MasterChef Australia is back, and not a moment too soon.

Monday night saw the premiere of the program’s 12th season, its first outing since parting ways with Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston last year – the three high-profile judges who had fronted the program since its beginning.

After weathering scandal and fatigue, replacing the program’s most famous faces with new talent was a gamble that risked driving away its existing viewership. The gamble appears to have paid off.

Monday night’s program was watched by more than 1.2 million viewers, its strongest premiere in years and a big increase from the previous year’s premiere ratings of 715,000.

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Of course, the programmers could have hardly asked for a more perfect alignment of stars. A captive audience of an entire nation driven indoors by the coronavirus, spending more time in the kitchen than ever before while craving familiarity, positivity and good old-fashioned comfort. I said as much a month ago.

Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) I predict this upcoming season of #MasterChefAU will break every possible television record. The entire country a totally captive audience, craving wholesome nostalgia, with every aspect of their lives revolving around cooking and eating. The producers must be beside themselves.

(I might well be biased, but while I count many of the contestants and judges – both past and present – as friends, I have not been involved with the program for many years.)

We might be tempted to define the current series by the newness of its judges, but ironically MasterChef Australia’s attraction now is its familiar faces – not on the judging panel, but in the kitchen instead.

This year’s MasterChef is packed with contestants from seasons past, many who have carved out successful careers in their own rights since their appearances. There are restaurateurs, TV show hosts, caterers, professional chefs and household names among them.

The power rankings might seem a little off at times (why is Australia’s darling Poh Ling Yeow behind a bench instead of the judging table? And is it really fair for a professionally-trained patissier to be “competing” against a hobby baker?), but these questions are small potatoes. Contestants, judges and viewers alike are willing to play their part (and suspend a little disbelief) so that they can be along for the ride. Everyone wants this to work.

Ben Shute (@Ben_Shute) Me: I can’t do anymore reality TV at the moment #masterchefau: we’re bringing back a whole lot of people who almost won over the last 12 years.

Me: pic.twitter.com/fLkNUmpXGE

Maeve Marsden (@maevemarsden) It is so nice watching #masterchefau without all the blokey mcblokersons action from the old judges. So nice.

As far as the new judges are concerned, they may not have the high profiles, but all three are veterans of competitive cooking TV formats – Andy Allen as a former MasterChef winner, Melissa Leong as a judge on SBS’s The Chefs’ Line, and Jock Zonfrillo as host of Seven Network’s short-lived Restaurant Revolution.

That experience shows. The new judges are note-perfect in their debut outing, capturing MasterChef’s trademark camaraderie and positivity while also bringing individuality to roles that have been defined for more than a decade by Messrs Gary, George and Matt.

Any first-night wobbles that might have arisen were also steadied by the hand of Gordon Ramsay on the tiller. The superstar chef is on board for the entire first week of episodes, adding star power, shoring up the new judges’ bona fides, and anchoring the new series with his on-screen professionalism.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gordon Ramsay adds star power to the first week of MasterChef episodes. Photograph: Network Ten

Personalities aside, the program has not varied even a pinch from its not-so-secret recipe for success. The steely determination of contestants, moments of vulnerability and self-doubt, semi-candid vox pops, tears, cheers and fireballs are all back and set to a rousing orchestral soundtrack.

It’s still early days, but if anything was going to return MasterChef Australia to the rare air it enjoyed in its glory days, this would be it. Social media lit up with old MasterChef fans brought back from the wilderness, many confessing this was the first time they’d tuned back in for years.

Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) Yes I’m live tweeting Masterchef for the first time in ten years leave me alone, we have so little #masterchefau

Edward Lavis (@edlavis88) Had my doubts but #MasterChefAU was phenomenal last night. Some great nostalgia, fantastic cooking and the new judges nailed it too. Going to be a great season.

To be fair, to say the program is back ignores the fact it didn’t go anywhere. Criticism levelled at MasterChef’s supposed decline over the years has been mostly unfair and unfounded.

As its industry has battled fragmentation and streaming, and its network has seen financial difficulty and subsequent takeover by CBS, the program itself has seen off countless competitors, imitators and outright copycats to remain Network Ten’s flagship prime-time reality offering. Expecting it to reach the same ratings as it did when we only had five channels to choose from was an impossible standard.

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For over a decade it has regularly topped its time slots and demographics and enjoyed extraordinary success in international markets, all while driving enormous amounts of revenue for its network and creators. If that is what decline looks like, we should all be so lucky.

Still there’s no doubting that after 12 years the old dame of Australian reality television was crying out for something new. And if the first numbers and reactions on social media are anything to go by, things are looking good. This might just be the redemption story we all need.

MasterChef Australia airs at 7.30pm on Network Ten on Monday to Thursday and Sunday nights.



