Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor is set to appear as a guest judge on the culinary reality show MasterChef Australia, the makers announced on Thursday. He will appear as a guest judge on Sunday’s episode, which will stream in India on Monday.
Kapoor previously served as a judge on the Indian edition of MasterChef in the third and fourth seasons.
“I had never travelled such a long distance for a single episode, and it was a fun experience,” Kapoor said in an interview.
“At MasterChef Australia, everyone is very professional in the way they manage everything. More importantly, they said they would begin at 'this time' and finish at 'that time', and they did…which does not happen in shows in our country. That was very heartening and very good to see,” he told NDTV.
Kapoor also commended the show for maintaining a balance between competition and emotional appeal.
“The contestants were completely immersed in what they were doing. It was exciting to see because, in terms of competitive cooking on television, if there is one show that has cracked the code for keeping it competitive yet very likeable and lovable, I think MasterChef Australia tops the chart. I think they lead, and the rest follow,” he said.
The poster shared by the makers of MasterChef Australia referred to Kapoor as ‘The GOAT’.
Apart from MasterChef India, Kapoor is widely known for hosting Khana Khazana, Asia's longest-running television cooking show, for 19 years. He also launched FoodFood, India's first 24-hour Hindi-language cooking channel.
MasterChef Australia streams on JioHotstar in India. The judging panel this season includes returning judges Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli.