Woman’s Day have a nice photo spread of George Calombaris and his new baby James.

What amazed me is that the Masterchef Australia judge is only 32 years old. He has done a lot in that time. Multiple restaurants in Melbourne as well as ones in Mykynos, Greece.

Very impressive, also it appears he is loving being a dad. His partner Natalie seems lovely also. More photos of him on the Woman’s Day website.

A twitter war has broken out this evening with US food Blogger Rasa Malaysia accusing Masterchef Australia’s Season Two contestant Alvin Quah of plagarism.

@Rasa Malaysia has said Alvin’s recipe of Black Sesame Seed Dumplings with Ginger Syrup is almost word for word like hers. Alvin who tweets as @Cinnamon Pig denied he plagarised her recipe.

The exchange went like this:

Alvin’s response:

Rasa Malaysia’s recipe is here, and Alvin’s recipe is here on his blog at Cinnamon Pig. He also cooked the dish on a Masterchef Masterclass here. Since my knowledge on Malaysian cuisine is limited I don’t know if this is  well known dish and it is possible they had the same recipe or if it is an unusual recipe.

Plagarism of content from the internet is rife in all areas, however the interesting issue raised here is whether someone has ‘rights’ over a recipe. What do you think?

After the success of her first cookbook, Masterchef Australia season one winner, Julie Goodwin, has released her second cookbook this week, called The Heart Of The Home.

It sounds very similar to the title Claire Winton-Burn had in mind when she was talking about her cookbook in Season Two. I thought hers was going to be called The Hearth Is The Home?

Julie’s recipes are still hearty with influences from her Chinese sister-in-law, and her travels to India. The release is nicely timed for Christmas.

Julie Goodwin is streets ahead of anyone else from the Masterchef series in terms of cookbook sales,diverse media commitments and endorsements, and it does not appear to be waning.

There was an interesting article in today’s Sunday Telegraph where Julie and the two other Masterchef winners, Adam Liaw and Kate Bracks talk about life after Masterchef.

Julie states she is comfortable with the way she looks, and has turned down an endorsement from Jenny Craig as that is not who she is. I admire her for this and for being candid about it. I doubt she would be as popular if she became svelte.

Apparently Adam Liaw is STILL looking for a site for his restaurant, however he is also working on his second cookbook. Kate Brack’s cookbook will be all about desserts.

The second season of Junior Masterchef premiered last night and again it involves high production values with some very talented young chefs. This year they are again between the ages of 8 and 12.

I mean who had even tasted crab and duck by the age of twelve let alone know how to cook them.  This year the kids are going to go to Disneyland if they stay long enough in the competition some spoilers can be found through this blog post on TV Tonight. Who knew there was a Disney blog?

Tonight we saw the top 50 cooks, with five of them getting through to the top twenty. Each section was overseen by one of five of Sydney’s top chefs who had a ingredient their section had to cook.

The positives of the show:

• Everyone remains very positive about the cooking and the children;
• The cooking standards were high;
• The set was amazing and the hour goes quickly;
• It is a great show to watch with the kids;
• I like the chemistry of Gary Mehigan, Anna Gare and Matt Moran, but I must confess I did query on twitter last night that if Anna Gare was out of shape like some of the male judges would she be on the show;
• Putting through the winners means at this stage none of the kids are meant to feel bad about being on the show.

I bet the Masterchef Australia male viewers would have loved this clip to have been her cameo this year on the show.

It is hilarious. I admire the people who take the to edit these clips.

How acceptable has reality TV become when the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard is lining up to to be a guest judge on Junior Masterchef?

The Courier Mail reports Julia Gillard was on the set yesterday filming her appearance as guest judge on the show. She was a definite hit with the awestruck kids.

It has been a difficult week for the Prime Minister with leadership speculation, and the question has to be asked what will the producers of Masterchef do if is no longer PM at the time the episodes screens?

As a former political advisor I can see the pros and cons of her appearing on the show, something I will write about over the next day after I have fully thought about it. However at a time where the media is saying she lacks authority  will her going on the show help her regain it? However it also gives her an opportunity to connect with 1.5 million viewers on a different level. To see the “real” Julia.

In the past male prime ministers have used sport to ingratiate themselves with the populist, so why not use reality TV which is nearly as popular to bond with potential voters.

@michaelbyrnes also pointed out Bob Hawke appeared on A Country Practice and The Comedy Company. In fact I rang my A Country Practice guru (yes I have one) who said the episode had been on recently and Hawke made Wandin Valley a Nuclear Free Zone!

Pity Project Runway Australia wasn’t around when Paul Keating was PM the challenge could have been to make him a suit. Not sure Keating would have gone on a reality show, but hell he would rock it on Celebrity Apprentice.

Julia Gillard is not the first politician on the Masterchef franchise as Queensland Premier Anna Bligh appeared on Celebrity Masterchef. Anna Bligh a natural media performer came across quite well on the show. Her aim for going on the program was to promote Queensland produce.

What message will Julia Gillard try and get across?

Interestingly from the Reality TV Insights Survey and the findings from the effectiveness of product placement, my research partner Julie Houston from Nitty Gritty, suggested non-profit organisations and Governments should consider using this medium to get their message across and it appears we will continue to see more and more of this branding occur.

What do you think of Julia Gillard going on Junior Masterchef? What do you think the challenge should be? What other politicians would be suited to other reality TV shows. Personally I would like to see Tony Abott on Wipeout. Or the ten politicians from each side of politics with a couple of Greens thrown in on a tropical island for a show called Political Survivor.

Masterchef Australia’s golden child Hayden Quinn today was one of the first on the scene of a fatal light plane crash on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

TV Tonight using the Manly Daily as it source says the former Masterchef contestant had been training nearby. The lifeguards were training for the first day of the season which is tomorrow.

The plane crash was a fatal one.

I must confess I was surprised he is still doing lifesaving work post Masterchef. I thought he was in talks for a TV show. Anyway he is was definitely doing a worthier job today. Nice work Hayden.

Just read this in the TV Week and thought I would share it:

Which reality star from a popular show has become too big for their boots? They may have appeared sweet as pie on camera, but insiders tell me this person, who made it into the final round, showcased some nasty diva antics that left a bitter taste in the cast and crew’s mouths.

Masterchef is the only show that is popping into my head. So either Alana, Michael or Kate.

Season One host of Masterchef Australia Sarah Wilson is either very clever  or  slightly bitter and twisted about her time on Masterchef as today Sarah gave the show a bit of a bitch slap.

On the plus side this has ensured she got an article on a mainstream media website on a show people are interested in and she gets to plug her new show Eat Yourself Sexy, which starts tonight on Lifestyle You at 8.30pm. See her ploy is working.

Or otherwise she has revealed herself to be a slightly bitter and twisted about not being asked back for season two of what was then the most successful reality show on TV.

A news.com.au article states:

“They’ve got so much more competition with My Kitchen Rules and other reality shows, so I think they tried to pull out different tricks and techniques,” Wilson told news.com.au.