In the opening sequence of Gordon Ramsay’s latest cooking competition, there’s an American Idol-style shot of an excited crowd waiting to audition. The voiceover claims “thousands upon thousands lined up” to try out for the show’s second season.
Except if you look closely, producers replicated portions of the crowd to make the group appear larger than it really was. Here’s a screen shot and an exclusive response from the producers, below. Notice the circled areas show the same clusters of people used twice (including a very obvious woman in a bright orange hoodie):
The shot was first posted on Reddit when a sharp-eyed viewer noticed the doctored footage at the start of Monday’s fifth episode.
Reveille Productions, who produce the show along with Shine TV, told EW in a statement: “We have reviewed the footage and it’s clear that the scene was enhanced in post-production. We sincerely apologize to our viewers and hope that they still enjoyed the show.”
A spokesperson says the shot will be not be used in future episodes, and the producers stand by the claim that thousands tried out for the show.
Insiders point out the fakery didn’t impact anything crucial to the competition — like the judging or the eliminations. And it’s not like viewers have set their expectations really high for reality show authenticity anyway. Now if only Photoshop could somehow double MasterChef‘s ratings…
by James Hibberd taken from http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/22/masterchef-fake-crowd-shot-photo/
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