Apron-mad MasterChef judges toss out the recipe on first night

MASTERCHEF producers have been forced to go back to the drawing board after judges went rogue in last night’s series debut of the Channel Ten reality cooking show.

MasterChef judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris went rogue on the first night of the show last night.

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MASTERCHEF producers have been forced to go back to the drawing board after judges went rogue in last night’s series debut of the Channel Ten reality cooking show.

The first week of the series sees judges Matt Preston, George Colombaris and Gary Mehigan select the top 24 contestants by giving out kitchen aprons to those making it through to the next phase of the competition.

But producers were left in a predicament when the judges gave out a record 19 of the 24 aprons in last night’s first episode.

MasterChef Australia's Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan may have got a little over enthusiastic.

“Planning is absolutely crucial and the last thing they need is judges going rogue on them,” Preston told Confidential after the series premiere.

“Once you get to a certain standard and you give out an apron to someone who has done something spectacular, something else spectacular comes in and you’ve kind of got to give them an apron.

“We went a bit rogue and gave out 19 aprons which meant we needed to rethink the whole of tonight and tomorrow’s shows.”

The generous judge decisions mean contestants over the next two nights will be under more pressure with the limited number of spots left in the series.

Matt Preston admits that by giving out so many aprons on the first show they have caused themselves and the next rounds of contestants a nightmare. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

“There’s a joy that everyone got aprons but the bad news is for the guys getting a go tonight, you see your chances evaporate,” he added.

“It was a pretty crazy first day and we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of what we saw.

We have a notion of what an apron winning dish is, if it has got texture and flavour and is yummy.

“We are not very good at acting stuff out so you kind of see the obvious pleasure in our faces and when we get food like that there is really only one result.”