Andy Allen | |
---|---|
Born | Andrew Peter Allen 30 April 1988 Maitland, New South Wales, Australia |
Education | Maitland Grossmann High School |
Occupations |
|
Predecessor | Kate Bracks |
Successor | Emma Dean |
Spouse | Alex Davey |
Awards | Winner, MasterChef Australia |
Website | https://andyallen.com.au |
Andrew Peter Allen (born 30 April 1988) is an Australian cook, food critic and television presenter. He is notable for winning the fourth season of MasterChef Australia in 2012, [1] and for being a judge on MasterChef Australia from 2020.
Allen was originally an electrician by occupation. [2] [3] He was also a basketball player with the Maitland Mustangs. [4] and also volunteered to work on extensions to his local basketball stadium. [5]
Allen's father, Peter, was a teacher at Bolwarra Public School, [6] and was also the primary cricket convenor for the NSW Primary Schools Sports Association. [7]
Andy pursued a career in the hospitality industry. He now co-owns a restaurant, Three Blue Ducks, that has five locations around Australia, in Rosebery, Byron Bay, Nimbo and Bellingen in New South Wales, as well as Melbourne in Victoria. [8] In 2018 his restaurant was awarded a Chef's Hat, making Andy the first MasterChef Australia contestant to be awarded the highly sought-after honour. [9]
In 2021, he appeared as a co-host in Three Blue Ducks, a cooking show based that travels throughout Australia to find inspiration for new dishes that appear on the permanent restaurant menu. [10]
Allen won the fourth season of MasterChef Australia. After making it to the final, Allen beat fellow finalists Audra Morrice and Julia Taylor in a three-way contest. Facing only Taylor for the final two rounds, Allen won with a score of 76 to Taylor's 68.
Allen appeared in an episode of MasterChef Australia All-Stars in August 2012.[ citation needed ]
He returned in the eleventh season as a professional Secret Chef, and lost to Sandeep Pandit by a perfect score, 30, in an Immunity Pin Challenge. His score was kept secret, but was revealed on Facebook to be 24. [11]
In October 2019, he was announced as one of three of the new MasterChef judges who replaced George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston. [12]
In May 2023, he was a pallbearer for Jock Zonfrillo with Laura Zonfrillo. [13]
Allen became engaged in May 2020 [3] and married his wife Alex Davey on 8 October 2022. [14]
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019, when they were replaced by Series 4 winner and chef Andy Allen, food critic Melissa Leong, and restaurateur and chef Jock Zonfrillo.
Matt Preston is an English-Australian food critic, writer, food journalist, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's MasterChef Australia between 2009 and 2019, and Seven Network's My Kitchen Rules in 2022. He also has a weekly national food column that appears in NewsCorp's metro newspapers. Preston is also a senior editor for Delicious. and Taste magazines, and the author of at least four best-selling cookbooks. Since 2022 Preston hosts Saturday Mornings on ABC Radio Melbourne.
George Dimitrios Calombaris is a Greek Australian chef and restaurateur and television personality. Calombaris was one of the judges of the Network 10 series MasterChef Australia from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his role on MasterChef Australia, Calombaris appeared regularly on the daytime Network Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook.
Poh Ling Yeow is a Malaysian-born Australian cook, artist, actress, author and television presenter. She has hosted multiple cooking shows including ABC's Poh's Kitchen and SBS's Poh & Co. She has also published multiple cook books. She was the runner-up on the first season of Network 10's Masterchef Australia behind winner Julie Goodwin. Since appearing on season 1, she has made multiple comebacks to the series as a guest judge/mentor, returning as a contestant on the twelfth season in 2020 then a judge in 2024.
Celebrity MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is a spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and features celebrity contestants.
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Adam Liaw is a Malaysian-born Australian cook, television presenter and author. He was the winner of the second season of MasterChef Australia, defeating student Callum Hann in the final. Liaw has produced, written and hosted his own cooking programs, including the Destination Flavour series and the talk and cooking show The Cook Up with Adam Liaw on SBS Food.
The fourth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 6 May 2012 at 7.30pm on Network Ten. Judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston returned from the previous series. After the first week in Melbourne, the competition took the contestants to places nationally, such as Kangaroo Island and Tasmania, as well as the international destination, Italy. It also featured a number of guest chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and Buddy Valastro.
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MasterChef Australia is a television cooking competition that is typically broadcast for three months each year since 2009. There are generally 24 contestants each year.
Barry "Jock" Zonfrillo was a Scottish chef, television presenter and restaurateur. He was the founder of the Orana Foundation and a judge on MasterChef Australia.
The twelfth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia, also known as MasterChef: Back to Win and MasterChef Australia: Back To Win, premiered on 13 April 2020 on Network 10. It is the first series to feature series four winner Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo serving as judges, after the departure of Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston in the previous season. This series involves former high-achieving contestants from the past eleven series of MasterChef Australia, returning for another chance at the title of 'MasterChef' and a prize of A$250,000.
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Melissa Leong is an Australian freelance food writer, food critic, television host, radio broadcaster, cookbook editor and marketer. She is currently a judge on Network 10's Dessert Masters alongside Amaury Guichon and was previously a judge on MasterChef Australia from 2020 to 2023, alongside Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo.
The third series of Junior MasterChef Australia, the second spin-off of the Australian reality television series MasterChef Australia, premiered on 11 October 2020 after a nine-year hiatus. The judging panel consists of Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo. The winner would receive $25,000.
Philip Howard is a South African-British chef, chef patron, and restaurateur. He gained cooking skills while working under Marco Pierre White at Harveys and Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum. Howard and White's then-business partner Nigel Platts-Martin opened London restaurant The Square in December 1991, despite both of their inexperience in operating a restaurant at the time.
The second series of the Australian cooking game show Celebrity MasterChef Australia premiered on 10 October 2021. Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo reprised their roles as judges from the main series of the show.
The fourteenth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 18 April 2022 on Network 10. The format for this season is Fans & Favourites, and features 12 new contestants and 12 former contestants. Andy Allen, Melissa Leong, and Jock Zonfrillo returned to the show as judges from the previous season.
The fifteenth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 7 May 2023 on Network 10 and concluded on 16 July 2023.
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