If you want the fantasy of film and television to disintegrate like a poorly tempered chocolate shell, “visiting the set” is usually a surefire way to bring on a dose of reality. Epic movie locations turn out to be a big green cube in a disused carpark; that cosy bar from your favourite drama series is actually a chaotic corner of a suburban studio. Not for nothing did the Wizard Of Oz once yell, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”
It followed, then, that the offer of a visit to the set of MasterChef Australia back in January felt like an invitation to almost certain disappointment: surely seeing how the sausage is (occasionally, literally) made would bring the magic of MasterChef crumbling down. What if the workroom turned out to be the size of a studio apartment? Is the famed MasterChef pantry just a close shot on a local Coles supermarket? Are the judges really eating all that food?
