MasterChef Australia: The surprising reason one of the new judges missed out on the gig in 2019

Masterchef Australia is back in full swing and audiences are delighted with the new lineup of judges - Andy Allen, Sofia Levin, Poh Ling Yeow and Jean-Christophe Novelli. "After the unexpected passing of Jock Zonfrillo and exit from Melissa Leong, there were some concerns about how Australian viewers would adapt to losing arguably the two most popular hosts of the show," a producer from the popular cooking series exclusively told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Re-casting took sensitivity

They continued, "The show's future was up in the air and finding the new line-up of judges took some time and a few deep breaths. This was the second time Australia had seen a huge reshuffle and getting the mix right had been in the works for a while."

According to the production insider, Melissa had been keen to make a move from MasterChef before Jock tragically passed away. Said the source, "Out of respect for Jock and his family Mel wasn't going into any detail as to why she had decided to exit Network Ten's beloved cooking show and luckily having the spin-off series Dessert Masters as a new project was the perfect cover for why she had decided to leave."

With the knowledge that Mel was hoping to exit the series, the producers of MasterChef apparently started thinking about who might take her place should she leave.

"They had started looking at the availability of Poh Ling Yeow who was actually busy on another network (Channel Nine) on another cooking show (Snackmasters)," our source exclusively reveals. "If Channel Nine weren't going to continue with Snackmasters, Network Ten was set to make her an offer.

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"Then Jock passed away and everything was being reconsidered. Recasting the show was going to take some sensitivity and a whole bunch of names were thrown into the mix."

There were a few names in the mix

According to the production insider, there were early conversations with international superstar chef Jamie Oliver but they couldn't lock him in for an entire season of the series.

"However, we were delighted to get him to launch the show (for two whole weeks) as he is very popular with Australian audiences," the source explains.

The insider also explains that as they looked globally for new judges, Jean-Christophe Novelli's name kept coming up as Network Ten was looking for a chef with a certain authority and the right pedigree which they knew the French cooking legend would bring to the kitchen.

"Sofia Levin fitted the brief on something that would be missing with Melissa being gone," the source explains. "Which was this very urban-sexy-cool vibe they knew would be missing. Yet Poh's name never really left their mind."

Poh could have been offered the role sooner

There was plenty of speculation in 2019 that Poh would be asked to host Masterchef Australia when Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan were dropped from the show. "The conversations around the boardroom started with a dream team of judges that would work well together and Poh was on that list for sure," the source said. "However, they were also very keen to get her and Julie Goodwin back in the kitchen as contestants again with two seasons planned to have returning Masterchef Australia alumni. So that explains why they stepped back from offering Poh the role in 2019."

As it turned out, the move was a good one as it allowed the season one contestant to gain even more confidence and TV experience.

Says the source, "We had her back for Back to Win which was a great TV moment. She was able to do I'm A Celebrity and had an amazing opportunity to host a show with Snackmasters."

So while Poh is rumoured to have been expecting the call to host MasterChef back in 2019, good things happen to those who wait!

Fans are loving Poh on MasterChef Australia

And, it seems that fans of the show are loving the addition of her as a judge.

"I was so happy when I found out she was on the show," one person wrote on Facebook. "I adore Poh."

Said another, "I love Poh, she is so talented and seems to be a very good mentor and judge."

Added someone else, "Poh is great. My daughter knows her through work and says she is a lovely person in real life too."

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