Jean-Christophe Novelli has been a fan-favourite MasterChef Australia judge ever since he joined the series in 2024.
And in good news, he has no plans to step away from the dream gig – despite rumours suggesting otherwise!
No stranger to working on television, Jean-Christophe, 65, has also appeared on Hell’s Kitchen, The Games and The Academy. More recently, he added The Heat to his belt.
That show follows 10 young chefs, who are put to the test in Jean-Christophe’s Barcelona kitchen, and highlights the dramas that happen long after service is over.
When The Heat was announced last year, MasterChef fans worried that it meant Jean-Christophe would be leaving for good.
But, as the French-born foodie exclusively tells New Idea, that is not the case.
“Well, I don’t listen to rumours, I’m pretty tired for that,” Jean-Christophe says nonchalantly. “Nothing will take me away from MasterChef, unless I’ve been told to stop.”
Jean-Christophe adds that MasterChef will always be his first priority. In fact, he schedules his other television projects around its filming!
When he is not busy on set, Jean-Christophe is a devoted family man. He is married to his wife Michelle, and they share sons Jean, Jacques and youngest Valentino. Jean-Christophe also has an elder daughter from a previous marriage.
Valentino was diagnosed with a rare cancer at just 10 weeks old, although was eventually declared cancer-free years later. He is also autistic and his sensory challenges inspired Jean-Christophe to help design the framework for Sensory Notes with Mastercard and Autism CRC.
The new menu style, which is slowly being rolled out at restaurants across Australia, provides photographs of dishes and notes on how they are prepared, plated and arranged, their tastes and flavours, appearance and garnishes, and the temperatures they’re served at.
Because of Valentino’s sensitivities, Jean-Christophe says his family do not dine out much. But hopefully these new menus will change that.
“I am very invested in making sure that everyone – and this is how it should be anyways – should be feeling comfortable dining out,” he says. “It should be social. It should not be a war, it should not be a struggle.”
Jean-Christophe has always been “obsessed” with other countries’ versions of MasterChef but he says nothing compares to ours.
“I will keep screaming it,” he insists. “There’s no-one that does 60 [episodes], there’s no one who has the budget of Australia, there’s no one who’s got that energy.”
It’s a good thing then, that Jean-Christophe gets on so well with his fellow judges Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Poh Ling Yeow.
“They’re my second family,” he tells us. “We are like four little particles who are [always] in need to be back together.”
MasterChef Australia returns on Channel 10 and 10 Play on Sunday, April 19 at 7pm.
