Chef Jameson Stocks blasts Meghan Markle’s MasterChef Australia appearance as a "PR stunt"

Celebrity chef Jameson Stocks has been at the center of an explosion of outrage in the cooking community after condemning MasterChef Australia for recruiting Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, to sit on the high table.

Upon encountering Markle in Melbourne during filming for the highly-rated television segment, a visibly skeptical Stocks challenged the program’s integrity, claiming it was merely a marketing ploy rather than a rational decision concerning food preparation.

“A Complete Joke”: Stocks Questions Markle’s Credentials

Stock in an interview with The News International expressed his disappointment at the selection method for the judges taking the high-profile cooking contests. He said it cannot take away the essence of the show for all this mainstream star popularity.

MasterChef means master-a person with high skill, an expert-and she is neither of those”, Stocks said. “I think it’s embarrassing for MasterChef Australia, to be honest”

Stocks also argued that any work Markle did on screen would probably be shallow, limited to well-mannered remarks and rudimentary food tasting as opposed to any constructiveness based on professional expertise. He said that if he had been a competitor in the contest and was being rated by someone who was not a professional, he would have walked out.

Public Relations vs. Culinary Prestige

Although the episode has yet to screen, the news of the Duchess’s participation has already garnered enormous international media coverage for the Australian reality series- a result that many within the industry believe was the producers’ main aim.

After an extensive period of developing her commerciality through her lifestyle brand As Ever and other media ventures, Markle is now harnessing her international status as a lifestyle and entertainment figure.

However, one argument made by critics such as Stocks has been that the combination of highest caliber of chef competitions along with guest appearances by contemporary movie stars tarnished the image of the platform among serious chefs. (It is interesting to point out that Stocks, himself, has never served as a judge or contestant on the MasterChef Australia franchise as well.)