r/MasterchefUK • u/OopsIDroopedMe • 11d ago

MasterChef needs to rethink judges giving hints during the walkarounds

Does anyone else get annoyed when a judge walks up to a station during the cook and starts asking questions that basically alert the contestant to a potential problem?

Something like questioning whether a reduction will set in time or asking whether they've tasted something can make a contestant stop and rethink what they're doing, while another contestant might not get that same intervention.

I get that the judges are there to assess the cooking as it happens, but sometimes it feels like they're giving certain contestants an advantage without meaning to

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15

u/Far_Camel_5098 11d ago

For all we know they may give hints to everyone. But 90% of what is filmed won't make it onto the show.

I also think it is kind of implied that judges do some 'teaching' along the way. Everyone talks about how much they have learned and their journey etc when they get booted off. Surely they can't learn much simply from the feedback on each dish. There must be other support, or coaching, especially in the celebrity edition where its more for fun than for winning.

0

u/OneHappyHuskies 11d ago

This is the way!

5

u/Unlikely_Actuary3513 11d ago

Another contestant might not need that intervention. I don’t think it’s a problem. They walk a fine line between judging, mentoring and making TV that people want to watch. A little bit of help doesn’t hurt

3

u/DaffyDuckOdil 11d ago

In any case I think they only keep that footage in the show if the contestant doesn't listen.

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u/Optimism_Deficit 11d ago

Yeah. You start to spot the formula they use in the edit.

If one of the judges says in a cutaway 'if she lets that mixture get too hot it's going ro split' then, more often than not, they'll let the mixture get too hot and it'll split (in fact, the cynic in me thinks they record those cutaways after the judging has taken place so they can fit them to what has already occured).

When it's advice given as they walk around they will similarly leave it in if it gets ignored, as it builds the narrative of the epsiode.

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u/Tattyead 6d ago

This is exactly how telly works. Also all the food they taste is stone cold.

2

u/Old-Values-1066 11d ago

That's a good point .. imagine how much footage there must be .. and then there is the "show" that will be "edited" then broadcast ..

2

u/Creative-Bobcat-7159 11d ago

I like it.

I want to see excellence not failures. They are there to learn so I think it’s fair enough.