MasterChef fans have warned producers of waning appetites for the reality cooking show’s perceived preference for drama and ratings over food.



Last night’s non-elimination elimination round prompted a raft of complaints on the show’s official forums, one of which accused the hugely successful program of intentionally dragging out the season to reap more revenue.



Contestants Aaron and Jimmy were up for ousting last night after being named their team’s worst performers in the controversial CWA outdoor baking challenge on Wednesday night.



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Bake off 'rigged' claims

MasterChef: Who's left

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The contestants were called to fix a flawed coq au vin, but despite both omitting crucial ingredients of the classic French dish, neither was eliminated.



In a MasterChef first, judges Gary Megihan and George Calombaris were deadlocked the final vote and, rather than call in third panellist Matt Preston, they took the extraordinary step of allowing both to stay.



‘‘We said from the outset that one of you was to do home,’’ Megihan told the entrants.



‘‘After today’s challenge, with the effort you put in, with the gusto that you displayed, I think there’s only one thing that we can do. We can’t send either of you home, you’re both safe. You both leave here as survivors.’’



The result leaves 10 contestants in the MasterChef house, meaning producers will have to shed eight of the amateur chefs in three weeks before the show’s finale at the end of this month.



One of those weeks will include an appearance from an Iron Chef, the station confirmed today.



Viewer Skipperoo labelled last night’s decision a ‘‘breach of commitment’’ on behalf of the two judges.



‘‘I’m losing faith in all of them,’’ Skipperoo said on the show’s forum.



‘‘Uppermost in their minds are viewer ratings - nothing to do with fairness, cooking skills or anything else. This competition sucks!’’



Chocolatefrog dismissed the episode as ‘‘staged, manipulated, contrived, nonsense’’.



‘‘How can we have any faith that the eventual winner will have got there on pure ability alone?’’



And from a separate post: ‘‘It was a blatant move by the producers to spin out the show for another week, because the ratings and ad revenue for Channel 10 is so lucrative’’.



AniMotek said the non-elimination episode ‘‘broke faith with the audience’’.



‘‘I think this episode is really the final straw in taking this at all seriously as a cooking competition,’’ the viewer posted.



But not everyone hated the surprise ending.



Viewer LeeGeo answered the critics with a big ‘‘So?’’.



‘‘Where does it say in the rule book that there HAS to be an elimination every week? Even in horse racing sometimes they have a dead heat!’’



Vivienne666 was equally forgiving, commenting on the ‘‘nice twist’’.



