MasterChef fans have a massive demand for this year’s season, do you agree?

MasterChef fans have shared their biggest gripe ahead of the 2025 Back to Win season, which airs on Monday night. Photo: Getty

As we prepare for another season of MasterChef, fans have taken to social media to share one of their biggest hopes for 2025, after finding one major part of last year’s hard to deal with. This season kicks off on Monday night and will see old contestants return in the Back to Win format.

Former contestants Andy Allen and Poh Ling Yeow join French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and food writer Sofia Levin for another year as MasterChef’s judges. But fans aren’t all that excited about one aspect of this foursome.

Fans beg for major change to 2025 season of MasterChef

Taking to Reddit, some fans have expressed that they think the judges are too soft on the contestants, to the point of seeming “fake”.

“I don’t like the new judges,” one Redditor said. “I just want to the judges to act natural and not be sugary sweet all the time. It seems fake. They should set harder challenges and give constructive criticism instead of screaming, “Fantastic! Magnificent!” over and over again.”

This year’s Back to Win contestants. Photo: Ten
They continued, “And the four judge panel feels like a crowd. Poh is so full of charm and wit but she rarely gets the chance to shine. MasterChef Australia was always as much about the judging as it was about the food.”

“Jock [Zonfrillo] was goofy too but he would also tell it like it is,” they said of the late MasterChef judge who died in 2023. “He never came off as trying hard to seem likeable. Being a great chef doesn’t make you a great judge for a TV show… I will only watch this season for the old contestants. Also, where are the real-world challenges, isn’t that what the contestants are there to prepare for?”

Many others agreed, with one person responding, “I’m probably one of the few people who misses Matt [Preston], Gary [Mehigan] and George [Calombaris] as hosts. I was rewatching past seasons and you see them give way more critiques on the food, push them to be more creative, etc. and it’s not to be mean but to make them better.”

“Jean-Christophe has definitely criticised people,” another said. “I love his positive energy, though, it feels genuine to me. Just give it some time, it takes time to get used to change.

“As for me, although I liked the judges, I didn’t like S16 so much because frankly I found the contestants kind of meh. The food was OK-ish, but nothing crazy mind blowing or inspiring. I didn’t really root very strongly for any of them nor was I really charmed by them for some reason.”

“One of the memorable moments of last season is when Andy and the other judges were really harsh on Nat for a dish she made before finals, it was such a contrast to the attitude they had before but also it was kinda nice to hear them pushing the contestants to be better instead of just praising them or barely giving feedback,” a third agreed.

“I felt it’s always been a problem bumping up to four judges and then all four commenting on every single dish,” someone else said. “It gets really old when all the criticism/praise is the same across the board (4x times).”

Many fans miss seeing Melissa Leong and the late Jock Zonfrillo on their screens as the judges. Photo: Ten
“I agree. The combination of judges just don’t work,” yet another wrote.

Many believed the 2024 season suffered with the loss of Jock after his shock passing a year earlier, and Melissa Leong moving to Dessert Masters, suggesting that perhaps the new judges needed time to get their judging skills up to scratch.

“I actually miss Melissa most of all – she had such a way with words and really knew the art of the critique as well as when to lean in and cheer or get stern,” one viewer wrote.

“I’m not a fan of Poh as a judge, but if she is going to be these, then I would like Sofia to balance Poh’s overly giddy positivity with a more critical perspective,” another said. “Same with Jean’s [excitability], I would like to see Andy be the Simon Cowell of the show. Feet to the ground, with critical feedback.

“As everyone returning will have more experience than regular contestants, it’s natural that the cooking quality will be advanced right from the jump, but contestants will be put in positions to make new dishes on the fly with time constraints. I hope judging reflects higher expectations for these advanced cooks and will call out dishes that are just okay or mediocre.”