Mat Beyer

Mat Beyer

Just because I have a thing for long-haired guys with piercings, big grins, baby faces and sparkly blue eyes doesn’t mean that I can’t think clearly. Just because MasterChef’s Mat Beyer is a goth doesn’t mean that he’s not a good, upstanding guy who can cook great food, as demonstrated multiple times throughout MasterChef season 3.

To quote Mat’s official biography on the MasterChef website (http://www.masterchef.com.au/mat-beyer.htm):

“I kind of fell in love with the fine dining scene and I guess it’s novel being treated with respect, even though I look like I might rob you in the alley way!” he laughs.

News broke on the morning of June 15th that the 24 year old Melbourne food blogger and IT consultant Mat Beyer had been expelled from MasterChef Australia for breaking the rules. http://www.memorabletv.com/global/news/matt-beyer-thrown-off-masterchef-australia-for-having-smart-phone/ reports:

...24 year old Matt Beyer (he of the piercings, tatts and emo hair) was kicked off [MasterChef Australia] about two weeks ago for having a banned smart phone in the house with him.

http://www.realityravings.com/2011/06/15/mat-beyer-kicked-off-masterchef-but-what-happened/ has what seems to be most of the available facts - Mat flew to New York with seven other contestants, however was soon expelled. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/mat-beyers-masterchef-phone-scandal/story-e6frfmyi-1226075327451 reports:

Beyer had reportedly had the smartphone for about six weeks.

Smartphones can be used to access emails and the internet, and the show's producers feared contestants could use the devices to access extra cooking information.

Beyer had stood out on MasterChef for his tattoos and facial piercings.

His axing has thrown MasterChef into disarray. It is believed that there is a month's worth of episodes to screen before his on-air exit.

Embarrassed producers were forced to recall an eliminated contestant.

As all the papers claim that Mat’s phone was discovered while the MasterChef house was being removed of cookbooks for a challenge, it is unclear as to when he was accused. One elimination in New York would have brought them down to six contestants from being eight when they had arrived.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/16/3245056.htm?section=entertainment reports:

The [Herald Sun] says the producers were forced to recall an eliminated contestant to fill the 24-year-old's place.

However, Ten says the newspaper report is just speculation and has refused to comment further.

A spokesman for MasterChef's production company Fremantle Media has also refused to confirm or deny the report.

In the Daily Telegraph, however, the Dalai Lama, a special guest judge who judged the contestants in Melbourne, said that there were seven contestants present - one must have been reinstated.

Fan favourite Jay Huxley tweeted:

@jaymasterchef (Jay Huxley): @afoodstory wish it was me but it not!!!

Since then, accusations regarding the breaking of the ‘no contact with the outside world’ rule in the MasterChef house have also been made against Jay Huxley and Hayden Quinn, due to Facebook conversations which they have had. This is far less widely known than Mat’s phone scandal. Why? Perhaps because Jay is a fan favourite. Perhaps because Hayden is expected by most to go through to the final four or beyond. Or perhaps because Hayden is a buff, hot, blonde surfer guy, and as self-eliminated contestant Adam Bowen stated, the producers love Hayden and rally for any opportunity to get a shot of him with his shirt off. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/bloggers-stir-the-pot-in-masterchef-phone-scandal-20110615-1g443.html shows:

Since the first allegations have been made, Jay's Facebook account has been deleted, and Hayden's has been set to private.

So what exactly is this rule which it seems that so many MasterChef contestants have broken? The answer was revealed when Adam Bowen, a MasterChef contestant who eliminated himself largely because he could not stand to the atmosphere of the show, was interviewed (http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/masterchef-hope-pulls-the-pin/story-fn6ck8la-1226078709639):

"It was tough to be in Sydney for four-and-a-half months when the producers only allowed us a 10-minute phone call a week," [Adam] said.

"In the end it broke up [my long-term] relationship."

Adam... defended alleged MasterChef cheat Mat Beyer saying, "He's not a cheat - he's a good, kind-hearted kid."

...Adam said he had been unfairly targeted because he had tattoos and wore black.

"I think the cheating scandal has all been good publicity for MasterChef," he added.

Ten minutes of ‘outside world’ contact per week? A little harsh, I’d think, and tough on anybody.

Fan favourite Marion Grasby from the pervious season of MasterChef spoke up about Mat’s sudden exit, as reported http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/not-such-a-smart-phone-call-mat-beyer/story-e6frf96x-1226075943596:

...Grasby insisted contestants would have been warned against ‘contraband’, including TVs, newspapers, alcohol, phones and radios in the house at the start of the competition, and would have been frisked "like going through airport Customs" before entering the MasterChef house.

"You are constantly told, in no uncertain terms, that if you break the rules that they can boot you from the show," she said.

..."We don't know if he did cheat but if he did have the phone, that's definitely a huge breach."

Housemates were given a ‘babysitter’ and allowed just one 10-minute call a week to their families during the six months of filming.

According to his biography, Mat lives with his girlfriend Jess, and it would be incredibly hard to only speak to her for five minutes every week. Self-evicted MasterChef contestant Adam Bowen lost his long-term relationship - should Mat really be blamed for not wanting to lose his?

But here’s the question: why did Mat take that phone into the kitchen? Was it really an Angry Birds addiction? Did he just not think of the consequences of his actions? Or is fellow MasterChef contestant Queensland amateur cook Danielle Dixon right (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/why-mat-took-that-phone-to-tv-kitchen/story-fn7x8me2-1226081979726):

"He's the last person who would look up a recipe. I don't think he should have been kicked out on that basis," [Danielle] said.

"Mat had a really hard life and there was some news coming that I don't think he wanted anyone else to know about.

"Because production filter everything that comes to us communication-wise, that was his way of trying to keep it from everyone but it backfired in a bad way."

She refused to reveal what the news Beyer, 24, was waiting for.

[edit (Monday 27th June 2011] - I was wondering how Danielle had commented on Mat's elimination if she was still in the competition. Guess who got eliminated tonight?]

Other rumours have been spreading like wildfire: Has Mat been pushed aside to make way for Jay’s dramatic re-entry? Did he make the top twelve because he was cheating all along? Was he not even kicked off at all, and the whole scandal is being fueled solely by rumours? And last but not least, the theory which I believe: that the whole exercise has merely been a publicity ploy by Fremantle Media, the producers of MasterChef - he was kicked off, but not for just reasons. An article on NINE MSN (http://www.realityravings.com/2011/06/21/masterchef-contestant-adam-bowen-puts-the-boot-into-producers/) states:

Former MasterChef contestant Adam Bowen has criticised the show’s producers for not caring enough about contestants and claims they are playing with contestants’ emotions for ratings.

Bowen - who shocked fans when he quit the show during last night’s elimination pressure test - also fears the show could have a lasting negative effect on some contestants who have put their lives on hold to compete.

...“I really think that people are putting their whole lives on the line. People in the top fifty quit their jobs,” he said.

“It puts a big void in peoples’ lives. It can and it will affect some people a lot longer than others.”

I certainly believe these claims to be true. I remember distinctly MasterChef judge George Colombaris appearing on the news program 7pm Project in the lead-up to MasterChef 2011, saying that this year’s MasterChef would take the emphasis away from emotions and focus more on cooking. I vaguely recall Matt Preston, another MasterChef judge, saying something similar as well.

It’s simply not true. But I don’t think it’s the judges’ faults.

This year, contestants are crying left, right and centre. The judges, including George and Matt, are spending ten minutes talking to contestants about their dead parents, about why they are there and how they would feel if they were to lose while they have cameras pressed in their faces and have been cooking their hearts out all day, and for months.

MasterChef wasn’t like that last year, even then I was irritated with the sob-story content then. I could understand though - they want the ratings. Fair enough. This year... it’s gone too far. I agree with Adam, thinking of some of the more sensitive contestants - the sweet and self-conscious Shannon, Jay who had worked for this dream for years, harder than anyone else... I wonder if they are undergoing counseling or treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as I type this.

The terms of Mat’s contract prevent him from speaking of the show until after the finale, just as he was restricted from contact with the outside world. http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/bloggers-stir-the-pot-in-masterchef-phone-scandal-20110615-1g443.html reports a MasterChef representative saying:

"We're quite firm with [the contestants] from the earliest stages, right from the top 50, that we don't allow access to mobile phones, smart phones, internet or media," a representative for the show said yesterday.

The only contact allowed with the outside world is "restricted calls to family and friends".

Which explains why they have a Telstra T-box with full internet access in the house.

Who ever said that the MasterChef producers were only after money?

Point made.

I was perhaps most shocked by the news released on the 19th June by The Sunday Telegraph: Mat has been imprisoned in a motel by the MasterChef producers to keep him quiet. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/mat-locked-in-motel-after-masterchef-axing-for-using-smartphone/story-e6freuy9-1226077729712 explains:

MASTERCHEF'S Mat Beyer has been locked in a motel by the show's producers in a bid to gag him about being kicked off the hit show for using a smartphone.

...But his father, Michael Beyer, told The Sunday Telegraph his son was no cheat, and had been unable to clear his name because the producers, FremantleMedia Australia, had silenced him.

"He has been told not to say anything so they must have something in the wings or want to boost their ratings in some way," Mr Beyer said. "They've got him holed up in a motel room somewhere - and I can only talk to him when he rings."

But Mr Beyer blamed a Channel 10 ratings grab for his son being unfairly cast as a villain following his shock exit from the series.

"I can tell you now he did not cheat and he was not using his phone to access recipes or anything like that," Mr Beyer insisted. "He just made an error of judgment in taking a phone into the kitchen."

Mr Beyer said a search of Mat's mobile phone logs by the producers had already proven that his son was not using the phone to cheat.

And he said a contract that banned his son from speaking to members of the media was preventing Mat from publicly clearing his name.

Beyer will continue to appear on the show for the next three weeks before an eliminated contestant will replace him. It is the second time the show has been embroiled in a mobile-phone controversy.

So there you have it.

Mat did not use his phone to cheat.

Regardless of the reason he kept his phone with him, he did not use it.

Mat has now actually been imprisoned to keep him quiet, for a week so far. I agree with Mat’s dad - the MasterChef producers must know that he has something to say. They want to wait until it can’t affect their viewing numbers.

And I can’t wait to hear what it is.

So - it’s the 26th June today, and it seems that Mat has around a fortnight remaining on MasterChef before he is off air.

I was wondering how they would handle Mat being kicked out. My brother seemed to think that they wouldn’t put too much focus on it as it was supposed to be show about cooking.

My entire family laughed.

I saw one of two options: the producers would either dismiss Mat quickly and harshly as they did Cleo earlier in the series, or they would do a long, drawn-out elimination-style sob story for him.

I have noticed, however, something else. A third possibility has opened up, and I am revolted by it.

There are now twelve contestants remaining in the MasterChef competition, and this number includes Mat. He cooked in the final elimination before the top 12, and performed stunningly, being one of the first to go through from that elimination round.

That was on Thursday.

Friday is always MasterClass day, where all the contestants learn a thing or two from their judges and some guest chefs.

Come MasterClass, eleven people walked into the MasterChef kitchen.

I noticed it immediately. Mat was gone.

Mat was not seen at all during the entire two hour episode. Every other contestant was shown and heard from multiple times, however Mat simply was not there.

I presumed, or perhaps hoped, that he was just sick that day, and as it wasn’t a competition day, he had taken that day off to recover.

Tonight’s episode of MasterChef sent my dreams crashing down.

At the beginning of the episode, there was a phone call in the MasterChef house, and ‘everyone’ crowded around to hear the loudspeaker. ‘Everyone’ does not mean eleven people in the top twelve.

Where was Mat?

There was no sign of him while the contestants were briefed on their challenge for that episode. No sign of him while the contestants assembled in the field in which they would be cooking.

I became very worried.

When Ellie had been sick, they had made a point of it, and said that she would be participating in an elimination round automatically as she was unable to compete.

There was no such feature for Mat.

As a vegetarian and animal lover, I find it very difficult to watch when there are animal carcasses involved. In this episode, each contestant was required to handle an entire carcass of lamb, and as such I simply listened to the show and was checking my emails on my iPod when my Mum said, “Wait - was that Mat? In the woolly ear-flap hat thing?” My glance shot up.

Kumar carrying a skinless dead baby sheep over his shoulder. Fantastic.

My excitement was perked though. She hadn’t been sure - was it him? It could have been someone else...

Suddenly there was a side-angle shot of Kumar at his bench. And who was out of focus in the background? Mat, his long hair covering his face, slaving away over his lamb.

I was shocked.

Two minutes passed before the next shot of him - a tattooed arm reaching out for a potato. Ten minutes later, a long shot saw him run behind a tree.

He was being ignored.

So. That’s how they want to play.

I was shocked when the contestants were lined up during the announcements of who did the best and who would go through to the elimination round. I looked for Mat immediately, and didn’t see him at first. On the second shot of the contestants, I realised - he was blocked from view by Michael’s head.

Every face could be seen clearly, however behind Michael’s head only a lock of black hair was shown. Outraged, I pointed this out to my family - they actually all cracked up laughing, it was so obvious that the producers were hiding him.

When Michael was called forward for making one of the best dishes of the day, suddenly the background was blurred and out of focus. All we could see was a blurry Mat with his ear warmers and chef’s apron, smiling and clapping his congratulations for Billy and Michael, who had presented the most popular dishes.

Will it be like this every episode for the next two weeks? With only twelve contestants remaining, surely Mat will either do really well or really badly or be a team captain or something to be put in the spotlight.

Unless that’s edited out too.

The producers actually either digitally edited or physically blocked him out of all top-twelve shots, and are showing him as present however of less value than a wallflower throughout the regular course of the show. The producers are ignoring him, and actually going to reasonable lengths to detach us viewers from him.

It’s disgusting.

One day, Mat might just fade away and suddenly be gone, completely unacknowledged by all.

I am personally appalled by the behaviour of Fremantle Media - not only for kicking out my favourite and the hottest MasterChef contestant, but for incessantly mistreating contestants emotionally, judging poor Mat by his appearances, and generally being unfair. If Mat’s rivals Danielle and Adam could defend him for having the phone with him, then surely he had a valid reason, whatever it was.

The whole story is a mess. Channel Ten and Fremantle Media are staying very quiet about the subject - as is Mat, although it is doubtful that this is of his own choice. This whole story should never have come to light. MasterChef should not have such painfully restricting rules in place for their contestants.

What if Hayden is eliminated for using Facebook? He could well be Australia’s next MasterChef. Mat could have been too. As could Cleo.

It seems that MasterChef isn’t as concerned with finding Australia’s next MasterChef as they should be.