Losing 3 hosts at once seems careless, but that’s something that leading cooking show Masterchef has had to deal with recently. Following a season with the lowest ratings ever recorded, and several scandals following George Calombaris, Masterchef has decided to replace all three of its judges in time for the next season.
Maggie Beer, Poh Ling Yeow, and Curtis Stone are some of the talented chefs that Australians have picked as ideal replacements for the judging table for season 12. These 3 chefs may be taking over for season 12 which is set to air in 2020.
Introducing the New Judges
Poh Ling Yeow is a former runner up from the first season of Masterchef, who went on to have a successful career writing cookbooks and appearing on additional TV shows. Beer, a renowned chef, known for a Pheasant Farm in South Australia, also brings her experience to the new lineup. Chef
Simon Bryant and Maggie Beer previously co-hosted four seasons of another cooking show called “The Cook and the Chef.” However, Beer has claimed that she wouldn’t be able to commit to such a massive undertaking due to her existing commitments.
Curtis Stone earned fame as the host of Australian cooking programs like Surfing the Menu and My Restaurant Rules before he moved to Los Angeles and began opening Michelin Star standard restaurants. Network 10 spokespeople have said that all 3 chefs are beloved members of the
MasterChef family, but no decision has been made about the future judges for the show yet.
Paul Anderson, the Chief Executive of Network 10, said that the network is also looking to sign big names for MasterChef, including Nigella Lawson or Gordon Ramsay.
What’s Happening to the Old Judges?
Currently, Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston, and George Calombaris claim that they’ll be shifting their focus back to their restaurant empires after they give up their seats on MasterChef. However, the trio might be coming back to the small screen in the years to come, as some rumours have suggested that they may be signing a deal with a streaming platform like Amazon Prime or Netflix.
Despite the stories reported by some publications following news of the MasterChef trio’s departure from the show, Mehigan claimed that the reason for the departure wasn’t actually linked to pay disputes. The three presenters have plenty of income between them, thanks to their thriving restaurant enterprises. Additionally, all three were receiving salaries of more than $1 million as judges on MasterChef according to reports.
A full explanation of why the trio decided to leave the show has not been revealed yet, although some reporters claimed that the issue came down to Network 10 being unwilling to increase their pay by more than 40% in the years ahead. It will be interesting to see what happens to the show when the new presenters are announced and whether it will be able to regain a higher number of potential viewers following the change-up.
