New MasterChef judge Andy Allen reveals he and his co-stars were told by producers to ‘just be themselves’ after replacing Gary, Matt and George on the hit show
Andy Allen is set to make his debut as a new judge on MasterChef Australia later this month, alongside co-stars Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong.
And on Wednesday, Andy revealed that the trio were told by producers to ‘just be themselves,’ after replacing old judges, Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris.
Speaking on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O, former MasterChef winner Andy, 31, said they don’t have to worry about acting like their predecessors.
No pressure: New MasterChef judge Andy Allen (pictured) revealed on Wednesday that he and his co-stars were told by producers to ‘just be themselves’ after replacing Gary, Matt and George on the hit show
‘Have you decided whether you’re going to be the judge that sweats all the time whilst eating or the one that wears the cravat and the fancy jacket?’ Kyle joked.
He added: ‘Or are you going to run your own ideas here?’
‘The producers have been amazing in that they’re just letting Jock, Melissa and myself just be ourselves,’ Andy replied.
‘They don’t want us to step into their role’: Speaking on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O, former MasterChef winner Andy, 31, said they don’t have to worry about acting like their predecessors (pictured from left to right is Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris)
He added: ‘They didn’t want us to step into Matt, George or Gary’s role, they were just [like], “we chose you because we want you to be you.”
Andy added that he’s ‘excited’ for fans to watch the show.
The former electrician won the fourth season of MasterChef Australia back in 2012. He also co-owns Sydney’s Three Blue Ducks.
New faces: Andy is set to make his debut as a new judge on MasterChef Australia later this month, alongside co-stars Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong (all pictured)
Season 12, called MasterChef – Back To Win, will see 24 contests from past seasons of the show return to the kitchen in a bid to win a cash prize of $250,000.
Contestants include Poh Ling Yeow, Reynold Poernomo, Hayden Quinn and Callum Hann.
Last year, Gary, Matt and George’s contracts were not renewed after 11 seasons of hosting the show.
Last July, Matt told The Daily Telegraph he learnt his contract had been terminated on Instagram after he couldn’t agree on terms with the network.
‘We were happy with what was being offered, in fact we had accepted Ten’s financial offer to make the next series of MasterChef,’ he told the publication.
‘We just failed to agree on other terms,’ he added.
At the time, Channel 10 confirmed Matt, alongside his fellow veteran judges, were not returning to the show, claiming they were unable to agree on a wage increase.
The new season of MasterChef Australia begins on Monday, April 13 on Channel 10 at 7:30pm.
Ouch: Last July, Matt told The Daily Telegraph he learnt his contract had been terminated on Instagram after he couldn’t agree on terms with the network