Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. They might welcome back
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris and on this
Speaker 1: podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players
Speaker 1: in television. Each episode you will get a front row
Speaker 1: seat with content makers like executive producers, writers, editors and
Speaker 1: casting agents, plus the talent that we see on our screens.
Speaker 1: TV Reload reloads the shows that you are currently watching
Speaker 1: and gives you a better insight at our television industry
Speaker 1: and streaming services today. On the podcast, I have two
Speaker 1: of Channel ten's Mastership for Australia favorites. It's John and Christina.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of courage to come back on
Speaker 1: reality TV after you've already had your first serve, but
Speaker 1: these two took the plunge and returned to the kitchen
Speaker 1: with honesty and integrity, which I think Australia really appreciated.
Speaker 1: They are the first two favorites to exit the competition,
Speaker 1: but as you will find from our chat today, they
Speaker 1: have walked away with a greater perspective on their cooking
Speaker 1: and new missions. In their future endeavors. We will talk
Speaker 1: about their experiences, their highs and lows, what Christina thought
Speaker 1: of the new host compared to the old and if
Speaker 1: she's been in touch with those former judges. John will
Speaker 1: talk about why he said yes to returning and what
Speaker 1: Julie Goodwin said to him after his elimination. There are
Speaker 1: a few audio issues along the way today, but I
Speaker 1: hope you can bear with that, as there were some
Speaker 1: great insights from both contestants. However, let's get started with
Speaker 1: today's guests. I'd like to welcome John and Christina to
Speaker 1: TV Reload.
Speaker 2: They might give you sixty minutes to cook. Really you're
Speaker 2: not standing at your bene for sixty minutes.
Speaker 3: Musta Sheff has produced some of the biggest names in food.
Speaker 3: Doing season seven, it was very it was very difficult.
Speaker 1: For the first time ever. It's funds versus favorites.
Speaker 2: They want to know about the story, they want to
Speaker 2: know about your heritage.
Speaker 1: Season seven, We've got job.
Speaker 3: If you didn't have a pin, maybe he was the
Speaker 3: one that was going to leave the competition.
Speaker 1: And season five, Christina.
Speaker 4: I think that talking about things so important.
Speaker 1: Hi, John, how are you?
Speaker 3: Oh good? Thank you yourself.
Speaker 1: I'm actually doing really well. And congratulations on returning to
Speaker 1: Master Shepper, Australia. I feel like you committed to this
Speaker 1: experience physically and emotionally. Were you were You're almost relieved
Speaker 1: when it came to and end last night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I'll be telling people I was actually a
Speaker 3: half half about it. Half of me wanted to say
Speaker 3: but the other half just wanted to get out of
Speaker 3: that pressure cooker situation. Cooking in that kitchen it's always
Speaker 3: so tough because, like I mean, realistically, who does a
Speaker 3: dish in sixty minutes or in thirty minutes? I mean,
Speaker 3: when you cook, you you want to try and pour
Speaker 3: everything into all your love to it and take time
Speaker 3: to sort of nurture that dish and it's something great.
Speaker 3: But in that kitchen, you put that aside and basically
Speaker 3: just rely on your skills and your technique to put
Speaker 3: up a really good dish.
Speaker 1: When the producers called and asked you to return, what
Speaker 1: was that process like for you?
Speaker 3: Well, when I get the call, I thought, oh should
Speaker 3: I do this? I was a bit hesitant. I thought,
Speaker 3: is it a good idea to come back? I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm happy with what I'm doing now. I still love cooking.
Speaker 3: That's something that would never sort of go away. But
Speaker 3: at that time, I was actually I started a week
Speaker 3: business with my partner. So we're doing human hair wigs
Speaker 3: and it's all custom made, and we do weeks that
Speaker 3: actually fit someone's head rather than relying on say like
Speaker 3: an online which doesn't really fit, like, we'll fit in
Speaker 3: your head, but it's not your the capsize. But that
Speaker 3: was something that we really loved and enjoyed doing because
Speaker 3: we got so much from our clients just the positive
Speaker 3: feedback of what that was giving them. For example, we've
Speaker 3: had a lot of alopecia patients that come to us
Speaker 3: that get the wigs and it's just amazing when they
Speaker 3: put it on, it's like they've gotten their confidence back.
Speaker 3: And to me, that was our goal doing that business,
Speaker 3: and I loved it.
Speaker 1: So I guess the hesitation, you know, wasn't really there
Speaker 1: because you were worried about how your career would be
Speaker 1: affected in the kitchen because you were already onto bigger
Speaker 1: and better things.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So I had that business and I had to
Speaker 3: really rethink, do I want to leave this behind and
Speaker 3: put that aside and leave all our clients on a
Speaker 3: limbo or go back to master chef and continue on
Speaker 3: with my passion for food. It was definitely a hard
Speaker 3: decision to do because I knew the pressure going into
Speaker 3: the Master Chef kitchen, like I mean, doing season seven,
Speaker 3: it was very It was very difficult, but at the
Speaker 3: same time, I actually enjoyed my time in that kitchen.
Speaker 3: So when I did decide to come back, I thought, no,
Speaker 3: I think I should give this another go. And when
Speaker 3: they were when they called me, they said, oh, you're
Speaker 3: coming back because people remember you from the white Chocolate valute,
Speaker 3: and that actually triggered something in me, and I thought,
Speaker 3: hang on a sec that shouldn't be what I was
Speaker 3: remembered for, because that's one small part of what I
Speaker 3: did on the show. That shouldn't be what will remember
Speaker 3: me for. So I came on the show to sort
Speaker 3: of show people that that doesn't define who I am
Speaker 3: as a cook. So to me, coming back was my
Speaker 3: sort of redemption to show no, I can work in
Speaker 3: the team environment. Watching back on season seven, I had
Speaker 3: so many amazing team challenges throughout that season, meaning Lasmoba
Speaker 3: Tourist's first team challenge. I was a team leader for that. Oh,
Speaker 3: there were so many others that peterfull has sort of
Speaker 3: put back and then had the white chocolate vlute at
Speaker 3: the front, so I thought, no, we need to bury
Speaker 3: that white chocolate lute and just you know, move on.
Speaker 1: Well. Being the first fan favorite to leave, you know,
Speaker 1: does that change the way your relationship is with the show? Like,
Speaker 1: is that changing the way that you think about Master Chef? Mentally?
Speaker 3: No, not at all, Like I mean to me, it's
Speaker 3: a TV show. They needed to bring, you know, the
Speaker 3: best of the best in the competition and I thought, wow,
Speaker 3: just to be picked to be as a favorite to
Speaker 3: come back to the show was you know that it
Speaker 3: itself was I was just thankful for.
Speaker 1: Absolutely what I mean, this is a really good question
Speaker 1: to ask you. What has Mastership Australia taught you the
Speaker 1: most over the years? You know, looking back at season
Speaker 1: seven and looking at this experience, now, what is the
Speaker 1: show taught you as a person?
Speaker 3: I guess well, what I've taken away from it is
Speaker 3: basically the bond that I've created with all the contestants.
Speaker 3: But I mean, we all came in with one single
Speaker 3: with the goal of basically winning the competition, but at
Speaker 3: the same time, we all had the same passion for
Speaker 3: food and learning. With what they've gone through after the competition,
Speaker 3: with the favorites. I've learned so much. I've learned so
Speaker 3: much from Mindy who loves Australian natives, and I'm actually
Speaker 3: going to start incorporating Australian natives the chocolates that I'm relaunching.
Speaker 3: I'm doing a bean to our chocolate business that I'm
Speaker 3: going to highly relaunch at the end of the year
Speaker 3: and introduce Australian natives into a sort of flavor profiles
Speaker 3: in that chocolate.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well do you think that Do you think that
Speaker 1: Master Chef has been has the best display of diversity
Speaker 1: in reality television here in Australia.
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely. I think the good thing about Australia food
Speaker 3: wise is we do have all these cultures that contribute
Speaker 3: to our food scene, and I think that's what's unique
Speaker 3: about Australia compared to other countries that we have, like
Speaker 3: it's a melting pot of different cultures and we create
Speaker 3: some of the most amazing food in the world.
Speaker 1: Well, I like the cultural and world diversity that comes with,
Speaker 1: you know, the brilliant casting of this show, and I
Speaker 1: think End of Old Shine Australia does a very good
Speaker 1: job with that. But do you think that that is
Speaker 1: because international cuisine leaves no excuse but to have more
Speaker 1: multicultural represents on this show.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I think the food that we actually showcase
Speaker 3: in Australia when you ask someone, oh, what is austrain food? Like,
Speaker 3: I mean, we don't really have our own sort of identity.
Speaker 3: So we've had to actually create our own identity to
Speaker 3: be to be Australian. And that's with all our cultures
Speaker 3: being brought in. And I think when I was in
Speaker 3: this season and talking to Mindy, I think what's important
Speaker 3: now is to sort of go into the direction of
Speaker 3: coming back and respecting the land that we actually standing
Speaker 3: on and sort of showcasing those Australian natives and incorporating
Speaker 3: those into all our different cultures to create an identity
Speaker 3: that is Australian.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think you said that's so well, you know,
Speaker 1: talking about last night's episode, those pins were being used left,
Speaker 1: right and center. You know if there were no immunity pins,
Speaker 1: do you think that someone else may have gone home
Speaker 1: last night?
Speaker 3: Well, whenever I cook, I'm also just sort of focused
Speaker 3: on my on my food, and I don't see what's
Speaker 3: going on around me. But watching last night's episode, there
Speaker 3: were a few cooks that weren't really hitting the spot.
Speaker 3: I was actually surprised with Tommy facing his broth. It
Speaker 3: was like he wasn't getting much flavor and he wasn't
Speaker 3: getting the right sort of punches that he wanted in
Speaker 3: his dish. And he's an amazing cook, and that really
Speaker 3: surprised me because, like, I mean, an egg challenge that
Speaker 3: he really threw him off. And I guess having a
Speaker 3: community pin in the back of his mind maybe played
Speaker 3: a big part in the way he thought about his dish.
Speaker 3: Maybe he was just thinking, Oh, should I use this
Speaker 3: or should I just keep cooking. I think that hindered
Speaker 3: his ability to cook something amazing. And maybe if he
Speaker 3: didn't have the pin, maybe it would have been a
Speaker 3: different story. But if he didn't have a pin, maybe
Speaker 3: he was the one that was gonna leave the competition.
Speaker 1: I mean that's kind of how I saw it as well.
Speaker 1: I mean I was shocked. John. I think the funniest
Speaker 1: moment for me as a viewer last night was that
Speaker 1: I think I had just as much sweat on my
Speaker 1: forehead as you did as you were waiting for the
Speaker 1: whites to thicken. And I was like, yeah, it's like
Speaker 1: how is. I was patting my own head down as
Speaker 1: a viewer, going, oh my god. You know so, I
Speaker 1: think it's just such a stress stressful situation you know
Speaker 1: to be And I still think you handled it so well.
Speaker 3: I was down to my last three eggs and I
Speaker 3: thought this needs to whip up because and I even
Speaker 3: made sure everything was clean. I requested for new equipment
Speaker 3: to actually whip up the egg whites, and I thought
Speaker 3: this is gonna work because I know if you get
Speaker 3: one little bit of a speck of oil or anything
Speaker 3: anything foreign into that egg white, it's not going to
Speaker 3: whip up. And that's what happened in yesterday's challenge. It
Speaker 3: wasn't whipping up, and I had no eggs left, so
Speaker 3: quick thinking, I thought, I'm just going to do chantilla
Speaker 3: cream and put it on top. When it actually worked.
Speaker 3: I've tasted it. The chantilla cream actually added a luxurious
Speaker 3: element into it because lemon tart is quite sweet and
Speaker 3: adding to it sort of added that extra layer of sweetness.
Speaker 3: But putting the chantilly cream it actually balanced the whole thing.
Speaker 3: So I thought I'm probably safe doing this. But being
Speaker 3: an next challenge, the judges were expecting him around on top.
Speaker 3: To cap it off, I.
Speaker 1: Have to ask about this son in law, which was
Speaker 1: the first dish that you cooked. You know, I'd never
Speaker 1: heard of, you know, a son in law before, so
Speaker 1: I want to know, like, where does that name come from.
Speaker 3: I think it's got something to deal with a son
Speaker 3: in law impressing their mother in law that they can
Speaker 3: actually cook, like a dish that they sort of cooked
Speaker 3: to impress them that sort of that can marry their
Speaker 3: future wife. That's the story of the son in law.
Speaker 3: But it's it's definitely a beautiful dish. It's something that
Speaker 3: I'm definitely challenging to cook because you know, you don't
Speaker 3: want to overcook that egg. And I guess in that
Speaker 3: challenge yesterday I've I'm there, made myself in the timing
Speaker 3: and ended up having a robbery egg. But I mean
Speaker 3: the comments that came with them was amazing, Like the
Speaker 3: jam mel was saying that I should bottle it. So
Speaker 3: I was happy with the with that.
Speaker 1: I think that sounds like a good side hustle. And
Speaker 1: I can confirm that you already have one customer.
Speaker 3: Oh thank you.
Speaker 1: You know that in the last cook though, do you
Speaker 1: think that or did you ever have another dish that
Speaker 1: you might have cooked last night instead of the lemon meringue,
Speaker 1: and seeing how the judges reaction, you know, reacted to
Speaker 1: the other contestants as food. Do you think that you
Speaker 1: know that other choice might have been a better choice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, thinking of it now, I should have just
Speaker 3: done a cram caramel because I always do that. I
Speaker 3: always pook that dish and it always turns out the
Speaker 3: way I want it. I mean, that's simple cooking. But
Speaker 3: I mean this competition is interesting because they actually prefer
Speaker 3: you to do classics right. But for me, we wanted
Speaker 3: to impress the judges and show them the techniques that
Speaker 3: I have. Having sixty minutes, I wanted to impress them
Speaker 3: and show them a nice, beautiful tut But yeah, I
Speaker 3: should have just had a bit of restraint and gone
Speaker 3: back to this, like a really simple cram caramel, and
Speaker 3: that would have saved me.
Speaker 1: Well, one thing I think I'm going to remember you
Speaker 1: for from this season is this emotional moment that you
Speaker 1: had where you walked out of the kitchen, which was
Speaker 1: last week. You know, you talked about your partner who
Speaker 1: loves your food and is your biggest champion. I was
Speaker 1: curious to know, you know, was it hard for your
Speaker 1: partner to watch that moment as it played out on telling.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, we actually haven't sat down and watched the
Speaker 3: say that that episode together.
Speaker 1: It busy making wigs.
Speaker 3: Well, he was actually out of the country and then
Speaker 3: I was actually coming back from la and then when
Speaker 3: I got back, he had to leave as well. So
Speaker 3: I will sort of like ships in the night sort
Speaker 3: of past at each other. And yeah, but when he was,
Speaker 3: he was definitely emotional when when that came up.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think of my partner when things happened
Speaker 1: to me when I've been on television before. You know,
Speaker 1: he's fearfully protective of me, and you know, yeah, at
Speaker 1: that point, you know, sort of what can you do
Speaker 1: after that moment though, I mean, Melissa was just so gorgeous.
Speaker 1: But do you think and she does such a fantastic
Speaker 1: job on the show. I just I think she's my
Speaker 1: favorite judge. I shouldn't say that because you shouldn't have favorites,
Speaker 1: But you know, do you think that that chat that
Speaker 1: you had outside brought you and Melissa closer together?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Definitely, it definitely did. Just the worst that she gave
Speaker 3: me was just it really pushed me push my limits
Speaker 3: and made sure that I do belong in that competition,
Speaker 3: And she was the one that actually made me realize,
Speaker 3: you know, you do belong in this competition and I'm
Speaker 3: not a Twitter and for me to hear what Meles
Speaker 3: said really cemented my place in that competition. I thought,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm going to do this and push through.
Speaker 1: Who do you think is going to win at this
Speaker 1: point of the competition when you walked out, not what
Speaker 1: you know now, but like as you came out of
Speaker 1: the kitchen that day, who did you think was going
Speaker 1: to win? Like who was your pick or I.
Speaker 3: Thought Mindy was I thought Mindy definitely. Her knowledge, her
Speaker 3: experience and just the way she talks about food was
Speaker 3: just inspiring and I thought, I want her to win
Speaker 3: that competition absolutely well.
Speaker 1: One question I ask everyone who joins the podcast is
Speaker 1: what it is something from behind the scenes that we
Speaker 1: did not see and we won't see that you can
Speaker 1: reveal from behind the scenes, like a behind the scenes
Speaker 1: moment from your time making Master Chef Australia fans versus favorites.
Speaker 3: Well, guess the bond that we actually created behind the scene.
Speaker 3: We came, we all came in with the same passion
Speaker 3: for food and just sharing that knowledge as well. That's
Speaker 3: what the audience don't actually see. I mean, I guess
Speaker 3: you do see it on screen when someone leaves the kitchen,
Speaker 3: and you do see that genuine emotion outflowing. And I
Speaker 3: think just behind the scene, the things that we share,
Speaker 3: just having each other's back. I mean, we all talk
Speaker 3: around the table and we don't even feel like we're
Speaker 3: in a competition. That's how strong we walk into that
Speaker 3: kitchen and we just cook for ourselves, not as a competition.
Speaker 3: So I think that's something that people don't see behind
Speaker 3: their scenes.
Speaker 1: Was there any advice that any of you or other favorites,
Speaker 1: you know, the winners and the favorites that were back.
Speaker 1: Was there anyone that gave you any words of wisdom
Speaker 1: after your elimination.
Speaker 3: Keeping it simple and just cooking the food that you
Speaker 3: love and not trying to cook to impress, but cook
Speaker 3: what you love.
Speaker 1: And who gave you that advice?
Speaker 3: Oh, Mindy and Julie, they were the ones that were
Speaker 3: you know, kept telling me, oh, you know you've got
Speaker 3: to you can do this, and you know, just cook
Speaker 3: from your heart and don't try to impress others, you know,
Speaker 3: start with yourself and cook what you love.
Speaker 1: Well, John, I loved watching you on the show. My
Speaker 1: favorite reality TV contestants of all time are people who
Speaker 1: are honest and people who are real. And I have
Speaker 1: to say I absolutely loved watching you on the show.
Speaker 3: Oh thank you so much. I mean, that was my
Speaker 3: whole intention. Like, I'm not the type of person that
Speaker 3: wants to be in front of capta camera, but going
Speaker 3: into I knew what I could actually bring, and you know,
Speaker 3: bringing honesty and the love of food was my main goal.
Speaker 1: It's the most relatable currency that you can have being
Speaker 1: on television is being real. So it's strange to me
Speaker 1: that not everyone is like you and can just lay
Speaker 1: it all on the line like that. So, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's a beautiful, a beautiful talent to have.
Speaker 3: Oh thank you.
Speaker 1: Well, there's definitely some great insights from John. But let's
Speaker 1: unpack Christina's experience on Master Chef Australia as we find
Speaker 1: out why she returned to Australia's favorite kitchen. Hi Christina,
Speaker 1: how are you?
Speaker 4: I'm good?
Speaker 3: Thank you?
Speaker 1: Well, this is really funny because I have come and
Speaker 1: gone with Master Chef over the years, you know watching it,
Speaker 1: and I've never really watched a full season as intently
Speaker 1: as I am this time around. However, I did remember
Speaker 1: you on the season five so it was nice to
Speaker 1: see you back.
Speaker 4: Oh, thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think I had a very distinctive look as well
Speaker 2: in season five, so I think it was a little
Speaker 2: bit easier for people to remember me as that, you know,
Speaker 2: rockabilly chick. But yeah, it was great to be back.
Speaker 2: I was shocked and they called me and said yes
Speaker 2: straight away of course. But yeah, it's been great being back.
Speaker 1: If I'd had more time, I went and found this
Speaker 1: to put in my hair while to interview Perfect, which
Speaker 1: is like a red bandanna. Because this is a podcast,
Speaker 1: no one can see what I'm holding up. But I
Speaker 1: ran out of time. But I was hoping to look
Speaker 1: a bit like you for the podcast.
Speaker 4: Do you know what, I'm just going to visualize it.
Speaker 4: You look stunning.
Speaker 1: Well, no one can see, so I just tell them
Speaker 1: that it's happening.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations on returning to mastershef Australia. Did season five
Speaker 1: to season fourteen feel like a really long break?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it felt like a very long break and a
Speaker 2: lot happened you know in my personal life as well.
Speaker 2: So and then we also, you know, went through a pandemic,
Speaker 2: so you know, I think that extended everyone's far as
Speaker 2: that felt like it went on forever as well. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it felt like a really long time, and I felt
Speaker 2: very rusty.
Speaker 1: Probably felt like fifty years, you know when you think
Speaker 1: about a pandemic.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: And you know, with Mascheff and TV in general, if
Speaker 2: you're gone for that long, it's basically fifty years in TV.
Speaker 4: Land, right.
Speaker 1: Well, what a compliment that, you know, myself and everyone
Speaker 1: in Australia remembered you and were excited to see you
Speaker 1: come back. You know, what were the biggest changes for
Speaker 1: you in your personal life over that time?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So the biggest change for me was I ended
Speaker 2: up getting diagnosed with endometriosis. So I got very sick
Speaker 2: just after I was on the show, and I was
Speaker 2: basically bound to my couch for a year. I wasn't
Speaker 2: able to move and I had a total of like
Speaker 2: five surgeries for it and just in and out of hospital,
Speaker 2: lots of pain killers, all like the whole nine yards.
Speaker 2: And then I ended up looking more into like alternative
Speaker 2: medicines and that led me down like a food path
Speaker 2: and how was you know, the that I was consuming
Speaker 2: affecting my body. And I then changed the way I ate,
Speaker 2: and I haven't had a surgery in like three years,
Speaker 2: and I'm no longer on painkillers and it's all because
Speaker 2: of the way that I now eat, and it's just
Speaker 2: it's really just eating more clean and that coincided with
Speaker 2: me just falling in love again with my Portuguese heritage
Speaker 2: and that food and Portuguese food is very simple and
Speaker 2: it's eating like good quality ingredients and there's not a
Speaker 2: lot of ingredients in the food, so it's all kind
Speaker 2: of went really well together. And so that's probably been
Speaker 2: the biggest change both in my personal life and then
Speaker 2: my cooking.
Speaker 3: Life as well.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Of course, we're going to be following you on your
Speaker 1: social media, you know, post show with your food, but
Speaker 1: do you think that you'll be able to share a
Speaker 1: part of that journey, you know, with the people that
Speaker 1: do follow you, because I think at the moment, what
Speaker 1: is really powerful is people on television being able to
Speaker 1: share their real stories and connecting with the audiodiences. And
Speaker 1: you know, endometriosis is such a you know, for years
Speaker 1: it was a bit of a taboo thing where people
Speaker 1: either didn't know enough about it or they didn't feel
Speaker 1: comfortable talking about it. And then you think about who
Speaker 1: you you are as a person. Do you feel like
Speaker 1: do you feel comfortable to be sharing that kind of stuff?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: Definitely, And I've shared a little bit and a lot
Speaker 2: of times when I do. When I create like an
Speaker 2: endometriosis friendly recipe, I always you know, hashtag it in
Speaker 2: my social media that sort of thing like ENDO friendly,
Speaker 2: and I spoke a little bit about it on my
Speaker 2: intro video to my new YouTube channel, a little bit
Speaker 2: about the ENDO. And so as I continue doing that
Speaker 2: in creating recipes of definitely be talking about it and
Speaker 2: just you know, just telling people why it's a good
Speaker 2: recipe to eat, like, you know, why it's a good
Speaker 2: meal sorry to eat for the endometriosis and that sort
Speaker 2: of thing. So I think that talking about things is
Speaker 2: so important. You know, when I was on the show
Speaker 2: last time, I spoke about you know, my my drug
Speaker 2: A did when I was a teenager, and a lot
Speaker 2: of people were like, you're talking about that, and it's like,
Speaker 2: but you have to because you don't want people to
Speaker 2: feel alone, and people need to know that you can
Speaker 2: move forward and that these things happen and you just
Speaker 2: roll with the punches and life does get better, Like
Speaker 2: you know, whether it's an addiction or a health condition,
Speaker 2: whatever it is. I think information is key.
Speaker 1: I love it. Share your story is what I always
Speaker 1: say to people, and we forget how powerful it is,
Speaker 1: or we forget how alone some people feel without that.
Speaker 1: I love it. But we should talk about the show.
Speaker 1: We talk about food as well. So when the producers
Speaker 1: called you and asked you to return, what did you
Speaker 1: think that you would bring this time around that you
Speaker 1: know that might not have that you might not have
Speaker 1: achieved last time.
Speaker 2: For me, I thought, well, I'm definitely going to showcase
Speaker 2: Portuguese food. There hasn't been a contestant on the show
Speaker 2: that's really done that, you know. There have been a
Speaker 2: couple of attempts at some Portuguese tarts, which I don't
Speaker 2: even know why someone would trying to attempt to make
Speaker 2: a Portuguese on the show. They're so difficult to do,
Speaker 2: but you know, power to them. I tried to make
Speaker 2: a barata, so who am I to, you know, to judge,
Speaker 2: But I definitely wanted to bring Portuguese.
Speaker 4: Food to to and scase that. So that was my
Speaker 4: main focus in coming back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean you have remembered earlier on in
Speaker 1: your first season for being a fairly emotional cook under pressure.
Speaker 1: Did you think that you might have that might have changed,
Speaker 1: or you know, had you come to accept that maybe
Speaker 1: you know that's just a part of your personality.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, I thought that I would be able to handle
Speaker 2: the pressure a little bit better, and then the very
Speaker 2: first cook, I was shaking so badly I could barely
Speaker 2: chop the onions, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 2: it's just me. And I always say that, like cooking
Speaker 2: and food is my love language. So if it means
Speaker 2: that I'm an emergent cook and those emotions come through
Speaker 2: in my food.
Speaker 4: Then so be it.
Speaker 2: I've just had to learn to accept it and go, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm going to cry and then that'll be okay and
Speaker 2: then we just have to move past.
Speaker 4: But I just need to get the cry out and
Speaker 4: then we'll be good.
Speaker 1: It's okay to cry, you know, it is.
Speaker 4: It is okay to cry. It's just sometimes you're like,
Speaker 4: just not now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if we get to control that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff, you know, And I can't watch. I gravitate
Speaker 1: towards emotional people, so you know, like you've got me,
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't Did your photo of your family help?
Speaker 2: It definitely helped, And even thinking about it now, like now,
Speaker 2: I get choked up because it's one of the only
Speaker 2: photos that I have with everyone in it. My sister
Speaker 2: and her husband live overseas and so they're in that photo.
Speaker 4: Like every member of my immediate family and everyone who.
Speaker 2: I really love is in that So looking over at
Speaker 2: it and remembering that I'm doing it for them did help.
Speaker 2: It did, obviously, you know, catch me in my bills
Speaker 2: a little, But it helped more than not.
Speaker 4: Having it there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean I love that you had the
Speaker 1: photo of the kids the first time around, you know,
Speaker 1: being the second favorite to leave the competition. What does
Speaker 1: this say about the fans of this series, the fans
Speaker 1: versus favorites. So do you think that they're doing doing well?
Speaker 1: Like a you're thinking, Wow, they're doing better than you thought. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think that.
Speaker 2: At first people would have heard the concept of the
Speaker 2: show and thought, well, wait, like this is not a
Speaker 2: fair competition at all. But those fans are really good cooks,
Speaker 2: and I think that what happened was it just took
Speaker 2: them a couple of weeks to kind of figure out
Speaker 2: the kitchen, figure out where all the ingredients were, where
Speaker 2: all the equipment is. And now that they've figured that out,
Speaker 2: I'm really scared for the favorites.
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit scared for them. Originally I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but you know, also last night I
Speaker 1: just wasn't gonna originally ask this, but when Gareth Winton,
Speaker 1: is that how he came into the kitchen? I was
Speaker 1: so pleased that you talked about his hotness.
Speaker 4: Yeah he was. I was like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 4: How am I meant to focus on this touch?
Speaker 2: It was a little uncomfortable last night watching that with
Speaker 2: my boyfriend beside me.
Speaker 1: No, it's not. It's not crustinated, because you know what's
Speaker 1: beautiful about you is you remind me of myself. Like
Speaker 1: when you see things, you call it out, you say
Speaker 1: it as it is, and you know we've all got
Speaker 1: blood running through our bodies. We're allowed to say that
Speaker 1: you know that someone's hot, you know, without saying.
Speaker 4: Well he even said he was like, yeah, look, I
Speaker 4: don't blame me. He's pretty hot.
Speaker 1: He's like, oh, yeah, he was not insecure about it,
Speaker 1: you know, which I also love in.
Speaker 4: Yeah. No, he was like, yeah, you know, he's hot,
Speaker 4: look at him, and he can cook. So you know, like,
Speaker 4: I'm surprised that you're still sitting beside me on the couch.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about that, tut. So you said that
Speaker 1: you that wasn't going to play into your strengths. Do
Speaker 1: you think that producers know that kind of stuff and
Speaker 1: that they do need to get rid of certain people
Speaker 1: along the way.
Speaker 2: No, I just think that like ninety percent of pressure
Speaker 2: tests are dessert based, and so, you know, usually because
Speaker 2: there are so many steps and there's a lot of
Speaker 2: measurements when you're talking about dessert, and it tends to
Speaker 2: be more high pressure cook than cooking savory, and most
Speaker 2: of the cooks on the show gravitate towards savory dishes anyway,
Speaker 2: There's only really a few that prefer to do sweet dishes.
Speaker 2: So I think it just levels the playing field a
Speaker 2: little bit more, just doing like a dessert based pressure test,
Speaker 2: And so that's why it didn't play into my strengths.
Speaker 4: I'm terrible at desserts.
Speaker 1: What were you hoping for? I guess it would have
Speaker 1: been unfair. On the others, if it was Portuguese food.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like if they had just like given some bugal
Speaker 2: out I, you know, would have smashed it, Like it would.
Speaker 4: Have been great.
Speaker 2: On the other hand, Usually when something on Master Chef anyway,
Speaker 2: when it's your challenge to win, it's usually when you lose.
Speaker 2: It's usually when someone else does a better job.
Speaker 1: So, how do you think Julie's going to go? Well,
Speaker 1: how do you think she's going with the popularity? I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of pressure on her with her popularity
Speaker 1: of the return in lots of ways, people are talking
Speaker 1: about the fact that she's holding the competition. You know,
Speaker 1: how do you think that she will be if she
Speaker 1: doesn't win.
Speaker 2: Well, I think Julie will be fine if she doesn't win.
Speaker 2: I think that she I think she'll be shocked if
Speaker 2: she ends up winning. To be honest with you, she
Speaker 2: has so much self doubt in her cooking, and you know,
Speaker 2: you see that on the show that she doesn't feel
Speaker 2: like she's you know, good enough, and that her cooking
Speaker 2: is not up to scratch, although her food is amazing
Speaker 2: and the stuff that she does in the fact that
Speaker 2: she made like her own butter on an episode because
Speaker 2: she didn't have butter light. The way that her brain
Speaker 2: works is incredible. So I think she'll be fine if
Speaker 2: if she doesn't win. I just hope that she get
Speaker 2: really far into the competition. And so how great would
Speaker 2: it be if she did win? And if she won
Speaker 2: season one and then she wins this season, like that
Speaker 2: would be pretty bloody epic.
Speaker 1: I mean it's it would be hard as well. I
Speaker 1: mean the odds aren't really in your favor with that,
Speaker 1: you know, so it would be a challenge. And do
Speaker 1: you think that the competition has evolved much from your
Speaker 1: time in season five, two, fourteen and what you know,
Speaker 1: what are those changes that you noticed?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's definitely evolved.
Speaker 2: Well, firstly, there are three new judges, so that has
Speaker 2: changed the competition and also the style of cooking. So
Speaker 2: you know, the previous judges were really focused on like
Speaker 2: technique and the way that a dish would look and
Speaker 2: obviously like the flavor, but they were really technique based,
Speaker 2: where with these judges, they tend to be more focused
Speaker 2: on the flavor. And I think with a lot of
Speaker 2: us favorites, that was something that we struggled with a
Speaker 2: little bit because We're so used to cooking for the
Speaker 2: other the previous judges, so that everyone had to kind
Speaker 2: of like shift their focus a little bit when it
Speaker 2: came to the food, and it's all about flavor with them.
Speaker 2: And then just like the cooking, it just gets better
Speaker 2: and better every year. And I know that they say
Speaker 2: it in the ads and we all think, like does
Speaker 2: it really like, couldn't really get any better?
Speaker 4: But it really does.
Speaker 2: Like I thought that there was some good cooks in
Speaker 2: my season, and there were, but the fans, like they're incredible.
Speaker 2: And then to be around all these you know, favorites
Speaker 2: who you know, like Michael Weldon, like his food not
Speaker 2: only doesn't look beautiful, but.
Speaker 4: It tastes amazing.
Speaker 2: And you know the food that he made, like he's
Speaker 2: the only person in the world who's made me like
Speaker 2: a vengamite.
Speaker 4: That's because it was mixed with champagne.
Speaker 1: But he sounds great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's the cooking style is just incredible.
Speaker 1: Well, not to put words in your mouth, but I
Speaker 1: mean one of the things that I've really enjoyed about
Speaker 1: the evolution of those posts is there seems to be
Speaker 1: a little bit more emotional intelligence in the way in
Speaker 1: which they are presenting, and I think that is why
Speaker 1: the show's still on telling Like, I felt like that
Speaker 1: evolution was really important. And then it's amazing that we
Speaker 1: get someone like yourself that's experienced both competitions and then
Speaker 1: to talk about those those differences, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think it's really important to have that
Speaker 2: change up and to you know, shake things up a bit,
Speaker 2: you know. And although I absolutely loved, you know, the
Speaker 2: three judges or previous judges, these guys are just like
Speaker 2: completely different, and it really is they want to know
Speaker 2: about the story. They want to know about your heritage,
Speaker 2: like an emotional experience. That's what they want. They don't
Speaker 2: care how pretty it looks. They don't care about any
Speaker 2: of that. It's give me food that you would feed
Speaker 2: me in your home. That's the sort of food that
Speaker 2: I love to eat as well. So it's great to
Speaker 2: see that.
Speaker 1: Did you reach out to the old judges though, Like,
Speaker 1: did you reach out to them in the process of
Speaker 1: being cast on this show and now being that we've
Speaker 1: seen it now on television, have you had communications?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: I haven't, so leading up to it is all confidential.
Speaker 2: So obviously I could only tell my immediate family because
Speaker 2: I do have children, so you know, my mom knew
Speaker 2: because I had to move in and look after them
Speaker 2: while I was gone.
Speaker 4: But no, I didn't reach out to them.
Speaker 2: I've spoken to them a little bit, like just about
Speaker 2: the years, but I haven't reached out inflation to this season.
Speaker 1: Send them photos of your food nast than what they
Speaker 1: would have said.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially that first dish. They would have just been like,
Speaker 2: what is this?
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: Well, one of the things that I always ask everyone
Speaker 1: that joins the podcast is what is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes that we didn't get a chance to see
Speaker 1: that we won't get a chance to see that you
Speaker 1: can reveal from the behind the scenes magic of your
Speaker 1: time on Mastership Australia. Fans versus Favorites, Oh.
Speaker 3: That's a good question.
Speaker 2: Other than how unfit I am and that I should
Speaker 2: have worked on my fitness, it's also just like how
Speaker 2: big the space is, you know, like there is like
Speaker 2: that pantry is really far away, and the equipment pantry
Speaker 2: is also really you know, far away. So although you
Speaker 2: know they might give you sixty minutes to cook, really
Speaker 2: you're not standing at your bench for sixty minutes because
Speaker 2: you're running back and forth the whole time, and you know,
Speaker 2: normally at home, if you forget something, you know, your
Speaker 2: fridge is maybe two steps away. So the amount of
Speaker 2: like running that you have to do and the distance
Speaker 2: between everything that I think that's one of the reasons
Speaker 2: why no one ever goes out to the garden, because
Speaker 2: you could either run out to the garden to get
Speaker 2: past or just go.
Speaker 4: To the you know, to the pantry that's a little closer, so.
Speaker 1: That you're working up in appetite, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, and then you know, you have these heavy
Speaker 2: boots on and you're wearing jeans, and you know, it's just, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's not exactly the easiest task to do to cook
Speaker 2: a dish there.
Speaker 4: And I think that's why half the time we're.
Speaker 2: Like like heavily breathing, trying to trying to catch our breath.
Speaker 2: So it's the kitchen itself is a lot bigger than
Speaker 2: what people would imagine.
Speaker 1: So for people applying for the show, start running now,
Speaker 1: that would be great. I don't know about you, but
Speaker 1: I also cook in my in my either my pajamas
Speaker 1: or my sweatpants, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so get some heavy boots and wear pint
Speaker 2: jeans and just run around like your house a few times,
Speaker 2: like in between doing stuff like chop the onion and
Speaker 2: then run around the block and then come back with
Speaker 2: like one garlic clove and mince that and then go
Speaker 2: for another on because that tends to Yeah, well, honestly,
Speaker 2: I focused on my cooking, but I didn't focus on
Speaker 2: my fitness being.
Speaker 4: Up together, and I probably shouldn't.
Speaker 3: Have done that a little bit.
Speaker 1: Well, I absolutely loved watching you on the show and
Speaker 1: hopefully you know what is it, you know, every seven
Speaker 1: years you come back, so I'll look forward to that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm I'm more than happy to come back at
Speaker 2: third time and hopefully that will be third time's charm, right, so.
Speaker 1: Every year from now on, you know, yeah, we Needese food.
Speaker 2: Yes, we need all Portuguese food on Australian television.
Speaker 1: Please, Well, thank you so much for joining us on
Speaker 1: the podcast today and unpacking some of your experience and yeah, thanks,
Speaker 1: I'll be in your audience and Sobill Australia. So we'll
Speaker 1: look forward to following you on social media and seeing
Speaker 1: what you get up to next.
Speaker 4: Yeh, no, thank you so much for taking the time
Speaker 4: out to chat to me. It was a lot of fun,