Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast last week Their Life. Welcome back,
Speaker 1: guys to TV Reload. As you may know, my name
Speaker 1: is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast to get
Speaker 1: all the inside goss on the popular TV shows you
Speaker 1: may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV
Speaker 1: sets are a major part of our home entertainment, and
Speaker 1: yet very little is known about how our favorite shows
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Speaker 1: want to dive just that little bit deeper in to
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Speaker 1: This episode of the podcast, I'm joined by Amy and Alice,
Speaker 1: both eliminated from Master Shehef Australia this week. Both different girls,
Speaker 1: but fascinating to hear their different stories back to back.
Speaker 1: Our first guest, Amy has been a big fan of
Speaker 1: Master Chef Australia for years watching it with her mum.
Speaker 1: She's been inspired by the journeys some of our favorite
Speaker 1: home cooks and even attempted to recreate some of those
Speaker 1: recipes at home. We did see Amy get booted on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night, but as you will hear from our chat,
Speaker 1: she's still laughing and it was great to hear about
Speaker 1: her time on the show. Our next guest, Alice, was
Speaker 1: our Tuesday Night Eliminee. Alice's parents immigrated from Shanghai. However,
Speaker 1: Alice was born and raised in Sydney, where she felt
Speaker 1: enriched by her duel heritage. Earning her bachelor's degree in
Speaker 1: history and Economics from Harvard University. Alice went on to
Speaker 1: earn her Master of Arts in East Asian Studies from Stanford.
Speaker 1: You will hear about how food helped Alice bring her
Speaker 1: head in her heart together, and I hope you stick
Speaker 1: around after the first chat to hear about Alice's journey,
Speaker 1: as she has some amazing insights on food. I will
Speaker 1: ask the girls about their highs and lows and find
Speaker 1: out how they ended up on Mastership Australia. Amy will
Speaker 1: talk about her passion for fusion food and if there
Speaker 1: was any other Japanese, Mexican ideas ready for that elimination
Speaker 1: cook Alice will then explain what went down in her
Speaker 1: final cook and office that's a theory that might not
Speaker 1: have been her fault. Plus, we will get plenty of
Speaker 1: exclusives from behind the scenes of MASTERSHEF Australia, which is
Speaker 1: currently on Network ten and you can catch up on
Speaker 1: ten Play if you've fallen a little bit behind anyway,
Speaker 1: Let's bring Amy into the podcast first and stick around
Speaker 1: for Alis, who will be popping in.
Speaker 2: Straight after that.
Speaker 1: Congratulations, you know, on your time of MASTERSHEF Australia.
Speaker 2: Has this been an emotional ride for you?
Speaker 3: It's been crazy. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions, you know, highs,
Speaker 3: lows everything in between. It's been incredible.
Speaker 1: Have you all been there for each other? And do
Speaker 1: other people, like your friends and family understand what it's
Speaker 1: like to have been a part of something like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess people don't really understand where you're going
Speaker 3: through if they haven't been through the whole experience. I'm
Speaker 3: lucky enough to have a really tight group of friends
Speaker 3: from the show and we're still catch up regularly and
Speaker 3: like talk all the time. So I'm really lucky in
Speaker 3: that sense because we could do it yeah all the time.
Speaker 1: Well, it was weird because the other contestants in previous years,
Speaker 1: well the last few years where we had COVID, they
Speaker 1: could up physically. But are you able to go and
Speaker 1: catch up with you know, other Victorian content?
Speaker 2: Where are you from? You're in Melbourn?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Melbourne?
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, sorry, I had it written down that you're
Speaker 1: in Melbourne. I'm like hanging a say, is my stalking accurate?
Speaker 3: Correct?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 4: Great?
Speaker 2: Were you able to catch up with other Victorians?
Speaker 3: Of course?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And then you get to have like master Chief parties.
Speaker 1: Is that what you've been doing for every episode?
Speaker 3: Nah? A little bit, Like first couple of episodes are
Speaker 3: really exciting. But you know, it's nice a debrief after
Speaker 3: every episode because like, yeah again, like you've been through it,
Speaker 3: but like watching it's kind of a different experience, so
Speaker 3: it's it's good to get you watch it again, debrief
Speaker 3: and onto the next one.
Speaker 1: It's always so surreal as well, because you know you
Speaker 1: can live the experience and then to watch it back
Speaker 1: it can be a different experience all over again. You know,
Speaker 1: how have you felt watching yourself back on the show.
Speaker 1: You know what have that part of the experience been, Like.
Speaker 3: It's been good because I think when you're so like
Speaker 3: stressed and anxious, like you kind of forget certain parts.
Speaker 3: But looking back, you're just like, oh, that happened. That happens.
Speaker 3: So it's good for my little brain to kind of
Speaker 3: patck and see and also to watch other people's cooks
Speaker 3: because you don't experience other people's cooks as well because
Speaker 3: you're so focused on yourself. So it's good to see,
Speaker 3: you know, everyone smashing it.
Speaker 1: Is there something in particular that you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: that really shocked me watching it back, that you had
Speaker 1: maybe didn't know about yourself.
Speaker 3: No, I think everything's pretty true. I laugh a lot,
Speaker 3: so that's like probably more than the average person, but
Speaker 3: not everything was pretty accurate.
Speaker 1: Well, how did you come across the series? I'm assuming
Speaker 1: that you know, I've confirmed that I'm a huge Master
Speaker 1: Chef fan. I'm assuming you must have been as well.
Speaker 1: How does something like this come about?
Speaker 2: Did you just apply? Did someone see your cooking? Like?
Speaker 2: What was what was that journey to being on the show?
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, that like me and my mom have watched
Speaker 3: Master Shecheff for as long as I could remember, so
Speaker 3: it was kind of surreal, like going from like the
Speaker 3: couch to the actual thing. And I've been a medical
Speaker 3: administrator for ten years, so food and medical like don't
Speaker 3: really go that much. But I used to it a
Speaker 3: bit of a backstory. So I used to bring in
Speaker 3: like extravagant lunches all the time to work. And one
Speaker 3: of the nurses was like, Amy, this is so like
Speaker 3: you take half an hour to play it up your lunch.
Speaker 3: She's like, go on mastership. She's like, just do it.
Speaker 3: And I was like, oh, maybe, like maybe, I don't know,
Speaker 3: and then one day I just did it on a whim.
Speaker 1: So you're telling me so first time applying, because you know,
Speaker 1: I've interviewed a lot of contestants and they some of
Speaker 1: them applied, like you know, up to five times.
Speaker 2: You know. For you, you've applied once and you got
Speaker 2: straight in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's crazy, Like I've heard stories about that too,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, oh my god, the journey that they
Speaker 3: would have gone on. I don't know if I could
Speaker 3: do it five times.
Speaker 2: But no, they're just not as good as you read it.
Speaker 2: It's fine, stop it.
Speaker 3: I felt really lucky to have but on the first time.
Speaker 1: You know, when the elimination day starts, do you have
Speaker 1: any idea, you know, as that it might be you
Speaker 1: going home? I mean, do you read into maybe other
Speaker 1: favorites in the competition, or if the theme is more
Speaker 1: suited to you more than maybe some of the others.
Speaker 1: You know, what was that day like for you? Did
Speaker 1: you have any idea that it might be you going home?
Speaker 3: I didn't, Like, I mean, you definite want to think
Speaker 3: that you're going to be the one going home, But
Speaker 3: it was it was very stressful, Like coming up to it,
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, like two day cooks daunting in itself
Speaker 3: and like not being there to supervise your food and
Speaker 3: all that kind of stuff. So I was definitely stressed
Speaker 3: going in. It was probably one of my most stressful cooks.
Speaker 1: And I feel like, for myself, the only thing I'd
Speaker 1: be good at doing on Mastership is probably cooking my
Speaker 1: own goose, because I feel like the pressure for me
Speaker 1: would really get to me. But I want to ask
Speaker 1: you about the pressure of the experience. You know, is
Speaker 1: it as dramatic and as stressful as it looks on
Speaker 1: television or is it a little bit more calm in
Speaker 1: real life?
Speaker 3: Oh no, it's a hundred times more stressful than what TV, right,
Speaker 3: so don't worry. Like it's a pressure cooker, like, definitely,
Speaker 3: but in the best way possible. Like you kind of
Speaker 3: you're so stressed that like you kind of tweak into
Speaker 3: like creative like things in your brain. So it's good
Speaker 3: in that aspect. But no, it's definitely a pressure cooker.
Speaker 1: I like to think of myself as like a good cook,
Speaker 1: and I think I understand flavors and all of that,
Speaker 1: but I also feel like i'd only cook my Aussie
Speaker 1: standard meals, like you know, my spaghetti and my chicken
Speaker 1: palma and all of these things which you know probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't cut it on a show like this, Are there
Speaker 1: some ideas that are too basic? And do the producers
Speaker 1: try and help you to lock in dishes that maybe
Speaker 1: are a little bit more extraordinary for viewers to watch
Speaker 1: you cook.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm with you, Like I love eating all
Speaker 3: that stuff. I love cooking that stuff at home. Like
Speaker 3: I think you just have to cook from your heart.
Speaker 3: And I think that's the best advice that anyone can give.
Speaker 3: Is just like if you try to be extravagant and
Speaker 3: like try to change an original thing, it kind of
Speaker 3: gets lost. But simple good things done right, you can't
Speaker 3: beat it. And it's just like if you want to
Speaker 3: cook a chicken palmera mass chef, do it.
Speaker 2: I feel like that would be me what they would be.
Speaker 1: Like, you need to go home now because everyone in
Speaker 1: Australia made this tonight.
Speaker 2: It is not inspirational at all. Please leave me.
Speaker 3: No, it's relatable, like my caramel dumplings, like the simplest
Speaker 3: dish ever. But you know everyone can make it at home.
Speaker 1: So well, if we talk about in my house going
Speaker 1: out for dinner, we start with Japanese Mexican is like
Speaker 1: our next one down the line. So the idea of
Speaker 1: this fusion idea of yours to me was really quite epic.
Speaker 1: Are the other dishes that you could have made with
Speaker 1: that sort of Japanese Mexican fusion? Or is that your
Speaker 1: one Japanese Mexican fusion?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 3: I wanted only I reckon nah like it was. It's
Speaker 3: an epic dish and I think that you know, when
Speaker 3: I cooked it at home, it was it was. It
Speaker 3: was good to me. But maybe in the future I'll
Speaker 3: kind of tap into that again.
Speaker 1: I'll let you know I'm here for different flavor combinations,
Speaker 1: and I want to talk to you about this thing
Speaker 1: that I do at home. So for my spaghetti bolin AI's,
Speaker 1: I put in veggie mind and I put in a
Speaker 1: little bit of true with sabi, I know, and I
Speaker 1: put enough with sabi in so that it is actually palatable,
Speaker 1: so it's not just about the spice. I actually like
Speaker 1: a bit of that with sabi flavor with the meat sauce.
Speaker 1: Now is this disgusting or is this fusion? And should
Speaker 1: I apply for master chef and try it out?
Speaker 3: Yes? Yes, and yes I'm going to try that at home.
Speaker 3: I've never heard of anyone doing that.
Speaker 1: It was more that there was just some stuff in
Speaker 1: the fridge, and I was like, you know, when you're
Speaker 1: making the spaghetti and you want to sit the meat
Speaker 1: sauce there for a while, you kind of like that
Speaker 1: idea of it, sort of you know, bubbling together and
Speaker 1: having all those flavors come together. So you're often looking
Speaker 1: around for spices, and I just randomly thought veggimie and
Speaker 1: masabi would be good, and it is quite delicious.
Speaker 3: I'm so into the I put vegimine in my spaghetti
Speaker 3: bolonnaise too, so you're not alone on that one. But
Speaker 3: I'll definitely put in how much would you put it?
Speaker 2: I'm going to send this to you on Instagram.
Speaker 1: I'll put this on Instagram for everyone that's listening to
Speaker 1: this so they can see. But you can buy Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go, So you could buy this green tube
Speaker 1: from Cole's or Bullies. We'll say Coals though, because they
Speaker 1: sponsor Master Chef, so you can buy a little green tube.
Speaker 2: I put half of that in. Oh half, it's a lot.
Speaker 2: But I'm also.
Speaker 1: People like, stop talking about yourself, stop talking about your
Speaker 1: weird food, Ben, we don't really care. Right to me
Speaker 1: on Instagram and let me know how it goes. Just
Speaker 1: one of those green emoji faces. You are disgusting, Ben Norris.
Speaker 3: Ever again if it works into it well.
Speaker 1: The living conditions have been under attack last week because
Speaker 1: some photos came out on Instagram of you know, what
Speaker 1: it's like to be there behind the scenes and what
Speaker 1: the accommodation was like. And I looked at those photos
Speaker 1: and I was like, this looks like adult summer camp.
Speaker 1: Like to me, it actually looked like how I would imagine.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have expected that you'd be in some lavish
Speaker 1: mansion while it was going on. What were your thoughts
Speaker 1: Did you read any of those comments about what people
Speaker 1: were saying about the accommodation.
Speaker 3: I have heard on the grainvine, but haven't read much.
Speaker 3: That's actually the green room. It's not a living condition.
Speaker 1: Candle It wrote that story. I mean, it's so funny.
Speaker 1: People have a look at one thing and then they
Speaker 1: run with it. They're like these poor bastards, and it's like, no,
Speaker 1: you're just the green room.
Speaker 3: It's okay, just relax, it's just agreement's fun.
Speaker 1: It does bring me though to my favorite question to
Speaker 1: ask people, and that is any show that any reality
Speaker 1: TV contestants can be on, there's always things that are
Speaker 1: written online. What are some of the most outrageous things
Speaker 1: that you might I've read about yourself or about the
Speaker 1: show whilst this, whilst being a part of.
Speaker 3: It, I did actually read one and I think it
Speaker 3: was hilarious. Someone said that I used laugh like my
Speaker 3: laughter's punctuation, and I totally agree with you.
Speaker 2: Just did it great.
Speaker 3: I just did it full stop. That's funny.
Speaker 1: It's so fun I mean, I think it's a way.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's very infectious for you, so you've obviously
Speaker 1: worked out that it works well in your repertoire, so.
Speaker 2: Keep it, keep it going.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, but yeah, is it a nervous thing though,
Speaker 1: or do you think it's just a part of your
Speaker 1: jovial nature.
Speaker 3: I'm just happy, Like I just I laugh and I'm nervous,
Speaker 3: and that was probably mostly on the show, but I
Speaker 3: just just laugh at everything.
Speaker 1: I think it's better to laugh when you get eliminated
Speaker 1: from something. I feel like if I was eliminated from
Speaker 1: a show, I'd be really worried that it'd have like
Speaker 1: a tantrum. Is there any way that the producers try
Speaker 1: to sort of maintain your emotional response, you know, when
Speaker 1: you are eliminated. Is there anything that they say to you,
Speaker 1: like it's you'll be okay, maybe we'll bring you back.
Speaker 1: What do they do to try and make sure that
Speaker 1: you walk away smiling and laughing like you did? I mean, I.
Speaker 3: Don't like after you get a lot of support after,
Speaker 3: but during the shows it's like it's just you. You know,
Speaker 3: it's your emotions as like what it really is. And
Speaker 3: I guess you just have to in the moment, like
Speaker 3: what I thought was I was like I was content,
Speaker 3: like if I go home today, it is what it is.
Speaker 3: But I wasn't going to cry until I turned around
Speaker 3: and I saw Grace, my bestie, crying, and then that
Speaker 3: set me off and I was like, don't make me cry,
Speaker 3: and then I did. But that's fine.
Speaker 1: They say don't cry on reality TV because people don't
Speaker 1: like it, but I disagree.
Speaker 2: I disagree. I think that everyone should just be full emotion, definitely, And.
Speaker 3: It's just like if you're in a pressure cooker situation,
Speaker 3: it's just like you. I think it's better to let
Speaker 3: it all out as opposed to just like setting that
Speaker 3: just like bottling it all up. So cry away, I.
Speaker 1: Say, well, I was reading this is what made me cry,
Speaker 1: was reading how previous winners had spent their money, their
Speaker 1: prize money. Had you even allowed yourself to think that
Speaker 1: far as to how you might have spent the money,
Speaker 1: had you.
Speaker 3: Want I honestly didn't think about the money at all,
Speaker 3: Like I wasn't there for the money, Like I wasn't
Speaker 3: there to win it. If I was to win it,
Speaker 3: I would be like love that. I would be so proud.
Speaker 3: But to even get on the show was a huge
Speaker 3: accomplishment for me, and I guess I just took it
Speaker 3: every week by week, another week, the other week, another week,
Speaker 3: so I think that, yeah, money's not an issue for me,
Speaker 3: So I didn't really think about it, just the experience.
Speaker 1: Just there for the experience, which is just ad point.
Speaker 1: There are also reports at the moment that the creators
Speaker 1: of Master Chef, who created it, you know, all those
Speaker 1: years ago, on the hunt to make another cooking series,
Speaker 1: you know, after being a part of Master Chef, which
Speaker 1: is just such a fun show. Have you walked away
Speaker 1: with any ideas on what audiences might want from a
Speaker 1: cooking show if it was to try and change in
Speaker 1: a way and they were trying to look at something different.
Speaker 3: Good question. Actually, I think solely just to cook from
Speaker 3: the hut, and I think that like when people cook
Speaker 3: from their backgrounds and what they love, it like it
Speaker 3: shines on TV.
Speaker 1: Is there any dishes that you were saving? Is there
Speaker 1: anything we've missed out on? I feel like there might
Speaker 1: have been a dish that you'd been reserving for a
Speaker 1: slam dunk. Is there anything that you feel like you
Speaker 1: would love to have cooked for the show.
Speaker 3: I would have loved to I had a bit of
Speaker 3: a because I loved tinfish. So I wanted to present
Speaker 3: my own tinfish to the judges and you know diy
Speaker 3: ken and have that kind of all sealed. So I
Speaker 3: was saving that one for a special special cook. But
Speaker 3: you know that's fine. I can just cook it outside
Speaker 3: of the Mass Chef kitchen.
Speaker 2: Just create your own YouTube channel. Definitely, there we go.
Speaker 1: We can cook along. We can cook along there. So
Speaker 1: do you not what you know now? Because you may
Speaker 1: know more. But like when you left the competition, did
Speaker 1: you have a feeling about who could probably win this?
Speaker 1: Like it was there a strong feeling as to who
Speaker 1: you thought might take it out.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's anyone's competition. Everyone is such an amazing cook.
Speaker 3: But I'd love Grace to win because she's my bestie.
Speaker 3: She was my roommate, like we had such a great bond.
Speaker 3: So I'd love for her to take it out.
Speaker 2: Well, Well, maybe she will, maybe she won't. We'll have
Speaker 2: to keep watching.
Speaker 1: Everyone who joins the podcast asked this question, what is
Speaker 1: something from behind the scenes, something that we wouldn't have
Speaker 1: seen or we won't see, maybe kind of like a
Speaker 1: Master Chef secret from behind the scenes, probably.
Speaker 3: Like my microwave dish, my caramel dumplings was iconic. Like,
Speaker 3: I was at the microwave for a very long time
Speaker 3: on that challenge, so probably like would have loved to
Speaker 3: see a bit more microwave action, But that's fine.
Speaker 1: Do they do they not want you to use microwaves
Speaker 1: on the show?
Speaker 3: No, microwaves are great, you wouldn't be there for good
Speaker 3: use it.
Speaker 1: I remember there was a fast food place though, and
Speaker 1: I was always like, bacon, bacon will always tasted weird.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say the name of this fast
Speaker 1: food place because then I'll get sued. But then it
Speaker 1: turned out they were cooking their bacon in the microwave,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't think bacon belongs in
Speaker 1: the microwave. That needs to be literally on a sizzle
Speaker 1: pan or on the barbecue. And has this changed your
Speaker 1: life in some way? Like do you think that you'll
Speaker 1: open a restaurant? Like what are your ambitions with food
Speaker 1: moving forward?
Speaker 3: So I'm actually a chef now. I work at Biromantica.
Speaker 3: I'm a pizza chef there. I've got a couple of
Speaker 3: pop ups on the horizon, So yeah, that'll be awesome.
Speaker 3: Like to be creative, because like you can be creative
Speaker 3: in a restaurant, but like you can't be your fullest
Speaker 3: creative self, so it would be good to get a
Speaker 3: couple of dishes that I did get on the Master
Speaker 3: Chef Kitchen, and I'm designing an apron.
Speaker 2: I want an apron. Thank you so much for the chat.
Speaker 2: It was so fun.
Speaker 3: Thank you you too. Thank you.
Speaker 1: A big thanks to Amy for popping in. She certainly
Speaker 1: has an infectious way of talking and I'm really glad
Speaker 1: that I got some advice from her. However, not sure
Speaker 1: if my spaghetti would get me fired in the competition,
Speaker 1: but who knows. Now we've got Alice ready to pop in.
Speaker 1: This is a very different pace to the interview, but
Speaker 1: I'm sure you'll get something completely different out of this
Speaker 1: as Alice has a fantastic way of talking about food. Hi, Alice,
Speaker 1: how are you.
Speaker 5: I'm doing pretty well. I am in London.
Speaker 4: I've just been traveling around for work and so this
Speaker 4: whole I have not seen anything any episode. I've been
Speaker 4: sort of catch up on the Socialism with other contestants.
Speaker 4: So it's been very surreal to be outside of Australia
Speaker 4: while the show's airing.
Speaker 2: That seems like torture A little bit.
Speaker 5: Or maybe good.
Speaker 4: I mean I'm a little bit embarrassed to see myself
Speaker 4: on TV, so that it's the sort of shy side
Speaker 4: of me, in covert side of me.
Speaker 1: What did you learn about yourself taking on Mastership Australia.
Speaker 4: I learnt that I love being a child and finding
Speaker 4: an excuse to be a child. I guess it's because
Speaker 4: I was always serious as a child, is very studious.
Speaker 4: Getting to be a child as an adult is such
Speaker 4: a blessing to me personally, and I think, moving forward,
Speaker 4: I want to chase those opportunities to tap the inner child.
Speaker 1: Well, I thought you were super organized, and I was
Speaker 1: actually a little bit intimidated by your studious nature and
Speaker 1: how smart you are and talking about food like science.
Speaker 1: I think that's an interesting way to be looking at food.
Speaker 1: How long had you been considering food to be a science?
Speaker 5: Well?
Speaker 4: Oh gosh, I said horribly obnoxious saying this, so forgive me.
Speaker 4: When I was in college, when I was at home,
Speaker 4: there was a course called the Science of Cooking, I believe,
Speaker 4: and they brought in Adrian Fera. They brought in these
Speaker 4: astronomers and cooks to teach with chemistry professors and the
Speaker 4: whole idea was to look at how food, you know,
Speaker 4: whether it's my own reaction or how molecular look astronomy works,
Speaker 4: Food rotates around chemistry and physics. And that was the
Speaker 4: first time when I realized, actually, there are a lot
Speaker 4: of intellectual people.
Speaker 5: In the space.
Speaker 4: And then I got more intellectually interested in food. A
Speaker 4: lot of these cooks and writers about food come from,
Speaker 4: you know, whether it's Nagel Lasson, Anthony Bulldain. They come
Speaker 4: from an approach of journalism or history or culture and anthropology.
Speaker 4: And I just thought, wow, this is a space in which,
Speaker 4: you know, even people that look like me, will sound
Speaker 4: like me, will come from my background, can really thrive.
Speaker 4: And then when I got out of college, I was
Speaker 4: in a relationship and that was what awakened me to
Speaker 4: this notion that actually I could potentially do this as
Speaker 4: part of my career, because I think I'd had blinkers
Speaker 4: on in terms of focusing on what was feasible professionally,
Speaker 4: you know, being a doctor, a lawyer or consultants. And
Speaker 4: you know, in that relationship, I was cooking all the
Speaker 4: time and loving it, and I finally came to the
Speaker 4: realization that there might be a chance that I could
Speaker 4: actually make a career out of this one day.
Speaker 1: Was that kind of the selling point when you were
Speaker 1: going through the casting process? Did you send in an
Speaker 1: audition video and talk about the science of cooking? And
Speaker 1: is that the reason why they were particularly interested in
Speaker 1: your style?
Speaker 4: Maybe my selling point was that I'd watched some series
Speaker 4: of Mastership as well. I don't think there has really
Speaker 4: been somebody like news come from an academic background, you know,
Speaker 4: I studied history and economics. I was very much in
Speaker 4: a different miliare. And then to sort of want to
Speaker 4: dip my toes into an even dive headfirst into this world,
Speaker 4: I think was probably something that they hadn't seen before.
Speaker 4: And I think in the video I was talking a
Speaker 4: lot about the fact that I felt like I think
Speaker 4: I may have said in the first episode, I felt
Speaker 4: like so much of my life has been dictated by
Speaker 4: my brain and being able to think, and I would
Speaker 4: love to have the opportunity to marry the heart and
Speaker 4: the head in the way that food allows, which is,
Speaker 4: you know, you are thinking, like we've just talked about
Speaker 4: in this care but you're also feeling and creating memories
Speaker 4: and feelings and emotions with people and I hope that
Speaker 4: they could do that in the Master Chef kitchen. So
Speaker 4: maybe that was who knows, maybe that's why it brought.
Speaker 2: Me No, I love it.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to know, like, and even talking to
Speaker 1: you now, you're so calm and so collected and very
Speaker 1: well spoken. And I wondered whether or not the pressure
Speaker 1: of these pressure tests and these challenges, do you think
Speaker 1: that they are tough enough? I mean, how did you
Speaker 1: approach them? As the show went on?
Speaker 5: Well, they definitely are tough.
Speaker 4: And you know, I watched a couple of pressure tests
Speaker 4: growing up in previous seasons, and what I realized watching
Speaker 4: them is that it's actually not necessarily the most experienced
Speaker 4: or the best or the strongest cook that stays in
Speaker 4: the competition and is able to survive a pressure test.
Speaker 4: It's the one that's able to have the stamina on
Speaker 4: resilience and pivot and fight back when whenever something bad happens.
Speaker 4: And as we just talked about with Tech, I mean,
Speaker 4: something bad is always going to happen on a pressure test,
Speaker 4: and it's just a matter of having that cognitive and emotional,
Speaker 4: you know, equanimity and ability to say, Okay, I've got
Speaker 4: my I've got to pick myself up. I can pivot,
Speaker 4: I can save this, and so going into that I
Speaker 4: was I was trying to channel that energy. But at
Speaker 4: the same time, you know, you never really know what
Speaker 4: you're going to get into, and certainly with the lambing competition,
Speaker 4: I think it was like five or six hours of
Speaker 4: having to make Lamington's I was just thinking, gosh, you
Speaker 4: just need a whole lot of stamina to be able
Speaker 4: to survive it. And also reading line by line because
Speaker 4: you know, there are moments as well in that episode
Speaker 4: in which I've had I have to reread, you know,
Speaker 4: an instruction three or four times because you've got so
Speaker 4: much pressure on you and you don't want to screw
Speaker 4: up a step because you know it's going to lead
Speaker 4: to you know, the next step. And so yeah, there's
Speaker 4: just a ton of pressure even in the midst of
Speaker 4: it as well getting getting everything right on top of
Speaker 4: the time constraints.
Speaker 1: I just feel like my ADHD would have me missing
Speaker 1: certain lines, I'd moving on to the next thing and
Speaker 1: digging myself more and more wholes. So like the idea
Speaker 1: of Mastership Australia to me, is way too stressful. But
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to you about your coping mechanisms
Speaker 1: and what sort of support do you get through the series?
Speaker 1: Are there people there to check in on you and
Speaker 1: make sure you're coping with the pressure coping mechanisms.
Speaker 4: I mean, I've struggled with this because I am perfectionist
Speaker 4: by Nietzsure, I'm Type A, and so, you know, in
Speaker 4: a way, Masterschef has been an amazing experience because it's
Speaker 4: taught me that there's nothing embarrassing about failure, and that
Speaker 4: one should approach life is glass at full rather than
Speaker 4: glass empty and sort of fixate on the flaws and
Speaker 4: all the sort of critical elements of an experience or
Speaker 4: and so I've tried to tell myself to focus on
Speaker 4: the positive and see things in a more optimistic, positive light,
Speaker 4: and that's helped me, you know, but I still struggle
Speaker 4: because I think it's hard once you're you know, once
Speaker 4: you know that your perfections, it's hard to change. Really,
Speaker 4: it's hard to change, and it's and then the positive
Speaker 4: being a perfectionist is that you know, you're constantly trying
Speaker 4: to be better and you're constantly growing. And so I'm
Speaker 4: trying to embrace the fact that I am a perfectionist
Speaker 4: and b I'm going to have to find ways to
Speaker 4: just coach myself every day and it's a battle. For
Speaker 4: every negative there is a positive, and hopefully just focus
Speaker 4: on the positive more and honestly, just being on the
Speaker 4: show with amazing people. I mean, I would say especially
Speaker 4: people like Robbie and Rhianna and Kath who have had
Speaker 4: more life experience and have learned from difficult moments in
Speaker 4: their lives and grown and they've just been so generous
Speaker 4: with sharing their wisdom. And whether it's you know, don't
Speaker 4: sweat the small staff for being encouraging, super encouraging to
Speaker 4: the younger contestants, or giving them a sense of stability
Speaker 4: and care and solicity solicitude. You know, I'm just so
Speaker 4: grateful that they've been on the show and been sort
Speaker 4: of mentors in a way. They've they've been our parents
Speaker 4: and mentors and families away from from home.
Speaker 1: Are they the ones that check in on your and
Speaker 1: make sure you're okay or do you have producers or
Speaker 1: welfare people that can come and check on you and
Speaker 1: make sure that you're going okay?
Speaker 4: Honestly, the whole crew, I would say, you know, whether
Speaker 4: it's the story producers for the IVS or the Foxies
Speaker 4: or you know, even people who are helping us, you know,
Speaker 4: get from A to B, you know, driving us to set.
Speaker 4: I think everyone is just so human and so willing
Speaker 4: to sort of check in with you because they know
Speaker 4: how difficult it is. We're effectively in a bubble and
Speaker 4: the steaks have been really raised to a really high level,
Speaker 4: and so a lot of it is self imposed pressure,
Speaker 4: and I think the crew has done a great job
Speaker 4: of realizing that and just being there to provide care
Speaker 4: and support. But are so levity because I think levity
Speaker 4: so important, you know, being able to dance it out
Speaker 4: or do something goofy and fun. Yeah, that's been a
Speaker 4: great coping mechanism too. I think the last thing that
Speaker 4: I'd say is is always try to find something fun.
Speaker 4: And for me it was, you know, dancing a lot
Speaker 4: on set was just a great.
Speaker 2: Coping Are you a good dancer?
Speaker 1: Though?
Speaker 5: I am a keen dancer.
Speaker 4: I am a lot of interpretive dancing, of taking a
Speaker 4: lot of dancing classes. I don't know the juries out
Speaker 4: in that. There might maybe some videos in which you
Speaker 4: can see and you know, past judgment, but I definitely
Speaker 4: love a good.
Speaker 1: Dance, you know, when the judges announced that they were
Speaker 1: going to have a childhood classic. You know, what was
Speaker 1: your favorite home cooked meal as a kid? What is
Speaker 1: your childhood classic?
Speaker 4: Yeah, honestly, I had no idea what it was going
Speaker 4: to be. I was hoping that it would be a dessert.
Speaker 4: Love to I love to learn new techniques and in
Speaker 4: terms of classics as a kid, so my parents are
Speaker 4: Chinese from Shanghai, and so growing up, it was a
Speaker 4: lot of you know, it's gonna it's not gonna sound
Speaker 4: as good when I translated into English, but there was
Speaker 4: There's this dish that's basically like fried egg and tomato,
Speaker 4: which is like Chinese kid's equivalent of I don't know,
Speaker 4: vegiemi toast, Yeah, veggiemi toast okay, and Australian kid kid's
Speaker 4: equivalent of veggimi on toast. It's just it's just pure
Speaker 4: comfort food. And the other one is my dad makes
Speaker 4: really and I'm so glad that I got to do
Speaker 4: it on the Service Challenge. He makes really good raised
Speaker 4: pork belly that sort of melts in your mouth, So
Speaker 4: that would be another classic.
Speaker 1: Alice, nobody likes this question, but could you have done
Speaker 1: anything different? Do you think looking back, you know with
Speaker 1: the Messianetta, Now that you've had that experience, are you thinking, oh, gee,
Speaker 1: I wish I would have just done this part differently.
Speaker 4: Yes and no, because I think I still haven't figured
Speaker 4: out what happened to my ice cream, because if it
Speaker 4: was the machine that was set too high or I
Speaker 4: honestly no idea because when I look at Declan's and Graces,
Speaker 4: there's didn't freeze over in the machine, and for some reason,
Speaker 4: both of mine did. And so I have no idea
Speaker 4: if it was the machine or the ratios. But it
Speaker 4: surprises me that it would be the ratios because I
Speaker 4: did two different types of gilato. So I mean, at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, I don't know how to
Speaker 4: fix that.
Speaker 2: We'll blame the machine.
Speaker 4: Other than having a different machine, A poor tradesman, what
Speaker 4: is it blame? No, No, But there was no way
Speaker 4: to walk that back. I couldn't chemically, I mean, and
Speaker 4: you saw on the show. I mean by a tep.
Speaker 4: To walk that back was to leave it on the
Speaker 4: cannon t melt a little bit so I could put
Speaker 4: it in the molds. But I honestly I don't know
Speaker 4: that that would have been That was the sticking point
Speaker 4: for me, and then it was just harder to walk back.
Speaker 1: Did you think the Declan was going to use his
Speaker 1: immunity pin the way in which the episode plays out
Speaker 1: on television, it really did seem like he was going
Speaker 1: to maybe call that out even up to the last minute,
Speaker 1: Not that I think it would have necessarily affected the elimination,
Speaker 1: but was that in the back of your mind?
Speaker 4: Honestly, I didn't think he would use it because I
Speaker 4: know Declan well enough and I've seen him, you know,
Speaker 4: in the trenches in the first pressure test to know that.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's a tradee. He knows how to you know,
Speaker 4: follow instructions very precisely and methodically, and he's good, good
Speaker 4: head on his shoulders, he's not phased by things. So
Speaker 4: I just thought going into the cook, A, he's got
Speaker 4: the experience of the lamingtons, and B he's got the
Speaker 4: right mentality and wherewithal to do really well in a
Speaker 4: pressure test. So I honestly didn't think he would uce
Speaker 4: the immunity pin, and I thought it was just it
Speaker 4: was going to effectively be a one and two charts
Speaker 4: of elimination.
Speaker 2: Would you have used an immunity pin if you had one.
Speaker 4: If I knew about the gelato for fiasco, probably, but
Speaker 4: at that point I probably would have been playing.
Speaker 3: It in the second half.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I probably would have just to save my bacon.
Speaker 1: Donado was what a fantastic chef. I mean, the standard
Speaker 1: of celebrity chefs on the show are unbelievable. Was there
Speaker 1: anything in particular that you learned from him?
Speaker 4: Honestly, he helped me a couple of times during the cook
Speaker 4: and he was so kind and patient and thoughtful. I
Speaker 4: mean you saw that I was struggling with tempering chocolate
Speaker 4: at one point, and even with the gelato, just making
Speaker 4: sure that I could get it safely out of the mold.
Speaker 4: So you know, he was giving me techniques on piping,
Speaker 4: how to pipe well, how to temper well, what to
Speaker 4: look out for. Yeah, I just felt like I was
Speaker 4: getting a mini pastry class from a great pastry chef,
Speaker 4: and he did it with such generosity and patience. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm really glad I had that interaction.
Speaker 1: Also, I wanted to ask you about, you know, celebrity
Speaker 1: chefs here in Australia, and you know, you were talking
Speaker 1: about your heritage being from Shanghai.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like we have.
Speaker 1: Enough celebrity chefs representing multicultural Australia on shows like Master Chef.
Speaker 4: I think Master Chef when it first started you fifteen
Speaker 4: years ago, has done a great service to Australia's culinary scene.
Speaker 4: I mean, as you say, we are a multicultural country,
Speaker 4: benefit greatly from that in the culinary, in a cultural way,
Speaker 4: in all those ways. And Master Chef opened our households
Speaker 4: to the fact that we are multicultural and that there's
Speaker 4: so many dishes, whether it's from South Asia and at
Speaker 4: least China Africa that need to be put on a
Speaker 4: plate and need to be tried. And you know, it's
Speaker 4: created careers for people like Monoli and Poe and Reynolds,
Speaker 4: and it will for other people on this show. And
Speaker 4: I am just so proud to be part of something
Speaker 4: that a embraces the fact that Australia is multiculture and
Speaker 4: be actively promotes, you know, people who otherwise wouldn't have
Speaker 4: had the opportunity to make a statement about the culture
Speaker 4: that they come from and be able to do that
Speaker 4: in this really generous way on MasterChef.
Speaker 1: Would you say that this experience has changed your life?
Speaker 1: Do you think that being a part of Master chef
Speaker 1: has taking you down a different path I think.
Speaker 4: So, you know, there's a god. I sound like such
Speaker 4: a nerd. There's a quote by Soren kid Guard, life
Speaker 4: is best lived forward but understood backwards. And I'm trying
Speaker 4: to live it forward. And then I guess I'll see
Speaker 4: as I go along that you know, how it's changed
Speaker 4: my life. But I have this intuition that it has.
Speaker 4: You know, I've met amazing people I want to find
Speaker 4: ways to collaborate with. I've been so inspired by the judges,
Speaker 4: you know, getting to meet Melissa my idol was just
Speaker 4: in an added bonus. So it's just given me, if anything,
Speaker 4: And I said it on the show with fire and
Speaker 4: my belly, to say to myself, actually, I can do
Speaker 4: something out of food. It's not just a pipe dream,
Speaker 4: you know, I can actually make it happen.
Speaker 1: What advice do you have for people who are wanting
Speaker 1: to apply. I mean, I feel like this show is
Speaker 1: going to go on for a very long time and
Speaker 1: this is a great opportunity for you to explain to
Speaker 1: people who might want to apply, you know, some advice
Speaker 1: on how to get onto the show and how to
Speaker 1: deal with the show once you're there.
Speaker 4: So advice on how to get onto the show. Well, firstly,
Speaker 4: you know, I think anyone with a love of food
Speaker 4: and who wants to get involved in the food world
Speaker 4: should apply. You know, in terms of the application. At
Speaker 4: the end of the day, you just you know, this
Speaker 4: is the oft quoted. It sounds cliche, but it's so true.
Speaker 4: Just need to be yourself because everyone else has taken
Speaker 4: and you know, whatever light you have or statement you
Speaker 4: have about food is going to be unique and it's
Speaker 4: worth expressing. And hopefully you can do that in Master
Speaker 4: Chef and see Master Chef not necessarily as just a competition.
Speaker 4: You know, one person is going to win, but for
Speaker 4: the rest of us, it's a platform. It's in to
Speaker 4: pivot or to be more involved in food. So to
Speaker 4: see that strategically as air platform, I think is probably
Speaker 4: my biggest takeaway. You know, we can get fixated about
Speaker 4: you know, not failing and about winning in life, but
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, we're all in our
Speaker 4: own races and it's just finding opportunities like Master Chef
Speaker 4: that allow us to get to where we want to
Speaker 4: want to go in life. And so as a result,
Speaker 4: I think everyone should apply if they love food and
Speaker 4: treat it as an experience to do what they love.
Speaker 2: Challenge yourself.
Speaker 1: I always say, if you're scared of it, push against
Speaker 1: the fear exactly.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I and yeah always.
Speaker 4: I mean I've made it my life motto is, you know,
Speaker 4: don't run away from things that you're scared of, Actually
Speaker 4: run towards it and see where it takes you.
Speaker 1: You might be surprised when you left the competition. Did
Speaker 1: you have an idea as to who you think might
Speaker 1: take it out and who's going to be the winner
Speaker 1: of Australian MASTERSHIF for twenty twenty three my own.
Speaker 4: Sort of view, I have a short list. I probably
Speaker 4: would say Rhiannon, Kath and Declan, just based on you know,
Speaker 4: their cooking expertise, their characters and their stamina. I mean
Speaker 4: Rhiannon just has you know, the greatest stamina I've ever seen,
Speaker 4: and she's got amazing energy. She's so experienced with different cuisines,
Speaker 4: so vibrant, so willing to learn and grow. And Cath too,
Speaker 4: I mean she's got a wealth of experience cooking at
Speaker 4: home and you know we've seen on multiple episodes already
Speaker 4: that she's got incredible intuestion and technique in a restaurant,
Speaker 4: quality food and a couple of these dishes. She's played
Speaker 4: it and then and then Declan is just I mean,
Speaker 4: who doesn't love Declan. He's he's he's got the character,
Speaker 4: he's got the humor. You knows, who's great at a
Speaker 4: fish as we know as his game. But he's has
Speaker 4: grown a lot in the episodes, and you know, kind
Speaker 4: of reminds I'm sure people would make this comparison, but
Speaker 4: it reminds me of the younger Andy. You know, somebody
Speaker 4: was just soaking it all up, and so I could
Speaker 4: see the three of them, you know, buying for the top.
Speaker 1: I think he might be right, But Declan, what I
Speaker 1: want to ask you next is something that I ask
Speaker 1: everyone who joins the podcast. What is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, something that we may not see as an audience,
Speaker 1: kind of your behind the scene secret of Mastership of Australia.
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm going to say something very frankly, is that
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, the day of a
Speaker 4: long cook, the last thing we want to do is cook,
Speaker 4: and so we eat out a lot, or we all
Speaker 4: go to somebody's room. You know, I really remember that
Speaker 4: Robbie loved to cook for us after a long cook
Speaker 4: he's you make a curry or a luxA and we'd
Speaker 4: all just chip in and bring you know, like a
Speaker 4: pot luck, we'd bring our own a dish and we
Speaker 4: just sit down and eat and have fun and unwind.
Speaker 1: I also love that food brings people together, and I
Speaker 1: think that's why. You know, if you look at the
Speaker 1: history of Mastership Australia, the camaraderie between the cast and
Speaker 1: the crew and everyone.
Speaker 2: Is so so warm.
Speaker 1: It's so inclusive, and I think that has a lot
Speaker 1: to do with the food and the way in which
Speaker 1: food brings people together.
Speaker 4: Intellectually known this for a while and been and romantically
Speaker 4: attracted to this notion of you know, breaking bread. Some
Speaker 4: of the best interactions you have with people are over food.
Speaker 4: The best conversations you have with people are over food.
Speaker 4: You know, even if you are from two different political
Speaker 4: points of view or cultures that are antagonistic towards each other,
Speaker 4: you can both feel nourished by a meal or appreciate
Speaker 4: how good it is. And I don't think food is
Speaker 4: polarizing in the way that other things are in our world.
Speaker 4: It brings out the best in people, and I Samny
Speaker 4: saw this on the show, and it creates connects and
Speaker 4: bonds that don't polarize, and I think we really do
Speaker 4: need that in our world today when there's just so
Speaker 4: much polarization.
Speaker 1: As you know, I just want to say thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your generosity with your time and chatting
Speaker 1: to me from overseas no less. I think you did
Speaker 1: a fantastic job on the show, and I'll be interested
Speaker 1: to see you know where you take this experience from here.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: I really appreciate your time, and I'm sure you get
Speaker 4: this a lot, but you've got a very soothing voice,
Speaker 4: so it's been good to talk to you.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much.