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Written by “The Dutch Master” Samantha Nolan remains the driving force in the MasterChef kitchen.
The business end of MasterChef SA is fast approaching as the also rans drop out of the competition one by one. The judging is going to begin to get a little bit more difficult for MasterChef judges, Benny Masekwameng, Pete Goffe-Wood and Andrew Atkinson as they will soon be faced with the prospect of voting out their personal favourites.
Samantha Nolan, described by Deena Naidoo as having an overall understanding and knowledge of food, has a strong personality to add to her culinary talent. Strength of character is a critical personality trait for any individual looking to make it to the top in their chosen profession and of paramount importance during the hustle and bustle of dinner service in a quality kitchen.
Samantha’s natural leadership qualities have led to the formation of two distinct groups in the MasterChef kitchen.
The first is the “Cape Cabal” led by Samantha consisting of fellow Capetonians Sue-Ann Allen, Guy Clark, Ilse Fourie and Jade de Waal. Add Thys Hattingh and Sarel Loots to that list and a very powerful block is formed.
The second can only be described as “The Rest, a disparate bunch of rebels who refuse to succumb to Samantha’s influence with no real leadership and occasional moments of brilliance,
Breaking the Cabal is critical to winning any team challenge as Deena demonstrated on board the SAS Amatola. He quickly cut off the head and made Samantha Nolan his first pick, rapidly followed by Sarel and Jade. This left Thys, Sue, Guy and Ilse without their driving force and as a result found themselves losing the cook off.
Currently the only two who appear to have any chance of beating Samantha to the title are Thys Hattingh and Sue-Ann Allen.
Thys had a quiet start to the competition with desserts being his main strength and failed to impress with mains until the curry challenge in episode six which saw him win a Captains armband for the SAS Amatola challenge. He was a second pick for Samantha during the Harvest challenge and is continually improving.
Despite facing the pressure test on two occasions Sue-Ann is highly regarded by the others, being the first pick for both Samantha and Thys in the team challenges. Regardless of the occasional setback she is a strong performer and is set to go far in the competition.
Further back are Deena Naidoo and Guy Clark, both are consistent in the kitchen and improve week on week. One of them has the potential to spring a real surprise and give the favourites a run for their money.
The rest are making up the numbers at the moment although one cannot completely write of Lungile and Ilse who can both deliver on the day when needed as they did with the pork challenge in episode seven.
Brandon Law and Khaya Silingile have been disappointing after showing early promise, being late picks on two challenges does not install any confidence in their ability to pull this off
One thing we are guaranteed is a cracker jack Top 10 and the defining moment when the Cape Cabal finally turns on one another.
GGS MasterChef Odds
| Even | Samantha Nolan | ||||
| 3/1 | Thys Hattingh | Sue-Ann Allen | |||
| 5/1 | Deena Naidoo | Guy Clark | |||
| 10/1 | Manisha Naidu | Ilse Fourie | Sarel Loots | Jade de Waal | Lungile Nhlanhla |
| 20/1 | Babalwa Baartman | Brandon Law | |||
| 100/1 | Khaya Silingile |
