Latest news with #BenMacdonald
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MasterChef's Depinder claps back at audience criticism: 'Big variety'
Since its premiere in 2009, MasterChef Australia has featured some of the most talented cooks in the country. This year's season is certainly no different, with 24 former contestants from previous series returning to the kitchen for another chance to win the title and showcase their skillset. Each week, the competitors have been challenged to step outside of their comfort zone with a wide variety of ingredients and recipes. However, like most seasons, viewers have accused certain participants of 'playing it safe' and cooking the same thing every week. RELATED: MasterChef's Ben Macdonald points out wild detail about this year's season: 'Very cool' MasterChef's Laura Sharrad celebrates huge achievement after releasing Coles product MasterChef's Snezana Calic reveals unique struggle this season: 'Nervous' While some fans complained that Depinder Chhibber was guilty of only serving curries to the judges throughout the competition, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle following her elimination in Monday night's episode that this couldn't be further from the truth. 'When it comes to the umbrella term that everyone uses as 'curry', I showcased a lot of street food. I showcased different types of feasts and different types of curries, and there were also dishes that I made that I kind of turned into Indian dishes, knowing that that is my strength,' she details. 'I would say that even with Indian food, or even just with curries, there's such a vast variety. I made a banana leaf feast, which is typically eaten in the south of India. That food you're not going to find in the north, it's so different. And then, for example, I made a biryani, you're only going to find that in the north or certain parts of the south. There's such a big variety of curry that I think I probably only made a proper curry a handful of times. I could count them on my fingertips.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by MasterChef Australia (@masterchefau) Secret to success in the MasterChef kitchen Depinder adds that while she absolutely loves cooking desserts, she made sure to never cook any 'stock standard desserts' in the MasterChef kitchen. 'So the thing is, I wasn't trying to not make curries, or I wasn't trying to just do desserts. You kind of had to tailor your approach according to the challenge, because that's the only way you're going to keep yourself safe from elimination,' she shares. 'If you just cook the one type of food, or if you go in with a dish in your mind, and then, no matter what the challenge is, you're still cooking that dish, that's going to put you in an elimination because you're not tailoring and you're not showing that point of difference that the judges want to see.' 'I felt grounded' Although she narrowly missed out on a spot in the grand finale, Depinder admits she's enormously proud of herself for making it to the top four. 'Coming back, I generally felt really confident in my own skin. I felt grounded, I knew exactly what I wanted to showcase, and I felt somewhat deeply connected to the food that I wanted to showcase, food that I felt like I didn't get a chance to showcase in my first season,' she reflects. SHOP: ☀️ Tax laws to burn Aussies on summer essential: 'Many of us struggle' 💁♀️ Two-minute product that works wonder on brows in 28 days 🏉 Rugby fan's huge airport surprise after landing in Sydney: 'Surreal' 'So there was still obviously so much pressure, because everyone is returning, everyone has something to prove, everyone's got reputations to preserve. But for myself, I just trusted myself a bit more this time, I knew how to take the risks, I knew how to bounce back, and I stayed true to my style.'
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
MasterChef Australia fans notice bizarre detail in the show after fan favourite's heartbreaking elimination
Fan favourite Rue Mupedzi ended her MasterChef Australia Back to Win season with a heartbreaking elimination this week. But according to one eagle-eyed viewer, the 'dessert queen' had more than her fair share of screen time before hanging up her apron. The dedicated fan, who shared his findings on Reddit, noticed that it has been Rue who has been featured in the confessional spots 71 times over the last five weeks. Featured throughout each show, the short segments have contestants sharing their feelings about each challenge as the action in the kitchen unfolds. And according to one fan, Rue has been featured 71 times in the 'confessional'. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The viewer also calculated and ranked each one of the other contestants over the last five weeks including the remaining players. Coming in behind Rue with 56 appearances in the confessional was Ben Macdonald, followed by Laura Sharrad on 50. Audra Morrice and Callum Hann scored 48, according to the enterprising fan, while Sneznana Calic has appeared 44 times in the confessional. Sharing their findings to Reddit with a chart showing the name of the contestant and how many times they appeared in confessionals the user's share sparked online commentary about Rue's appearance on the show. 'Rue got way more screen time, even after an episode, of all the remaining contestants,' commented one viewer on the thread. Another joked, 'I won't be surprised if she remains in the top 10 despite not even making it through halfway through the competition. Queen!' It comes after Rue Mupedzi says she is setting herself up for a career in the culinary world after her shock elimination from the Back to Win season on Tuesday. Instead of hanging up her apron for good, the 29-year-old dental hygienist is planning on becoming a pastry chef. Rue, who is known as the 'dessert queen' by fans, announced she plans to head to Europe to pursue her dream as soon as possible. 'My vision board is to go to France and gain work experience in the pastry world for six months to a year, as well as explore Europe,' she said in a new interview with Yahoo Lifestyle on Wednesday. The WA-based kitchen star said her long-term plans included opening her own pastry shop. Elsewhere, Rue opened up about her return to MasterChef after her headline making appearance on the show in 2023. 'I still wanted to work really hard and do well, but the most important thing to me was to have a good time,' she said. 'Coming back was like riding a bike. It felt like I never left! I integrated back into the kitchen so quickly.' Rue suffered the heartache of a second MasterChef Australia elimination this week after a tricky pudding failed to impress the judges. Rue, Tim, Audra and Sarah were tasked with remaking Variations of Sourdough and Strawberry with Elderflower and Balsamic dessert from restaurant's Blayne Bertoncello. In the end, it was the dessert queen herself who was sent home over her grainy crème pâtissière. In tears, Rue told the judges that it had been an honour cooking for them and being on the show for a second time around. 'Just being called back among such amazing chefs made me realise I'm also part of the great people,' she shared.
The Spinoff
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Meet the New Zealander on his second lap of the Masterchef kitchen
Tara Ward talks to Ben Macdonald about the highs and lows of competing on Masterchef Australia: Back to Win. Anyone who watches Masterchef Australia will know about the Masterchef pantry. It's a feast for the eyes, a room filled with endless shelves of colourful produce and huge fridges stuffed full of delicious delicacies. Few of us will ever experience its culinary wonders in person – apart from New Zealander Ben Macdonald, who has experienced the delights of that luxurious larder not once, but twice, and reckons there's no other kitchen cupboard like it. 'Oh my god, the pantry is amazing,' MacDonald gasps down the phone. 'You go in and there's all these crazy things you dream of cooking with: truffles, pigeons, salt cod.' Macdonald is back among the truffles and salt cod for the new season of Masterchef Australia: Back to Win, which began this week on TVNZ. Back to Win features 24 former contestants from across the show's 16 seasons, who are returning for a second – and in some cases, third – chance to win the esteemed title of Masterchef and $250,000 in prize money. Macdonald is the season's only international competitor, having first appeared on the show in 2014, and he believes the contents of the pantry have only gotten more impressive since then. Back in 2014, Macdonald was a keen amateur chef living in Brisbane and working as a software consultant when he applied for season six of Masterchef Australia. He came sixth, cooking for guest judges like Heston Blumenthal and Marco Pierre White, and describes his original Masterchef experience as 'an absolute rollercoaster'. 'You go from winning something and being elated, to a few episodes later doing something wrong and you're one step away from being out the door,' he says. By the time Masterchef came calling again a decade later, Macdonald had spent several years working in restaurants in Australia and Aotearoa. He was back working in software in his hometown of Auckland and showing his season of Masterchef to his two young daughters, when the offer to return to the show came through. He'd always considered his stint on the culinary series to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and says he couldn't resist from donning the famous Masterchef apron once again. While he knew going back to Masterchef wouldn't be easy, Macdonald was surprised at how challenging the series had become. 'I thought I'd just step back in, but then you can't find a peeler and you can't find the panko crumbs in the pantry, and it's like, 'oh my god'.' Those early nerves were magnified by the intense competition and a far higher standard of cooking than in 2014 (one contestant is even a judge on Masterchef Singapore). 'There are no bad chefs,' says Macdonald of his fellow competitors. 'It was super competitive, right from day one.' Macdonald prepared by memorising recipes and practicing certain techniques, but quickly realised that the knowledge he'd gained over the past decade was his most valuable asset of all. Masterchef demands quick thinking and steady focus, and he found that being creative – choosing an unusual ingredient from the pantry, for example – was the best way to stand out from the competition. 'You've got to put a lot of thought into it, because if you choose wrong from the beginning, it's very hard to change halfway through.' It's only the first week of the Back to Win season, but Macdonald has already proved he's the chef to watch. In the show's second challenge, he cooked for Gordon Ramsay and won the coveted immunity pin, impressing the hot-headed celebrity judge with his calmness under pressure and attention to detail. Ramsay called Macdonald's meal of roasted duck breast 'exceptional' (despite Macdonald mixing up his sauces), while Macdonald described cooking for Ramsay a 'money can't buy' experience. 'When things go well, it's an unbelievable feeling,' Macdonald says of the show's intense, fast-paced challenges. 'As long as you can stay cool in those situations, there's a massive opportunity to flourish.' No matter how stressful those frenetic pantry raids get, Macdonald has no regrets about returning to what he thinks is the best reality show on television. 'Masterchef Australia isn't there to make heroes and villains,' he says. 'It's there to showcase people's true personalities and the food they make.' What you see is what you get on Masterchef, he believes, and while cooking on the telly was hard work, Macdonald was determined to make his second time in the Masterchef kitchen his most enjoyable yet. 'It's really, really hard, but it's also really, really fun. Sometimes you have a disaster, but you just have to laugh about it.' As for anyone who wants to follow him into the Masterchef pantry, Macdonald reckons they should just give it a go.
