As the MasterChef season continues and more and more contestants are being eliminated, fans have noticed (or rather not noticed) one contestant who is often “missing” from episodes. While production may work hard to include every contestant on the show, it’s only natural that some contestants end up getting more airtime than others.
However, fans aren’t happy about it.
After Sunday night’s episode, fans have gone so far as to assume one contestant has been “kicked off” the show entirely since they rarely catch a glimpse of him.
Jack Hosking, the 29-year-old events manager from South Australia, has had less airtime than most this season, and the fan conspiracy theories are rampant.
“Can confirm Jack wasn’t in the episode,” one fan wrote on Facebook after Sunday night’s episode.
“Is Jack kicked off or something? Is he even on the episode?” another fan wrote on X.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit, who the hell is this Jack people are talking about,” one viewer questioned online.
After Monday’s elimination, where Jack earned some screen time after ending up in the bottom four alongside Grace, Miin, and Luke, fans have been celebrating his return.
Fans spiral over Jack’s absence from MasterChef
Fans have been seriously invested in the screen time of the aspiring cooks this year, with many criticising the show’s new tasting format, which has left many contestants’ dishes cold and untasted as judges taste only a select few.
While past contestants, the judges, and long-time fans have defended this format — pointing out the logistics of filming an hour’s worth of footage and condensing that footage into a short episode — this hasn’t stopped the grumblings.
However, what’s had a lot of fans more pre-occupied lately is the differences in screen time between contestants… most notably – and more comedically – the plea to see more of Jack on their screens.
The conspiracy started this week after Jack’s limited screen time in Sunday night’s episode.
“He wasn’t there at all?” one fan wrote after the episode. “Not even in the group shots?”
“Yeah I wonder why? Judges didn’t mention anything at the start about his absence,” another viewer agreed.
“My family and I have noticed that he rarely appears in the episodes (they don’t talk at his bench, they don’t show him cooking as extra footage, they don’t show his tasting much),” another fan contributed. “And then tonight he was actually absent.”
“Jack emerges from the bushes only once nightfall has come,” another viewer joked. “I didn’t even know he was there until last week.”
Jack debunks ‘missing’ rumours
However, as fans spiralled deeper into conspiracies as to why Jack was missing, the contestant took to Instagram to debunk the rumours, thanking fans for their “messages and support” but confirming that he was simply “unwell and unable to cook” on Sunday night, which explained his absence.
This left many fans overjoyed and excited to see more of Jack in Monday night’s episode.
However, while his screen time was increased (that is, he was actually in the episode), fans still had a gripe with his limited screen time compared to other contestants.
MasterChef fans relieved after ‘proof of life’ in elimination episode
After cooking honey demi-freddo that was “too sweet” for Poh, Jack landed in the bottom four.
“NOW they’re seeing Jack,” one fan celebrated on X.
“Talk about blink and you miss edit for Jack!” another viewer replied.
“Jack sighting! High five, everyone,” one fan cheered.
“Short n sweet for Jack… he’s safe,” another viewer wrote, excited to see what’s next in store for the contestant.
While many fans have turned their new obsession with Jack’s screen time into cheeky banter, celebrating his “proof of life” on social media threads, many are still commenting on how disproportionate the MasterChef edits can be, despite production’s best efforts to keep things even.
“I turn on MasterChef and finally, we have proof of life for Jack!” one fan wrote online.
“Jack may be alive, but that doesn’t mean he gets any camera time,” another viewer quipped back.
“The editors really don’t like this guy,” another viewer wrote. “Not even being in the bottom four could persuade them to give him air time.”
Fans of MasterChef in 2024 may remember a similar conspiracy emerged around contestant Sue Bazely, who went viral for having limited screen time.
Perhaps, a similar moment is on the horizon for Jack, or perhaps the editors are just warming up fans for some incredible Jack moments to come.
Time will tell!
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