MasterChef confirms the departure of Ben Ungermann while Hayden Quinn has been eliminated
After months of mystery MasterChef finally confirmed the departure of contestant Ben Ungermann. The latest eliminated, Hayden Quinn, says he can’t shed more light on the circumstances.
Confidential
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After months of mystery, MasterChef has finally acknowledged the departure of contestant Ben Ungermann.
Judge Jock Zonfrillo opened the show saying: “Before we get to today’s challenge, we’ve got some news. You’re probably wondering where Ben is.
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“Due to a personal matter, Ben has had to leave the competition and he will not be returning.”
Ungermann, runner-up in season nine, was confirmed to have left the show in March after a police matter of a “personal nature”.
Production company Endemol Shine released a brief statement and sources close to Ungermann say he has been disappointed with how the issue has been managed. He was missing from the Immunity Challenge featuring Katy Perry.
Eliminated contestant Hayden Quinn said they didn’t have much time to digest the news.
“It’s a personal issue and no one still knows what happened,’’ Quinn said.
“A quick statement from Jock and once that was out, basically because it was an elimination we had to get on with it.
“I have no clear idea of what’s going on with Benny boy but that’s something he’s got to deal with I guess.”
Quinn is now back filming his cooking series Taste of Australia which will air in July on Channel 10.
“It’s pretty cool to be on the outside looking in and seeing how everyone goes now,’’ he said.
“I don’t want to sound (like) not an emotional person but I was very grateful for the amount of time I had and the ability to come back and do it again.
“It was like sweet, MasterChef is done, let’s keep the ball rolling. The world of media doesn’t stand still and you’ve got to be quite nimble and ready to roll into the next project. I just had to take one hat off and put another on and keep rolling.”
Quinn said the new judges, Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong, were the right recipe.
“As much as they’re judges they’re very much peers,’’ he said.
“We’re all on similar planes so it was very much a collaborative approach. We were the old hands and they were coming in fresh and we had to work as a team to make it the best show it could be. I think they nailed it.”