Zumbo’s Just Desserts starts tomorrow (Mon)

I like Zumbo, I like Rachel Khoo and, most of all, I like dessert, but I’m worried this is going to be a tizzied up version of Great British Bake Off, which is the world’s most perfect cooking show that should never be messed with.
Hopefully it will be a triumph, even if it is up against Australian Survivor so it will be catch-up TV for me.


Here are the contestants – They range from bricklayers to bouncers to stay-at-home mums.
zumbo_contestants
Zumbo’s Just Desserts starts on Seven tomorrow (Monday) at 7.30pm and continues on Tuesday and Wednesday.



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brain dead dave

Zumbo may have no control over this, but I hate how his Tim Tams have got less biscuits in them than the standard pack, even though they are the same size, price ~ thirty odd grams of biscuit missing. I’m giving his Tightarse Tams a miss. Two out of his three signature flavours taste shithouse,imo..

But I’ll watch $cotty tonight and look forward to this . Same fears as Juz, they’ll drag GBBO through a sewer and call it Just De$$erts.

Juz

Is in a unAustralian of me to say I find Tim Tams a bit meh? I’d rather have a mint slice.

Sara

I have been known to eat a packet of mint slices in one sitting! Fortunately I’ve now broken the habit!

all happening

My first job was working in an Arnott biscuit factory’s laboratory. Had to do all sorts of tests on their chocy biscuits including taste. Bummer of a job but someone had to do it. Mint slice was my favorite.

Michj26

Is it un-Australian to think that mint and chocolate doesn’t go together. :/ it’s not a combo I like.

Juz

I wish they made more biscuits with dark choc, AH. The milk ones are too sweet.

Carole

Yes, same here I much prefer dark chocolate. They have dark chocolate snickers at the moment for a limited time so every time I go shopping I buy some.

Carole

I don’t like the original ones much. They have some great flavours now. They had a dark chocolate raspberry flavour years ago, but don’t make it any more.

Carole

I only every buy the Zumbo ones when they are half price.

Pollyb

Thanks, I didn’t know this started tomorrow.
Juz – not un-Australian at all, Mint Slices all the way for me too.

Julie

Did I just see a sphere and a soil already ? Some-one must have let a MasterChef contestant sneak in the back door.

Littlepetal

Lots of semi spheres!!!! Its the latest trend

Sara

Just thinking – the red sphere moulds have moved over from Ch10! They same clever, some of these cooks, but don’t rate Rachel as a presenter.

Michj26

Yeah… Nope. Won’t be coming back for this one. It is Willy Wonka meets Master Chef meets GBBO/GABO.
But I am looking forward to tuning into the cheap weddings on after. Gotta laugh at a true Aussie bogan(s).

Julie

And they don’t fail to provide a laugh. One bride tries to point out the the Mt Cootha gardens has rules to follow and a contract was signed…. Meanwhile her prospective Groom, “they can get stuffed”, “jam that up their arse”.

Maz

Can’t see them been married in five years time.

The families and friends seem not to approve of the match.

Lola

Watched a bit of this show and thought that they had a great opportunity to showcase desserts without the drama.
Fail Channel 7 just full of cliches and terrible presenters. Zumbo barely speaks. Rachel overcompensates. That Gigi is woeful.
. . . and the contestants we’ve all seen and heard the sob stories and back stories before.
A very cheap horrible knock off of GBBO. . and don’t get me started on how all the contestants are referred to as “guys”.
This is a tacky show.

brain dead dave

The “guys” phenomenon is a pet hate. Nothing against America, it’s because of their sitcoms and the way the language spreads across the globe. Over the weekend , I heard a team of netballers addressed as “guys”. Cringe again.

Of course, Manu corrupted the term completely to “gice”.

Wow. Just Desserts was promoted so heavily during the Olympics. First night was a bit of a flop. Zumbo would want to lift.

The vivid colours are a bit much. I’d call it tacky too.

Carole

I could have sworn that Therese from MasterChef was there. Freaking out, cuts her finger & makes a mess.

Sandii

Does anyone know if there is an encore episode?

brain dead dave

Ch 7 channels have TBA for Sat lunchtime, it MIGHT be then, Sandii.

Smythe

So far off from the excellence of GBBO. Gigi…why is she there? Rachel and Zumbo just stand around waiting for the completed or semi-completed desserts for tasting and judging. Z is for Zumbo and zzzzzzzzz is for making me sleepy because it was so boring. May be a Willy Wonka-esque set but it’s much more fun watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, both the Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp versions.

brain dead dave

Ha ha . I’ll call him Zzzzzzzumbo from now on.

brain dead dave

I don’t think it was that bad. Some viewers are killing the baby while it’s still in the crib.

However, it didn’t live up to the promotional hype.

Rox

“Zzzt, zzzt, zzzt” fish and chip shop fly zapper noise of the countdown clock; orange pot stills (authentic or props?); the licorice-on-steroids colour scheme and patterning. “Multi-tasking” uttered multiple times; blast chiller and liquid nitrogen and yes, Julie, a sphere and soil. A wide mouthed frog, and a cinched waste with pretty big lips. Oh dear indeed, Juz.

Rox

Oops, I meant waist! A fail to me too.

brain dead dave

I like Rachel Khoo but she may indeed be a clinched waste on this show. You’ve covered many of the grating bells and whistles in comment 11. Will we see a smoking gun produced or sous vide macarons? No parfaits yet?

Let’s get real about the colour scheme. I feel as if I’m watching a childrens show. It’s a fail.

Littlepetal

You may have something there BDD. Children may watch this show to inspire them to bake and then enter Masterchef.

Brussellsprout

Survivor got our vote last night and by the sounds of this we didn’t miss anything. I love GBBO so a poor quality rip off is definitely NOT going to entice me in.
I must admit, I was deeply prejudiced against it purely because it was completely overhyped during the Olympics.

HeWhoHasNoName

A huge rip off of “Sweet Genius” (Ron Ben Israel)…. Zumbo has no personality which is a big problem…

What I’m really disappointed in is they havn’t posted the recipe for the zumbo creation only the contestants stuff.

As long as that bouncer dude doesn’t win I’ll be content.. as the other annoying one is already eliminated.

Littlepetal

You need to download the app and the zumbo recipe is there.

Unfortunately they cant be too similat to GBBO or they will be sued.

Not sure why they have Gigi on the floor. No advice to contestants. Not helpful at all.

I heard only 10 episodes for this series. So it will be short and sweet.

HeWhoHasNoName

Which app?

HeWhoHasNoName

Found the app… anyone got the code to unlock the recipe?

Littlepetal

Code word is YUMMY

HeWhoHasNoName

Legend

brain dead dave

So far , in my reckoning, this show’s doing okay on some critical measures because contestants are already crying on The Block and Australian Survivor while this mob on Just Desserts are holding it together (unless I’ve missed a blub session). Not much swearing either or I haven’t heard any.

Maz

Just watched the first episode…saw moist eyes but not to the extent of blubbering on the Block.

Shellbot

I feel sorry for Brogen, just because, well, her name is Brogen… so pretty and her name is so not

brain dead dave

Googled it. The expletive deleted parents probably didn’t realize it was an olde Irish name…used primarily for boys. As Juz might say, “Oh,dear”.

I too feel sorry for Bogan… I mean Brogen. What becomes of the brogen hearted?

Shellbot

I also don’t understand Gigi’s role other than yelling out the time and random encouragement to no one in particular while Zumbo and Rachel stand mere metres away, too cool on the mezzanine to raise their voices?

Von

I only watched about thirty minutes; it was boring. Zumbo and Rachel need to get off that podium and participate more. Their performances make George Calombaris look like Mr. Personality.

The lollipop colours everywhere made my eyes hurt. And the artist’s drawings of the contestants desserts, shown as they explained what they were making, need to be deleted. That is a setup for disappointment for the viewer, as the finished products looked nothing like the illustrations.

I noticed every cliche was used last night so I wonder what the contestants will say now.

Still it is early days. I’ll watch the show a couple more times and see if I can stay awake during future episodes.

Zhee

I was a bit disappointed as well with that show. I thought you see a little more of the dessert making process etc, but I kind of had the feeling they were focussing on the sobbing contestants (and Peter’s super jetblack coloured hair – is it just me or do men look kinda ridiculous colouring their hair?).

Rachel Khoo is indeed wasted on that show concept. Might be a smart move to hire her for the Australian Bake Off show as a replacement for Maggie Beer (Matt Moran I like and even though Maggie didn’t annoy me as much as on MC, I still would want to see her replaced. She ain’t no Mary Berry (<3)). Btw, does anyone know if they are making another season? I quite liked the Australian version which is far superior of the German and Irish version.

brain dead dave

I spent a good portion of the episode laughing at Peter’s hair, glad someone mentioned it.

There’s some Just For Men in the bathroom….but I can’t lower myself to using it.

Littlepetal

Gigi’s voice is irritating. Why can’t they get someone better??

Maz

They spent all the money on Rachel Khoo.

Sara

I don’t know how many weeks this series will go for, but I doubt it will make it to the end. The presenters are shocking, expecially that awful woman walking the floor😨 Agree about Peter’s hair, the first thing I noticed last night.

Littlepetal

I heard only 10 episodes. 3 episodes this week. So will finishi in the 4th week

Sara

I read today that there will only be 2 episodes this week, cutting one

Sara

God, that voice!

brain dead dave

Bring on the Franken ~ fails.

Lola

Gigi’s voice is indeed grating and does not translate well on TV. That accent is too distracting.

brain dead dave

I think that’s a toupe Peter’s wearing. The back is a bit of a giveaway.

Gave up on Gigi’s voice. The captions are cheap. Heaps of mistakes.

Sandii

My ears are bleeding! Goodness me that voice!

Littlepetal

Gigi is soo soo awful. This is the last we will see her on any TV show. She should just stay in the kitchen and bake.

Sandii

Who is she? Someone famous?

Littlepetal

Not famous at all. Some former model from Brazil, who became a pastey chef.

Smythe

Watched episode 2 and no better than episode 1. Why do Rachel and Zumbo just stand on the podium? Can’t they take a few steps away from it to interact with the contestants. The shrill, high pitched voice of Gigi is more irritating than it was yesterday. It’s like fingernails going across a chalkboard. She’s just a timekeeper and offers nothing.
I would be very surprised if Just Desserts gets a second season because it’s Just A Mess.

Fijane

Finally got to watch a bit last night, and I was quite underwhelmed. Thank goodness I see absolutely no resemblance to GGBO at all, purely a MC ripoff in format, only that every dish is sweet.

I hate that they always use “Zumbo” instead of his first name, as if they are saying Zeus or Superman. There’s too much adoration of him, which does not fit at all with his quiet persona. At least they let him speak unscripted which helps, but he is still too colourless for a competition show. Rachel is OK but trying too hard to carry the show on her own. Gigi is a waste of space.

The best thing about this show may be getting the recipes later.

brain dead dave

I unfortunately was distracted by culling time and don’t know who went home.

Someone could tell me,please. Thanks in advance.

Zumbo or Zombie? You decide. I’m gettin’ brownied off.

Rox

Peter (the car salesman) flopped, or at least his dessert did again. And that’s despite him crawling to the judges and the producers before the challenge with the verdict on Zumbo’s 5-desserts-in-one that “It tastes like harmony”. Layers of disparate things! Wot a load of bollocks. I’ll be watching the offerings on ABC 2 tonight instead – they’re a good laugh.

brain dead dave

Thanks, Rox, Thought it might have been him.

HeWhoHasNoName

How just for men got on the show I’ll never know… looks like they picked half contestants for personality and half who can bake….

Who goes on a dessert show, decides to cook pastry but doesn’t know how??

Also think they’ve already pre-prepped their recipe ideas etc… not off the top of their heads.