Masterchef Australia Season 12

Back to win.

I've been a big fan of Masterchef Australia for a long time now, as its usually nice, wholesome and uplifting emotionally despite being a competition.

The end of Season 11 also saw the departure of the beloved judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris leaving some pretty big shoes to fill for the new comers - previous guest-chef Jock Zonfrillo, articulate foodie Melissa Leong, and season 4 winner Andy Allen who went on to become a One Hat chef (only two more to catch up to Jock)!

The new judges: Andy, Mel and Jock.

While initially wary, I find these three to be quite good at the job - but the real masterstroke was from whoever decided to bring back the best non-winning contestants from previous seasons meaning there's plenty of familiarity around for long time fans.

It's quite interesting too how they manage to continue through COVID which necessitates the removal of public outdoor and service challenges; rules that are retained for the 3rd Junior season of the show (which coincidentally had the epic idea of having a live orchestra play music during the final cook). I'll be continuing to watch if Season 13 rolls around. :)