Celebrity MasterChef Australia

Celebrity MasterChef Australia
Genre Cooking
Game show
Judges George Calombaris
Gary Mehigan
Matt Preston
Narrated by Nicholas McKay
Theme music composer Katy Perry
Opening theme Hot n Cold
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10
Production
Executive producer(s) Paul Franklin
Cathie Scott
Location(s) 13 Doody Street, Alexandria, New South Wales
Running time 60 minutes (including commercials)
Release
Original network Network Ten
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release 30 September – 25 November 2009
Chronology
Preceded by MasterChef Australia (season 1)
Followed by MasterChef Australia (season 2)
External links
Website

Celebrity MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and features celebrity contestants. It began production in early September 2009, and premiered on Network Ten on 30 September 2009.[1]

Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan returned as judges for the show; however Sarah Wilson did not reprise her role as host from the first season of MasterChef Australia.[2] Instead Calombaris and Mehigan will also serve in a general hosting capacity.

Former world-record holder & Olympic medalist Eamon Sullivan won the series, taking home $50,000 for charity Swim Survive Stay Alive.

In February 2010, executive producer Mark Fennessy stated that he doubted the spin-off will return for a second season.[3]

Format

In contrast to its parent show, the celebrity version is based around a heats and semi-finals format similar to MasterChef Goes Large, and is aired only once a week in an hourly format.[1][4]

Celebrities are split into groups of three as they compete in a heat round featuring two challenges, with one celebrity making their way from each heat into the semi-finals. The heats consist of an Invention Test, in which they prepare a dish of their own concoction, and a Pressure Test, in which they must complete a dish from a professional chef. Due to the difficulty of these dishes contestants are given a single "lifeline" in which the chef is able to aid them for 90 seconds.

The six remaining celebrities will then face further challenges in order to secure their place in the final.[5]

Contestants

Celebrity MasterChef Australia features 18 celebrities as contestants. Network Ten officially revealed the first batch of contestants on the 3 September 2009 episode of The 7PM Project.[6] However, several contestants were revealed before Ten's official announcement of their participation.

The contestants include:[5]

Contestant Occupation Status
Eamon Sullivan Olympic freestyle swimmer WINNER
Kirk Pengilly INXS musician 2nd Place
Rachael Finch Miss Universe Australia 2009 3rd Place
Alex Lloyd Singer-songwriter Eliminated Semi Final 3
Michelle Bridges The Biggest Loser personal trainer Eliminated Semi Final 2
Simon Katich New South Wales Blues cricketer Eliminated Semi Final 1
Faustina "Fuzzy" Agolley Video Hits presenter Eliminated Heat 6
Peter Rowsthorn Actor & stand-up comedian Eliminated Heat 6
George Negus Journalist & television presenter Eliminated Heat 5
Ryan O'Keefe Sydney Swans midfielder Eliminated Heat 5
Wendy Harmer Comedian & radio presenter Eliminated Heat 4
Alex Perry Fashion designer Eliminated Heat 4
Anna Bligh Politician Eliminated Heat 3
Simon Westaway Film & television actor Eliminated Heat 3
Peter FitzSimons Former radio broadcaster & rugby player Eliminated Heat 2
Kathleen de Leon Jones Former Hi-5 singer Eliminated Heat 2
Indira Naidoo Journalist & television presenter Eliminated Heat 1
Josh Thomas Comedian Eliminated Heat 1

Ten initially announced that actor Steve Bisley would also be a participant, but he later withdrew from the show. Ten cited a scheduling conflict for his departure, though the ABC have claimed that Network Ten are using it as an excuse as the announcement of his participation on the show was on the same day the actor was charged with assaulting his ex-wife Sally Burleigh during an argument between the former couple.[7] Rachael Finch previously auditioned for the first series of MasterChef Australia, but did not make past the initial rounds.[8]

Special guests

Episodes

Ep# Original airdate Episode Title / Event Total viewers Nightly Ranking Weekly Ranking
Heats
1 Wednesday 30 September 2009 Heat 1 - Indira Naidoo, Kirk Pengilly and Josh Thomas. Pengilly moved on to the semi-finals. 1.363 million #2 #12
2 Wednesday 7 October 2009 Heat 2 - Michelle Bridges, Kathleen de Leon and Peter FitzSimons. Bridges moved on to the semi-finals. 1.090 million #10 #31
3 Wednesday 14 October 2009 Heat 3 - Eamon Sullivan, Anna Bligh and Simon Westaway. Sullivan moved on to the semi-finals. 1.187 million #7 #20
4 Wednesday 21 October 2009 Heat 4 - Alex Perry, Wendy Harmer and Simon Katich. Katich moved on to the semi-finals. 1.279 million #3 #13
5 Wednesday 28 October 2009 Heat 5 - Rachael Finch, George Negus and Ryan O'Keefe. Finch moved on to the semi-finals. 1.150 million #8 #26
6 Wednesday 4 November 2009 Heat 6 - Fuzzy Agolley, Alex Lloyd and Peter Rowsthorn. Lloyd moved on to semi-finals. 1.224 million #6 #21
Finals
7 Wednesday 11 November 2009 Semi Final 1 - The first semi-final consisted of the six semi-finalists competing in an individual Mystery Box challenge, and a Christmas lunch-themed Invention Test where they competed in pairs, with one member of the worst performing pair to be eliminated. Paired with Alex Lloyd, Simon Katich was the contestant eliminated. 1.124 million #6 #23
8 Wednesday 18 November 2009 Semi Final 2 - The five remaining contestants were required to staff the kitchen at Altitude Restaurant in Sydney. Contestants were allocated a course, and following service they must present the dish they have prepared for service to the judges for tasting, with the contestant with the worst dish to be eliminated. Michelle Bridges was the contestant eliminated. 1.076 million #8 #29
9 Tuesday 24 November 2009 Semi Final 3 - The four remaining contestants competed in a Pressure Test involving recreating a croquembouche, with the contestant with the least accomplished dessert to be eliminated. Alex Lloyd was the contestant eliminated. 1.083 million #7 #27
10 Wednesday 25 November 2009 Final - The final involved three rounds, a Taste Test, a dessert-only Invention Test and a Pressure Test, with points being won as the contestants progressed. Based on accumulated points, Rachael Finch and Kirk Pengilly came third and second respectively, with Eamon Sullivan declared the winner of Celebrity MasterChef Australia. 1.297 million #1 #9

References

Preceded by
MasterChef Australia (season 1)
MasterChef Australia spin-off
30 September 2009 – 25 November 2009
Succeeded by
MasterChef Australia (season 2)
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