MasterChef Australia (series 3)
The third series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 1 May 2011 at 7:30 pm on Network Ten. Judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston returned from the previous series and were joined by Matt Moran. The third series was won by Kate Bracks who defeated Michael Weldon in the grand finale on 7 August 2011. The second part of the series' final (episode 85, "The Winner Announced"), attracted an audience of 2.74 million viewers, making it the third most viewed episode of any Australian television series of 2011, only  beaten by the final episodes of The Block (3.09 million) and Australia's Got Talent (2.98 million). Changes. The third series of "MasterChef Australia" brought some changes to the format of the show. Joining the judging panel as a regular guest was chef Matt Moran. A twist used in past series of the show to bring back eliminated contestants for a second chance was dropped for series 3. While the weekly routine was mostly unchanged, there were some small differences in series 3. Sunday night's challenge was not restricted to a Mystery Box Challenge and an Invention Test, with  Team and Offsite Challenges also used. The Tuesday night challenge was modified: now known as an immunity challenge rather than a celebrity chef challenge; the standing of the opponent varied, with anyone from a contestant to an apprentice or a well-known chef appearing. The rules varied slightly from week to week, but typically the contestant(s) were given a recipe and a time advantage but neither competitor had knowledge of what they were about to cook until just before the challenge started. Eliminations on Thursdays were no longer decided by taste tests; final challenges were based on cooking. Contestants. Opening  Week. The opening week of MasterChef Australia saw 50 contestants competing for the 24 positions in the main competition. Twenty-six were eliminated: Top 24. The full Top 24 were revealed on Sunday, 8 May. At the first Top 24 challenge, it was revealed that Paul had quit the competition due to work commitments and Alex, who had been eliminated in the Top 50 portion, was entered as his replacement. Future appearances -In Series 4 Kate Bracks appeared as a guest judge for a Mystery Box Challenge. -Kate then appeared on a Special All Star series for charity along with  Kumar Pereira, Hayden Quinn and Dani Venn. Kumar came 12th, Hayden came 10th, Dani came 6th and Kate came third. -In Series 6 Kate appeared as a guest judge for both the Mystery Box and Invention Test Challenge. -In a superstar themed week in Series 7 Hayden appeared as a guest judge for an Invention Test challenge. -Kate appeared at the Auditions for Series 10 to support the Top 50. -Dani and Hayden appeared on Series 12. Dani was eliminated on 3 May 2020, finishing in 20th and Hayden was eliminated on 17 May 2020, finishing in 15th. Michael Weldon  also appeared in 'Twist Week' for a Masterclass Lesson. -In Series 14 Michael is set to appear for another chance to win the title.