Do you think they will premiere this on the Wednesday after MKR or wait until the following week?
If the top 50 auditions go for only 2-3 episodes then yes, it could premiere next Wednesday. What happens after that depends on how the first two top 24 contestants would be eliminated. Ten always wants the mystery box challenge and invention test to air on a Sunday.
Might as well - could even have a double episode on the Wednesday.
Expect an announcement today on the launch date.
It begins on Sunday 1 May. I wonder what that means for the auditions.
###MasterChef Australia Returns
Sunday 1 May at 7.30pm
Network Ten is pleased to announce that MasterChef Australia season eight will premiere on Sunday, 1 May, at 7.30pm.
The new season will bring more amazing food, remarkable stories, inspirational contestants and incredible results.
Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan are back in the kitchen, helping our contestants turn their dreams into reality. Celebrated chef Shannon Bennett returns as guest mentor this series, guiding the home cooks through testing times.
Season eight of MasterChef Australia also boasts some of Australia’s and the world’s best chefs including domestic goddess Nigella Lawson, Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Curtis Stone, Maggie Beer, Kylie Kwong and Luke Nguyen, to name just a few.
The promo above shows cooking challenges were held at Melbourne Star observation wheel (I don’t remember the attraction being closed for filming) and Brighton Beach bathing boxes.
The May 1 start date means though MC will give both House Rules and The Voice a 30-minute head start as the latter two will both start at 7pm. Ten will need a stronger lead-in at 6.30pm if MC is to be competitive in ratings.
I reckon May 1 as premiere of MasterChef Australia
I didn’t know it would be up against those shows, which is another reason audition episodes are probably curtains. Auditions on the prior Wednesday & Thursday would have been better IMO.
Check two and three post above yours. 
Is that because it was posted an hour before your post?
I think the Sunday is a smart move. Is it a public holiday in any states on the 2nd of May though? I know it is in NT (not that it affects ratings).
Not in Victoria. A strange time for a public holiday, only a week after Anzac Day.
Its not in SA either. I believe its labour day in NT.
Looked it up and it’s May Day. I didn’t know anyone in this country had a holiday for it.
A 1 May start gives them over 13 weeks before the Olympics start. I hope they use all of it.
Certainly not in NSW, where we have Labour Day in Early October with our next public holiday after ANZAC Day being the Queens Birthday on June 13.
If there’s no public holidays in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA or WA on May 2 (and I’m pretty sure there isn’t), then there won’t be any affect on the OzTam ratings which only covers the five main capital cities/metropolitan markets.
That’s what I said. I just wondered if there was. NT must be the only one.
Monday the 2nd May is the Labour Day holiday in Queensland as of this year.
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I think they need to make it the same day Australia wide. Most of the world has Labour Day on May Day.
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I completely agree that there needs to be a national system for public holidays (and plenty of other things) but that debate is for another time and topic.
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Labour Day reverts back to May in Qld this year after being in October for the past few years. The Queen’s Birthday public holiday has been moved to October. Go figure.