In the latest slew of MasterChef fan conspiracies, people have been spiralling over a certain contestant’s lack of screen time as the number of cooks in the kitchen dwindles with every elimination.
Jack Hosking, a 29-year-old events manager from South Australia, has had less airtime than most this season, and, as a result, fan theories have been rampant with people speculating that he had been secretly “kicked off” the show.
Others said that they felt they were being “gaslit” and didn’t even know who Jack was.
“Is Jack kicked off or something? Is he even on the episode?” one fan wrote on X.
After Monday’s elimination, where Jack earned some screen time after ending up in the bottom four alongside Grace, Miin, and Luke, and Tuesday night’s relay challenge, where he and his team members won a shot at earning immunity, fans have been celebrating and questioning his return.
“Gotta be honest I forgot Jack existed,” another replied. “Today has to be the most screen time he’s got.”
The rumours of the chef being “kicked off” the show got so bad that Jack responded to them himself – debunking the myth with a hilariously simple reason: That he had been sick during the filming of one of the episodes.
While the drama ended up being an open and shut case of “nothing to see here, folks!”, it’s not the first time MasterChef viewers have gone wild pointing out a so-called “missing” contestant.
“Missing” MasterChef contestant weighs in on Jack controversy
In 2024, a similar fan obsession broke out about contestant Sue Bazely after she hardly appeared in the season’s edit.
Speaking to WHO, Sue spoke about what a “pity” it is that Jack is receiving less screentime than other contestants, and how she responded to fans’ hilarious conspiracies when the same thing happened to her on the show.
“My absence was so obvious people were talking about it and asking ‘who is Sue?’” the former MasterChef star told WHO. “So I created a hashtag #who_is_sue and retrospectively added it to my posts and just leaned into it.”
“This worked to my advantage in its own way and was a diplomatic middle finger to post production, without becoming bitter and twisted.
“I was grateful for my experience, and although I was disappointed, I focussed on the lived experience rather than what people were seeing on TV.”
While Sue, who was eventually eliminated during a cook-along challenge with Australian chef Curtis Stone, admits that watching her lack of screen time did sting, she said it didn’t get in the way of her experience or her relationship with production.
“I never applied to become famous,” Sue said. “So at the end of the day I kept telling myself it wasn’t really fair, but the actual experience itself had changed my life in a good way.
“I started my own biz called SueChef and now I own my own wine bar! It’s all good!”
Sue’s warning to future MasterChef contestants
When reflecting on Jack’s current edit on the show, Sue told WHO the valuable lesson she learnt and would recommend to future contestants.
“It’s a pity he’s going through this too,” Sue said. “Having said that, it’s a TV show and post production have control on how they edit you and so my advice to anyone participating is to consider what their motive is and set expectations prior to committing because there’s no guarantee you’ll get equal exposure.
“I definitely think that the management team should forewarn every single contestant that this is something they should prepare themselves for,” she added. “It may help people like myself, and Jack land softly.”
“I’m an old chook so probably able to be more pragmatic,” she joked.
In the end, Sue’s lack of screen time ended up working in her favour, as her lasting effect on fans allowed her to stick out from the crowd.
It seems fans are seeking a similar outcome for Jack this season. However, instead of leaning into fans’ concerns, he’s expressed his gratitude for the “support.”
Fans are still disappointed with Jack’s edit
After fans took to social media on Sunday and Monday to complain about (what looked like) Jack’s absence from the show, the contestant debunked the conspiracy, thanking people for their “messages and support” but confirming that he was absent simply because he was “unwell and unable to cook” on Sunday night.
Despite this confirmation and a noticeable increase in Jack’s screen time since, the reaction from fans has remained mixed.
“I feel like they tasted Jack’s dish to shut us up,” one fan wrote in response to Monday night’s episode. “They’ve edited themselves into a corner. They’re going to have to talk to him properly at some point.”
While Jack’s edit seems to be different to Sue Bazely’s experience so far, time will tell if another viral moment is on the horizon, or if the conspiracies will inevitably settle down.
Either way, the fans are rooting for you Jack!
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