Fan favourite Miin Wei Long was eliminated from MasterChef Australia after everything seemed to go wrong for him in a Black Apron heritage challenge. His departure broken the hearts of many viewers, with some taking to social media to mourn his elimination.
“I feel bad about Miin; I thought he’d go farther,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “We definitely need to have a redemption episodes for these eliminated contestents this season. Bella, Kanika, Lucy, Miin, many memorable potentially great cooks has left so soon,” another penned.
Fans clearly thought that Miin would make it further in the competition. After all, he received glowing praise from the MasterChef judges in the first few weeks, and only seemed to falter once he was sent through to the May 20 Elimination Challenge, before struggling again in the heritage challenge that ultimately sent him home.
So, should one or two bad cooks really be enough to end a contestant’s MasterChef journey altogether? Given Miin’s strong performances earlier in the season, many viewers aren’t convinced — and now, Miin himself has weighed in that surprising eliminations are just a part of the process.
“The reality is all it takes is one mistake or one poor cook to send you home, especially when you’re cooking against so many talented and amazing cooks. I made mistakes and had a poor cook on the day so it’s not surprising that I got eliminated when I did,” he told TV Week.
Miin said that once he started his fourth attempt at making noodles, he knew he would be sent home from the competition.
“At that point, I was quite certain that I was going to be eliminated,” he said.
“I was very honest with myself throughout the competition. When I did a poor job, or messed up, I would be the first one to put up my hand and admit it — and was happy to accept the consequences.”
Would Miin ever return to the MasterChef competition?
Shortly after Miin was eliminated from MasterChef, social media was flooded with fans campaigning for his return in a redemption round. Avid viewers will remember that Sav Perrera returned to the competition when she won the Second Chance cook, which is redemption round for contestants who have already been eliminated.
So, if the same opportunity were to pop up for Miin, would he jump on it?
“If I ever got invited back, 100 per cent would!” he told the publication.
“And I would come back a lot better prepared and hopefully less of a train wreck in kitchen. Also, I’d need to get laser surgery on my eyes!”
As for now, Miin’s planning on working on a food-related venture outside of the competition.
“In the long run, fingers crossed, you may see a range of sauces and condiments that’ll help you re-create some of my favourite dishes at home without having to go through all the work yourself,” he said.
MasterChef Australia airs Sunday 7pm and Monday — Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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