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Source: Close Up -
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Taupo resident Nigel Anderson is the fifth contestant to be
eliminated from MasterChef New Zealand.
On Wednesday night the top eight contestants faced the daunting
team challenge of preparing canapés at Auckland hotel, The
Langham, for 120 VIPs and celebrities. As the winner of the
previous challenge, Anderson was appointed leader of the Blue team
and got to choose the leader of the Red team, before they took
turns selecting their team mates.
Each team had four hours to prepare four canapés - two hot,
two cold - for the guests. A total of nearly 500 canapés per
team. However, the decision of who would be the winning team was
not made by judges Ross Burden, Ray McVinnie and Simon Gault - it
was made by the guests.
Anderson was nervous about being team leader and strategically
chose youngster Karyn Fisk as the opposition leader - it was a move
that backfired in the end. "Karyn was a much stronger team leader
than I had anticipated," said Anderson.
Heading into the judging, Anderson knew if there were any
shortcomings from his team, he would have to stand up and take
responsibility for them. When asked if his team had won, Anderson
said he didn't know what the guests thought of the food: "That's
what the challenge is judged on, so 50:50 I'd have to say."
The judges said Anderson was meant to be in charge, but when it
came to leading the team, he lost his nerve. They said they noticed
Brett having to fight the urge to take over the team to get things
done. McVinnie said it wasn't a great day for any of the team
members.
When asked who should go, each team member put themselves forward,
but the judges chose Anderson.
Anderson said team challenges are hard: "The team captain has to
take responsibility on the day, and I'm happy to do that for my
guys. I'm not happy to go, but I accept it fully.
"I'm just thoroughly disappointed. There's no way I wanted to go, I
wanted to be here to the end. I am very proud of my efforts. To put
yourself through something like this builds a whole new level of
confidence that will really give me the ability to move on, and
search out what it is I want to do."
Get more
information on MasterChef New Zealand here.
MasterChef New Zealand continues Wednesdays at 7.30pm on TV
ONE.
