MasterChef: Back to Win‘s Ben Milbourne could have an unfair advantage over the other contestants as he is best friends with judge, Andy Allen.
WATCH: MasterChef besties Andy Allen and Ben Milbourne travel together for ‘Eat Series’
Andy and Ben met on MasterChef season four in 2012 and the pair have been close mates since then.
The chefs are so close they have travelled and worked together in the past.
In 2016 they made SBS Food series Andy and Ben Eat The World, and then Andy and Ben Eat Australia in 2017.
Andy and Ben are also business partners, and are both part-owners of TV production company Cultivate Productions.
The pals haven’t hidden their friendship, and during the premiere last week, Ben got tearful as he gushed over his friendship with Andy, calling him his “best mate”.
“Andy and I have been in lockstep since season four. He’s my best mate. He reminds me constantly that he won, so it’d be nice to be able to say, ‘Look, well, I won as well, mate, so you can just pipe down’,” he said on the show.
While the producers are promoting their friendship as a harmless ‘bromance’, however, viewers are concerned about possible favouritism from Andy when he’s judging.
Last week, Andy hit back at rumours that was biased towards Ben, saying he is friends with many other contestants on the show.
“We judge the plate of food that is put in front of us and not the person that puts it there,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“They’re all amazing people, but there’s no favouritism whatsoever when it comes to the food.”
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