‘Why does she always support her?’ MasterChef Australia fans accuse judge Melissa Leong of ‘favouring’ contestant Poh Ling Yeow
MasterChef fans have made baseless claims that judge Melissa Leong is ‘favouring’ contestant Poh Ling Yeow.
Some viewers are claiming the 38-year-old food critic is supporting Poh, the runner-up from MasterChef’s first season, more than the other contestants.
‘I think the judges are supportive of all the contestants but on the replays it seems Poh is maybe a little protected,’ one person wrote on Facebook.
‘Why does she always support her?’ MasterChef Australia fans have made baseless claims that judge Melissa Leong (right) is ‘favouring’ contestant Poh Ling Yeow. Pictured with Jock Zonfrillo (left) and Andy Allen (centre)
‘Why does judge Melissa seem to support Poh?’ another asked, to which a third fan replied: ‘[It’s because] she’s a rating winner.’
While some claimed Melissa was too supportive of Poh, 47, others disagreed and said that editing was to blame.
‘She doesn’t single out Poh at all. She supports everyone,’ one viewer wrote.
Criticism: Some viewers are claiming the 38-year-old food critic is supporting Poh, the runner-up from MasterChef’s first season, more than the other contestants
Another added: ‘It’s so funny how people keep writing posts and thinking like this when we all know the show is heavily edited. She supports all of them but we just don’t get to see it all!’
‘If you pay attention, you’ll see Melissa tries to support all the contestants,’ read a similar comment.
On Monday night’s episode of the cooking show, Poh dazzled all three judges with her colourful seared beef dish.
‘She tries to support all the contestants’: While some claimed Melissa was too supportive of Poh (pictured), others disagreed and said that editing was to blame
The contestants were put to the test when they were presented with a mystery box with eight ingredients, including prickly pear, rib eye beef, wattle seeds and caulilini – a hybrid mix of broccoli and cauliflower.
In a departure from regular mystery box challenges, which involve the contestants having to use only one ingredient, Melissa shocked them with a twist.
‘Today you have to use all the ingredients across two dishes – one savoury, one sweet,’ she announced.
Success! On Monday night’s episode of the cooking show, Poh dazzled all three judges with her colourful seared beef dish (pictured)
Poh used her 75 minutes to whip up a charred beef with caulilini, parsnip and thyme puree with a prickly pear dressing, and a fried souffle.
The unusual-looking beef dish drew high praise, with judge Jock Zonfrillo saying he was ‘surprised’ by the texture but really enjoyed the flavour.
Melissa added: ‘I really loved it.’
MasterChef Australia continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel 10
High praise: While Jock Zonfrillo compared the colour of the sauce to Play-Doh, he told Poh he was ‘surprised’ by the sweet and savoury flavour and he ‘really dug it’