Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast past week. Theirlin Welcome back guys
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. As you may know, my name is
Speaker 1: Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast to get all
Speaker 1: the inside goss on the popular TV shows you may
Speaker 1: be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets
Speaker 1: are a major part of our home entertainment, and yet
Speaker 1: very little is known about how our favorite shows get made.
Speaker 1: So each episode I've been finding guests the wander dive
Speaker 1: just that little bit deeper to the shows they're currently making,
Speaker 1: so that you can hear all their exclusive stories and
Speaker 1: gain access to the biggest names in Australian television. I
Speaker 1: want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast.
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Speaker 1: This episode of the podcast, I'm joined by Artie and Rue,
Speaker 1: both eliminated from Master Chef Australia this week after two
Speaker 1: very high pressure tests sent them home. Artie Nevgi is
Speaker 1: a thirty one year old doctor from Melbourne, Victoria. Artie
Speaker 1: had always been a passionate cook, but a few years
Speaker 1: back she was forced to put her dreams to be
Speaker 1: on MasterChef Australia on hold to work on the front
Speaker 1: lines during the pandemic. This season, we saw Artie hanging
Speaker 1: up her doctor's coat and giving this experience a real shot,
Speaker 1: and I have to say that she was one of
Speaker 1: my favorites and I was very sad to see her go.
Speaker 1: Ruema Pedsi, a twenty nine year old oral therapist based
Speaker 1: in Western Australia, also set her sights on culinary greatness.
Speaker 1: RUE very successfully, has already landed a deal with Cole Supermarkets,
Speaker 1: and after talking with some of the other contestants, I
Speaker 1: think she's one miscongeniality of the season. We did see
Speaker 1: her in that pressure test be only slightly beaten by CAC,
Speaker 1: but something tells me we haven't seen the last of RUE.
Speaker 1: You will hear both contestants open up about their time
Speaker 1: on the show and get more insights into what really
Speaker 1: went down during production. I will ask them about their
Speaker 1: highs and lows and if their careers and their health
Speaker 1: industry have ended to make room for their cooking ambitions.
Speaker 1: Artie and I do talk about cooking herbs, and while
Speaker 1: she might not ever confuse time and Rosemary again, she
Speaker 1: probably will always be kicking herself when she tastes them.
Speaker 1: Rub Try talk about her sources that sent her home
Speaker 1: and also talk about the sources that landed her the
Speaker 1: lucrative spot in Cole Supermarkets. Plus, we will get plenty
Speaker 1: of exclusives from behind the scenes of MASTERSHEF Australia twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, which is currently on Network ten and you
Speaker 1: can catch up on ten Play if you've fallen just
Speaker 1: that little bit behind. Anyway, let's bring Artie into the
Speaker 1: podcast first and stick around for who will be popping
Speaker 1: in straight after.
Speaker 2: Why how are you going?
Speaker 1: I'm really well, I'm very disappointed though, and me too.
Speaker 1: You know why you were my favorite. I just really
Speaker 1: loved the way in which you talk, the way in
Speaker 1: which you articulate yourself, and I just thinking, eventually I'm
Speaker 1: going to get a chance to talk to you and
Speaker 1: ask you where that all comes from. Like, your communication
Speaker 1: skills are just amazing.
Speaker 2: Always enjoyed public speaking. I was a drama captain in
Speaker 2: high school. I'm like, I've always just I don't know,
Speaker 2: I've enjoy speaking and talking to people and yeah, engaging
Speaker 2: one of those things I guess.
Speaker 1: With casting shows like this, it kind of involves looking
Speaker 1: for sort of bright and diverse personalities. When you applied
Speaker 1: for the show, you know, what did you feel like
Speaker 1: you were bringing to the competition.
Speaker 2: I don't know. It's kind of what we were talking about, Like,
Speaker 2: I do love speaking and engaging with people, and whether
Speaker 2: that's in person or on a camera or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: doing audio, doing the voiceovers or whatever it is. I
Speaker 2: really enjoy that and I think I do have that
Speaker 2: sort of a presence, so I think they saw that.
Speaker 2: And then I had the food thing as well, so
Speaker 2: it all worked out.
Speaker 1: Do you get a sense from the producers at any
Speaker 1: stage what they want from you, like in those initial
Speaker 1: zoom chats where you're auditioning or as the show's going on,
Speaker 1: do you kind of feel like they're positioning you in
Speaker 1: any way or do you get an idea of what
Speaker 1: they want?
Speaker 2: Honestly, no, Like I think they just very much want
Speaker 2: you to be yourself, maybe you know, a very well
Speaker 2: presented version of yourself, and they want a diverse cast,
Speaker 2: so they're not trying to pigeonhole us into a particular way,
Speaker 2: like you must be like this, or you must say
Speaker 2: these things, or you must cook this type of food.
Speaker 2: They very much just want to see what we can bring.
Speaker 2: And I guess they know that the more natural we
Speaker 2: are and the more ourselves we are, the better result
Speaker 2: they're going to get at the end as well. So
Speaker 2: I really we weren't given guidance.
Speaker 1: I always felt like when I applied for a reality
Speaker 1: show many moons ago, I remember saying to my partner,
Speaker 1: I wish they just tell me what they want from me,
Speaker 1: because I will be that I'll do it, yeah, and
Speaker 1: then you know, once the show was over, I asked
Speaker 1: one of the executive producers, like, did you have an
Speaker 1: idea of what you wanted? And he was like, yes,
Speaker 1: we did, and you did exactly what we wanted. We
Speaker 1: didn't have to tell you. And if we told you,
Speaker 1: it would be unauthentic.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you'd have to be like putting on your
Speaker 2: acting it out instead of just being yourself. So I
Speaker 2: think it's better that I don't know, otherwise I would
Speaker 2: over analyze it.
Speaker 1: What has the audience? What audiences that you've probably seen
Speaker 1: on the street and your friends and family, what if
Speaker 1: they wanted to know, Like, I'd love to know what
Speaker 1: the most common question that you've been getting after being.
Speaker 3: On the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's so many and things that I would not
Speaker 2: think to ask are the things that people seem to
Speaker 2: be like obsessed about, like oh, how long until the tastings?
Speaker 2: Do you have to stand on the gantry for ages?
Speaker 2: You know, when it's a pressure test and like stuff
Speaker 2: that I'm like, wow, is that like your first question?
Speaker 2: But yeah, those sorts of things are what people get
Speaker 2: really into.
Speaker 1: I always think that though, So hang on a sex
Speaker 1: So when you're up on the gantry and they're like
Speaker 1: today's cook is five and a half hours hours?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then I mean, is that why everyone's leaning
Speaker 1: on that gantry banister the whole time? It's because they're exhausted.
Speaker 2: Because we literally can't stand anymore. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Surely they get you though, to be like you're allowed
Speaker 1: to sit down, and they're like, guys, we're going to
Speaker 1: get a shot of you talking. Can you lean over
Speaker 1: the bantery?
Speaker 3: You think?
Speaker 2: But I think because anything can happen in the kitchen
Speaker 2: at any time. You know, someone you know burns their
Speaker 2: deersh or what drops it on the floor, So they
Speaker 2: want us to be always there so that we can
Speaker 2: react and no matter what happens we're there, and they
Speaker 2: can get us in a background shot, or they can
Speaker 2: get us reacting and discussing what's going on on the floor,
Speaker 2: so we are actually standing for a really really long time.
Speaker 2: On pressure test days.
Speaker 1: I just wonder whether or not like what you're always
Speaker 1: talking about, because if it was me, I sort of
Speaker 1: flashed back to what I was, Like it's sport at school,
Speaker 1: and I was supposed to be playing the sport when
Speaker 1: I'd be on the field, but I'd actually be talking
Speaker 1: to like one of the other fielders about like the
Speaker 1: movies I saw on the weekend, or did you miss
Speaker 1: home in away or neighbors.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know, it is exactly the same because they
Speaker 2: can be really really long cooks. And yes, sometimes something
Speaker 2: really exciting happens or something crazy happens and you are
Speaker 2: talking about the cook that's going on, or you know,
Speaker 2: what you think about the contestants that are cooking today,
Speaker 2: But you can't just talk about that for five hours.
Speaker 2: You do end up just being like, you know, also,
Speaker 2: what do you reckon you'll do after this? Or like, god,
Speaker 2: you cook much on the weekend, or have you been
Speaker 2: to that restaurant like you do? Because gosh, like you know,
Speaker 2: there it's hours.
Speaker 1: The magic of the show is the connection that you
Speaker 1: will have with one another, and that that is so authentic.
Speaker 1: And when you start to hear some of that stuff
Speaker 1: that you are up there for so long, spending so
Speaker 1: much time together and sharing so much, it's now not
Speaker 1: so surprising that we can feel that intensity and the
Speaker 1: relationship of all of you.
Speaker 2: It's a really intense environment, and nobody else understands what
Speaker 2: that is like except for the other people that you're with.
Speaker 2: You're spending like you know, too much time, too much time,
Speaker 2: like an unhealthy amount of time with these people, like
Speaker 2: you know, twelve hours plus a day with these with
Speaker 2: these people, and you're all stressed out, and somebody gets
Speaker 2: bad feedback and somebody gets good feedback, and nobody else
Speaker 2: really gets how weird that experience is except for the
Speaker 2: other people. So you do end up bonding on that level.
Speaker 1: And it never goes away, my friend, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: that much right now. You will think about this in
Speaker 1: years to come, and people will say strange things about
Speaker 1: the people who are on the show with and you
Speaker 1: might have also said them to your partner or to
Speaker 1: people behind closed doors. But if anyone says anything bad
Speaker 1: about them, you jump to their defense like this, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Exactly right, Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: These Caviat pearl taste tests look quite stressful to me
Speaker 1: because I'm a huge herb lover, so I use a
Speaker 1: lot of rosemary and time and oregano and dried basil
Speaker 1: leaves and all of those things. But I make my
Speaker 1: own Italian herbs as well for when I make my spaghetti,
Speaker 1: where I don't just buy the mixed version. I sort
Speaker 1: of mix them myselves because I like but you can
Speaker 1: get quite confused really easily. I'll be in the kitchen
Speaker 1: and making my spaghetti and I'll be like, is it
Speaker 1: that I'm missing time? Is it that I'm missing this?
Speaker 1: So I guess that whole test to start with must
Speaker 1: have been really quite stressful for you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. It was really quite intimidating to walk in and
Speaker 2: even just see that table, right, Like, we've never seen
Speaker 2: anything like that before. It looked like a science experiment,
Speaker 2: you know, tiny little gell beads or pearls that were
Speaker 2: just the essence of the flavor like nothing else. Didn't
Speaker 2: smell like anything. Absolutely none of the tastes, sorry, absolutely
Speaker 2: none of the smell of it, none of the texture,
Speaker 2: and you know, a slight visual clue with the color,
Speaker 2: but otherwise really no visual clues. And it's hard, Like
Speaker 2: I'll kick myself probably for months now being like, of
Speaker 2: course it was Rosemary. But it's hard. You've got the
Speaker 2: judges like just staring at you, You've got lights and
Speaker 2: cameras everywhere, the clock is ticking. You know, you've got
Speaker 2: to make a decision, you know, for me, or it
Speaker 2: was Rosemarie and I said time and I knew it
Speaker 2: was going to be one of the two. But it's
Speaker 2: really really hard in that moment to think clearly and rationally.
Speaker 1: You do hear about this sort of stuff, you know,
Speaker 1: right across the board with these sort of flow shows
Speaker 1: where you know you're constantly being filmed. You hear it
Speaker 1: with RuPaul's Drag Race, you hear it with Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars, like anything where you're just in a space
Speaker 1: like that and you can so easily get into your head.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes the most simplest of things can seem
Speaker 1: extremely confusing in that environment.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And it's almost weird to think of with these
Speaker 2: challenges because obviously the cameras are always on us at
Speaker 2: all times, whenever we're doing the cook whenever we're in
Speaker 2: the kitchen, but especially with the taste test, when you're
Speaker 2: the one person to walk up to the front, it's
Speaker 2: really like, oh okay, the spotlight is on me now,
Speaker 2: Like I know, it is like all on me. I
Speaker 2: can't hope that the cameras are some where else and
Speaker 2: missing this, Like I know that they are watching me
Speaker 2: and they are waiting for my answer. So yeah, pressure
Speaker 2: is on. And then in the heat of the moment
Speaker 2: to be like God which like earthy herb am I
Speaker 2: dealing with here? Like it was tough?
Speaker 1: I call it though what's my name again? It sounds
Speaker 1: crazy to viewers that are watching it from home, but
Speaker 1: you know it does happen to you.
Speaker 2: Absolutely yeah. And I guess what I didn't appreciate until
Speaker 2: I did the show myself is like, we're not celebrities.
Speaker 2: We're not trained to be in this environment. We don't
Speaker 2: This is our first time being on television. It's not
Speaker 2: something that any of us have done our training in,
Speaker 2: or have any experience in. So as well as having
Speaker 2: our food be put on the line every day, we're
Speaker 2: also kind of learning about like oh okay, that's what
Speaker 2: it's like to be on TV. And I wonder how
Speaker 2: they're going to edit that, And I just made a
Speaker 2: fool of myself just then. Is that going to be
Speaker 2: on TV where they edit that out? So all of
Speaker 2: there's so many layers to being on the show more
Speaker 2: than cooking, and I think that really adds to the
Speaker 2: to the fun of it, but also to the intensity
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Worrying about all of those things. Did we get to
Speaker 1: see the version of you that you thought we were
Speaker 1: going to get to see? I mean, it's very hard
Speaker 1: because television and especially reality is so strange because we
Speaker 1: all have an idea of who we think we are
Speaker 1: for other people, but then when you watch it back
Speaker 1: and you see it from other people's perspective, sometimes people
Speaker 1: can be really way off from how other people are
Speaker 1: reading them.
Speaker 2: You know, absolutely, I feel very lucky basically to have
Speaker 2: been on Mastership, which is a really positive show, and
Speaker 2: they are not trying to make out anyone to be
Speaker 2: like the evil one or the you know whatever. They
Speaker 2: don't try and do that sort of an edit. They're
Speaker 2: not trying to make it in any way a negative show,
Speaker 2: and they're not trying to make drama or of you know,
Speaker 2: oh she's evil and everyone else hates her. There's none
Speaker 2: of that. They just want to show everyone in the
Speaker 2: best light. So I feel really lucky to have gotten,
Speaker 2: you know, shown on TV the way that I was.
Speaker 2: I think I came out the way that I wanted
Speaker 2: to be shown. I felt happy and bubbly and excited
Speaker 2: to be there, and so I'm really relieved.
Speaker 1: I want to ask this before we move away from
Speaker 1: this herb thing, just really quickly. And I know I'm
Speaker 1: obsessed with herbs, but I want to know, like this
Speaker 1: is a common question. Coriander is this herb that really
Speaker 1: polarizes people? You know, it's a polarizing herb. For me,
Speaker 1: I love it. I could literally put coriander and everything.
Speaker 1: But some people say it tastes like soaps. To deal
Speaker 1: with that, like, I don't understand, like something so specific that,
Speaker 1: you know, so many people say it tastes like soap, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: what's going on with coriander?
Speaker 2: It is a very divisive herb. And I used to
Speaker 2: be like, it is so racist if you don't like coriander.
Speaker 2: But it is actually a genetic thing. As I have learned,
Speaker 2: there is a gene that causes some people for it
Speaker 2: to taste very soapy and kind of dirty to them,
Speaker 2: whereas for others, we love that sort of earthiness and
Speaker 2: bright fresh I don't know whatever deliciousness that it is.
Speaker 2: So there is some sort of a genetic trait that
Speaker 2: means that some people just don't.
Speaker 1: Like it, unfortunately for them, because I just love it.
Speaker 2: Not on everything, but on anything where it will go.
Speaker 2: I put it off.
Speaker 1: Oh you're not on everything, but I mean I do.
Speaker 1: If I'm cooking four people coming over, I will usually ask.
Speaker 1: It's something that you'll ask if someone's coming over. You'll
Speaker 1: be like one of those Corianda people. You know, this challenge,
Speaker 1: this is something that gets me every time with Master
Speaker 1: Chef every season. Some of these ways in which we
Speaker 1: find out who is cooking and getting the black apron
Speaker 1: comes down to like a luck and skill test. Do
Speaker 1: you think that the challenges should only involve skill, because
Speaker 1: I mean, the luck part of this was that you're
Speaker 1: choosing which flavors to try. You could be picking all
Speaker 1: the easy flavors. That's the that's the luck part. But
Speaker 1: don't you think you should have all been tasting the
Speaker 1: same flavors and basing it all on skill. What did
Speaker 1: you when you think about that?
Speaker 2: It's a really interesting point. And I think you know,
Speaker 2: when you're the one to go home, you always replaying
Speaker 2: and you're like, off, i'd only just stood, you know,
Speaker 2: one person to the left, I would have gotten that flavor,
Speaker 2: and I probably would have gotten that flavor, and I
Speaker 2: would have been safe today and I probably would have
Speaker 2: won Master Chef. Then, like it's very easy to of course,
Speaker 2: but at the same time, look, I get why they
Speaker 2: do it. I think it was also really important for
Speaker 2: me to remember that we are making a TV show,
Speaker 2: and without it being good television, there is no chance
Speaker 2: for us to ever cook food and then maybe win
Speaker 2: a quarter of a million dollars.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: There's no like other environment where they're just like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm like cook and if we like it, we'll like
Speaker 2: pay you keep the money. It needs to be good TV.
Speaker 2: So I do get why they do it. As we
Speaker 2: know one Master Chef, a lot of it comes down
Speaker 2: to luck on the day, not just with the challenge,
Speaker 2: but you know, you have one bad day, or you
Speaker 2: didn't sleep well the night before or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: and the best cooks can go home early. So yes,
Speaker 2: it does come down to luck. Yes, obviously it is
Speaker 2: a very skill based competition, but there's no denying that
Speaker 2: there is a luck element to it. But that's just
Speaker 2: the name of the game.
Speaker 1: I reckon, but it's still for me, it doesn't land
Speaker 1: that well. I'm always like, I think we should be
Speaker 1: testing these people on skill. But you know, in the
Speaker 1: second round, you all had the same you know, you
Speaker 1: had seven five minutes to cook a dish fire by color. Again,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh god, you know this all comes
Speaker 1: down to just being the unlucky one that gets a
Speaker 1: bad color. And in my mind, I thought, what would
Speaker 1: I cook with? What color do I not want? What
Speaker 1: color do I want?
Speaker 2: I know I didn't want green. I wanted orange. I
Speaker 2: just thought I would have had a lot more to
Speaker 2: play with with orange. That being said, I think if
Speaker 2: I had actually executed the dish that I had in
Speaker 2: my mind, I would have been safe. Like the color
Speaker 2: green didn't send me home. I just couldn't quite pull
Speaker 2: it together yesterday. And this dish that I had in
Speaker 2: my mind that was beautiful and played it lovely and
Speaker 2: looked great and was you know all of that. I
Speaker 2: would have been perfectly safe. I just didn't get to
Speaker 2: put up what I had in my mind yesterday.
Speaker 1: Are you one of those people though, that when you've
Speaker 1: got something in your head takes you a while to
Speaker 1: get over it. Because I was watching him in the
Speaker 1: kitchen and I was relating to that because I was thinking,
Speaker 1: sometimes when you can be hyper focused on something and
Speaker 1: then you're being forced to go in a different direction,
Speaker 1: there's like a period where you're slowed right down because
Speaker 1: you're trying to that you're trying to let it go,
Speaker 1: You're trying to move forward. Is that something that you
Speaker 1: find that happens to you in real world?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's like your brain is stuttering and you're trying
Speaker 2: to be like just move on, like, let's move forward
Speaker 2: with this. That's easy to say, it's really hard to
Speaker 2: do because you're in that environment and you're like, I
Speaker 2: could be going home today, just think of an idea,
Speaker 2: like give me something, and your brain is just like,
Speaker 2: you know, the sort of blankness that it takes monks
Speaker 2: like decades to achieve, and I'm just like completely blank.
Speaker 2: There's not a thought going on in my hand. So
Speaker 2: it's really really hard. And everyone's like, oh, just stay
Speaker 2: positive and think of something. Yeah, I know, just really
Speaker 2: tough to do.
Speaker 1: Love Rue, but because of the situation, I would have
Speaker 1: been slightly resentful as well. Did you find yourself being
Speaker 1: resentful of Rue? Are you we able to let that
Speaker 1: park go?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: No, not at all. Rue and I are really good friend.
Speaker 2: So I even said to her at the end, before
Speaker 2: one of our names was read out yesterday, I said,
Speaker 2: this is the worst case scenario. We were roommates and
Speaker 2: we'd woken up that morning we were this is good,
Speaker 2: We're going to be fine, We're going to get this like,
Speaker 2: let's go, and then it ended up with us in
Speaker 2: the bottom two. So it really could not have gone worse.
Speaker 2: Miserable turn of events. But you know that's how it is.
Speaker 2: Absolutely no resentment, that's just the show. And I was
Speaker 2: just glad she was safe.
Speaker 1: You also put your career as a doctor on pause.
Speaker 1: And maybe I missed this part, but what sort of
Speaker 1: a doctor were you? Because I know you've been doing
Speaker 1: that as your profession for a long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this this is my tenth year now. So
Speaker 2: I specialized in internal medicine, so I'm a physician. I
Speaker 2: work at a hospital, like at a public hospital at
Speaker 2: the moment, and yeah, so I just work in that realm.
Speaker 2: I do love it, and I still love it. But
Speaker 2: I needed to do this thing in food, otherwise I
Speaker 2: would have thought about it for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: What happens now, though, I mean, which industry is going
Speaker 1: to be that well? Which industry has the biggest calling
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 2: At this point, it's so hard for me because I
Speaker 2: think they both give me something that the other one
Speaker 2: can't give. Like I love medicine, I love working with patients,
Speaker 2: I love my colleagues, but it doesn't give me everything
Speaker 2: that I want. I love food, I love how creative
Speaker 2: it is. I love the people in the industry, but
Speaker 2: I also miss things about medicine. If there's a way
Speaker 2: that I can do both, that would be ideal. I
Speaker 2: still think I've got more to do in food, so
Speaker 2: I'd love to try and you know, make my way
Speaker 2: in that field. But a little bit it remains to
Speaker 2: be seen.
Speaker 1: Maybe you'll start getting phone calls from all the big hospitals,
Speaker 1: like you know, Monash and whatever. They're all going to
Speaker 1: start calling because they'll be like, we love that you're
Speaker 1: a doctor, but you can also cook in the kitchen
Speaker 1: for the camp.
Speaker 2: Maybe the patient's food won't be so terrible.
Speaker 1: Maybe not, maybe not? Alrighty, So who do you think
Speaker 1: is going to win this season? Now? I know you
Speaker 1: would know more because it's obviously a pre recorded reality show,
Speaker 1: which you know, but I'd be more interested to know
Speaker 1: about how you felt coming out of the kitchen when
Speaker 1: you left. Who did you think was going to win?
Speaker 2: It's a really tough one because some of the people
Speaker 2: that I thought were going to win had already been eliminated.
Speaker 2: Like I thought Alice was really strong at the start.
Speaker 2: I know for a fact Antonio has a lot of
Speaker 2: really strong foundational cooking skills from here on. I'm not
Speaker 2: just saying this because she's one of my really good friends.
Speaker 2: I thought ru was really strong. She's really good in desserts,
Speaker 2: which I think puts you in very good stead in
Speaker 2: this competition. Brent obviously has come back and was just
Speaker 2: you know, doing so well is just a gun. Melissa
Speaker 2: had the pin at this you know has the pin
Speaker 2: at this stage, and so you know, I really do
Speaker 2: think that it's anyone's game, and everyone's got a different
Speaker 2: skill set. But you know, maybe those are my picks.
Speaker 1: But maybe if we narrow it down and maybe not
Speaker 1: even just who's going to win this, but who out
Speaker 1: of this season do you think we'll get the most
Speaker 1: out of the Master Chef experience? Who do you think
Speaker 1: could take it the furthest in.
Speaker 2: Terms of after the show where they Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's an amazing opportunity to get picked on a show
Speaker 2: like this and we all lose.
Speaker 1: We've seen contestants before come second and make more out
Speaker 1: of their experience. We've seen people you know that have
Speaker 1: been eliminated very early on in a competition and come
Speaker 1: back for a second series and then won it. Like,
Speaker 1: there's a very different You don't have to win a
Speaker 1: reality show to be the best, do you know what
Speaker 1: I mean?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent agreed? Yeah, absolutely, And I think in
Speaker 2: that realm it comes down to who's a really good cook,
Speaker 2: but also who has the personality for that sort of
Speaker 2: a thing. So I think in terms of working in
Speaker 2: a restaurant, I can see Phil doing really well. He's
Speaker 2: really committed to the idea. He's had this idea for
Speaker 2: such a long time, and I know he's been putting
Speaker 2: in the work ever since his elimination to reach that dream.
Speaker 2: So in terms of who could really be a chef,
Speaker 2: I can definitely see Phil doing it. In terms of media,
Speaker 2: I think ru has a really great personality. I think
Speaker 2: she does great on TV. She's got her barbarous sauce
Speaker 2: in Coles at the moment. She's just a great, lively personality,
Speaker 2: So I think she'll do really well from that point
Speaker 2: of view.
Speaker 1: Something that I ask everyone who joins the podcast is
Speaker 1: what is something from behind the scenes, something that we
Speaker 1: won't see as an audience, but maybe kind of like
Speaker 1: a behind the scenes secret or you know, and that
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily have to give away how the show is made,
Speaker 1: but yeah, come down to you know, something of a
Speaker 1: funny anecdote like or something that happened to you specifically.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a really good question. Then well can I
Speaker 2: go back to the gandry thing on the pressure test days?
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's literally it's one of the questions that
Speaker 2: I get asked the most when I am stopped on
Speaker 2: the street or my friends and they're like, do you
Speaker 2: stand for half you know, for the whole thing? And
Speaker 2: the answer is like, yeah, we do really stand for
Speaker 2: five hours. We generally get a little break where they
Speaker 2: will let half of us go off for maybe fifteen
Speaker 2: minutes just to freshen up, go to the bathroom, grab
Speaker 2: it by to eat, and then they'll send the other
Speaker 2: half off so that there is always someone on the
Speaker 2: gandry to be reacting to what's going on on the floor.
Speaker 2: But otherwise it's just a really really long day.
Speaker 1: When you're doing it, you probably think, God, this is
Speaker 1: going on forever. But once the whole Master Chef experience
Speaker 1: is over, you're like, I would love to go back there, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for another eighteen hours. Come on.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's exactly right. It's like, oh my gosh, these
Speaker 2: days go on for ages, but like it's such a
Speaker 2: once in a lifetime experience that you even those really
Speaker 2: long drawn out bits, you're just like, I'll do it
Speaker 2: all again in a heartbeat.
Speaker 1: Well, I just want to say thank you so much
Speaker 1: for chatting with me. It's such a gorgeous person. I
Speaker 1: absolutely loved watching her on the show. And I'll continue
Speaker 1: to be in your audience, whether you know you're a doctor,
Speaker 1: whether you're a chef, whatever it is, I'll be there.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Yeah, absolutely, keep following me on Instagram.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be posting things all the time still.
Speaker 2: So yeah, thank you to you, Thanks to all of
Speaker 2: the fans who have messaged me really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You could probably tell that Artie was one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: She was really sweet to catch up with and it
Speaker 1: was interesting to hear what her time in the Master
Speaker 1: Chef kitchen meant to her. Now we have Ru popping
Speaker 1: into the podcast, and I think you will really love
Speaker 1: her infectious way of talking about food and will also
Speaker 1: get some of those insights into what her time on
Speaker 1: Master Chef Australia was really like, Hi, Rue, how are
Speaker 1: you are you well?
Speaker 4: I am well, I'm alive, I'm happy.
Speaker 1: Well. It's kind of strange because you guys have to
Speaker 1: wait for so long to see this show because it was,
Speaker 1: you know, filmed a while ago. You kind of would
Speaker 1: have this anticipation of what has been inside your head
Speaker 1: over the last few months and then wondering what was
Speaker 1: going to be shown on television.
Speaker 3: To be fair with.
Speaker 4: You, I actually did not remember anything about that elimination
Speaker 4: day except me walking up so I could remember.
Speaker 3: So I was like, what did I say? Like? What
Speaker 3: did they say to me?
Speaker 4: There is always that bit of anticipation where you're like,
Speaker 4: did I say the right thing?
Speaker 3: Did I like? Did I say something? Wild.
Speaker 4: But look, I've been really happy watching myself back.
Speaker 1: Do you know what I also think is amazing is
Speaker 1: I love Melissa Leong's ability to use words that I
Speaker 1: don't know but I totally understand, and I have to
Speaker 1: agree with her that you have this amazing incandescent smile start.
Speaker 3: Thank you you two kind.
Speaker 1: So you were sharing your room with ARTI this season,
Speaker 1: who I love. But was it strange that, considering you
Speaker 1: both roommates, that you've both gone home back to back.
Speaker 3: Look, I don't how that happened.
Speaker 4: I actually don't know how that happens because in a
Speaker 4: funny and weird way, I also used to.
Speaker 3: Hang around Turnia end Ralph a lot.
Speaker 4: So Antonio, Ralph I and myself used to hang around
Speaker 4: each other a lot, and it's been Antonio, Ralph, Ardie
Speaker 4: then myself to go.
Speaker 3: It's weird. It really is weird.
Speaker 4: But like you know, when your day comes and it's
Speaker 4: not your day, it's just not your day.
Speaker 1: Have you both stayed in contact? I mean, are you
Speaker 1: still in contact with Ardie? Have you been able to
Speaker 1: hang out since the show?
Speaker 3: When I left, I.
Speaker 4: Had already left, But we've become the bestiest of friends.
Speaker 4: I have seen her a few times when I went
Speaker 4: back to Melbourne for my bab Ruth, so as I
Speaker 4: did see her, I have met her partner hopefully since
Speaker 4: I meet her family. But she's become one of my
Speaker 4: closest friends, along with Melissa and Rhannon.
Speaker 1: You know, with you and Kac both being in the
Speaker 1: in your first elimination cook together and Melissa having a
Speaker 1: pin to play, it was a really tough situation for
Speaker 1: you to be in. Did you have any idea how
Speaker 1: that was going to play out? I mean I would
Speaker 1: have assumed Melissa was going to play that pin regardless,
Speaker 1: and then did you have any idea who would be
Speaker 1: the winner? As you were cooking out of you and Cat.
Speaker 4: Look, then if I was in Melissa's position, I would
Speaker 4: have played that pin in the first minute. As soon
Speaker 4: as I saw that dish, I'd be like, yeah, I
Speaker 4: gonna take my feet.
Speaker 3: I am not doing this.
Speaker 1: You know, she wants to kept the experience of cooking
Speaker 1: the food. I mean, wouldn't you cook the wouldn't you
Speaker 1: attempt it just so that you could be busy, so
Speaker 1: you not just standing up there on the gantry doing
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like you want to try it
Speaker 1: and then you know, get as close to it as
Speaker 1: possible and then play the pin.
Speaker 4: Going into the cook, I already went in thinking it's
Speaker 4: just between Cat and I because I knew malhead the
Speaker 4: pin and I didn't want her to feel some type
Speaker 4: of way about playing the pein or anything. I was like, go,
Speaker 4: you do what you need to do whenever you feel
Speaker 4: like it's.
Speaker 3: Right, And during the cook I felt quite comfortable.
Speaker 4: I think the will started falling off when I taste
Speaker 4: the that sauce and I realized that it was a
Speaker 4: bit salty and I was trying to balance it.
Speaker 3: I did balance it.
Speaker 4: Then I had to start catching up with everything ended
Speaker 4: up missing the row I view. So I kind of
Speaker 4: prepared myself for either ways, because.
Speaker 3: You never know.
Speaker 4: You might think you've done well, but you don't know
Speaker 4: how anyone else is going. So I prepared myself for
Speaker 4: either outcome. I would have loved to say, I'm not
Speaker 4: going to lie, just was not meantity.
Speaker 1: Did you work out whether or not if Melissa had
Speaker 1: been competing with that dish? Do you think that she
Speaker 1: would have needed to use the pin? I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that's what everyone wants to know.
Speaker 4: So when I gave Melissa a hug after she played
Speaker 4: her hin. I actually whispered to her, I don't think
Speaker 4: you needed to play of him, because she's really good
Speaker 4: at pressure tests. She's really good at cooking really well
Speaker 4: at the high pressures circumstances. And I've seen her do
Speaker 4: a few pressure tests whilst I've been up on the gantry,
Speaker 4: so I was thinking, oh, my gosh, you in front
Speaker 4: of me.
Speaker 3: I could tend to see you from my pery peral vision.
Speaker 3: You seems to be going really well. But I think
Speaker 3: for her, she just kind of felt like you never know.
Speaker 4: You might think you've done well and then you don't
Speaker 4: believe the pin and you walk up those doors with
Speaker 4: the pin. But I personally feel like she could have
Speaker 4: kept her immunity pin for another cook.
Speaker 1: I really did feel that. I also felt, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you, is Kac's accent getting stronger to
Speaker 1: you as the season goes on? I don't know, what
Speaker 1: do you think?
Speaker 4: Where she's exactly the same to me, like she how
Speaker 4: she founded when we started and how she sounds now,
Speaker 4: it's exactly the same.
Speaker 1: It just I don't know. It's just two particular things
Speaker 1: stood out, and that was Cac seems to be. Her
Speaker 1: accent is twice as strong as when the season started,
Speaker 1: and Declan's jacket was a sign of him peacocking in
Speaker 1: this competition at this point because that jacket, my friend,
Speaker 1: was lovely hashtag hideous, and I think it was a
Speaker 1: way of standing out, you know, because he's doing well.
Speaker 4: Maybe he'll be going to host The Bachelor after.
Speaker 1: I could see him doing that. I think he'd be good.
Speaker 1: I think he'd be really good. And no shade to
Speaker 1: him as well, because I've also got hideous jackets, so
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to be mean to him.
Speaker 3: They think he's really proud with how he dresses.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And you know what's really funny about us
Speaker 1: talking about other contestants is how popular that you have been.
Speaker 1: When I've spoken to these other contestants, are you aware
Speaker 1: of the fact that you're basically this year's miscongeniality. What
Speaker 1: everyone's like. They love watching you on TV when they
Speaker 1: play it back, they love cooking with you, they love
Speaker 1: that all of them have have talked about it. They're
Speaker 1: obsessed with you. Girlfriend, I was there.
Speaker 3: I actually really am obsessed with everyone.
Speaker 4: So I'm really humbled that people have that much nice
Speaker 4: seas to say about me. Look, everyone was so ugly
Speaker 4: during the competition, and I'm pretty sure I'll be taking
Speaker 4: to pretty much everyone for the rest of my life,
Speaker 4: I hope.
Speaker 3: Well, if they can have me.
Speaker 1: Well, you're already kicking goals. You've got all these new friends,
Speaker 1: You've got your barbecue sauce in the coal shells, which
Speaker 1: is unbelievable. Do you think that this mastership experience is
Speaker 1: going to help you now get more of your products
Speaker 1: into other supermarkets around Australia.
Speaker 3: Look, that's the hope.
Speaker 4: I hope the barbecue becomes a staple at Coals because
Speaker 4: people have received it really well. Look, if anything, this
Speaker 4: experience has really showed me that anything is possible. I
Speaker 4: think when I first got in there, I never thought
Speaker 4: I could have a product in coals, And all of
Speaker 4: a sudden, I have a bottle.
Speaker 3: With my face in coals And it just.
Speaker 4: Shows you that, like you know, like you actually don't
Speaker 4: know what the world has to offer you until you
Speaker 4: step out into the world.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to go out and buy it and
Speaker 1: make sure that it's not just a limited product. I
Speaker 1: think it should stay there. We need the staple, we
Speaker 1: need your gorgeous face in the supermarkets. It's got to happen.
Speaker 3: We're not to see you with your little shrine.
Speaker 1: It's on.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: What's so this is this is something really gross to
Speaker 1: confess to you. But my partner and I we love lasagna,
Speaker 1: and we make like your traditional lasagna. We put barbecue
Speaker 1: sauce all over. It is that gross.
Speaker 3: Look, I don't think that's the grossest thing of head.
Speaker 3: I don't think it is. I don't think it is.
Speaker 4: Because I have seen I have seen someone putting the
Speaker 4: sauce that I made, or cheese and crapets.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so that'd.
Speaker 3: Be like, Okay, that's interesting. I'm going to have to
Speaker 3: try that.
Speaker 4: So I think lasagna and barbecue sauce, I think that's
Speaker 4: that's next.
Speaker 1: Well, you're going to get a photo on your Instagram
Speaker 1: in the next couple of days. It'll be your sauce
Speaker 1: on some leftover lasagna, just to promote the sauce and
Speaker 1: to promote.
Speaker 3: The I told you after that.
Speaker 1: What did you actually want from this Master Chef experience?
Speaker 1: I mean you've really swapped, you know, working in the
Speaker 1: health industry to coming in and doing your cooking. You
Speaker 1: talked about when you're coming out of the competition last night,
Speaker 1: that you know, this was just a part of the process,
Speaker 1: Like what's next, Like what are you going to be doing?
Speaker 4: Very good question. I really love pastry. I've grown to
Speaker 4: love pastry in the last maybe year and a half
Speaker 4: two years, and I have been reaching out to a
Speaker 4: few petiserie places, and I've also reached out to Britz
Speaker 4: Carlton and Common Treasury in person just to see if
Speaker 4: I can do a beautiful experience in their pastry section,
Speaker 4: their high Tea section, a pup my pastry skills. I'm
Speaker 4: doing a little close on pastry so that I can
Speaker 4: really know how to formulate my own recipes and also
Speaker 4: like you know, branch out into like diet friendly stuff
Speaker 4: like silly at friendly, vegan friendly stuff, and just be
Speaker 4: a bit more inclusive in the web.
Speaker 3: That I do.
Speaker 4: I already do my churns and the sell really well.
Speaker 4: And I plan on continuing. Do I plan on being
Speaker 4: back to work? Probably not.
Speaker 3: I love being home.
Speaker 4: And I'm hoping like maybe in the near future I
Speaker 4: can have a little cafe, maybe a little gizzit bar,
Speaker 4: where people can come and have some French pastries, have
Speaker 4: a cup of coffee, have a cup of tea, and like,
Speaker 4: you know, just catch up with friendss.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about Claire Smith because Claire Smith,
Speaker 1: you know, I had known of her work. I knew
Speaker 1: that she had the restaurant on care and you mentioned
Speaker 1: that you're a big fan. What had been your relationship
Speaker 1: with Claire prior to this? You know, had you just
Speaker 1: seen her on TV? Had you been to a restaurant?
Speaker 1: What was that like?
Speaker 4: Look, I have not been to any of Klass restaurants,
Speaker 4: but I had seen her on previous seasons of Master Chef,
Speaker 4: and so I have just been a long time fan
Speaker 4: of Claire Smith. I follow her on Instagram, I probably
Speaker 4: like every single days, and when she walks through those dose,
Speaker 4: I was like, I have my web cut up for me,
Speaker 4: but I'm glad it's blessed myths.
Speaker 1: Have you actually tried to recreate it? Because you know,
Speaker 1: the beef and oyster dish, to me was just really overwhelming.
Speaker 1: I looked at it straight away. I could see by
Speaker 1: the faces on all three of you women. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh God, that looks like a really hard dish to make.
Speaker 1: You know, you left an element out of the dish.
Speaker 1: But what was the hardest part to make look the hardest.
Speaker 3: Part, I would have to say it has to be
Speaker 3: the sauces. The saces just needed a little bit of
Speaker 3: a barbaru. I'm joking the sauces.
Speaker 4: I think, you know when you're trying to recreate sauces
Speaker 4: and it's kind of like like you know, you're seasoning
Speaker 4: to your taste, but it still has to be as
Speaker 4: close to the original as possible. And I think I
Speaker 4: really tried my best, but it just was not enough
Speaker 4: for that day.
Speaker 1: I don't This happened to me the other night while
Speaker 1: I was cooking and I realized what I was making
Speaker 1: was too salty, And I then thought about you, because
Speaker 1: I was like, you'd made this dish. Spoiler alert, I
Speaker 1: watched the episodes in advance, so i'd seen this all
Speaker 1: happen on the weekend. Anyway, Monday night, I was cooking
Speaker 1: my dish and it was too salty, And then I
Speaker 1: was like, how were you supposed to reduce How are
Speaker 1: we supposed to reduce the salt? Or if you had
Speaker 1: more time, how would you do it? Would you just
Speaker 1: start again? Or is there a way of reducing the
Speaker 1: salt when we're cooking?
Speaker 3: So vinegar apparently is a major career.
Speaker 4: Okay, vinegar, you know what I wish I had thought
Speaker 4: of that during my mystery box. I could not think obviously,
Speaker 4: I was having a little bit of a head boo boo.
Speaker 4: But vinegar is magical. When I put that vinegar in
Speaker 4: that sauce, I was just mind blown at the drastic
Speaker 4: difference you could taste.
Speaker 3: It's just drastic.
Speaker 4: And honestly, if anything I have learnt something that vinegar
Speaker 4: can reduce saltiness.
Speaker 1: Well, now try that I have the vinegar in the pantry,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure it would. I mean, it sounds like
Speaker 1: when I talk to people from Master Chef Australia, I
Speaker 1: talk a lot about my cooking. It makes it sound
Speaker 1: like that I'm some sort of crazy chef in the
Speaker 1: kitchen on the show. No I'm not at all. I honestly,
Speaker 1: I have the worst anxiety watching this show. I have
Speaker 1: no fingernails just watching it on TV. So no way.
Speaker 1: So anyway, what I was going to say was I
Speaker 1: was making a ministrony soup, so nothing too fancy, but
Speaker 1: I realized that I'd put too much truffle salt into it,
Speaker 1: and yeah, I didn't know how to I didn't know
Speaker 1: how to come back from that. You know, the applications though.
Speaker 1: We should talk about this because applications are now open.
Speaker 1: Have you got any theories on what they might do
Speaker 1: with the next series? Because this was secrets and surprises.
Speaker 1: I wondered why you were cooking, whether you could hear
Speaker 1: them talking about it. Do we have any idea what
Speaker 1: they're going to do with Master Chef Australia next year.
Speaker 3: Look, I have no clue.
Speaker 4: I had no clue what I was doing on the show,
Speaker 4: so I would not have had anything about anything else.
Speaker 4: If you want to go next season, if you love food,
Speaker 4: do it, absolutely do it. I think I thought I
Speaker 4: was not ready. I thought, oh, look, you just need
Speaker 4: to wait a little bit and get better with your cooking.
Speaker 3: You actually learn things as you go.
Speaker 4: This is like once in a lifetime opportunity where you
Speaker 4: are away from distractions and you can really focus on
Speaker 4: your passion and your laugh for food and you just
Speaker 4: get better with doing it. The judges are such great
Speaker 4: mentos and they really guide you in the right direction. Look,
Speaker 4: it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. If anyone loves food,
Speaker 4: anyone who's listening to me, if you love food, You're
Speaker 4: passionate about food.
Speaker 3: Just do it. You will not regret it anyway.
Speaker 1: Before you go, I have to ask you, what is
Speaker 1: something from behind the scenes, something that we did not see.
Speaker 1: They're kind of like a behind the scenes secret. You
Speaker 1: don't have to reveal anything that's going to get you
Speaker 1: into trouble. But what's something fun that happened for your
Speaker 1: roue while you're making the show?
Speaker 4: Okay, so I'm pretty sure there's about a thousand photos
Speaker 4: of this. I slept every minute and got any time
Speaker 4: we had off, whether it was five minutes.
Speaker 3: I managed to speak.
Speaker 4: You a quick nap if you talk to Antonio, if
Speaker 4: you talked around, if you talk to like literally everyone,
Speaker 4: everyone has at least five pictures of me taking a nap.
Speaker 4: And sometimes it's just like a quick toilet break. They're like, okay,
Speaker 4: you have ten minutes go to the toilet. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 4: ten minutes. Let me just quickly close my eyes and
Speaker 4: I have managed to nap.
Speaker 3: An you mean that I got?
Speaker 1: You know, I love a good nap and my friends
Speaker 1: think I'm like a cat because I can literally lay
Speaker 1: down at any time and go straight to sleep.
Speaker 4: Like that's literally mean, give it in the bath.
Speaker 1: I'm like, rue, Can I just say it was so
Speaker 1: much fun to catch up with you today. You are
Speaker 1: so much fun. I'm going out to get the barbecue
Speaker 1: sauce and sending you that photo of my lataignare on
Speaker 1: Instagram and just enjoy this experience after mastership. I mean,
Speaker 1: what does it they say the world is your oyster
Speaker 1: or the world is your steak in look