Only Four Home Cooks Remain as Christopher Siu of Markham, Ont. is Eliminated from CTV’s MASTERCHEF CANADA

Following an intense Elimination Challenge that saw the home cooks work with challenging culinary equipment, pharmacy student Christopher Siu (@Baker_Siu) of Markham, Ont. was eliminated from MASTERCHEF CANADA by judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile. In the penultimate episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 2, airing Sunday, May 17 at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. CT) on CTV and CTV GO, it’s every home cook for themselves in a dramatic offsite challenge at a beautiful Niagara vineyard, followed by a Pressure Test featuring magnificent chocolate desserts. In tonight’s episode, the Top 5 home cooks discovered two Mystery Boxes when they entered the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen: one filled with ingredients, and one containing inspiring video messages from their families back home. With emotions running high, the home cooks were then surprised by the arrival of their family members in the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen, ready to cheer them on. Following a tearful reunion, the homes cooks were tasked with creating two dishes in 60 minutes – one savoury and one sweet. The Top 5 pushed themselves to make their families proud, and ultimately Line Pelletier received her first Mystery Box win in front of her daughters. By winning the Mystery Box Challenge, Line automatically advanced to the MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 2 Top 4, and was also given the opportunity to strategically assign a challenging piece of culinary equipment to each of her fellow home cooks. Line decided to give a pressure cooker to Sabrina Poirier, an ice cream maker to David Jorge, a crêpe pan to Cody Karey, and a meat grinder to Christopher Siu. Sabrina embraced the pressure cooker and crafted a decadent braised lamb shank pasta dish, while David, in spite of his initial fear of the ice cream maker, created the winning dish – a vanilla lemon thyme ice cream with blueberry sponge cake deemed sublime by the judges. Christopher and Cody landed in the bottom two, as Christopher’s dish failed to meet the standards of the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen, while Cody overthought and overcomplicated his crêpes. In the end, the judges decided to send Christopher home. **Media Note** – Download photos for MASTERCHEF CANADA at BellMediaPR.ca In the next episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA (Sunday, May 17 at 7 p.m./9 p.m. CT), the final four home cooks arrive at a beautiful Niagara vineyard for their next challenge, where they learn they’ll be cooking for their lives with the bounty of the area. Each home cook must create a restaurant-quality plate for the judges and the 18 local farmers who supplied them with their fresh regional ingredients. The winner of the Niagara challenge automatically moves forward to the finale, and one home cook is asked to leave the competition. The remaining two finalists cook off in a Pressure Test where they must replicate three magnificent chocolate desserts. In the end, the two home cooks who come out on top will go head-to-head in the MASTERCHEF CANADA finale on Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. The home cooks vying for the title of MASTERCHEF CANADA and the $100,000 cash prize are:

1. Cody Karey, a Recording Artist from Vancouver, B.C.
2. David Jorge, a Concrete Contractor from Surrey, B.C.
3. Line Pelletier, a Canadian Military Veteran and Computer Specialist from Moncton, N.B.
4. Sabrina Poirier, an Office Manager from Montréal, Que.

MASTERCHEF CANADA also streams on demand on CTV GO and CTV.ca, and episodes encore following their broadcast premieres Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on M3, Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV Two, and Sundays at 5 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. Viewers can watch Christopher live on CP24 BREAKFAST (Weekdays 5:30 a.m. ET) and CTV MORNING LIVE ATLANTIC (Weekdays at 7 a.m. AT on CTV Two Atlantic) on Monday, May 11 as he discusses his time on MASTERCHEF CANADA. MASTERCHEF CANADA is looking for passionate and talented home cooks who want to pursue their culinary dream for its third season. Details on how to apply for MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 3 are available at CTV.ca/MasterChefCanada, and Canadian home cooks have until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 19, 2015 to show their interest. Interviews are slated to take place in June and July, and applicants are encouraged to apply early to meet producers when they are in their region. Casting will come to an end with an Open Casting Call in Toronto on July 18 and 19, with additional details to be announced this summer. The MASTERCHEF format is represented internationally by Endemol Shine Group, and is based on a format originally created by Franc Roddam. MASTERCHEF CANADA is produced by Proper Television in association with CTV. President of Proper Television, Guy O’Sullivan is executive producer, along with Proper’s Vice-President and Creative Director, Cathie James.  For Bell Media, Tina Apostolopoulos is Production Executive, Factual and Reality, Independent Production. Robin Johnston is Director, Factual and Reality, Independent Production. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV. Phil King is President – CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming. SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Twitter: #MasterChefCanada @CTV_PR @CTV_Television @MasterChefCDA Michael Bonacini – @MichaelBonacini Alvin Leung – @TheDemonChef Claudio Aprile – @ClaudioAprile Cody Karey – @codykarey David Jorge – @concrete_cook Line Pelletier – @TheSaucyLine Sabrina Poirier – @Sabrinapmtl   Facebook: facebook.com/ctv facebook.com/MasterChefCDA   Instagram: MasterChefCDA BellMediaPR Claudio Aprile – claudioaprile1 Cody Karey – codykarey David Jorge – concrete_cook Line Pelletier – TheSaucyLine Sabrina Poirier – Sabrinapmtl