0/5

MKR ‘villain’ takes aim at MasterChef

Sophia Pou says MKR is better than MasterChef because their personalities aren't suppressed by the show's format.

2016-06-08_0159

2013 My Kitchen Rules “villain” Sophia Pou is arguably living up to her brand with a News Corp opinion piece today that takes aim at MasterChef Australia.

Pou, who later appeared in Dancing with the Stars, says MKR producers only asked her to be herself.

But she also says, “One of the things I love about MKR is that not every contestant needs to be great from the start, which is why applicants are not required to cook more than once prior to appearing on the show.”

Only once? Not sure divulging casting detail is particularly helpful to Seven.

“This is opposed to the MasterChef casting process where applicants are required to cook a number of times before qualifying as a contestant,” she writes.

“It’s not about proving ourselves as competent cooks before being selected for the show, but about showing signs of potential that can be nurtured through time, mentoring and practice.”

Nevertheless, she goes on to say she just can’t connect with MasterChef cooks. Any of them.

“I think the reason for this is that their backstories, and individual personalities are so suppressed by the format of the show, that they lose any form of individually that makes them memorable in my mind,” she writes.

“I can’t event distinguish any of them by name, past or present contestants. They might as well be assigned a number, to be called out by the judges.

“Now I’m not here to blast any MasterChef contestant in particular, or anyone else affiliated with the show. However I am tired of the constant comparison between My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef and the discussion about which one is the more respectable show.”

Good luck with that view.

You can read more here.

20 Responses

  1. Sophia highlights one of the most annoying parts of MKR – the fact that a very poor cook at the start of the show can suddenly start to display high-level techniques as the show progresses. She has just confirmed that the contestants are coached throughout, which further devalues their cooking abilities.

  2. Haha so funny. Is she trying for self-parody? Her inability to imagine why people might be more interested in cooking than learning all about her!

  3. Clearly she’s no longer receiving invitations to take part in reality shows or attend the opening of envelopes, so she needed to do something to get her name back in the paper…

  4. Yep there is a difference MKR Is a show that puts people down and Masterchef is a show that inspires the people watching and the contestants who which most go on to do great things unlike MKR

  5. She can’t be serious. Masterchef contestants actually turn their appearances on the show into real world culinary opportunities. How many of them have TV shows, how many of them have their own restaurants and desert bars. Billie working for Heston at The Fat Duck. Come on now.

    Also, didn’t the Australian version kind of re-invent Masterchef as a whole. Which went on to inspire countless other versions internationally.

  6. Utter pish. It was vacuous ‘personalities’ like Sophia that MKR became focussed on, simply bumgut marketing to the lowest denominator whereas Masterchef is actually about food and positive stories and has become a show Australia can truly be proud of.

  7. It’s interesting she mentions personalities because Poh, Adam, Justine, Ben, Hayden, Marion all having their own TV shows either previously or still currently airing which you wouldn’t think they would have if they were boring.

  8. OMG is she serious?

    Most people say the complete opposite…

    MasterChef is quality, about the cooking & no drama to reel-in viewers.

    Maybe that’s why MKR could never achieve the ratings MasterChef did in 2010 😉

    1. A little perspective please. 2010 was a very different time in TV and you’re comparing the ratings of a then new show against those of an established favourite. It’s telling that you chose to remind us of how things were 6 years ago rather than comparing the ratings of the two shows from this year.

      And as for what “most” people say, I suspect that the 20 million Australians who don’t watch either show prob don’t say much about them at all.

    1. That’s how it seems. You could have a camera focused on the designated baddie in MKR all the time to catch every facial expression, to be edited into the argument of the moment to make her (usually female) look the worst person in the world. In reality, they could be perfectly nice people but you’d never know it. A very nasty business, and very tacky.

  9. My memory may be failing but Masterchef did used to do back stories on some of the contestents and have a camera in the house to catch the dynamic of the household. The show now seems to be more food focused than contestant focused. I don’t get why she would say such a thing. It’s like saying a galaxy should be more like an iphone. They’re both different formats that are working well for them.

    1. “I don’t get why she would say such a thing.”

      Because you’ve now been reminded of her name, been told why she should be listened to, heard once again the names of the shows she’s been in, and maybe even given News Ltd a hit or two. Hopefully, you’ll also go and spread all those things around by discussing it with other people, maybe even passing the link around so her they can be propagated and assume some higher status purely by dint of being talked about, Kardashian-like.

      Their job is done…

  10. Haha! I never watched early seasons of MCA but I still know Julie Goodwin and Poh Ling Keow by name. I did see the season referred above but had forgotten her name…until now 🙂 And don’t many former MCA contestants have cooking shows, Delicious columns or work in restaurants? Clearly MCA is about cooking and MKR is about being remembered for being a villain perhaps? Funny article.

  11. But in a way, they are different shows seeking a different outcome. Is expect MasterChef to be a harder process to audition for, as they are looking for someone who will take home the title of “MasterChef”…. Not just another home cook.

Leave a Reply