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Matthew cut from MasterChef

Sydney accountant Matthew Caldicott has been cut from MasterChef, after naming apricot jam as dried apricot.

Sydney accountant Matthew Caldicott has been cut from MasterChef.

Caldicott, 21, met his match with a carrot cake cooked by judge George Calombaris.

In a taste test he incorrectly named dried apricot as one of 16 possible ingredients. But the cake had apricot jam.

His elimination follows being lauded for his dish in this week’s team challenge. But his team lost, putting him in a taste test opposite Claire, Marion, Alvin and Jonathan.

“I guess it is a little ironic,” says Matthew. “I was shattered when the judges told me I was eliminated and I knew it was all over, red rover. All those months of hard work came to an end all because of one word.

“I knew eggs were in it as I’m sure nearly every cake has eggs in it,” explains Matthew. “I then said apricots as there were little slivers on top of the cake. When the judges asked me to specify I freaked out and said the first thing in my head which was dried apricots, but it was apricot jam.”

Earlier today his elimination was leaked by a Sydney newspaper.

This post updates.

39 Responses

  1. Is it really necessary for the judges to wait five minutes every time someone says an ingredient. And also walking up and down the bench – it’s getting really annoying.

  2. i hate taste test eliminations. its not fair. i agree with other people have said, the bottom 3 shud go into it, not the whole team, he was the 1 that did the best job in the group challenge it was not fair. Either that or the top performer from that team be safe and the other 4 go to the taste test, thank god marion stayed!

  3. I would love to see a contestant get the taste test wrong on the very first try. I’d love to see how they could drag that drama out for 30 minutes!!

  4. I really hate the taste test elimination. I think it’s a really horrible way to go.
    And it Matthew’s case, the scenario is all the more bitter as he performed better than the rest of his team in the challenge.
    Really think the top three worst performers should have been up for elimination rather than the whole team.
    That would have meant Marion, Claire and Jonathon would have been up.
    Go Alvin and Adam, the quiet and humble achievers!!

  5. @d.no – point taken, i had forgotten about that – and i did like the fact she nominated herself. I thought she was turning over a new leaf. But im sorry, she’s just flying too much under the radar. She’ll make it to the final 5 without making any waves…. unlike like most the others who are fighting harder. I think she’s there as a Julie goodwin.

  6. I wonder if judge faves Marion or Claire had said ‘apricots’ or ‘dried apricots’ whether the judges would have allowed the answer as a variation on ‘apricot jam’. It seemed to me the judges were pretty nervous at having these contestants leaving as the result of a taste test and so Matthew became an easy target with his answer. It’s not like there aren’t apricots in apricot jam!

  7. How come Marion was not asked to clarify her response of “flour”? She was not asked whether she meant plain or self-raising, of which the cake could have contained either. In past taste tests, contestants have been asked to clarify an ambiguous ingredient like that. This time, the hot favourite was not asked to. Favouritism, much?

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