‘MasterChef’ USA exclusive: Graham Elliot on twists, Emmy talk, upcoming challenges
What makes “MasterChef” such a smash hit? You are really looking at a number of different variables here, whether it is the cast, the creativity, how easy it is to relate to what the contestants are trying to do, or of course the judging panel. You need entertaining personalities to run the ship properly, and luckily Fox has figured it out with the group of Joe Bastianich, Graham Elliot, and Gordon Ramsay. It reminds us almost of “Dancing with the Stars” in the way in which the three clicked from the get-go, even though two of them were not necessarily household names beforehand away from those in the cooking world.
Last week, we got the chance to talk a little bit about some of the events this season, and also what lies ahead, with Graham Elliot, who is generally regarded as the nicer of the three judges. However, he is still a valuable source of advice for the contestants, and he also has some pretty interesting things to say about the show.
CarterMatt – So after doing this show for four years now, do you find yourself still enjoying the process as you did at first? Do you still get excited by it?
Graham Elliot – Oh, it’s still super-fun and exciting. Each season, it’s like going on tour or something. You’re doing what you do, but it’s in front of new people. New styles, new fads, things come and go in the cooking world, so you need to stay fresh with what’s going on at the time. So it’s really cool to do that, and to also see how good people get, because of the new culturization of food. Everyone’s a foodie now; they’re posting pictures of what they eat. It’s a really cool time to be doing it.
Do you get the sense that every year, you are pushing the show to do different things? I remember looking back at the first season recently and seeing how different it is.
Oh you have to, totally. You have to keep stepping it up and making it more and more exciting and fun. It’s a big production.
We’re at that time of year right now when a lot of shows really start to talk about Emmy consideration, and your show is really not been one to get the buzz that it probably deserves. Is that something that is on your mind, or is anyone thinking about that when making the show?
You know, I don’t really know that much about these Hollywood awards personally. I understand much more of the chef side of those side of things, but I know that there are a lot of politics involved. I imagine that if we wanted to win those things and focus on those things, we could, but we don’t really discuss it … I guess it’s kind of that mindset that if we do something great and it happens organically, that’s super, but we don’t go out seeking that stuff. It’s kind of like the [show’s] numbers speak for themselves.
That’s true. Do you feel like there are more people who come up and speak to you now than there were during the early seasons of the show.
Yeah, most people that come up and talk to be about the show, they all especially mentioned last year, that they watched it because of Christine and how she is [doing]. I think last year was the one that was really the breakout one for us.
Whether you are a judge or a producer, going into a show, is Christine really the sort of winner you can only hope to have: Someone who is not only likable, but talented and inspirational, as well?
Well I’m not a producer, so I don’t know that side as much; I just know that to obviously have people that connect with [viewers], not only because of their story of not being able to see when [they] cook, which is incredible on its own, but being such a genuine person, cooking and not throwing anyone under the bus … She just has great character to go with the cooking chops. It was a perfect storm.
I know that you have to remain unbiased as a judge, but as the competition progresses do you start to have people in your mind that you would like to see do well?
That I’m pulling for? Well, in terms of who stands out from the rest, you have someone like Natasha and Luca and Lynn, James, a lot of these people are really great and really strong. It would be hard to lose any of them, because they’re all really good people, too.
So if you were to put yourself in the shoes of a young Graham Elliot, do you think that there is any part of this show that you would have trouble with?
I was really fortunate to do ‘Iron Chef,’ and I’ve had to cook with a time and it puts me in a unique position where I can relate. I often put myself in their shoes, and I thrive in the sort of mystery box kind of part of the world. Give me two things and I’ll come up with 100 different things. Team challenges I think I would be fine, but I think pressure tests are the hardest because there is such little room for error.
Can you set up anything that’s coming up that you’re especially looking forward to?
What I’m looking forward to most is [seeing them cook] outdoors. What we end up doing is going out in the woods and cooking under the stars, and giving them a list of things to either cook for themselves to get through the night, or save for us the next day … You give them some flint to get a fire going and leave them there. It’s interesting to watch; what they do and come up with is amazing.
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If you want to take a look back at what happened on “MasterChef” this past episode, all you have to do is click here.
Photo: Fox