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A Scottish celebrity chef, a travel writer, and a former winner of MasterChef Australia: these are the three people the popular cooking show hope will reinvigorate the program for its 12th season.
Key points:
- MasterChef Australia's 2020 hosts will be Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo
- Former hosts Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris left the show in July
- 2020 will be the show's 12th season
New hosts are Three Blue Ducks co-owner and chef Andy Allen, travel writer Melissa Leong and celebrity chef and TV presenter Jock Zonfrillo.
Allen, who won the show's fourth season in 2012, said on social media he was "stoked" to be extending his role in the MasterChef Australia family.
"To win the show back in 2012, then to throw myself into the big world of hospitality, be recognised by the industry and accepted by chefs I admired, to now take on a role as judge of Australia's best cooking show is just one of the coolest things ever," Allen said.
Leong described the announcement as "the biggest news" of her career to date.
"I could never have dreamed that I would be asked to be part of the next chapter of this great Australian legacy, and it is with deep respect and appreciation for everything that has come before, that we take our first steps into the new," she said.
"Thank you to everyone for their belief and support and a huge HELLO to those of you I am yet to know! Goodbyes are hard, and greeting new people isn't always easy, but bringing everything I have to the table is a promise I make to you, and one I plan to keep."
Who is Melissa Leong?
A freelance food and travel writer, Leong's website proclaims she will "eat anything once".
Leong is a first generation Singaporean-Australian and has co-authored six cookbooks including The Great Australian Cookbook and Mr Hong.
The new host is no stranger to television either. A former media consultant, she co-hosts The Chefs' Line — a cooking series on SBS with Dan Hong and Mark Olive — and is also a regular guest on Everyday Gourmet and The Cook's Pantry.
Who is Jock Zonfrillo?
Scottish-born Zonfrillo moved to London as a young chef and worked with a number of internationally renowned chefs across the UK, including Marco Pierre White.
In 2000, Zonfrillo moved to Australia to work as the head chef of Restaurant 41. He eventually relocated to Adelaide and remains the owner and chef of Bistro Blackwood and Orana restaurants, his first solo ventures.
Zonfillo will be a familiar face to MasterChef fans. He has appeared as a guest chef in three seasons.
While the former MasterChef judges have not officially commented on their replacements, former host Gary Mehigan once referred to Zonfrillo as a "trailblazer".
Who is Andy Allen?
Allen won the fourth season of MasterChef in 2012, after entering the show on a dare from a friend.
Since then he has travelled the world cooking for his YouTube channel, and in 2016 he opened his Sydney-based restaurant Three Blue Ducks.
Allen is the head chef at the Three Blue Ducks' Rosebery eatery and is the first MasterChef Australia contestant to be awarded a Chef's Hat.
What happened to the old hosts?
In July, Network 10 announced former long-term hosts Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris would not return in the next season.
The trio's exit comes after Calombaris admitted to underpaying employees at his restaurants by $7.8 million.
Hours ahead of the season 11 finale, network chief executive Paul Anderson said the parties could not reach a deal "despite months of negotiation".
"Across 11 sensational seasons, MasterChef Australia has established itself as one of the most popular and respected cooking television series around the world," he said.
"For more than a decade, the iconic series has shaped and driven the Australian public's passion for food and cooking, delivered iconic television moments, and made the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true."
Weeks after stepping down, Calombaris told 7.30's Leigh Sales he was "gutted" when he realised he had underpaid staff at a number of his restaurants.
"I want to apologise to all my team, both past and present, for the effect I've had on them, we've had on them. I apologise to them," he said.
Calombaris conceded his company made a "terrible mistake" which it had since "owned up" to.
"The thing that I need to say is, 2017, we found the problem, we self-reported," he said.
"We're the ones that went, 'Hang on, we've made a mistake here. Like, a terrible mistake'.
"We went to Fair Work, we owned up, and two years ago we paid back everyone."
He said the underpayment was an oversight and his employees "are everything to us".
The first series of MasterChef was broadcast between April 27 and July 19, 2009, with the majority of it filmed in Sydney.
Its headquarters has since moved to Melbourne, with locations varying throughout the show.
MasterChef won the award for Most Popular Reality Program at the 2010 Logie Awards.
In addition, Preston won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent for his work on the program.
Mehigan and Calombaris also judged the Junior version of MasterChef in 2010, with Preston joining for the second series in 2011.
All three judges also appeared on spin-off editions such as Celebrity MasterChef (2009) and MasterChef All-Stars (2012).
Topics: television, food-and-cooking, australia
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