MasterChef Australia series 2
Season 2 of the Australian cookery game show MasterChef Australia premiered on Monday, April 19, 2010, at 7.30pm on the Ten Network.
Changes
The second season of MasterChef Australia brought some changes to the format of the show. Most notably, Sarah Wilson, host of Season 1, is not present in the second season, with producers opting instead to use Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, two of the show's three judges, as hosts.
Furthermore, Season 2 began with the 'Top 50' component of the show, as opposed to the auditions phase. This allows for the audience to begin to identify and connect with contestants, and also allows for more time to be spent in the actual competition phase of the show.
Another change to the show is the reward for winning a Celebrity Chef Challenge. In Season 1, the winner would receive a free pass through to the final week of the competition. This was problematic in that it removed the contestant from the show altogether, meaning they didn't keep themselves in the pressured situations that the others had. Instead, in Season 2, a successful contestant will now receive an 'Immunity Pin', which they can use at any time during the competition to save themselves from elimination.
Also different in Season 2 is the elimination after a team challenge. In Season 1, all the contestants from the losing team had to vote off someone from the competition. This was problematic in that contestants might vote off the best contestants in hopes of improving their chances of winning the show. Instead, in Season 2, the judges decide on who they believe are the two poorest performers and they face off in an elimination challenge. These challenges will test contestants in food knowledge and basic cooking skills like egg whisking.
Contestants
The top 24 contestants were chosen through a week of challenges amongst the top 50. The full group of 24 were revealed on Sunday, April 25:
| Contestant | Age | State | Occupation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Harvie | 37 | NSW | Band Manager | |
| Adam Liaw | 31 | SA | Lawyer | |
| Adele Fragnitio | 49 | SA | Hairdresser | eliminated May 6 |
| Alvin Quah | 35 | NSW | Scientific Affairs Manager | |
| Callum Hann | 20 | SA | Student | |
| Carrie Johnston | 34 | NSW | Ex-Human Resources Manager | |
| Claire Winton-Burn | 31 | VIC | Lawyer | |
| Courtney Roulston | 29 | NSW | Bar manager | |
| Daniel Aulsebrook | 32 | VIC | Recently made redundant | |
| Dominic Corrigan | 46 | NSW | Company Director | |
| Fiona Inglis | 24 | VIC | Student | |
| Jake Bujayer | 29 | NSW | Cement Renderer | |
| Jimmy Seervai | 31 | NSW | Food Ingredient Researcher | |
| Joanne Zalm | 37 | NSW | "Glam Mum" | |
| Jonathan Daddia | 33 | NSW | IT Consultant | |
| Marion Grasby | 27 | SA | Student | |
| Matthew Caldicott | 21 | NSW | Accountant | |
| Peter Kritikides | 29 | VIC | Lawyer | |
| Philip Vakos | 27 | TAS | Auditor | |
| Sharnee Rawson | 21 | WA | Law Student | |
| Skye Craig | 35 | QLD | Graphic Designer | |
| Kate Nugara | 30 | NSW | Teacher | Eliminated May 3 |
| Devon Headland | 30 | QLD | Builder | Eliminated April 29 |
| Sarah Carmichael | 30 | VIC | Police Detective | Withdrew April 28 |
Judges
- George Calombaris
- Gary Mehigan
- Matt Preston
Special guests
- Donna Hay - Top 50 Pressure Test 1
- Matt Moran - Top 50 Pressure Test 2, MasterClass 1
- Neil Perry - Top 50 Pressure Test 3
- Luke Nguyen - Celebrity Chef Challenge 1, MasterClass 2
- Luke Mangan - Team Challenge Reward 1
- Peter Gilmore - Pressure Test 1
- Philippa Sibley - Celebrity Chef Challenge 2
Episodes
| Ep#/Wk-Ep# | Original airdate | Episode Title / Event | Total viewers | Nightly Ranking | Weekly Ranking (Sun/Overall Mon-Fri) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | |||||
| 1/01-1 | Monday 19 April 2010 | Series Premiere: Top 50 Part 1 - The top 50 began with a barbecue challenge, with the freedom to cook whatever they wanted. The 10 worst performers were sent into a pavlova pressure test led by Donna Hay. The 5 contestants who produced the worst pavlovas were eliminated from the competition. | 1,692,000 | 1st[1] | 2nd |
| 2/01-2 | Tuesday 20 April 2010 | Top 50 Part 2 - The remaining contestants were asked to prepare their signature dish. In a first for MasterChef Australia the contestants did the judging, with the men voting for their favourite dish from the women, and vice versa. The top 7 vote-getters (4 women, 3 men) were then put into a beef wellington pressure test, with the best man and woman progressing directly to the top 24. The winners were Claire and Jimmy. | 1,536,000 | 1st | 3rd |
| 3/01-3 | Wednesday 21 April 2010 | Top 50 Part 3 - The 10 contestants who performed worst in Tuesday's signature dish challenge were split into 5 groups of 2 and given 7 hours to drive out to local farms, collect fresh produce, and return to the MasterChef kitchen to prepare a main and a dessert. One contestant, Andrea, found the challenge difficult, and realised that MasterChef was not for her; her withdrawal from the competition forced her partner in the challenge, Philip, to prepare both dishes on his own. Despite this setback, he and 4 others kept their spots in the competition, while 5 contestants were eliminated. | 1,611,000 | 1st | 1st |
| 4/01-4 | Thursday 22 April 2010 | Top 50 Part 4 - With 10 spots in the Top 24 on the line, the remaining contestants competed in a mise en place challenge. The challenge had 4 stages, with the worst performers in each stage removed by Gary and George. The first stage involved separating egg yolks and whites. The second asked the contestants to julienne carrots. In the third, the first 10 contestants to shuck 12 oysters satisfactorily moved onto the final stage, where the first 4 contestants to cut 6 fillets of salmon weighing between 170g and 190g won a spot in the Top 24. Following the mise en place challenge, the remaining contestants had to follow a recipe from Matt Moran, with poor performers gradually eliminated in stages. 10 contestants had their dishes tasted, and the best 6 won their spots in the Top 24. | 1,580,000 | 1st | 2nd |
| 5/01-5 | Friday 23 April 2010 | MasterClass 1 | 1,093,000 | 4th | 9th |
| Week 2 | |||||
| 6/02-1 | Sunday 25 April 2010 | Top 50 Part 5 - The remaining contestants participated in 2 challenges to attempt to qualify for the last spots in the top 24. The first challenge was a Mystery Box challenge which, for the first time in MasterChef Australia, was focused solely on desserts. The 4 contestants who made the best desserts won a spot in the top 24. The remaining contestants competed in a Pressure Test led by celebrity chef Neil Perry. The 9 contestants who best replicated Perry's snapper dish took the last spots in the top 24 (9 spots were available because one person who had already qualified for the top 24 chose to withdraw from the competition to be with her family). | 1,282,000 | 4th | 9th |
| 7/02-2 | Monday 26 April 2010 | Top 24 Cooking Challenge - The contestants competed in their first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen: preparing a meal that rekindled memories of their childhood. Alvin won the right to contest the first Celebrity Chef Challenge of the season. | 1,693,000 | 1st | (1,446,000) 7th |
| 8/02-3 | Tuesday 27 April 2010 | Celebrity Chef Challenge 1 - Luke Nguyen beat Alvin (26-22) | 1,558,000 | 1st | |
| 9/02-4 | Wednesday 28 April 2010 | Team Challenge - Winner: Red Team. The team challenge, to take over the running of two Italian restaurants, saw the Red Team conquer despite having a simpler menu. From the Blue Team, Jonathan and Devon were selected by the judges as the two worst performers and were up for elimination. Sarah withdrew from the competition to return to her family. | 1,510,000 | 1st | |
| 10/02-5 | Thursday 29 April 2010 | Elimination Challenge - As the Red Team enjoyed their reward: lunch and a mini MasterClass with Luke Mangan, Jonathan and Devon faced off in the Elimination Challenge; a best of three challenge with the theme: eggs. Jonathan won the first round; to correctly name different birds' eggs. The next round Jonathan and Devon raced to be the first to beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Jonathan won the round and the challenge, and Devon was eliminated. | 1,531,000 | 1st | |
| 11/02-5 | Friday 30 April 2010 | MasterClass 2 | 1,139,000 | 3rd | |
| Week 3 | |||||
| 12/03-1 | Sunday 2 May 2010 | Invention Test 2 - Japanese theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants making the "perfect burger", with only five selected to taste by the judges. Marion won the challenge and picked tuna as the core ingredient for the Invention Test. With a Japanese theme, Adam was favourite to win the challenge but it was Callum who triumphed. | 1,532,000 | 2nd | |
| 13/03-2 | Monday 3 May 2010 | Pressure Test Elimination - Carrie, Kate and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test after cooking the three least impressive dishes in the Invention Test. They were asked to replicate a chicken dish from chef Peter Gilmore. Despite a strong start, Kate failed to read her recipe thoroughly and served the judges raw chicken. Kate was eliminated. | 1,693,000 | 1st | |
| 14/03-3 | Tuesday 4 May 2010 | Celebrity Chef Challenge 2 - Philippa Sibley beat Callum (28-22) | 1,619,000 | 1st | |
| 15/03-4 | Wednesday 5 May 2010 | Team Challenge - Winner: Blue Team. In an unprecedented twist, Callum as winner of the weeks Invention Test was granted the power to pick his entire team first. The team challenge was to put on a children's birthday party for 150 people, who would vote for their favourite dish. The Blue Team proved to have too great an advantage and won easily. From the Red Team, Jonathan and Adele were the lowest point scorers and were up for elimination. | 1,799,000 | 1st | |
Elimination Chart
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Finale Week | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mystery Box Challenge Winner | None | Marion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Invention Test Winner | None | Alvin | Callum | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Celebrity Chef Challenge | None | Lose: Alvin |
Lose: Callum |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aaron | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Adam | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Adele | Top 24 |
Top 3 | Team Win |
IN | Btm 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alvin | Top 24 |
I.T. Winner | Team Win |
Top 3 | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Callum | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
I.T. Winner | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Carrie | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
Btm 3 | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Claire | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtney | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Daniel | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dominic | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiona | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
Btm 3 | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jake | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy | Top 24 |
Top 3 | Team Win |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Joanne | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jonathan | Top 24 |
IN | Btm 2 | IN | Btm 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Marion | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
Top 3 | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Matthew | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Peter | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Philip | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sharnee | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Lose | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Skye | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
IN | Team Win | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kate | Top 24 |
IN | Team Win |
Btm 3 | Eliminated (Ep 13) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Devon | Top 24 |
IN | Btm 2 | Eliminated (Ep 10) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sarah | Top 24 |
IN | Team Lose |
Walked (Ep 9) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes | See note 1 |
See note 2 |
None | None | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Eliminated | None | None | Devon | Kate | |||||||||||||||||||||
- ^1 In Week 1, nobody from the top 24 was eliminated. During this week the judges selected the twenty-four finalists from the top 50.
- ^2 In Week 2, instead of the traditional Invention Test, contestants were asked to recreate a favourite childhood food memory. There was no Bottom 2 for this challenge.
References
- ^ "MasterChef premieres to 1.7m". David Knox. Retrieved April 20, 2010.