MasterChef Australia's Lynton Tapp Relieved To Not Be Filming During Coronavirus

He may have been the first to be eliminated from ‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ , but Lynton Tapp has said his departure from the show was perhaps well-timed to avoid filming during coronavirus restrictions. 

“It is,” he told HuffPost Australia on Monday when asked if it was a “blessing in disguise” to leave when he did. 

“It is... because obviously I know certain things about production moving forward.”

Lynton and his partner Kitty welcomed son Atticus seven months ago, and he empathises for other contestants still in the competition who can’t see their loved ones due to social distancing measures. 

“Members of the cast that have families, and production crews that have families, they’re limited to what they could do and who they could see and where they could go,” he explained.

“It’s added a tricky dynamic just in the making of it, but also on screen you have lots of hand washing, there’s no more famous MasterChef hug, so I’m really proud I managed to pull off a few of those in my brief one week on air.”

Earlier this month contestant Reynold Poernomo  said appropriate health and safety measures have been adapted while filming. 

“Production has been very, very different. Ever since the stage one, two and three government restrictions, we’ve been following every single rule,” he told HuffPost Australia. “We’ve been socially distanced, even in the competition. It’s a bit weird, so we haven’t really had any outside challenges.

“We’ve been keeping 1.5 metre distance, and before we cook we have to wash our hands. Definitely hygiene has gone up by 10 times.”

A spokesperson from production company Endemol Shine Australia said social distancing, hand sanitising stations, gloves for groups challenges and additional sinks were being provided. 

Endemol Shine Australia’s statement: 

“MasterChef Australia has always employed the highest standards of food safety and hygiene, and we now have an even keener focus on that. All recommendations outlined by Federal and State government health authorities are being followed.

 

Under the current circumstances, we are introducing new measures for the foreseeable future. These include, but are not limited to social distancing measures across every facet of the production and additional hand sanitising stations positioned around the set and offices. 

 

On the set, changes will be made to the spacing of contestant cooking benches and gloves provided for team challenges where equipment may be shared, as well as when handling food in the pantry. Additional sinks have been added as dedicated hand washing stations, so as to separate from any food preparation.

 

Judges will step up to taste individually portioned meals and no cutlery or plates will be shared.” 

‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ continues at 7:30pm on Channel 10.