It was the moment that had MasterChef fans holding their breath across Australia.
On Thursday night’s elimination challenge, contestant Justin Narayan was in knots as he approached the judging table, convinced his chicken dish was undercooked.
The thought that he might face eviction wasn’t made any easier when judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen decided to toy with his emotions in a nail-biting tasting session.
Poker face: Judge Jock Zonfrillo’s dramatic prank sent contestant Justin Narayan crashing to the floor in the MasterChef kitchen on Thursday night
‘You wanna come and have a look at what you did… or what didn’t do?’ teased Jock, hovering over the youth pastor’s charcoal-style Lebanese chicken dish served with toum, flatbread and perfectxml.https://www.perfectxml.com pickle salad.
‘I’m crossing my fingers that it’s cooked for you,’ chipped in judge Andy, as Melissa looked on with a steely poker face.
As Justin approached the bench, the powers-that-be cut to an ad break, driving fans of the Channel 10 cooking show wild.
Returning to the kitchen post-commercials, Jock put Justin out of his misery, telling the aspiring chef: ‘What you didn’t do… is over or undercook it, it’s bloody perfect!’
At that point, Justin fell to the floor in a mixture of relief and elation.
The stakes are high: The thought that he might face eviction wasn’t made any easier when judges Jock, Melissa Leong [pictured] and Andy Allen decided to toy with his emotions in a nail-biting tasting session
The big reveal: ‘You wanna come and have a look at what you did… or what didn’t do?’ teased Jock, hovering over the youth pastor’s charcoal-style Lebanese chicken dish served with toum, flatbread and pickle salad
Joy: Returning to the kitchen post-commercials, Jock put Justin out of his misery, telling the aspiring chef: ‘What you didn’t do… is over or undercook it, it’s bloody perfect!’
Relief: At that point, Justin fell to the floor in a mixture of relief and elation
Later in the show, Trent Vu became the first contestant to be eliminated.
The 23-year-old hopeful from Victoria failed to impress the show’s judges with his underwhelming cook.
After a cutthroat cooking task earlier in the episode, the bottom five contestants were given one last chance to determine who would be going home.
It’s time to go: Later in the show, Trent Vu [pictured] became the first contestant to be eliminated
Disappointed: The 23-year-old hopeful from Victoria failed to impress the show’s judges with his chicken dish
‘I’m sorry, Trent.
Unfortunately, your chicken, it was completely overpowered by the lemon myrtle in the dish,’ said judge Melissa Leong.
Fellow judge Andy Allen then informed a clearly disappointed Trent that he had been eliminated from the hit cooking show.
Thursday night’s elimination took place ahead of the show’s highly anticipated ‘Superstar Week’, which is set to kick off on Sunday.
According to a teaser trailer, it will feature ‘the biggest names in food’, including Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson, Clare Smyth, Yotam Ottolenghi and Massimo Bottura.
MasterChef continues Sunday at 7.30pm on Channel 10
‘It’s been great.
It’s been fun. I just want to keep learning and keep growing and really figure myself out as a cook,’ he said