Rival networks are said to be after Australia's most popular TV program, with Seven's Chief Executive Officer wanting to get one or more judges of the show for a rival program.

Insiders from the industry yesterday said that Leckie wanted to have either Matt Preston, George Calombaris or Gary Mehigan on a show in an attempt to overtake Ten's ratings on the show which draws about two million viewers every night.

It came after earlier speculation that Seven was interested in bringing MasterChef on the network once FremantleMedia's production rights on the show expires in 2011.

Leckie, who previously took Thank God You're Here from Ten, denied the claims that he recenlty met with the three MasterChef judges.

"I have never met this mob. They're too cool for school and it'll be interesting to see what they'll be doing in a year's time," Leckie told The Daily Telegraph.

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"MasterChef is not available to poach. We are busy with the next series of My Kitchen Rules, making it bigger and better," head of programming Tim Worner said.

An industry source yesterday suggested Seven may be faking their interest in MasterChef's roster.

According to Ten, the interest in the show came as no surprise.

"MasterChef is incredibly successful and our judges are under contract and won't be going anywhere," Ten's head of publicity Joan Papadopoulos said.

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