Andy Allen Believes Two Key Ingredients Create Magic in the Masterchef Kitchen

The thirteenth season of MasterChef Australia is finally upon us and while we could not be more excited to dive into this season of deliciousness, no one is more excited than the three powerhouse judges returning for their second season — Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen.

Even though the series is only just hitting our screens, MasterChef has been filming for a few months and for Allen, the “amazing stories” are still to come.

“There’s a lot of amazing stories on there,” Allen told POPSUGAR Australia during an interview. “But to me, the life-changing stories are still to come. The competition started for where we are right now and this is where you really see the best of the contestants who are left and that’s what I’m really excited for.”

For Allen, who won his season of the show when he was just 23-years-old, no matter where you place, it is “life changing”.

“It changed my life unbelievably and a lot of the guys on my series as well,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter if you come first or 24th, it changes your life.”

In terms of the show itself, Allen says there are two main ingredients that have made it “such a juggernaut over the last thirteen seasons”.

“It’s the food and the people. It’s as simple as that,” he said, before adding: “It just blows our mind every single day. It just looks like the best food ever and it tastes like the best food ever.”

The contestants this year come from a wide variety of nationalities and professional backgrounds, and Allen is amazed by their dedication.

“The stories of these guys and their attitude and their willingness to give up their amazing careers and then take the plunge and really, give everything that they have in each and every challenge, it’s amazing to see.

“I feel really privileged to be able to mentor these guys being in their shoes once. It’s really nice to be able to give back and mentor the new crop of amateurs.”

Allen returns alongside Leong and Zonfrillo who saw huge success in their first season at the helm — something he puts down to being allowed to be themselves.

“When we took over the reins, there was such an unknown about how we would go but the good thing was, as soon as we stepped on that floor, they just gave us the reins and said, ‘just be you’. We don’t want you to be Gary or George or Matt. We hired you, for you.

“And that’s what we really tried to do. We tried to just bring our own waiver to something that was already a beast to the show itself.”

MasterChef Australia premieres Monday, April 19 at 7.30 pm on 10 and continues Wednesday and Thursday nights.