MasterChef Australia Back to Win is almost halfway now so the past week wasn’t exactly what we had hoped it to be. Unlike the fairly good challenges we had seen until now, this week fell a little short, which was a bit disappointing. The fifth week on MasterChef Australia Back to Win saw Chris Badenoch (Season 1) and Amina Elshafei (Season 4) leave the kitchen and now, we are left with 16 contestants competing for the trophy. This week was labelled as ‘twist week’ which has traditionally not been MasterChef AU’s style. They like keeping things pretty straightforward and simple, but this time, it looked like they borrowed a few ideas from the producers of Chopped to make things more lively, which did not really fit. The Kitchen Switch team challenge had the contestants swap kitchens halfway through a cook, and they were later judged for the work that wasn’t even done by them. It was clear here that the show wants to experiment more with its format, but this was quite an uncharacteristic episode for them. The Darren Purchese Pressure Test was another twist challenge, but at least here, contestants were not made to suffer because of someone else’s actions. Amina’s elimination was emotional, but it was adorable to see Jess help her out even during those last seconds. The highlight of the week was the Hot ‘n’ Cold challenge with Katy Perry. "Hot 'n' Cold" has been the show’s theme song for 12 years now, so it was about time that the singer came on the show and had some fun with the contestants. Katy was a livewire in the kitchen, and it made me realise that sometimes, it’s okay to have a guest who is just there to eat and not critique. For the favourites this week, it was good to see Poh win the immunity task. Reynold, who is usually a rockstar, fell a bit short in the Katy Perry challenge. It is starting to become apparent that Sarah Tiong is one of the most consistent performers this season, but it would be too soon to predict a winner. Last week, Amina was on top, but this week, she was eliminated reminding us that this game can change with just one cook. Also Read | MasterChef AU serves up Indian Khandvi in Week 4 | MasterChef AU: Week 3 brings old challenges in new format | MasterChef AU gets an identity makeover in Week 2 | MasterChef AU: One week in, here’s what we think about Back to Win | MasterChef AU’s new season has the highest-rated premiere. Here’s why Masterchef Australia: Back to Win is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
