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Why Nigella Lawson Loves ‘MasterChef’ Australia

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:11 PST, Jun 7, 2016

MasterChef, the immensely popular reality TV show pitting aspiring home chefs against each other, brought in a little magic from home with a special guest on the show. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Nigella Lawson stepped up as a guest on MasterChef Australia.

She has done it before and evidently decided to come back again, as Nigella enjoyed her time on MasterChef back in 2011 during an episode of Season 3. Now, Nigella is back and she will become a proper part of the show.

Nigella Lawson spoke on her experience in the past being a part of MasterChef, saying that although she enjoyed her experience on the show, it was spoiled for her because she didn’t get the opportunity to connect with the contestants. Describing herself as a “nosey person,” Lawson said that she would enjoy her time on MasterChef a lot more if she could get to know the contestants.

“I’m quite a nosey person and I’m quite interested in people, and I felt I could enjoy it more if I could spend a bit of time getting to know the contestants, seeing them cook, talking to them, and I was right. I did enjoy that, because there’s always something very rewarding about feeling properly involved.”

While working with Matt Preston, George Calombaris, and Gary Mehigan, she also shared that it was an honor having a dedicated week along with her fellow countrymen, Marco Pierre White and Heston Blumenthal. She may not be as hardened as her two fellow chefs are, but as a pillar of television and domestic superiority for almost twenty years, it would be impossible to count her out. The real question at hand is whether she feels like she could intimidate the MasterChef contestants the way that the regular judges do?

Nigella Lawson spoke on how she felt being next to the rest of the MasterChef judges and mentors, saying that at times she has felt embarrassed by comments made.

“I always felt a bit embarrassed when one of the boys, Gary, George or Matt, would say ‘it’s such an honour to have her here’, and I kept saying, ‘oh no, please don’t say that’. Because, of course, you never feel that way about yourself, and the thing is you only need to talk to them for a few minutes and that sense of being intimidated goes.”

MasterChef presented itself to her the way it presents itself to its audience: friendly. She said that the environment was also supportive. Although the show is culinary, living up to its name of “MasterChef,” Nigella feels like her skills are not the most elite, and that she has more than just culinary finesse.

Despite the pressure of the competitive field, Nigella believes that MasterChef is not divisive and that it is a civilized show, especially considering the nature of the show.

Nigella spoke on the nature of MasterChef as a show in comparison to the usual competition shows.

“I do think it’s a very evolved, civilized food program and competition. They’re not cruel to one another, it isn’t about having cameras on people to make them bad-mouth other contestants.”

She went on to say that MasterChef is not about making people feel ridiculous, which is a refreshing change considering the number of shows on TV that aim to do just that. Instead, she believes that MasterChef actually brings out the best in its contestants.

“A competition where you’re trying to bring out the best in people and then, when they do well, they do go on to get jobs doing what they love doing, that’s amazing really.”

A key factor that distinguishes MasterChef from similar shows is its judges. It’s obvious from their off-screen life that food is a genuine passion for them, and that they’re not appearing on the show simply to belittle the contestants. According to the Huffington Post, Gary Mehigan knew that a career in food was something he wanted when he was only 14-years-old.

The three MasterChef Australia judges took some time off from filming the current season to spend the past weekend in Bengaluru, India, to take part in the international food festival, “World On a Plate,” according to First Post.

MasterChef Australia is relatively well known in India, perhaps partly because there have been a number of Indian contestants on the show in previous seasons. The three judges, George Calombaris, Matt Preston, and Gary Mehigan, were given a hero’s welcome at the international food festival.

The festival was a feast of food trucks and pop-up restaurants spread throughout the city of Bengaluru, with food lovers having more than 50 culinary options to sample. In addition, the MasterChef Australia judges presented a masterclass during which they cooked some of their favorite dishes with an Indian twist.

[Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images]

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