‘MasterChef Australia’ Boots Out Mario Montecuollo, Eliminates Marcus Cher

A “MasterChef Australia” contestant was booted out even before the first competition round. Mario Montecuollo was discovered to have a professional experience as a chef, violating the Network Ten reality show’s terms and conditions.

Montecuollo’s five months’ experience as a professional chef was uncovered by the producers when they saw an article in Hospitality magazine about his Enmore bar, Bar Racuda. The article described the 38-year-old Italian immigrant as the “head chef.”

He claimed the description was incorrect since the bar “only serve bar snacks.” However, the incident prompted the producers to dig more into his background, finding out that he had worked one day a week in a restaurant kitchen for five months. The show’s rules state that contestants should be amateurs who have not worked in a professional kitchen for more than six weeks in the past 15 years.

Montecuollo admitted that he was a sommelier at the restaurant about “seven or eight years ago” but he never meant to deceive anyone. “I am so passionate about food I got carried away without realising what I had done in the past would be considered too much,” he was quoted by News Ltd as saying.

Executive producer Margie Bashfield told the paper that it was the aspiring chef who came to them and confessed his experience. “He said I’ve done more than I realised and I don’t think it’s fair for me to be in the competition.”

Montecuollo was replaced by 28-year-old Adelaide graphic designer Jessie Spiby. She is now part of the Top 24 contestants, who are now reduced to 23 after Marcus Cher was eliminated Friday.

Cher had quite an action-packed challenge after losing a fingernail. The 31-year-old abandoned his plan of making tartare sauce after tearing a nail and bleeding profusely, leaving him with a half-finished dish. Although some elements on his plate were praised by the judges, a bone left in his fish prompted the judges to eliminate him from the competition