MasterChef shock as Marion exits
MasterChef viewers were left spinning after the shock elimination of hot favourite, Marion Grasby.
- Published by David Knox
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Hot favourite Marion Grasby has been shock elimination from MasterChef Australia, after failing to win over the judges during a tense satay sauce cook off which went down to deciding between her and Aaron.
The 27-year-old South Australian journalist was widely tipped to win the contest, proving time and again she had what it takes to deliver in the kitchen and win support of viewers.
Grasby had been up against Jonathan, Aaron and Adam after Wednesday’s group challenge failure, but Adam opted to use his immunity pin. After Jonathan succeeded a ‘Name that Nut’ test, Marion and Aaron faced off in a satay sauce cook-off. Ironically for Grasby, who has a Thai family background, her sauce was deemed to thick.
“Of course I’m disappointed, but when the judges told me I was out of the competition I had a great sense of calm,” she says.
“I make satay sauce all the time. I think it was the pressure of the situation, having 15 minutes to make the sauce and things sometimes just don’t work out.
“Everyone has a bad day in the kitchen and it was just my time to have a bad day. I have no regrets at all. I never took anything for granted and whenever I walked into the MasterChef kitchen I always treated it as though it was my last day, so it wasn‟t a shock for me, just disappointing.
“But since going home I have made plenty of satay sauces – and, yes, they are thick! In fact, I’m bringing out my own satay sauce in a range I’m working on now.
“My mum makes satay sauce all the time and I’ve made it loads of time too,” admits Marion. “I wanted a thick satay sauce but I was trying to get the right balance of trying to make a sauce the way my mum makes it, and getting the consistency right. But it was slightly too thick and didn’t stand up to Aaron’s sauce.
“I just feel so bad because I’ve had so much support from the public and the media,” she says. “Even though I’ve been eliminated, the show has given me the biggest opportunity of my life. I hope people have found inspiration in what I’ve done.”
With returning contestants Jimmy and Courtney still in the race ahead of Marion, along with the do or die taste tests, there are likely to be questions about levels of fairness
Grasby denies the pressure of being labeled by the public and the media as a favourite got to her in the end.
“We’re always under pressure, and it’s not because everyone says you’re the favourite,” she says.
“It comes down to the pressure that you put on yourself, and it’s a long time that you need to sustain that energy. I don’t think it was a case of pressure, I just had a bad day in the kitchen.
“People always said that I was the favourite, but I never felt that. I’m only human and I know that you can’t always be perfect.”
Grasby was recently named by media as the most likeable contestant with other competitors including Jonathan and Claire not proving popular with viewers.
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72 Responses
Marion such a tatlented cook, innovative, always positive, flexible a good team player and leader should still be in Master Chef. Marion is probably the only one that has All the right skills and personal attributes to become a Chef and now this opportunity has been taken away from her. There are at least 3 contestants left in Master Chef who really should not be there at this stage, and only because they happened to be in the winning team are they still there. What a lot of mistakes Callum continues to make, does not learn from his mistakes. Another contestant is only interested in turning every dish they produce into some sort of curry – where is the talent in this behaviour. Good grief if one of these lesser cooks (weak links) wins the competetion it will certainly make Master Chef look like a bad joke. Now that the best has gone, what is the point in watching.
Not happy Jan, hands down, Marion should have won. She was always the standout
I think if Marion did win the challenge, there would be an outcry in the media saying it was rigged as the dish was Thai, and that is Marion’s (usual) forte. I’m disappointed she’s gone, but dem da rulez.
Marion wasn’t necessarily the best at cooking, because she’s amongst some very talented contestants and she’s just one of many at a top tier. But she was the best at focusing on the job and at handling the pressure of the competition, while the others often panicked and struggled. Everyone knew she has what it takes to succeed in the industry, so winning a game is perhaps best given to another.
But now I can’t pick who. Maybe Adam, maybe Claire, maybe Alvin. Hopefully not Jonathan or Aaron.
@Stephen Exactly.
The shows rigged, people complain.
The shows not rigged, people complain.
I’m disappointed to see Marion go but seriously, she’ll live.
I was floored and had tears in my eyes – and I Never cry at TV shows! Marion will be great without the Masterchef title so best of luck to her. Unfortunately, she didn’t produce the best satay sauce and was elimated fair and square. Brilliantly gripping television.
Why are people blaming the show, the producers and the judges for Marion’s exit?? If you’re looking for someone to blame, why not start with Marion! She’s the one that let us all down. It’s like those people who blame the umpires when their footy team plays poorly. The show may not always be perfect and 100% fair, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. The format of Masterchef Australia has been the same from the beginning, and still people manage to drain the fun out of it by over-analysing and taking it too seriously. Masterchef has provided us with hours and hours of free entertainment. If you choose not to watch anymore, it’s no one’s loss but your own.
Let’s see how many of those saying they won’t watch anymore, comment next week. Agree it’s shame Marion has gone. She certainly seemd the best. The UK show does promote cooking rather than elimination ‘tests’. But going on the media coverage today, I think TEN will be rubbing their oven mitts with glee.
So sad to see Marion go. What will I watch now….as this show lacks fairness. Jimmy and Callum…both who I like, clearly can’t cook. Claire is as boring as hell.
Alvin at least has a personality and shows some humour. Well judges it might be your turn to be eliminated as that was just pathetic last night.
Haha, yeah I’m really going to buy a cook book by Aaron or Jonathon. Let’s hope they let Callum do the desserts section as a special guest writer, and Claire could do the copyright statement at the beginning. That would be awesome. Marian will blitz the lot of them without any further assistance from MasterChef.
Marion should have won the comp. She is the best cook out of the lot this year. I dont really care who wins now as all the other contestants are bland and seriously flawed in the kitchen. Callum failed to cream butter and sugar on Wednesday..
Fair is fair though, I guess now those who claim the show is all about favouritism can shut up.
People calm down. As much as I don’t like Aaron’s personality, his satay looked much nicer than Marion’s did. You need to also remember that in all the episodes the directors edit to create what they want us to see – we are constantly being manipulated. The worst thing is the team challenge scenario. The fairest result would be that the worst performers from either team should play off. Jonathon cooked great desserts but still ended up in the challenge – Callum cooked garbage and was safe – a basic failing of the show. Still I’ll keep watching!
It is a shame Marion has gone. This confirms that I would prefer that contestants who regularly win challenges gain points toward an immunity pin so consistently good cooks have a safety net against the ‘bad day’.
Channel 10 actually gave the result away half way through the show. When Jonathon saved himself and the nut challenge ended they had an ad for Sunday showing Aaron in a group cooking shot – his black knitted cap makes him stand out.
I’m glad they changed the format of the name the ingredients test so it wasn’t a straight elimination on the first mistake which was always too severe. At the very least it should be done in rounds so you only get eliminated if everyone else’s guess for that round is right.
wholeheartedly agree shelley.
would hate to win this, when everyone will be thinking the title belongs to someone else. (Marion!)
What’s the surprise?
the three fat rodents go Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,, and viola! you have your next contestant eliminated, like it matters anyway, in a month she’ll be back when they have the “surprise shocking cadbury sponsored TV first kodak moment contestant return” segment…
Callum is still there because he has been on the teams that have won. I really like Callum but for his sake he better do a good dish sunday night. Im going for Claire now.
Marion stuffed up her dish by putting the peanut butter in it. It already had peanuts in it and the peanut butter made it way to thick. But it has well and truly opened the door up now for any of them, well except for Jimmy who can only seem to cook curries.
There seems to be some major comprehension problems out there and all over a fairly simple tv show!
I’ll admit I was as shocked as everyone else but I could also see that Aaron had done a better job.
Callum could have burnt 10 custards but because he was on the winning team he was always going to be safe.
Satay sauce is different for every countries. My favourite satay sauce is Thai satay sauce which is definitely thicker and also sweeter. Although her sauce was a little too thick, she deserves to stay…
Can’t believe she lost and the paper says Jonathan is fav to win? Where is his likable personality?
If Marion was the best cook, why did she lose the cook-off. She wasn’t able to answer as many of the nuts correctly. Surely, that is saying something. Many of these Marion fans are in denial. She is a good cook, and will probably be successful, I might even end up buying her cookbook if she has one. But I don’t think she’s the best cook in the competition.
@ TVtragic, bravo, you summed it up brilliantly !
marion is gone, fine, but did anyone notice last nights ratings for masterchef? it broke the 2.1 million barrier. wow
I like Callum but it boggles my mind that he burnt custard and is still in the competition, when Marion is arguably the best cook and she has been sent home. It speaks of the fatal flaws in the shows design. So disappointed for Marion. She’s still the winner as far as I’m concerned.
Woah folks. The dish Aaron served on the day was superior. If Marion had put together a better effort she would be through. Aaron has been a bit inconsistent. In my opinion though Callum and Jonothan have had some monumental stuff ups.
I mean Callum made a custard in the army challenge when told not to. He had to buy two additional lots of cucumbers in the Press Club challenge. He also as someone has pointed out cannot mix together butter and sugar. If he wins then it would be a bigger injustice than Marion leaving
Marion in all honesty is going to be a success with or without the show. That is the true test over time.
I have no problem with Marion exiting last night as that is how Ten and Fremantle have set up the series. It is an amalgam of MasterChef UK, Biggest Loser and Big Brother.
If you wanted the best cook to win, the series would stick much closer to the UK series format which is nowhere near as varied as the Australian show but it always seem the best chef progresses as it is basically a cook-off in a kitchen which is individually judged. There are no teams, no gimmicks just sound judging which is always explained and there are no surprises.