MasterChef Judges Feared "Security Breach" During Prince Harry's Call to Meghan Markle
MasterChef judge recently cleared the air about whether Prince Harry's surprise video call to Meghan Markle was staged or not.
In April this year, it was announced that Meghan Markle would be making a special appearance on MasterChef Australia, and fans waited patiently for the episode to drop. To the delight of Sussex supporters, viewers not only got to see Markle but also caught a fun glimpse of Prince Harry. The Duke of Sussex made a surprise video call to his wife during the shoot, leaving both judges and contestants cooing.
Despite the romantic moment between the couple, a nagging suspicion lingered that the call was staged. However, MasterChef judge Sofia Levin revealed the truth during a recent red carpet appearance at the Logies. “It was very real,” she said via News24.com.au, “It was so real that usually they tell us what's going to happen in advance—they didn't tell us.” In fact, the unexpected timing of the call made Levin and fellow judge Poh Ling Yeow think that there was a “security breach.” The food journalist said, “The bit that probably didn't make it into that edit was Poh and my ... faces, because we thought there had been a security breach. If someone sort of interrupts like that (that's what you assume).”
It was only after seeing Harry’s face that they “sort of figured out what was happening.” Levin further added, “Afterwards we (told Markle) 'You totally should have told us.'” She also mentioned that from her perspective the video call was “not planned.”
For the episode, the Duchess of Sussex created a special challenge for the top 4 contestants at MasterChef. She brought along a bounty of vegetables and tasked the home cooks to prepare a dish featuring one of the ingredients as the hero. Markle also spoke fondly about her kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, and the eating habits she tries to inculcate in them. While the judges and contestants seemed thrilled to welcome royalty to the MasterChef kitchen, speculation about on-set tiffs and cold shoulders started circulating as soon as the episode was announced.
Levin cleared the air about the Duchess, saying, “None of the bad stuff is true. She was just an absolute delight. People are really mean. My experience of Meghan was that she loved food... we hung out when we weren't filming... she didn't run off to her green room. She wanted to talk about beekeeping and her kids and the things she likes to cook and eat. It was really nice getting to see that side of her.”
Markle had shot for the special episode during her 4-day tour to Australia in April. She and Harry had travelled Down Under on a privately funded work trip where they undertook several public engagements, including her appearance on the culinary show.
