MasterChef fans stunned by Chris’ marriage revelation

Some viewers were stunned to learn two popular MasterChef contestants have been in a decade-long relationship together.

MasterChef contestant Chris Badenoch was eliminated from the competition in Sunday night’s episode, but not before a revelation about his personal life left some fans of the franchise “shook.”

A package that rolled during last night’s episode revealed a fact about Chris that only MasterChef fans with very long memories could recall: He’s married to fellow contestant Julia Jenkins.

Chris and Julia, a MasterChef love story.

The pair met when they were both contestants on the debut season of the show way back in 2009, with then-23-year-old Julia placing fifth and then-41-year-old Chris coming third, behind winner Julie Goodwin and runner-up Poh Ling Yeow.

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Their union was quite the controversy at the time, and not just because of the couple’s 18-year age gap: Chris was already in a relationship when he went on the show, and his ex-girlfriend later told New Idea she felt “totally humiliated” to find he’d met someone new through reality TV.

“I didn't ask for any of this. I wasn't the one signing up for a reality TV show. We've been together four years. I've met all his friends, he's met mine. It's no secret,” former girlfriend Gemma Pritchard said a month after the first series ended.

At the time, Badenoch told The Daily Telegraph that "Both Julia and I have recently come out of relationships that have ended independently of our friendship. It's early days, but at the moment we're just good friends."

Chris and Julia on their 2013 wedding day.

After those tentative beginnings, Chris and Julia have stayed the distance, marrying in a simple ceremony in Daylesford in 2013 (they had a wheel of cheese instead of a wedding cake).

As some viewers pointed out, this 11-year MasterChef love story is more successful than most relationships forged from dating shows:

Can’t believe fedora Chris is married to Julia Jenkins from
season one. Honestly shook. This has changed my world view. #masterchefau

— Edwina Williams (@edwinawilltweet) May 10, 2020

Omg Chris and Julia are married?!! #MasterchefAU

— Melissa Black (@melissablack86) May 10, 2020

WAIT. Chris and Julia got married???? #MasterchefAU

— ViVi B (@ViVi_RFObsessed) May 10, 2020

I had no idea Chris and Julie got married #MasterChefAU

— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) May 10, 2020

Chris and Julia got married!! #MasterChefAU

— Anita Lawes (@mrsjbj) May 10, 2020

Chris & Julia is probably a more solid relationship than any couple that a reality dating show could produce. #MasterChefAU

— Isobel Ardent (@isobelardent) May 10, 2020

So Master Chef has had a successful match/marriage Chris and Julia - well that's better success rate than most of the reality match making shows #MasterChefAU

— Stay at home Jane (@austenite20) May 10, 2020

And Chris and Julia aren’t the only couple to find love on MasterChef Australia. Fellow season one star Poh Ling Yeow met her husband Jono Bennett through the show too: She was a contestant while he was working behind the scenes as a runner. They started dating after the show's finale, and married five years later in 2014.

“Every time the show comes around, it's essentially the anniversary of us meeting,” she’s since said.