Aussie MasterChef hits out at `fix` claims

Popular mother-of-three Julie Goodwin is the newly crowned 'MasterChef of Oz'.

Sydney: Australia`s newly crowned MasterChef fought off claims on Monday that the hugely popular reality TV contest had been rigged, after a finale watched by a record 3.7 million people.Popular mother-of-three Julie Goodwin said "it`s simply not true" that judges unfairly favoured her over Adelaide`s Poh Ling Yeow in Sunday`s series climax.

"The competition wasn`t rigged," Goodwin told AAP news agency. "I stood in that room in front of those judges every day for four months and I can tell you it`s all about the food that you put down in front of them on any given day. "To say it`s rigged actually calls into question their integrity so it`s not true. It`s simply not true," she added. The show, which involves amateur cooks displaying their culinary skills before a panel of professional chefs, has been a surprise hit in an Australian television market normally dominated by sports. Internet forums and chat radio shows were buzzing with fix claims after Goodwin`s victory, which was watched by 3.7 million people, nearly one-fifth of the population. The figure was the highest for a non-sports event since ratings company OzTAM began measuring audiences in 2001, broadcaster Channel Ten said. The country`s biggest ever TV audience was just over four million for the 2005 Australian Open final, when Marat Safin beat home hope Lleyton Hewitt. Goodwin picks up 100,000 dollars (80,000 US) and a cookbook deal for the MasterChef win, and she also plans to open a restaurant. Bureau Report