MasterChef star Craig Young has blamed the show for making him put on weight. The 44-year-old wannabe chef, who made it to the top 12 contestants in the Australian version of the cooking competition this year, has checked into a weight loss clinic in Brisbane after gaining 15kg during his time in the house. Young told The Sunday Mail that MasterChef producers refused to let contestants go out to exercise, saying: "The biggest problem was that you were not allowed to leave the house. I found it quite hard to exercise at all. There were some weights in the garage but that was not a nice place at all to exercise." Young claimed that the program's producers were "paranoid" about people leaving the house because "they were worried about paparazzi", but added: "I never saw a photographer outside. "There (more)...
- 11/7/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Craig Young has left MasterChef. The professional musician, who made it to the top 13 of the Australian version of the reality television show, was eliminated after going head-to-head with Alana Lowes in a 15-minute cooking challenge. In round one, Young went up against Michael Weldon and Mat Beyer but failed to impress the judges with his "overcooked" quail breast. Weldon was praised for his "delicious" steak tartare with garlic chips, while Beyer's quail, fig and bacon dish was described as a "knockout combination". In the second round, Lowes competed with Dani Venn and Peter Vickery to stay in the competition, but shocked the judges by serving them "raw" lamb cutlets. Venn's Vietnamese beef salad was labelled "appetising" and although Vickery's lamb was a bit "rare, they told him that he (more)...
- 6/23/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Shannon Smyth has left MasterChef. The 26-year-old receptionist from the Gold Coast, who has previously revealed that her dream is to open up a patisserie, was eliminated from the Australian version of the cooking show after going head-to-head with professional musician Craig Young. The duo were asked to create their best possible dish in 15 minutes using only nine ingredients. Young made prawns in a Thai chilli sauce, which judge Matt Preston said were a "big smack in your mouth of flavour" and George Calombaris described as "yummy". Smyth made a dessert of French toast, grilled figs, orange syrup and candied pistachios. Preston praised her "restaurant quality presentation", while Calombaris said that her French toast was "magnificent". However, both judges said that her syrup was "too thick and too sticky". (more)...
- 6/16/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Rachel McSweeney has been eliminated from MasterChef. The 45-year-old office administrator from Western Australia was asked to leave the Australian version of the reality cooking series after failing to impress the judges with her interpretation of a Heston Blumenthal dish. McSweeney, along with 25-year-old Michael Weldon, professional musician Craig Young and 26-year-old Shannon Smyth, was given just over three hours to make Blumenthal's special burger and chips together with their own personal drink concoction. Despite being warned to start the task by making her beef patty, McSweeney began with her brioche bun. After the challenge, she said: "I couldn't remember what I was meant to be doing. I just got myself in a pickle and couldn't sort it out." Weldon impressed Blumenthal with his tender patty and "playful" green lime (more)...
- 6/14/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
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