It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last weep. Theirline welcome back guys to TV Reload. My name, as you would know, is Benjamin Norris, and this is your podcast to get all the inside goss all the popular TV shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, and yet very little is known about how our favorite shows get made.
So I've been finding guests that want to dive just that little bit deeper into the shows they're currently making, so that you can hear all their exclusive stories and gain access to the biggest names in Australian television. I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast however you've found it. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a review or a comment
on your chosen podcast platform. This episode of the podcast, I'm joined by Antonio and Ralph, both eliminated from MasterChef Australia twenty twenty three Secrets and Surprises. Antonio Cruz Vermond is a thirty four year old software developer from New South Wales, originally from Venezuela, Antonio moved to Australia in
twenty fifteen and within search of a better life. He said he wanted to attribute his love of food to his family and you know what, I really do feel like that came across, so that's a big win for him. Ralph Kehango is a thirty two year old auditor from Western Australia. Born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa. Ralph moved to Australia at a very young age. Than At university, he achieved a Master of Accounting degree, but after five years as a government auditor, he's decided to
pursue his passion for cooking. You will hear both contestants open up about their time on the show and get more insights into what really went down during production. I will ask about their highs and lows and how their families influence their time in the Master Chef kitchen. Antonio Bulunpaki's final cook and we will talk about Maggie Beer's appearance on the show. Ralph does discuss why it is anyone's game at this point and what he really thought
about going up against a very tough competition. This week, plus, we will get plenty of exclusives behind the scenes of Masterschef Australia Secrets and Surprises, which is currently on Network and you can catch up on ten Play if you've fallen just that little bit behind. Anyway, let's bring Antonio into the podcast first and stick around for Ralph, who
will pop in straight after. Congratulations Antonio. I just want to say, what an amazing achievement to make it to the top ten of Mastership Australia.
It was definitely a dream and yeah, I enjoy every second of the whole thing.
I was gonna say, it was a very emotional end to your time on the show. How did you go watching it back? I mean, was that a little stressful?
It was funny because I had all my friends around me and I didn't tell them, so I wanted to get their reactions. So but I need to admit I got a little bit teary again. So but it's all good, Like it was good to you know, see myself there and yeah, just enjoy with my friends. It was lovely.
It's very common that people don't tell their friends and family. I want to know, do the producers tell you that you're not allowed to tell anyone or is that kind of up to your own discretion.
They probably don't want you to say anything. But I think from my end, I wanted to get a you know, a very truthful reaction from them, so I was never I never told them you know, how I went and when I went, and because I really wanted to get there, you know, the proper reaction, which I think if I tell them, I would have been robbing you from the whole experience. So yeah, I don't know, like I think they enjoyed it. They they call me names afterwards.
But I'm shocked that you told no one, not even your mom.
No, I didn't. Yeah, I did keep it all to myself. Wow, not even my mom. I think he was like, oh you, why did you do this to me?
I mean, I feel like the only person I would probably tell would be my therapist.
Because confidentiality agreement.
Right, I guess you would have to worry about your confidentiality agreement. It's probably a good way to play it, you know. Watching you being so emotional last night, I wondered, is there more tears and tantrums that we don't get to say, or are we saying everything that happens in the kitchen.
Maybe I don't know, like there's definitely a lot of people and there I don't think there's enough cameras to go everyone. But I think they do try to keep you know, keep true to what's happening in the kitchen, and they I mean, they do want to show your emotions, which is you know what I really like about this this sort of show mastershaw It's very wholesome and they always want to portray you as you are and not
you know, like something you're not. And I mean if you're a teary, if you're happy, if you're angry, I think it'll well, you know, shine through the TV at some point.
I mean it's kind of the magic of this show. I mean, Mastership Australia does feel I mean, I feel like you can tell that there's less tricks to the edit.
And I think even if there was any sort of trick create people could see through it. So I think they're just you know, keeping themselves honest and just showing who everyone is really.
This show obviously gets is pre recorded, so you've had some time to recover. But what has that aftermath been like for you? Do you think that pushing yourself in the competition the way that you did has been good for you.
Oh yeah.
I mean, look, it's it's an opportunity of growth every single cook. I think, you know, probably if I look back, I would have said, oh, maybe I shouldn't have gone with something too risky. But I mean I wanted to have my full on mastership experience, and I didn't want to repeat myself because you know, I could have just done maybe an Eclaire a Federal because they like that shoe patry comes really natural to me. But I wanted
to push the limit. And funnily enough, I practiced my raugh puff recipe probably like three days before that shoot, because I would keep practicing every single week because I knew at some point I wanted to, you know, show the judges. But yeah, that just wasn't my day to make raft puff.
That's so crazy that you were practicing only just a few days before with that particular dish. You know, it is obvious to me at this point that there's very little between everyone in the competition.
Yeah, exactly. I think, Look, once you're in the top ten, I think it's the little things that can send you home because everyone's just you know, raising the level every single day and every single cook and you keep learning, right, so you need to be on all your learnings and
of practicing all this stuff. And yeah, it's just as you know, it could have been that I actually did the rough bull and amazingly and then Decline put in an amazing dish, and I would you know, I could have just gone home either way.
I thought when they said to Decline that this isn't a top ten dish, I actually thought that was pretty savage the way they spoke to him.
Look, I think the judges also want to push you, like there's no point in playing it safe. So I think what they we're trying to say is like, you know, Declin has a lot of potential, and he should, you know, just push you know, the envelope a little bit and trying to come up with an amazing dish, which you know he can definitely do.
Food brings people together, which is a mentor that I think you and I both share. Where did your love of food come from?
Oh?
Look, I think I grew up in the kitchen with my mom and my grandma and when I was a kid. It has to be from there. And I always kind of you know, saw how you know, again, people like food brings people together, Like every single gathering between the family, it kind of always in my family at least, it ended up in the kitchen, like it's either the dining table or the kitchen, and because that's where everything happens in my family, So I think the lower food is
it's definitely taken back from those memories. And when I came to Australia, that was the way I found the show. Love to the people I met here and that became ultimately my family. So I cooked for them every single week, sometimes just a couple of times a week, and it's it's an experience for sharing. Really, what about.
Food when you first came here to Australia, Not that we have that much that's really unique to our country, but was there something that you ate when you first got here that really stood out and you had a reaction to.
Oh, it's gonna sound cliche, but I think VEGEMI like, I was like not a big fan. Also, one of my cousins is a bit of frankster, so when I got here here, he was like, oh, you should try vegamine. It's like nutella. So I went in for like a spoonful.
I feel like with vegimite. The longer you're here in Australia, you know, I've been here my whole life, so I love it. But even when people first try it, they hate it when they come from overseas. But the longer that you hear in Australia, I feel like you get more and more used to it, or you've appreciate it more.
It grows on you. Really, Like I enjoy you know, a real you know, cheese sandwich with a little bit of vegimite or vegimie and no abl like it's actually pretty good, but like it's definitely an acquired taste.
It's a butt of veggimite ratio that is unique to everyone that you've got to get right exactly. You did say at the end of last night's episode that you've learned so much from your time on the show. Can we look into those small things and have a look at what you've taken out of the experience.
Look I think every time we got chef guests, especially when we were doing the Beat the Chef for all the immunity challenge, I think I took that as a learning opportunity And if you look back in the show, maybe you want to notice it, but maybe if you go back and watch it now. I was paying really close attention to Hugh Allen and the way he did his perfect and that was the exact same technique I used to make my toblown and peanut ice cream sandwiches.
I think it just goes to show that you when you're in in the whole experience, you do well if you practice and you apply yourself, and you also pay attention because there is always an opportunity for learning in the show, which is what I found so amazing because it's it would have taken me, you know, three years cooking at home to achieve this level, but only just
a few weeks being on the show. You kind of, you know, just catapult yourself in in but you need to be one hundred percent in Mason in the experience, right, so you get a lot back from it.
I thought Maggie Beer really brought a lot to that show. She has a lot of energy, and she also really seemed to connect with you. What did you learn from your time with Maggie?
I mean the moment Maggie stepped into the Mastership kitchen like she looked like a floating angel, right, so so, so so happy to see her because you know, I've seen him, I've seen her in previous seasons of the show. She's just amazing, and she's just a sweetheart. And the fact that you know she could relate to me, you know, being the same age when she found food, and I thought that was very sweet of her, right, and you know, hopefully it'll be a safe me. Right, maybe thirty four
is lucky. It is her lucky number, and it's going to be my lucky number.
Two was the oranges instead of the olives. Do you think that that was the beginning of the end for you?
I don't know. You know, it's it's always hard to like look back and say, oh, maybe I should have done this, because right then and there you're under a lot of pressure and you think, god, I'm going against these you know, nine amazing people, like eight amazing people, So I need to bring my a game. So part of picking what was on the clash was like, Okay, maybe I'll have enough time to think during my cook
if I get stuck with a really bad ingredient. But when I saw the oranges, I thought, Okay, this is my time to bring it home. I'll just put one hundred of my effort into this, and it's also an elimination day, so you want to bring your fourteen into the mix, right, So I could have gone for a savory dish, but I thought, you know, not to play it safe. But I thought maybe it was my time to, you know, that day, to push a little bit the limits with the olives.
You were the only contestant to lift that class. Would you say that that was maybe too risky a gamble? Do you think that that might have been a setup to say, who would take that kind of a risk, and maybe that's frowned upon and away. I guess you a gambler in real life.
I'm usually a person that plays it really safe in terms of you know, gambling, Like I don't feel I'm very as an engineer. I'm informatics engineer by you know, by trade, and I studied that so I'm very on with the math. So I always calculate the possibilities of something happening and if you know, if the numbers don't add up, then for me, there's no point of doing it. But I knew what I could do with olives, and I just said, look, I'm just going to take the
risk and see what happens. And I was really glad that I got oranges, So I think it kind of paid off in that sense. It was just smilar element that actually took me down.
Then on that second cook, the pastry wasn't what you wanted, and you know, Melissa really called you out for that. Did you work out how to correct that pastry for next time?
Yeah, one hundred percent. So I think what happened was and that just goes to show it's the little things. So when you're working out your butter with your flour, you like, I think I overmixed it by you know, it could have been just fifteen seconds. And that's all because when you do that, you kind of remove the possibility of creating butter pockets into the pastry. So when you folded in, you're basically just crushing all the layers.
Right.
So and since you know, since I've gone back home, I've actually made it twice and it's it's come out beautifully, So yeah, it's.
Did you take a photo of that recreation and send it to Maggie or at least you know Tager on social media?
Do you know what I'm gonna make the same dessert that I did that day, and I'm going to tugger.
The judges did really try to warn you a few times, and your fellow contestants were obviously yelling down from the gantry. Had you packed too much into this? Like what could you have done differently?
I think looking back there there's always a possibility of changing something, and I think that's you know, that's how you learn, and that's that's how you grow. But I think it's what felt right at the moment, and I just I just went one hundred percent in and did as good as I could. And you know, maybe if the rough buff would have turned out right, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But at the end of the season when I won.
This week, Master Chef has picked up a LOGI nomination, which I think is fantastic for this show it's been going for so long. Do you think that audiences will reward this series as maybe an acknowledgment.
To job look, I think yeah, I think it's going to be very, very important just to see you know, probably his last piece of work, like he he was amazing, he was like his mentorship meant a lot to all the contestants. So I think, you know, people that have seen the show and really loved him, they were probably want to honor him in that way. So yeah, hopefully, you know, it gets the recognition he deserves.
Who do you think is going to win? I mean the numbers and now are half of what we had when he started.
Look, I think every single one of those guys can actually pick up the trophy at the end of of the season. I would love, you know, Declan, he's young, he's so talented. I would love Rhiann and she's like a gone in the kitchen and her flavors are amazing. And yeah, I couldn't be ruling out my roomie Ralph.
I think there's so many people that could win at this point. I mean, I'm pretty clueless.
Exactly, And you know, it's all about not making a mistake when it's really pressing, which is you know, that's I think that's the hardest bit of the competition. Really.
What about you and your journey after this show? Like, what do you think is next for you? Where do you want to take this opportunity?
Look, I think the most important thing is I've realized that I definitely want to do something in food, Like I think my food dream. It's it's definitely going ahead, and I'm sure there's gonna be pop ups in some sort of collaboration with my new master Chef family and hopefully, you know, that particiar dream will come true.
Everyone who joins this podcast gets asked this question, So, what is something behind the scene, something that we might not have seen on Mastership Australia kind of like a behind the scene secret.
I think, I think, you know, I think what people don't realize it's the amount of practicing you do. Like, you know, living with Ralph, we practice a lot. Like there was a lot of studying, a lot of you
know researching, and of course a lot of fun. But yeah, I think probably what you don't see or maybe you see throughout the series is how much weight we gain because we need to be tasting each other's you know, dishes, and because we live in you know, dis places altogether, like everyone wants to like to, you know, try their dish and like. So, yeah, there's definitely a lot of good food going around and a lot of few extra pounds.
I never noticed the contestants putting on weight, but I guess that does make sense if people want to follow your journey on Instagram. What's the best way that they can follow you? What's your handle?
Yeah, they can follow me at a cruise Vemon, which is you know, the first layer of my name in my two last names, and yeah, on Instagram and then maybe hopefully I'll keep them posted for whatever it's coming.
I want to say thank you so much for sitting down Antonio and having a chat with me. I love the series of the show. I think you did a fantastic job and I'm pretty sure a lot of Austrains are going to be following you after your Master Chef journey.
Yeah, thank you so much, Ben. Thank you for your time Antonio.
I thought was really sweet and it was interesting to hear how he kept the outcome of his time on the show a secret, even from his family and friends. Now we have Ralph coming into the podcast, and like me, I'm sure you will love the silky sounds of his voice as he calmly unpacks his time on Master Chef Australia. Hey mate, how are you?
I'm good? Thanks yourself, I'm good.
I was looking forward to talking to you because I think people listening to this podcast will be enjoying the soulful sounds of your voice.
It's very soothing and relaxing. I've been told always.
I loved you on the show because of it. I was like, I just want you to read a bedtime story to me.
That's a bit creepy, OKAYI has a bit much, but sure, just.
Reading some recipes to me. That'll be fine, That'll be fine. Congratulations you know, on your time on Mastership Australia. I wanted to start by saying, you know what, I'm more of a savory person than a sweet person.
I'm exactly the same.
I wonder where does that come from, though, because you know what's funny is my brother and my sister are exactly the same, and you know her mother has a real sweet too.
Yeah.
I wonder where the love of savory comes from.
I guess growing up I was quite a hyperactive child, and mom never really used to give me sugar or sweets, just because obviously that would have made it much worse to handle me as a child. It was ready a bit much, so I think just growing up, I've never really found, I guess, any comfort or any sort of happiness from sweet things. I've always kind of leaned towards savory, and even in my cooking, I didn't like making desserts
because I wasn't really a fan Beau was obviously. Growing up, I never really had that sugar or that sweet tooth. So I think that's kind of what curved me towards going to savory over sweet was I guess some people that's interesting because my brother loved sweets, like he used to eat the more time when he had a chance, you'd get sweets, and he loved it. But I was the polar opposite because I never had them when I was a child. I never really liked them growing up.
So I think that's kind of what sewed me towards savory over sweet.
I was thinking for me because it's more in my adult life. Maybe it's my love of red wine. I think, ah, my love of red wine makes me crave more salty things in my food. I guess, I don't know is that a thing.
It would be a thing.
I don't think most people have red wines with desserts, although me and Ru did do one, so you could mix it in, I guess, But our dessert was then still a bit of a savory to dessert more than it was a sweet So what you drink obviously impacts what you eat as well, because you're not you're not having a carocake with a red wine.
That this doesn't pair together very well.
So if you do enjoy a red wine, you're obviously going to lean towards more savory foods. And I guess that's kind of what basically what you're saying would kind of lean you towards the savory side.
Well, I think everyone this season has been cast very well. There's some really great personalities. I thought it's interesting to sometimes ask contestants, you know why you think you were picked.
Do you have a.
Theory on what it was that the producer saw on you that thought this would be good for this series.
Oh, I guess we get asked that question a lot, and I asked that question of myself quite often, and it's I like to think it's because I'm an amazing cook, and I've got an amazing personality as well that I guess would come across as welcoming and something that people can relate to. And then just I guess my style of cooking has always been about family, being that I enjoy cooking Italian food and that kind of leans to women, to my heritage where food is important and all massive
events are centered around food. So I guess just me as a person, and the way I exude my confidence in my food and the way I treat food in becass to my family. I think that's something they probably seen and gone. You know, this could work very well on TV, or at least that's what I think it could be.
What sort of preparation do you do so you find out you're going to be on the show, You've gone through the audition process, and I'm sure there's a bit of time before actually production starts. Did you do any kind of preparation? Was there like going to the Olympics? Where are you doing a lot of training?
Oh? God?
I tossed back and forth about the best way to go through to do this, because at one hand, I was like, rough, just practice your basic things, practicetomtart's cakes, custard soups, all that sort of stuff, so I'd have a base of knowledge going in, which is the smart
thing to do. And I did do that, But then also I was like, don't do too much because you'd be freaking yourself out before you actually get into the kitchen, so I kind of balanced that I did a bit of practice beforehand, and then maybe like a day or two before we started, I kind of just kind of relaxed and looked at everything that I had done to make sure that I was confident and ready.
But I didn't want to.
Work myself to exhaustion before I actually got onto the show, So it was a bit of both.
I think for anyone listening, if you can smell your neighbors cooking lots of different smells, lots of amazing smells, maybe just assume that they're to be on Mastership.
Just pop over there and just just asked them if you could be a taste test, because there's plenty of good being made.
Was that the loudest countdown for an elimination cook in the history of the show? Because I don't know, did you notice that the countdown for the end of that cook was so loud and intense?
To be honest, when you're the one down there doing the cooking, a lot of the time you kind of zone into what you need to get done, so you don't really hear anything coming from the gandry. I think they yelled at me a couple of times and like it takes a few minutes to actually register because you're so focused on what you have to do in front of you, knowing that you don't have that much time. So even I'm completely honest, I actually didn't even hear.
That's the loudness of it. I could hear the countdown because the judges were in front of me, but I didn't know how loud it actually was.
But watching it back, did you notice it, Because I'm.
Afterwards I noticed.
I was like, oh my goodness, everyone was actually really stressed and they were yelling for us to Russian area up. So yeah, it was frantic towards the end, and you could actually hear that in the countdown.
What I was going to say to you was, you know, this particular cook felt like an ADHD nine man because there were so many elements that were going on. I would have found it really hard to stay focused and to get everything done. But how did you try and stay focused knowing that there was so much that you had to do?
Oh good, So the task itself, if you look at the complexity of what we had to do, and if you're looking at the entire dish start to finish, it seems almost impossible. The advice to gave was just break it down and do it one step at a time, which is all well and true, but like when you're in the trenches and you're going through it your speed reading, and you're trying to get everything done, and I guess the main thing is to kind of scent to yourself, we need to hit all these steps to make sure
we have a product at the end. And I think I started kind of going to like I was too meticulous with it. I was going by the d I was doing everything measuring very slowly, and you kind of need to balance that with speed as well, so you kind of try and find a rhythm. If you catch a good rhythm, you'll pretty much just follow that page by page by page and tick off boxes. So that's kind of the mindset that we're trying to be in.
It did feel like watching it back that you were being too cautious at the start. You know, at a time constraint, it would have been really hard. Do you kind of wish that you hadn't been so meticulous with your measuring or do you think that that was still the only way you could do it?
Kindcid is twenty twenty out of love to speed it up a tad bit. I think the process that would have been the same, But it's they always the judge always tell us from the beginning, done hole from the start, And I think sometimes when I started, particularly yes there, when I started that cook I was so focused on the actual fact that every measurement has to be accurate, and I forget that you also have to have your
foot on the gas at the same time. You do need to have the balance of both because if you do want if you're too quick, you're missteps. If you're too slow and meticulous, you lose time. So it is a hard balance to get, especially with all that stress and the time constraint that you've got as well. That's going on.
So what did you think of your competitors? Were you stressed about going up against those particular girls and how have they been cooking? Have they been cooking stronger than you up until that point?
Oh?
Look, I was terrified to you against anybody in the black ape bring pressure.
I mean, we're all there because we're all really good at what we do.
So any competitor that you're cooking against is specifically in a black apron. Everyone puts the best foot forward of late. Um, Melissa has been killing it in a black Apron I don't know. She becomes a superhuman and just absolutely smashes them and knocks them out the park every single Black Apron day. So that was something that I was obviously very conscious of. And ran an amazing cook, and she had come off a run of amazing cooks back to back.
So getting in there, you go, oh goodness, the pressures on. I'd come off a run of a few good cooks as well. But the one thing about that kitchen is you kind of got to put that last cook that you've had out your mind and start fresh, because if whether it's a good cook or a bad cook, you can't bring that with you to the next cook. So
that's the mentality I went in with. But no I was I was terrified knowing that I was cooking against those two that have been doing so well, and knew that I had to get everything absolutely perfect to stand a chance.
How familiar were you with Nellie Robinson's food, Because I mean, I wasn't that familiar, so I probably would have been throw But what about for yourself? Had you eaten it now or heard of mister McGregor's garden.
Oh goodness, I hadn't heard of no, and I hadn't eaten the dessert either or known about the garden. You were completely honest, and I guess that's why you go on the show. That they put you in situations that you never would find yourself, and that kind of pushes the boat up for you, and it takes you out of your comfort zone. That allows you to experiment and try new things. So there are a lot of elements in there that I don't think I would have done in my entire life, but being on the show kind
of forced us to kind of do those things. And even now I'm like, well, those are certain techniques that I've learned in that cook that I can enhance on or do better or add to different desserts or foods that I currently make. So, although unfamiliar, you learn pretty quickly on the spot.
Just between us, do you think you'll ever try and recreate that meal at home?
Oh goodness, I need a bit of time. I forget about it.
Relationship, it's complicated.
It's complicated.
It's a complicated relationship at the moment, But you know what, I will at some point again just redo it and see the difference, because I guess it's all about learning, just giving it that extra bit of care without the time clock on me, just to see what it could have been, and had I executed it excellently, would I have come close? So maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but down the line might try and recreate it.
It ain't the prettiest looking dessert as far as I'm concerned. So whilst you were putting it together, I was thinking, it's a very hard challenge to try and dress this up to make it look like the way.
It's playd it. Yeah, that's I guess.
The one thing that is I guess a bit more complicated that you have to remember kind of how he's put it together so that you can then recreate it. And obviously the person who makes the edition is exactly what it's supposed to look like, so they've got a clean picture in their mind of what they're doing.
Where it's me recreating it off memory.
After having gone through that cook I did like draw a little image for myself to kind of figure out what it was, while my recollection of is not as accurate. So it is a little bit difficult where to put the twigs where I need to put the carrot the film itself, So it is a little bit more complicated for us because we don't actually have that clear picture probably by the end of it. But you know, I put my best fit for it, and I gave my
best effort. It looked messy or the elements at least on the plate, So we're happy with that.
Yeah, we're happy with that.
So I kind of like the cake slightly undercooked. I don't know, you know, i'd fail because I wouldn't. I don't think I'd necessarily be cooking for that. But you know, sometimes where there's a little bit of undercooked cake can be something quite delicious. So when I heard it was a little bit undercooked the carrot cake, I was like, I reckon, that sounds delicious.
Yeah, look, it's a preference, and I guess because it needed to look like the actual dessert were recreating his. If his was perfectly cooked, ours also needed to be perfectly cooked. But yeah, look, I'm not impartible to a bit of undercooked cake either if I want what do we know?
We only care about savory. How has this Master Chef experience changed your life? Because high risk, high reward, I should probably say, have you walked out of that experience being a different person for this competition.
I think the main thing I had an issue with the start was always trying to make so many decisions in my head before I actually started cooking, and this competition has actually given me the ability to make quick, smart decisions, maybe taking an element off. It's allowed my judgment of food and I guess my palette as well to evolve. When I started up, I used to think I was a good cook, which I was, but getting into show you realize there are small, little smart things
you can do to make yourself even better. It's a bit of salt, yeah, it's a bit of a namami flavor there that kind of elevates that dish to a new level that you'd only think was restaurant quality. But it's just about thinking about that dish in a different way. And a lot of my dishes that I did really well in I would focus on three elements and I
would perfect every single one. So it was just that show gave me the ability to think, I guess more clearly, and to be very restrictive in what I do, but to execute everything I did really well so in terms of being in the kitchen, it really did help in that regard. I'm now more confident with flavors. I'm more willing to try and push things out and try things that I usually wouldn't and pestflators that I've never been with, but also have the ability to balance that should I
go too far one way or with the other. So it has actually increased my I guess, my skill and my knowledge and my confidence in the kitchen as well.
I think if you were to come back and do that experience again, now that you've gone through it, you know, probably gives you a better understanding, and then you know, obviously you've leveled up with your skills. Who do you think, though, out of this series that we've seen be eliminated so far, who do you think may deserve to go back and have a second chance.
Oh, tough one.
Obviously I'll choose myself, of course, ap were completely honest, I would choose myself because I feel like I would love another go at it. But look, everyone is really amazing, and Tonio was really good. Jess was amazing as well, Robbie wi spectacular. There was a lot of good chefs that unfortunately had that bad cook on the wrong day, because we'll always like everyone in the kitchen doesn't have excellent cooks every day.
Sometimes we have bad cooks.
It's just unfortunate if that bad cook is on an elimination day. Unfortunately, that's what what's sends you home. So there are a couple of people that I would have loved to see go further and see how far this competition would have stretched them.
I really enjoyed Robbie, like I felt like having someone a little bit older was a little bit different as well, and just seeing him at that age being able to explore and take on a challenge like that, I think it was really important for viewers watching the show.
It was and he was such a positive impact on all of us. Obviously being a little he had so much knowledge and experience. And the thing I loved about Robbie is he was never scared or he was never never scared, but he was never withholding of that experience.
He's never withholding of that Of all the knowledge he has, he shared everything with all of us, and I really appreciate that because that's what this experience is about growing, it's about learning, and he was always there to share everything with us, and if we had questions, he'd happily answer them. You'd show us little tips and tricks as well. So I really appreciated that from him, and he was a lovely song.
Did you have an idea as to who you thought he is going to take the competition out?
Like?
Was it starting to look clear as to who's going to win?
Oh?
Goodness, you think you know, and then you kind of see a cook and go, oh no, they've they've made a mistake, you know what I mean? Like every cook is so different that you might think it's for one person today and then tomorrow, unfortunate that the bad cook, which means they go home. There's there's no I guess,
clear front runner at this point in time. There's like at the moment, I'd be like, I'd love Rute to win it for w A and she can bring it home for us because of fortunately she's the last one of us left. But you know, it's it's just it's the competition really changes day today and that kitchen levels.
Everybody every day is a new cook.
So no matter how well you did the day before, you could you could go home the following night. And that's kind of I guess what keeps the competition exciting because you don't know how songs going to cook the next day. But everyone's trying their absolute best. So no clear front runner as to who's going to do it. But I mean, I've got my my favorites that I want to take it out now that I've left.
But what about maybe people that you know you think could do the most with this win, Like, who do you think if they won this competition they would take it the furtherest after the sho.
That's a good question.
We're all relatively ambitious as to what we want to do. Ruth loves the fact she makes amazing desserts, and I feel like she could make a lovely like turn that into a lovely bakery business that you could open.
Feel makes the most spectacular.
Bread I've ever eaten in my entire life, and that could be a bakery as well. So there's so many people, so much talent. I think any one of them would would do amazing with the opportunity because they all have a clear image of what they want coming out of
this competition. So if you have that your oars to well, if I guess pick one on just based on what they want to do, and I guess excel I just feel probably just because his idea is so clear in his mind and he's perfected his craft to a level I don't think I've seen, I guess, at least in my lifetime, and the one that I've been or had the privilege for cooking with the way he makes bread is something spectacular.
There's something a little bit special about him as well, though, like is in I think that you need a bit of a personality edge. I think you know, it's it's a combination of things as to how well you take you know, how well you play this after the show, but you kind of have to have a few of those elements. Like you've obviously got it. I could sit here, I honestly could talk to you forever because an infectious way of putting things together. What's interested in his story beyond just the food.
One hundred percent? And I guess that's the reason that we all make it. We all do have interesting stories and we love and the way we I guess particularly and share that with people is what draws you in. So yeah, he's definitely got that factor, and I think most of all of us do, as well, so you're right, it is important to have that because you want to be along that journey with someone as they're growing and finding new things exciting, and they're sharing all of that with you.
It's quite an experience.
Contestants have to be aspirational, you know what I mean, Like you kind of have to want to be them in a strange way, and I think that's a part of the magic of the show. And I feel like, you know, with people that want to follow your journey moving forward, Now, what are you planning on doing? Like, what's I mean? Of course we can follow on your social media, but have you been thinking about where you want to take this experience.
Oh look, I've got so many ideas kind of floating around my head, and I think I like, obviously after the cooking, you need a bit of time just to kind of settle down and relax a little bit. And then for me, it's it's my process always been the same. The main thing I always wanted out of food was to be able to share that with people, to allow you to, I guess see a bit of what I enjoy doing, but also just to show you that cooking can be done by anyone. Cooking is for family. It's
that unifier that brings people together. So in the future, I'll be looking to do things like maybe a pop up where I can just meet I guess people within my region of wa share that food with them. If there's some sort of classes, I'll look at doing as well, maybe in the near future cookbooks trying to get through I guess the YouTube where people can watch a full
tutorial off my actual cooking. So now on social media, I'll you a cook and I'll kind of break it down into small, manageable pieces so that you can follow along a bit. But I'm thinking maybe of extending that into like a long format where you can actually I can do it step by step and explain each step
with you. And I guess that's the goal for me is kind of find a way that or vehicle that allows me to share everything that I know about food, but also for people think to inquire and ask questions and I can help and we can kind of work and grow together.
So that's the plan for the future.
Well, I'm in your audience. I think a lot of people are going to be in your audience. A lot of people be watching and waiting to see where those pop ups will turn up so that we can come and try your food and also for you to continue
to share your story. Something that I ask everyone who joins the podcast is what's something from behind the scenes, something that we as an audience probably didn't get a chance to see watching the show, but kind of like maybe a bit of a behind the scenes secret of what it's like to be a contestant or mastership.
Har goodness, there's I guess the behind the scenes stuff that we do. It's mainly when we're when we're back home, whether a movie night where we be put on it often exhausted day, we'd all get together and kind of do it a pot luck and do like a quick movie night where we actually get to relax and unwine, because every other day it's just cooking. We get home most days and most of us practice a couple of things.
But we'd take like a day on a Saturday if we had one, and we would get a movie night going, we do a pot luck, We're going grab popcorn. We'd also done in a room and just like kind of relaxed and watch a movie just to kind of unwind.
But it also kind of brought us all together.
This group of people that we worked with now were all really good people, amazing people. I guess the thing that we love doing with multiple dance parties at all times, just because I think we love the energy of everyone around us. So every minute on the set where we had a break, it'd be a little dance party or a little sing along because I love singing with my
whole heart. So those are the sorts of things that I guess you guys would have missed, but it's something that kind of unified us and brought us all together.
How long were you filming for? How long were you specifically away for.
I think I would say I was probably away for two months. Yeah, it is, it is, but I mean when you when you're going for your goal and your dream, you kind of sacrifice a little bit because that time or even family, friends, your job is all a bit of a sacrifice, but you know that the end result is you're doing something that you're passionate about and something that you love.
Well, the judges said you're on your way to where you want to be, which I can agree with. I think you really are well on your way. I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me this morning. You know, I thought you were fantastic on the show, and as I said, I'll look forward to watching you know what you do with your story moving forward.
And I really appreciate Jajamin.
Thank you for taking the time to have a chat with me as well today