It’s semi-finals time!
The stakes have never been higher on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.
Eight hungry contestants will soon become four in the biggest elimination this season. But first, hosts Gordon Ramsay and Janine Allis have some news.
“For the first time in this competition, you will be competing against each other,” Gordon explains.
Tonight, they will also be taking on Gordon and Janine’s own big brands.
“I’m about to launch my first ever wine range across Australia,” Gordon announces.
Team Gordon’s task? To develop a label “for my beautiful Bianca blend” plus a stand-out social ad to break Gordon’s wine into Australia.
“You better impress,” warns Gordon. At the end of the challenge only two will move on.
Sina breaks down as competition rises
Meanwhile, Team Janine have 24 hours to develop a new Boost Juice product.
“You better not stuff this up, this is my baby,” says Boost Juice founder Janine.
Vegan baker Sina is nervous going up against Mason and Sophie.
“I’m always scared that I’m not enough,” she says wiping away tears. “And I really want to prove people otherwise today.”
Sophie’s on cloud nine however: “I can almost taste the $250,000 and the mentorship.”
Mason takes a huge risk
As the time comes to pitch their innovations, Janine’s trio develop three very different ideas.
Sophie pitches an “adaptogen” filled yoghurt, but is questioned about its mass market appeal.
Sina pitches a vegan energiser gummy and totally misses the mark on branding.
While Mason re-pitches an old Boost Juice product that’s been pulled from shelves – instant smoothies:
“So tell me how this is different?” Janine presses.
In the video above, Mason justifies his move before one expert points out a glaring error in the packaging. He’s left out the product name!
Catch Mason’s costly mistake in the video above.
Aaron fumbles under pressure
As Team Gordon pitch their designs, there’s no clear winner on the cards.
Gordon’s panel however did have a query about Ethan’s design.
“I was curious as to why you chose an image of Gordon looking cross on the label?” laughs one expert.
Ethan responds: “I wanted to choose an image of Gordon that really showed his personality and character.”
Meanwhile, Pia explains the process behind her unique social angle.
“Get a little weird, smash it up, get real juicy. Basically just cause havoc,” she smiles.
When it came for Aaron’s turn to pitch, he was literally lost for words:
Aaron walks out mid-pitch and it’s not a good look for Gordon.
Catch what happened next in the video above.
Teams face the biggest grilling in Food Stars history
Now for the moment of truth. The two teams have pitched for a place in the grand final, but only four grand finalists can be named.
“This has been really tough,” sighs Gordon.
Catch his decision right here:
Now for Janine to make the same tough decision. With Sophie safe, it’s down to Mason and Sina in the bottom two.
“That means only one of you can move forward into the finale,” reminds Janine.
Catch her emotional decision right here:
“The last hurdle is ginormous and it’s ahead of us,” warns Janine. “Do not slow down, big things are coming.”
Big things will be coming in the unmissable grand finale next Wednesday!