Masterchef Australia – Interview With Deb – “I Was Never Going To Win That Challenge”

by Reality Raver

100 comments

1 Anne { 07.14.12 at 4:42 pm }

I am really glad that she got eliminated.

2 brain dead dave { 07.14.12 at 4:54 pm }

Be a loner , do your own thing and just wait for the shallow mob and ar$e lickers to start circling.

Apart from Andy and Julia , the other contestants are as deep as teaspoons.

3 Gillian { 07.14.12 at 5:37 pm }

@RR – Thanks for organising the interview RR!

@ BBD – “Be a loner , do your own thing and just wait for the shallow mob and ar$e lickers to start circling.”

I see that happen all the time. Sounds like most of the places I’ve worked in. It never seems to be enough that you just do your job and do it well. People are afraid of those who don’t need others or need to be part of a group of people.

I must admit I haven’t been watching the show that often and I know it’s edited but I didn’t understand why Debs was so disliked in the house. But I’m the type of person who prefers someone to be grumpy and direct rather than fake-nice.

4 Jimbob { 07.14.12 at 5:48 pm }

I’ve been waiting for this interview for a while!
If Alice turned in her pin, Julia could’ve been eliminated but then again, it seems that the Pici rolling competition in the start was rigged so Deb probably still would’ve gone.
Does anybody know how long ago the elimination was filmed?

5 brain dead dave { 07.14.12 at 5:53 pm }

I’m not sure Jimbob but I seem to recall the disturbing reports of gastro in Italy maybe eight weeks ago at least.

Thanks for asking Deb my question RR, even if she did kind of avoid answering it.( Did you think whoever drew the pig would be aliminated?)

6 Sioux Denim { 07.14.12 at 5:55 pm }

Thanks for the interview RR…..

I really liked Deb’s outlook on life – MChef really wans’t her gig – to be honest though she wouldnt last too long in Survivor either!!

7 littlepetal { 07.14.12 at 6:05 pm }

Jimbob-They were filming in Italy around the 22 May.

I like Deb’s cooking (my kind of food) but she is hopeless as a team player. She wants things done her way and would not compromise. Do agree that they wanted to eliminate her.

8 Jess { 07.14.12 at 6:15 pm }

Debra’s website is: http://debsedso.com
With the “Sed” being a pun on her surname, I assume.

Thanks for the interview, RR! How did you manage to get it? Was it something like “I have this website, come talk to me!” or was there more involved?

9 sue N { 07.14.12 at 6:19 pm }

if all the pici looked pretty much the same- then there are basically 2 theories:

a) the people on hand who could see/feel/taste it (if they did)- are the best judges….

b) it was indeed a conspiracy to make Deb come last, and the boys had also already worked out they would leave her stuck with the pig…..

Actually given the choices of course/food to cook, I would have skipped the pig too, regardless of any possible familiarity with it.

I think Deb’s prickly personality at times, and her inability to be a team player- ie not listening to other suggestions, played more of a part in her isolation than any strategy/conspiracy.

I get that she prefers her own company, that’s fine, and I quite like her style of cooking- but given her personality etc, she was never going to cope with/do well in this competition. I think it was past her time to go….

10 Andy Pandy { 07.14.12 at 6:42 pm }

Thanks for the interesting interview, she seems to be a nice lady, but misunderstood by the fellow contestants. I think both Andrew and Deb were never going to win, they were both set up to fail. You did nothing wrong Deb, I said earlier that the boys should have chosen the pig if it was so easy and familiar for them. The judges obviously want a young contestant to win this year, preferably a guy, it was gracious of you to say that Andy deserves to win. Hope you have read this blog and see that many people have supported you here, good luck with your future plans. Don’t go on Survivor, its even more cut throat than Masterchef!

11 EH { 07.14.12 at 7:34 pm }

Thanks for the interview & asking Deb my questions. I like Debra’s cooking but it was clear from the moment she was appointed as the yum cha challenge leader, she wasn’t going to win.

We will never know the true picture. The camera shows us what the producers want us to see. You entered the competitor, you signed the contract, you fate is in the hands of the producers.

Many good cooks enter Masterchef naively thinking it can change their life & chase their food dream but many see it as a fast track to fame & fortune. The process is real & brutal. A few might have succeeded but for most of them we can hardly remember their names.

I salute Debra for completing her impossible task with the two piglets instead of quitting knowing that she was set up to fail.

Masterchef is good entertaining and good topic to discuss but is it a cooking competition & will the best cook win? I doubt.

12 Morgan { 07.14.12 at 8:08 pm }

No disrespect to Deb, but I don’t think she would last very long on Survivor.

13 planb { 07.14.12 at 8:09 pm }

“People are afraid of those who don’t need others or need to be part of a group of people.”

So true, Gillian.

14 Reality Raver { 07.14.12 at 9:50 pm }

Morgan and Sioux Denim – I was surprised about the survivor thing as it is tough mentally, physically and emotionally.

Jess – I just asked Network TEN for an interview. They were very obliging.

Popsugar has a good interview as well as Deb says there that the judges told her to make a salad. http://www.popsugar.com.au/MasterChef-2012-Elimination-Interview-Debra-Sederlan-Italy-Team-Challenges-Menopause-Comments-23966371

15 Maz { 07.14.12 at 10:40 pm }

The scariest line from the Popsugar interview ‘I had watched the previous series but not with the nightly dedication like some of the contestants, who are like cult followers and took notes every night… yet EH has managed to compile a lengthy list that would suggest a certain deficiency in th0se notes.

Also interesting that the teachers pets are not rated by Deb.

16 EH { 07.14.12 at 11:03 pm }

Maz, that sentence did make me ran over to check the list I have compiled.

Out of the 9 contestants who are still in the competition:

Mindy, Audra – both have zero entry.
Kylie, Julia & Alice – each has one entry
Andy, Wade, Beau & Ben – Most of the entries on the list are contributed by them.

Like I have said in #11 there are two types of people in the house: The naive ones who really think Masterchef can change their life & chase their food dream; The game players who see Masterchef as a fast track to fame & fortune.

Can we see a pattern here?

17 JStar { 07.15.12 at 2:49 am }

RR, do you think you can grab an interview with all remaining contestants from MasterChef (and future ones including All-Stars)? If you can, we will shower you with lots of love although we know how hard it is to transcribe everything whilst having family commitments.

As for the Survivor quip….geez, is she going to be the only person scarred by reality tv to enter another game show as naively as the one earlier?

Whoever drew the pig was destined to fail (unless HE had guns of steel). However, I don’t buy that the judges wanted her to go (unlike Andrew). Definitely smells more like the producers handiwork.

18 Fred { 07.15.12 at 3:32 am }

Sorry, I don’t mean any offense, but I’m seeing a lot of bitterness and denial here. Deb seems to be acting as if people didn’t like her in team challenges because she was some kind of Spiritual Lone Wolf. I think they would have liked her just fine if she didn’t blow up and throw wrenches into the challenges. Her freak out on the Yam Cha challenge sent someone else home. It sent Amina and Jules home in the Pop Up Challenge. And to my knowledge, people were still bending over backwards to be nice to her (group hug in the Pop Up challenge, Andy/Ben helping her out and keeping her calm in the last elimination challenge, Andy going out of his way to ask if she’s alright with the task he’s given her in the Barilla Challenge, perfectly willing to change up if she didn’t like it). Own up to your own actions, that’s all, instead of painting yourself as some kind of Dickensian, Oliver-Twist like victim-protagonist.

As well she also seems to think that people formed friendships out of the naivete that if they did they wouldn’t be eliminated. That seems coldly cynical to me. A lot of people just gravitated towards either. I’m not sure anyone would be stupid enough to believe that building friendships would save you from being eliminated in a cooking show where your COOKING is what saves you.

Sorry, people might get mad at me for pointing it out, but I was feeling very frustrated reading that interview. I know it must have been very hard to be a solitary person in a house full of lots of people who are already building friendships around you. But I’m not entirely certain they would have hated you just for being solitary. I think Deb has some responsibility she’s not owning up to here.

19 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 8:57 am }

If it’s cooking that saves you, it begs the question why Wade , Beau and Beige Ben are still there.

Dani’s cooking saved her last year? Ellie’s ? Give me a break.

$hine saying that it’s all bout the cooking doesn’t make it an implacable truth.

20 EH { 07.15.12 at 9:09 am }

They are still there because:

* Marco Pierre White said Wade has big flavoured nuts.
* Beau was able to rise above the essense of a woman.
* Ben can cook taco in 100 shades of beige.

21 sue N { 07.15.12 at 9:14 am }

the boys are there becoz they are….boys. I truly believe that this is a major factor in their survival in the last challenge, particularly Ben’s… but, hey I didn’t taste the food. & Deb’s pork was cold, and she could have kept it warm in the ovens covered up…..

Fred- I tend to agree with most of what you said, but was a little hesitant to voice it- a tad wary of backlash from some regulars on here… chicken me, very sad!

I did think Deb was let off a bit easily in the interview, and allowed to use excuses as the reasons for her demise. Basically, she sucked at being a team player, and I don’t think she reached out of her comfort zone food wise (which I personally quite like by the way) and this was her downfall.

& I had a quick read of the popsugar interview- Deb says the judges “suggested” a salad- which to me is quick & easy, so she went for piles of veggies- how it that being influenced by the judges??? I simply do not get the correlation!

also, if it was the producers’ influence that got Deb out, they could not have done that without involving the judges, so the judges would be complicit too- not sure I believe that, unless we are to believe the whole show is contrived and decisions on who goes/stays are manipulated. they are either doing it for all, or not- I don’t think they would single out 1 contestant (altho I do agree Andrew was picked on, but his food was mostly pretty ordinary I think)

just my thoughts on all of this……..

22 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 9:19 am }

* Ben spread his cheeks so he could stay.
* Wade threatened to browbeat anyone who aliminated him.
* Beau is there to attract the bogan demographic.

23 EH { 07.15.12 at 9:27 am }

It is about time for MC to release a bogan cookbook.

24 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 9:44 am }

Best I say nothing at all because “some regulars” here are bigger basket cases than Deb will ever be.

25 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 9:47 am }

Just curious, how many team challenges have we had so far? Deb’s behaviour is memorable in two and one of those had a second antagonist in the captain, Audra. Does anyone recall what went down in the other team challenges because I can’t remember?

26 planb { 07.15.12 at 9:51 am }

Whether or not introverts should be allowed to sully our screens on reality tv shows is a big question. I suggest we throw it to the extroverts to cast the deciding vote. No introverts! No self-motivators! No non-team players. Done! They are weird and peculiar and wrong and should not be allowed and should know better and just stay at home.

While it might be nice to be a natural team player, and while office managers certainly like to tell everyone that’s what they must be to get on, in life it is usually but not always the non-team players who are:

the great writers, artists, poets, architects, engineers, inventors, philosphers, statesmen and women, and arbiters of change.

Introverts and not-good-team players and people who need time alone in peace and quiet to recharge freak out shallow ‘normal’ people – ie the majority, who cling together in their groups, reasurred by group opinion and further assured they will never have to have an original thought in all of that cacophony.

I am all for introverts and non-team players on our screens, and in particular as a respite from all the screeching extroverts who make up the vast majority of reality tv contestants and the slightly less vast majority in real life.

27 sue N { 07.15.12 at 10:01 am }

the nature of this competition, whilst at the end is an individual one, requires the ability to participate fully in MANY team challenges- so again, if someone (Deb) is not a good team player- she is/was always going to struggle, and I have to ask how she thought she would cope with this element of the competition???

Deb was uncooperative in the yumcha challenge and the pop-up challenge- who was the leader in these, I forget? Audra for 1, but was it her for both????

28 planb { 07.15.12 at 10:08 am }

Deb was the leader of the yum-cha challenge, so to call her unco-operative is very funny. She was uncooperating therefore with herself!

29 Andy Pandy { 07.15.12 at 10:09 am }

Planb, I agree, Deb and Andrew were different and that’s what I liked about them! They were treated a bit unfairly in my opinion but others might disagree. A young guy will win ( or Mindy) because thats what Shine want. I wish it would just get back to basic cooking skills without these ridiculous challenges and stressful situations they are put under. I’m quiet too so I would never go on a show like this because you would get drowned out by the mob.

30 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 10:12 am }

I think the extroverts should have just done their thing and all burned Deb at the stake.It would probably be the first time they didn’t undercook something.

Barbra Streisand was wrong. People who need people are the dumbest assholes in the world.

“Beautiful!! Awesome!! Wow!! Duuuude!! George just boiled some WATER!!!!”

31 sue N { 07.15.12 at 10:24 am }

my mistake-if Deb was the team leader in the yumcha challenge, which she was I now recall, she was indeed not necessarily uncooperative, but she was pretty useless! & still, not a team player…or leader.

& I am not saying everyone needs to be a good team player, but… the nature of this competition is that there are a multitude of TEAM challenges- so inability to work in a team would make one think about the wisdom of entering this comp I would have thought…

Also, Andrew whilst also a bit of a target for the judges, seemed to be well liked, and a good team player…. so a bit different to Deb in this respect…

32 Dunbi { 07.15.12 at 10:26 am }

I still would like to know why they didn’t show the weight of each pici sample. For what reason would they not show this? I also find it hard to believe that Deb was the only person not to make ‘perfect’ pici.

33 sue N { 07.15.12 at 10:30 am }

BDD- lol…..

“Beautiful!! Awesome!! Wow!! Duuuude!! George just boiled some WATER!!!!”

34 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 10:40 am }

How can you work in a team of self absorbed reality tv fodder, there for the fame or the easy ride to some kind of faux chefdom, whose main mantra is “I’ve never done this before” and behave like a jubilant soccer team over the most mundane, contrived achievements and outcomes?.

How many amatas have actually gone on from Ma$terchef to be a real chef and not tawdry D- listers on morning television?

Yes Dunbi, picigate was an appalling rort, we see so much useless footage and recapping. Why not the scales of justice, $hine? It’s a competition, right?

35 EH { 07.15.12 at 10:47 am }

Andy Pandy, Planb – Deb, Andrew & Julia.

36 Daze { 07.15.12 at 10:59 am }

I’m not a friggin cult follower thank you Debsedso, but more like a zucchini flower if you don’t mind.

planb – post 26 4th para – hear hear, well said

As EH said, we won’t remember half of the contestants and now, I wish Deb would just go away. Sooooooooo over it and RR please can you post some new topic for a Sunday discussion (Dazesedso)

37 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 11:02 am }

The polarising pig and the debatable Debra!

38 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 11:09 am }

Her “holistic” approach certainly failed when it came to the pig’s hole.

39 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 11:28 am }

I think a lot,( not all) of “team” stuff is bogus human services blather, too. The road to hell is paved with workshops addressing team values.

For a long time, the world was hoodwinked into believing that The Beatles were a “team”, piloted by a songwriting “team”. It turned out they fought like cats and dogs, working on their own in different rooms to produce some of their best stuff, writing as individuals for the most part,

40 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 11:30 am }

Lol bdd #38 – and all the wholesome, natural, healthy food, yoga and solitude didn’t translate into increased resilience.

I’m a fence-sitter on this one. I was a vegetarian for 10 years which left me with a healthy attitude toward food. I spent 11 years in a relationship with myself which left me very comfortable with my own company. I’ve worked 25 years in frontline customer service which leaves me loving and hating people at the same time. I work well in teams provided I can be in charge so I don’t delegate very well. I’ve been in menopause alley for a few years and seem to be coping okay – but you’d really need to ask the people around me for their opinion on that.

All in all I can relate to Deb quite well!

41 EH { 07.15.12 at 11:40 am }

Georgie #25, re team challenges (other than pop-up restaurant & yum cha):

* Barilla pasta challenge – Deb was asked to grate cheese & make bachemel sauce.
* The house with no kitchen challenge – She was last to be picked. She was assigned to make the pan-fried gozleme. The drama was more on the team leader Julia hogging the oven for her dessert that was not served at the end.
* Salamanca market challenge – She was in the team with Julia, Audra & Alice. Julia was the team leader. No drama on her part. As I recall correctly, she was seen cooperative & peeling tons of apples for the crepe filling.
* Restaurant wars challenge – Lydia was the last to be picked, not Deb. No drama on Deb. I can’t recall what Deb cooked.
* Oz Harvest challenge – I remember Andy has never eaten fish pie & barramundi and Kylie’s dog turd dessert more than any drama caused by Deb.
* The Hindu wedding challenge – Can’t recall any drama caused by Deb.
* The Shangri-la hotel challenge – There were more drama on Tregan burnt burger bun & Mario’s omelette than Deb. I can’t recall what shift she was on & what food she cooked.
* Tassie afternoon tea challenge – Deb was assigned to make jam & she completed the job without drama.

May be there was drama behind the scene but it was not shown. The above is as accurate as I can remember. Please shoot if I got any facts wrong.

42 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 11:41 am }

If $hine have got their chops together next year, they’ll get a Greenie on Ma$terchef and ask them to cook some whale meat and take them out of their comfort zone.

43 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 11:48 am }

Thanks for that mammoth effort EH. I guess you could say from that, Deb can work with others most of the time, although she may not be a good leader. Nothing wrong with that either, because without followers there’d be no need for leaders.

44 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 12:10 pm }

In some ways , Deb has got off quite lightly because she hasn’t been reviled(yet) like Julia Gillard for being childless and therefore inferior in some way.

45 EH { 07.15.12 at 12:41 pm }

JStar – TEN has official confirmed the MC finale & MC all stars dates:

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2012/07/airdate-masterchef-australia-all-stars.html

Interesting details on the All Stars. Haha.. All the talks on team challenges. Now we get to see more of them.

46 EH { 07.15.12 at 12:56 pm }

Kylie is spotted working at a patisserie in Melbourne.

Andy, Ben, Audra & now Kylie. We are left with Wade, Beau, Mindy, Alice & Julia. Hope my conspiracy theory is pure rubbish. lol!

47 JStar { 07.15.12 at 1:19 pm }

@EH- Thanks for that. My EPG doesn’t go so far ahead but clearly Channel Ten’s publicity department doesn’t talk to its programming department. As for your conspiracy theory, I suspect Kylie working in a patisserie in another state makes me think she isn’t one of the final two – something to write about in her epilogue after being aliminated – (bet she uses her pin in the Kylie Kwong challenge). However, the other three just smells more like cashing in on their profile and making some money after being imprisoned for 6 months at less than the minimum wage. I don’t think it spoils much in terms of alimination prior to the Final 3.

48 EH { 07.15.12 at 1:34 pm }

JStar – I don’t have a ‘special’ EPG but there is a ‘feature’ in foxtel EPG that allow you to peek on advance schedule. I just found out recently from my daughter. If you have a foxtel EPG, click on title search and then choose Masterchef and you can see the ‘details’ as far as 2-3 weeks in advance depending on the channel. TEN was probably not aware of that.

49 Andy Pandy { 07.15.12 at 1:41 pm }

I wasn’t a fan of Deb’s at the start I must admit. Originally I wanted Andrew, then Amina to win, and as we hardly saw Beau, Wade, Andy, Ben it was hard to get to know them. Maybe we weren’t shown them deliberately as Shine knew they would be in the top ten anyway. As time went on, I began to see a different side to Deb, Alice and Julia and was warming to them. You can definitely tell that the judges have their favourites as they talk a completely different way to them.There have been a lot of unfair things happening in this show, for instance in the Pop up challenge Audra and Deb probably should have gone home. I don’t really care who wins now as long as its not Mindy or Audra.

50 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 1:48 pm }

Kylie’s gawne?

Beautiful!! Awesome!!! Amazing!!! Wow!!! Oh, My God!! Woo ~hoo!! Screech!! Swoon!!! Flick, flick!! Gush!!

Hasta la vista, baby.

Now for mediocre, mindless Mindy and her “Aminaty ” pin.

51 Momo { 07.15.12 at 2:02 pm }

EH, there was the teeniest bit of drama caused by deb at the hindu wedding. when she snapped at audra hogging the parsley?

52 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 2:10 pm }

That’s true, Momo. Deb needed to use some initiative and teamwork there like Eyebrows with Julia’s tomato sauce and just start quietly stealing the parsley and not make a scene.

53 EH { 07.15.12 at 2:19 pm }

BDD – Zumbo challenge (usually there is one around final 5) may be Mindy’s turn to use her pin.

Momo – oh yes! Thanks. There is a Chinese saying that a mountain cannot have two tigers (in this case, two tigresses).

54 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 2:20 pm }

Parse the parsley will ya! Don’t hogget ya pig.

55 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 2:22 pm }

Fred # 18 I do agree with what you say. People here don’t get mad (only some weird ones) and you can voice your opinion. We love a healthy debate.

I am like Georgie, I am an introvert and quite quiet by nature (unless I am with friends) but I can engage in social conversation and I can be a team player if I want to but prefer to do things by myself and at my own time.

Yes, Deb is in a house with young people and she can have her own space. I still think her problem is she is not adaptable and slow with her cooking skills. Like in the Yum Cha challenge. Straight up she said she has never have yum cha and so she knew nothing about it. But she can still coordinate the whole challenge to make sure everyone is doing o.k. and give encouragement to her team.

Masterchef is not a new show and she should have an idea about how the show is run.

There are some contradictions in her interview with popsugar:

Did you watch MasterChef beforehand? Did you know what you were getting yourself into?

DEB: No! I don’t think I had any idea at all, retrospectively! And I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t.

So you didn’t watch the previous series?

DEB: I had watched the previous series but not with the nightly dedication like some of the contestants, who are like cult followers and took notes every night, or had this ambition for four years. I wasn’t one of those.

56 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 2:27 pm }

Tonight episode is 1.5 hrs long. So set your recorder correctly if you are taping it up.

57 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 2:30 pm }

Yes , EH, I’ve seen the teasers for Zumbo and his (yawn) Macaron Tower thingy challenge. Like a little boy playing with a chemistry set.

It’s just a Macaron Tower with a few culinary bells and whistles ffs ~ but it’s presented with $hine’s schlock and awe as if it’s the Elixir Of Life itself.

RR’s spellchecker wants me to spell it “Macaroon” btw… I suspect the amatas will produce “Muckarons”.

What do macarons taste like inside a burrito , I wonder?

Littlepetal, that awful The Voice “Special” is 1.5 hours long and on tonight. It promises to be a Dark Knight indeed.

58 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 2:33 pm }

I thought the Zumbo macaron tower is a challenge for the MC All Star?

59 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 2:39 pm }

Crouching Tigress, Hidden Grumble.

You’d be right, littlepetal.

I just saw Zumbo, the macarons and assumed it was for Ma$terchef.

60 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 2:46 pm }

Lol littlepetal I must have given the wrong impression when I said I’m comfortable being on my own. Yes I relish peace and quiet and time alone as long as I can control how much.

I’m no introvert though and I’m not quiet either – far from it. I’m the dancer at every party, even if there’s no-one else on the dance floor and I don’t need alcohol to get me going, just good music. 

61 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 3:08 pm }

Good music, mmm Georgie?

You better make sure you avoid Chris $ebastian tonight, in that case. Ch 9 are hell bent on force feeding him to Australian viewers.

Then there’s an interesting doco on Ian Thorpe on Ch2 that clashes with Ma$terchef. You’re not the only game in town, $hine, unless you’ve got some footage of Jowl$y swimming. I’d tape that.

Daze @36. I think Deb just said the contestants were cult followers ~ not us. It’s okay to be a Zuchinni flower just the same.

62 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 3:09 pm }

Sorry, Georgie. I didn’t say it very well and I am not saying you are an intorvert. Can’t imagine you being quiet !!! LOL

63 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 3:11 pm }

Yes, I think the doco on Ian Thorpe will be a good one. Just honest reality TV

64 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 3:15 pm }

“Introvert/ Extrovert ~Does it matter?”

Brings back fond memories of X Factor it does.

I’m an introvert but if Jowl$y was asking me if I was going home tonight or questioning my passion, I’d sure as hell be extrovert long enough to give his jowls a good slapping and make him spray some bone marrow risotto around.

I’ve seen some previews of Thorpedo doco ,littlepetal and it looks good.

65 Daze { 07.15.12 at 3:19 pm }

thanks bdd, speed reading again and missed it; oh well. Actually it made more sense than the contestants being cult followers, which to me, doesn’t make sense. Fennel v Zucchini Flower, hmmm

66 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 3:21 pm }

I don’t see the amatas as cult followers , either , Daze~ just followers.

67 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 3:26 pm }

No Chris Sebastian for me bdd – I’ve never heard him sing and have no ambition to. Same goes for our Kylie.

68 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 3:28 pm }

I’ve never heard him sing either,Georgie~ and I’ve seen him half a dozen times on The Voice.

I’m still getting over his ham fisted butchering of Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand The Rain”.

69 lulu { 07.15.12 at 3:45 pm }

Well said planb @26 … and ‘picigate,’ too funny.

re Deb, I’m reminded of a scene from ‘The Life of Brian:’
Hundreds of people say in unison, ‘We are all individuals.’
One lone voice says, ‘I’m not.’
Deb, you were stitched up well and good, but good luck – some of us here ‘got’ you. And I’m sure your comment re ‘Survivor’ was tongue-in-cheek.

sue N @21 sorry, but come on… you really think the judges are independent arbiters and separate entities from the producers? You’re not sure if the show is contrived?

1. It is a TV show.
2. It is 100% contrived.
3. Its aim is to get ratings, please sponsors and make money.
4. The judges and contestants are merely cast members.
5. The producers make all the decisions.
6. Cooking is just an amusing little subplot.

And yes planb, I could imagine Einstein coming up with the Theory of Relativity in the social environs of the MC household. “hey guys, I just established E=Mc2!” High 5′s from Benny, Kirstie says “awesome,” Mindy chirps “beautiful,” Alice looks puzzled, Audra straddles him and croons “duuude..” Gary, concerned, “hmm, but is it enough?”

70 EH { 07.15.12 at 3:51 pm }

BDD, Littlepetal – Haven’t watched the teasers but I read that the all stars are making Zumbo’s croquembouche. May be the macarons tower is for MC? Who cares, both are cone shape with some whistles & bells to make them look ‘beautiful’. If the producers want Mindy to win, she will go through even if her cone looks like a leaning tower of Pisa. Emma secured her top 24 position with feetless macarons.

Thorpey has released a cookbook too, yeah. Who hasn’t these days. MC is not the only way to secure a book deal.

71 Debbie { 07.15.12 at 3:54 pm }

Glad to finally see her go, she was not a team player and didn’t always listen to the judges but then expected everyone else to help her when she was struggling. There is too much talent in the other contestants for her to have stayed.

72 Debbie { 07.15.12 at 3:56 pm }

Glad to finally see her go, she was not a team player and didn’t always listen to the judges but then expected everyone else to help her when she was struggling. The is too much more talent in the other contestants for her to have stayed.

73 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 4:01 pm }

The croqembouche has the profiteroles and the Macaron Tower the macarons ,( Zumbo’s MT has some kind of weird little house on the top, probably made of gingerbread ) right?

Whichever the amatas get, it’ s going to be hilarious.

74 EH { 07.15.12 at 4:09 pm }

The All-Stars article says “Adriano Zumbo sets the challenge and there is a buzz of fun energy in the MasterChef kitchen. The contestants love being back, but they want to win. It’s all about friendly competition as the three teams [determined by seasons] bake and build their impressive croquembouche tower, with the winning team taking home $20k [$5k for each team member’s charity].”

Croquembouche is made of profiteroles. If you see macarons, it probably be MC4 then. But didn’t they do the Zumbo’s macarons tower already in S2? I remember Marion struggled with it. Agree whatever it is, they are going to struggle. Maybe, except for Julia.

75 Andy Pandy { 07.15.12 at 4:39 pm }

BDD @64, I remember that Introvert/ Extrovert song on X Factor, it was very catchy!
Also what does ~9~ mean regarding Altiyan?

76 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 5:16 pm }

EH-My mistake. I wasn’t paying attention when I was reading the story in the paper. Just read Zumbo, tower, MC and just assumed it was a Macaron Tower. But I did read that Zumbo did set up a challenge for the MC contestants. Mindy will use her pin as she is not good with desserts but she could try doing a murtabak tower with chocolate ganache filling and maybe some with durian filling.

Regarding Thorpie’s cookbook: I was surprise that I bought the cookbook. I was in KMart with the intention of buying Eamon Sullivan’s cookbook but Thorpie’s cookbook was there as well. Flipped through ES cookbook and didn’t like it at all. I wasn’t interested in the recipes but I like Thorpie’s cookbook and have cooked few dishes from his book.

77 sue N { 07.15.12 at 5:45 pm }

lulu- my comment re the judges/producers was more in response to comment 17…
Whoever drew the pig was destined to fail (unless HE had guns of steel). However, I don’t buy that the judges wanted her to go (unlike Andrew). Definitely smells more like the producers handiwork.

….that’s all. I am sure it is somewhat contrived, I am not sure it is totally contrived/scripted- there can only be so far a really bad cook can get surely??? Unless someone else does the cooking for them so that there is an acceptable result at the end?? I am not saying the best cook necessarily wins- which mostly I think probably hasn’t happened, I just think that the competition can’t be totally rigged….

…and working on an individual part of a menu in a team challenge, is different to working collaboratively with other team members in a team challenge -imo anyway. I think Deb in particular struggled with this… eg when she & Amina were setting up the room for the pop-up restaurant was it?

Anyway, as I have said, I quite liked the sound of most of Deb’s food- I just don’t think she was suited for this competition. Just my opinion….

78 Dr T { 07.15.12 at 6:43 pm }

Just watching “In the night garden” with my son before masterchef comes up… Apparently Igglepiggle doesn’t care that he is sleeping in Upsey Daisy’s bed, even though he knows that only Upsey Daisy is allowed to go to sleep in Upsey Daisy’s bed. I love the drama of it all!

79 brain dead dave { 07.15.12 at 7:28 pm }

Andy Pandy, I’ve got no idea what ~9~means , other than reading here sometime back sometimes his fans hooking up at 9 o’clock to listen to his material.

80 Maz { 07.15.12 at 7:42 pm }

EH-another one for the list-I have never cooked a leg of lamb (Audra)

81 littlepetal { 07.15.12 at 8:14 pm }

Maz-That will be me too !!!! and that is why I am not on MC. I don’t eat red meat and never cook with red meat.

82 Cookie Monster { 07.15.12 at 8:17 pm }

Good grief! This blog is like the saddle club for Masterchef tenyboppers….stop dribbling over each other and comment on the show losers. Tonight is a joke.mthere are so many flaws in this show that you need an elevator to get from one to the other. The midget and his mates decide on who they like without even tasting all the plates and then patronise loser Andy because he knows how to do one thing more than he did when he started…..Julia is the only one who doesn’t suck up to the three amigos and even though she has the personality of road kill I find myself wanting her to win…..that should put the kiss of deathnon her.

83 Cookie Monster { 07.15.12 at 8:21 pm }

New title for the next show because Masterchefs they aint….any of them. Call it ” best amateur cook out of the ones that sucked up enough to make it to the finals as decided by a mean little midget and his dopey mates” catchy eh?

84 Georgie { 07.15.12 at 8:44 pm }

Andy Pandy, bdd – I thought the number 9 was significant to Altiyan because of his fascination with Charles Manson. Manson was obsessed with the Beatles White Album and the song Revelation 9, together with the Book of Revelation Chapter 9 in the Bible. Altiyan had a band called Mansonia prior to going on X Factor. The link is some info on the Beatles/Manson connection.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html

85 Cookie Monster { 07.15.12 at 8:51 pm }

Bottom three: Ben’s plate of spew, Wades cooked budgies on a turd and Beau’s sad little fart tart.

86 Cookie Monster { 07.15.12 at 9:04 pm }

Whoops I forgot that the producers want Alice to use her pin so she was always going to be in the bottom three.

87 Cookie Monster { 07.15.12 at 9:06 pm }

But Beau will stil be there because Hiram will use the pin

88 Dianne { 07.15.12 at 9:44 pm }

Well done Deb, I admire you.

89 Jill { 07.15.12 at 10:39 pm }

@EH, if memories serve, I think the drama with the Sri Lankan wedding was snatching the coriander for garnishing the curry! Was quite a ‘meoow’ moment with Audra.

90 Fred { 07.15.12 at 11:22 pm }

Cookie Monster – first of all, calm the fuck down. Second of all, you basically said that there are four people in the Bottom 3. Which means… lol.

Anyway, I think Deb probably wouldn’t have wanted to stay in the house either and she lasted a bit longer than she should have. During the Pop Up challenge, Wade said, “I don’t know what it is about Deb and Team Challenges” which suggests she’s done it more than once (more than the Pop Up/YumCha challenges) and we just haven’t been shown it by the producers ( I also notice how during the Barilla challenge she took the thing that Julia handed her and throws it somewhere because she didn’t want to follow Julia’s advice – wtf?).

Look, I’m introverted to. Making friends =/= sucking up or being a sheep/follower. In fact I think it’s terrifying that people would equate simple human interaction, getting to know the people around you with trying to isolate someone else/form an alliance/protect yourself from elimination/be in the IN crowd. That’s ridiculous and I think some people here are over analyzing everything. Obviously cooking isn’t the only thing that saves you on the show, but my point was that WHY would anyone think that being in a friendship would SAVE you on a cooking show, except if it’s something EPIC and can get ratings like Ben/Andy? Amina/TK/Audra were good friends and Audra’s the only one left. Emma was good friends with Ben/Andy – didn’t save her. Every one of the contestents had at least one mate in the house and there’s only 9 left. So how again would the contestants go into the house thinking that making friends would protect them from elimination? That’s one of the O_O things Deb said in the interview that, I’m sorry, doesn’t make sense.

As for popularity – I struggle to understand how there can be a ‘popular’ crowd in a group full of 10 people where almost half of them are guys + Julia who don’t give a shit. Plus I’m sure Mindy/Kylie/Audra’s (and to a lesser extent Alice) OTT-ness actually makes them come off as incredibly annoying to the other folks. I don’t see everyone else scrambling to make friends or be ‘in’ with M/K/A so the idea that they are the ‘popular ones’ in the house is just completely ridiculous to me. Maybe popular in relation to Deb, but then I imagine after Deb’s behaviour that wouldn’t be too difficult to ma age.

Obviously people are being really hard on Deb and we don’t know everything that happened. But I think it’s ridiculous to suddenly make Deb out to be some kind of victim because she’s ‘introverted.’ I’M introverted. I don’t make friends easily. But if I’m in a house full of 24 people, I’d probably have to do something drastic to make them all hate me/not want to talk to me. ‘Being Quiet’ isn’t enough to turn people against you and anyone who thinks “ah ha! it’s because I’m quiet and solitary – THAT’S why they hate me!” is probably actually just your garden variety jerk (albeit a quiet, introverted jerk) in denial.

91 Chunks { 07.15.12 at 11:42 pm }

Take a deep breath Cookie Monster

92 J { 07.16.12 at 12:28 am }

I have been lurking but out of curiosity, why are some of the regulars such big fans of Debra and hate the leading players so much? I mean, they have a point and there is some rigging involved but surely some credit is due to the contestants as well. Julia did make that five minute dessert. Also, it might be because I am young and naive but… some of Debra’s behaviour in team challenges ranged from childish (fighting over parseley) to downright mean (blaming Mindy for the team’s loss). I was very surprised that someone so experienced in life would still act in a way which I was brought up to think is unbecoming of a grown up. Yet, there was no mention of this in the interview and the first few comments were about how much arse kissing the other contestants do (and really, we see what the producers wanted to show us so we don’t actually know how much this is). What’s up with the bias?

93 Reality Raver { 07.16.12 at 12:43 am }

J – I think Deb was polarising, however there does tend to be a bias towards the older competitors as hey sometimes are more interesting and that is what Deb was.

94 brain dead dave { 07.16.12 at 12:56 am }

Remember 52 yo Terri Reid on BB? Voted out by the younger housemates straight away and evicted , brought back by the producers and went on to win the show.

She was a nasty old redneck ~ but the others didn’t know that then, They just punted her straight away.

95 Joseph Skyrim { 07.16.12 at 8:35 am }

Nice interview RR.

96 EH { 07.16.12 at 1:44 pm }

Thanks Maz & Jill!

97 yumyumyum { 07.19.12 at 9:12 am }

I loved Deb!! I’m not watching the show now she’s left – it’s boring. She gave the show a point of difference and honesty. All the others seem to be very fake. I liked her authenticity and her food most of all looked amazing. Yay for the blog – now I can try to cook some myself.

98 Daylesford Weekend Cottages Daylesford | The Saddle Club Daylesford Cottages at Porcupine Ridge Estate { 07.23.12 at 10:38 am }

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99 Volks { 07.31.12 at 10:41 pm }

Did you know Deb has a facebook website
http://www.facebook.com/DebraSederlan
Check it out, at least you can still see what she is up too…

100 Ann { 09.08.12 at 4:24 am }

I’ve been watching this in NZ and it always seemed quite obvious to me that Debs got a bit of a raw deal and from the judges too, never getting picked to sample the Judges dishes, the camera never seemed to focus on her much, unlike the other more young and dare I say it, popular contestants. You did well Debs and I hope you go on from here and do some great things.

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