Masterchef Australia made its highly anticipated return to screens on Monday night featuring a panel shake-up for the 16th season.
Andy Allen returned to the Channel Ten cooking show alongside some new faces, including French celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, Melbourne-based food critic Sofia Levin, and MasterChef season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow.
But fans quickly took to social media after they were left unimpressed with Andy’s eating technique.
‘For god sake someone teach Andy how to eat a meal without using his fingers?’ one wrote on a Masterchef fan page.
‘We need to cancel Andy for his ice cream cone eating technique,’ another wrote on Twitter.
MasterChef Australia viewers have called out judge Andy Allen (pictured) for his ‘annoying’ habit on the show – his eating technique
‘Andy eating a Cornetto from the bottom of the cone – should be a stackable offence.’
Other users were quick defend the returning judge, however.
‘Fingers were made before knives and forks,’ one fan said, adding: ‘Lol. I love Andy.’
But fans quickly took to social media after they were left unimpressed with Andy’s eating techniques
‘I love how he truly relishes every bite,’ wrote another.
‘We’ve had George in previous series doing the licking the fingers. I’m sure Jamie will be doing the same. It means that they are loving the dish.’
It comes after Allen revealed what it was really like returning to the show for season 16 after the tragic death of his colleague Jock Zonfrillo.
‘For god sake someone teach Andy how to eat a meal without using his fingers?’ one wrote on a Masterchef fan page
The food critic, 35, has returned to the Channel Ten set following the shock passing of his ‘mate’ Zonfrillo last year just hours ahead of their media blitz for season 15.
Allen told The Project panel on Monday night that he almost didn’t appear on the show this year, but is now ‘so glad’ he decided to push through the grief.
‘It was tough. I didn’t know if I was going to do it. I’m so glad that I did, I really am, but it was hard,’ he told the panel.
Meanwhile, other users were quick to defend the returning judge
‘The first scene [of the show] is just me in the kitchen alone, all dark, just me… that got me going good.’
Allen went on to say everything changed ‘once the contestants came in, once the new three judges came in’, and he found himself getting ‘swept up’.
‘It was just business. That whole MasterChef thing, the spirit, the passion, it just sweeps anyone up, and it did the exact same thing to me,’ he added.
It comes after Allen revealed what it was really like returning to the show for season 16 after the tragic death of his colleague Jock Zonfrillo
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