MasterChef South Africa Season 5, the local version of the world’s biggest – and most intense – television cooking reality show, has reached the halfway mark with episode 10 airing a little earlier on Saturday, 14 September at 18:30, due to live sport on S3.
After a rollercoaster ride of ten weeks of culinary feasts – and flops – the remaining home cooks have a one in ten chance of scooping up the coveted title of MasterChef and the show’s R1mil prize pot.
While everyone in the Top 10 will be trying to slice, dice, grill, and roast their way to the end, MasterChef South Africa Season 5 contestant Lona from Tsolo in the Eastern Cape has already pocketed R50 000, with which he plans to arrange a special birthday party for his son. In the previous episode, Lona’s winning restaurant-worthy cabbage dish was also the perfect opportunity to redeem himself after a series of disappointing dishes.
At the same time, one of the show’s top performers, Nabila, found herself in the bottom three for the first time, alongside Amo and Shreya. The judges advised the trio to pull up their socks for this week’s do-or-die elimination challenge.
However, everyone watching the unpredictable fifth season of MasterChef South Africa knows that anything can happen in the pressure-cooker MasterChef Kitchen. As the judges – Zola Nene, Chef Katlego Mlambo, and Justine Drake – often remind the contestants, “You’re just as good as your last dish.”
To top it off, the contestants are presented with a shocking announcement at the start of this week’s super tense episode in which they’re joined by guest judge Alessandro “Alex” Mosupi Khojane.
Born in Bloemfontein and raised in Italy, one of the restaurants in this charismatic, lauded local food guru is the much-loved Italian eatery in Bryanston, Gemelli.
Will the contestants be overwhelmed when tasked to present an Italian dish with a South African flavour to this pasta maestro, who also happens to be more than one of the contestants’ food hero? Or will something else chew away their confidence?
This episode of MasterChef South Africa Season 5, proudly sponsored by Pick n Pay, will be rebroadcast on Sunday, 15 September, at 18:30 on SABC 3 and S3 on Wednesday, 18 September, at 18:00.