‘MasterChef Australia’ fan favourite Hayden Quinn has opened up about how the show’s contestants reacted when told Ben Ungermann wouldn’t be returning.
He said it was the real “twist” to end ‘Twists Week’ when judge Jock Zonfrillo informed the stars that Ben had left the competition due to a personal matter.
“Yeah bit of a twist, hey? It was a real shock for us because we had no idea, obviously,” Hayden told HuffPost Australia on Monday after his elimination on Sunday night.
“We turned up and Ben wasn’t there and there was a bit of confusion, and then we heard exactly what you heard on TV last night and that’s pretty much it, that he’s not coming in.
“I don’t really know much more than that, to be honest.”
Sunday night’s episode commenced with Jock addressing Ben’s absence with a brief statement.
“You’re probably wondering where Ben is. Due to a personal matter, Ben has had to leave the competition, and he will not be returning,” said the judge.
Back in March production company Endemol Shine released a statement after it had become known that Ben was arrested by police for an incident of a “personal nature”.
“We can confirm Ben Ungermann has left the MasterChef Australia competition,” the spokesman said at the time. “As this is a police matter, we will not be making further comment.”
Ben has only addressed his departure from the show once.
When asked by an Instagram follower how he would be edited out of the show, he replied: “That’s up to MasterChef Australia. Appreciate the support”.
On ‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ this year, Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo have replaced former judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston.
There are 24 previous contestants including Poh Ling Yeow, Reynold Poernomo and Callum Hann who have returned to the series for another shot at victory.
‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ continues at 7:30pm on Channel 10.