'MasterChef Australia', The Most Wholesome Show On Television
For many of us, the appeal of reality television lies in the no-holds-barred drama. Whether it's Ex on the Beach's iconic bust-ups; Jersey Shore's epic fallouts (including that infamous wedding incident); Kardashian konfrontations or unhinged Catfish moments – it all makes for glorious television. Tuning in to someone else's ridiculous drama from the comfort of your couch can lure in even the most unlikely of sorts.
And then there's MasterChef. Sweet, wholesome MasterChef. The show that takes home cooks from around Australia and gives them an opportunity to make their wildest culinary dreams come true. The show trades theatre kids and aspiring influencers for down to earth regular folks; it swaps operatic meltdowns for tense close-ups of a soufflé. In reality TV theory, this shouldn't work, but it's this exact low-stakes content (paired with high-stakes competition) that makes watching it so delicious. MasterChef Australia manages to do something very rare in the genre: it celebrates the camaraderie between contesants, and makes it a good time.
Yup, despite being a nail-biting competition, the contestants are always ridiculously supportive of each other. Every episode, the folks up on the gantry cheer endlessly for the contestants cooking down below – shouting encouragement, tips or "WATCH YOUR SAUCE!". Even in an elimination, contestants battling it out against each other give big hugs, high fives (or elbow bumps) as soon as the time runs out. Plus, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single eliminated contestant who doesn't mention how inspiring, supportive and warm their fellow contestants have been in their final speech.
There's no sabotage, no special powers to eliminate a fellow contestant and no bitchy cliques ragging on each another's mayonnaise recipe. Even though technically nothing is stopping them from secretly turning each other's ovens off (except, probably, the rules of the show), the only interaction you'll see between chefs during a challenge involves them lending each other a hand.
I remember one particularly touching episode that captured the show's convivial energy. In last year's Back to Win series, Tracy, Amina and Emelia were battling out for a gold immunity pin, but that didn't stop Amina and Emelia helping Tracy clean her bench and plate up her final dish. They'd finished their cooking, but wanted to help Tracy get over the line. The episode also featured a moment where Amina, a Muslim contestant, was working on a dish and hadn't been given halal beef to cook with. She couldn't taste her cooking to test the flavours, so competitor Emelia tasted it for her, offering her pointers on strengthening it up.
Despite all vying for the top prize, the contestants genuinely want to see each other succeed. I'll never forget last year's finals when Laura became extremely distressed that she couldn't get an element right, at which point fellow contestant Emelia (again! What an angel), gave her a helping hand. Many fans cried foul saying Laura had an unfair advantage, but I really loved seeing these queens help each other out.
"I honestly cannot believe that. We are all fighting for a spot in the finale and the two most selfless people have come over and stopped what they're doing, that honestly could ruin their cooks to help me succeed," said Laura. "This would honestly never happen anywhere else."
If you're still not convinced that the contestants are obsessed with each other, get this: when competing in Season 6, the top two finalists – Emelia and Brent – made a pact that whoever won the $250k would give the runner-up a cool $50k of the prize money. Those Big Brother contestants would never.
MasterChef's13th season is back on the small screen, with every episode continuing to ooze that wholesome friendship energy. After the year (and a bit) we've had, I for one am enjoying being deeply invested in a show where the most tense moment is gauging whether or not the kingfish is undercooked.
MasterChef Australia airs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:30pm on Channel 10. Catch up on past episodes of the show on 10 play.
Written by Dani Leever, a writer and homosexual pop culture enthusiast. Find their words at @danileever or catch their gay DJ drag adventures at @djgaydad.
Editor's Note: MTV and Network 10 are both subsidiaries of ViacomCBS.
