MasterChef fans call for major change to 2025 season: 'Unrelatable'

A MasterChef fan has taken to Reddit to call for a major change to the 2025 season, which they believe would make the show a little more relatable to those of us who aren't amazing cooks.

"Who wants to see a budgeted cook next season?" the Redditor wrote. "Don't get me wrong, I love seeing lobsters and expensive ingredients on the show but for most of us plebs, with rising food costs, it's becoming unrelatable for the home cook. I want to see an episode where they're given like $20 bucks only to shop at the local Coles to make a main dish, or $50 for entree main and dessert.

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"Cos realistically that's what we normal Australians got for a day to day budget (and for some, $20 a day on ingredients is already too much). I also liked the episode seasons ago where they had to use food scraps, like chicken butts, to make tasty food, and also the elimination day where you're given a set amount of ingredients and if you lose the round, you can only use your remaining ingredients. Or the episode where they had to use instant noodles."

They added, "Two days of the week lunch for me is instant noodles so I liked that episode. And while I love seeing that amazing pantry as much as the next person, I just want to see a bit more relatability every now and then. This season they had really nice mystery boxes, even more exotic ingredients, etc. I just want to see a mystery box where it's an microwavable bag of popcorn, a can of tuna, a can of spaghetti, some cheap veg and fruits, rice crackers, etc what we realistically have in our pantries."

Viewers call for more 'real life' on MasterChef

Others responded, saying they thought it was a great idea, with one user writing, "I love this idea! You're so right that the cooks don't really reflect 'real life' while the show is certainly an escape, it would be nice to see the cooks challenged.

"Realistically I don't imagine Coles would be okay with it, mostly because the 'budget' could mean the amount of ingredients you get is meagre."

"I definitely get your point, but I would suspect Coles would be excited to show 'look how much food you can get on a modest budget!' to appeal to the average Joe/Jane," another said.

"I agree. They can have their unlimited ingredients for most of the show but just one or two episodes per season that lets us home cooks get inspired to think outside of the box with the stuff we already have," the OP added. "And I agree with the other commenter that Coles could make themselves look even better by showing that their food isn't THAT expensive and that you can still get quality ingredients under $20 for a main. That's honestly better advertising than to show off whole red emperor or rainbow trout that I probably can only buy once a year."

"They've done this in season 10," a third added, referencing the idea contestants should be given $20 and have to shop at the local Coles to make a main dish.

"I'd like to see a lot less waste," another added.

"I’m sure I remember an episode where they replicated each contestants home fridge, or maybe it was a guest judge’s fridge?" someone else questioned, adding it might have been another cooking show. "Would love a couple of ‘cook to a budget’ / leftovers/ cupboard raid challenges."

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"They did the Masterchef house's fridge, but of course it was full of fancy stuff they'd taken home to practise on," someone else replied.

"I love this. I think it would be great for a team service challenge particularly, like they sometimes do in the Top Chef universe. Negotiating shared ingredients, etc," another said.

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