guess were more predictable options.
“But they (Allen, Leong, Zonfrillo) were definitely unpredictable and I think that was a really interesting move,” she said. “There was nothing predictable about what they (Ten) did.”
According to Poh, the biggest amount of credit should go to Leong who completely changed the “vibe” of the MasterChef set.
“I was surprised at just how much a feminine energy was needed on set,” Poh, who competed on the first season of MasterChef as well, said. “When Mel walked on, I was like, ‘wow, she adds something really different to the vibe’.
“She just did a really great job. She’s a really great storyteller and she handled critiquing with such grace.”
Of course there were many other factors for MasterChef’s success in 2020: the decision to bring back contestants from the previous 11 seasons and the addition of celebrity guests including Gordon Ramsay and Katy Perry. But Ten’s “unpredictable” move to pick Allen, Leong and Zonfrillo proved to be a masterstroke.
LIFE AFTER MASTERCHEF
“It’s been non-stop,” Poh told news.com.au about life since MasterChef finished filming this year. “COVID hasn’t put a dent in it at all. It’s actually been busier than I’ve ever been.”
In addition to her Jamface stall at the Adelaide Farmers’ Market, the popular personality is also painting, designing a range of homewares and working on a book.
Poh has so many things on the go that she’s even found herself too busy to cook for herself and has started using meal kit provider HelloFresh.
“When I first saw it I was like, ‘that’s really cool for other people,’ but I’ve totally started to use it too,” she said.
“I usually get it on Saturday nights when, believe it or not, I’m recipe writing,” she laughed.
“The thing that’s really awesome about HelloFresh is that there are so many options: veggie, family friendly, gourmet. There’s hardly any cleaning up because you don’t have to measure anything, I love that, and there’s also very little wastage.”
2021 is shaping up to be an even busier year for Poh and many of her fans will no doubt be wondering if she’ll be making an appearance on Season 13 of MasterChef as a mentor or guest judge.
“I mentored last year. It seems so long ago … But then all these things that I thought I knew (when I was a mentor), I came back (as a contestant this year) and I didn’t,” she laughed.
“It’s so easy to shoot your mouth off (when you’re a mentor) … I just don’t even know if I’m fit for the job but I’d definitely do it if I got invited,” she told news.com.au.
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2021-01-04 02:03:45Z
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