Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast last week. They Welcome back to
Speaker 1: TV Reload. As you may know, my name is Benjamin
Speaker 1: Norris and this is your podcast to get all the
Speaker 1: inside goss on the popular TV shows you may be
Speaker 1: watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are
Speaker 1: a major part of our home entertainment, and yet very
Speaker 1: little is known about how our favorite shows get made.
Speaker 1: So each episode I've been finding guests, but want to
Speaker 1: dive just that little bit deeper into the shows they're
Speaker 1: currently making so that you can hear all their exclusive
Speaker 1: stories and gain access to the biggest names in Australian television.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to
Speaker 1: this TV Reload podcast however you found it. I love
Speaker 1: hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a review
Speaker 1: or a comment on your chosen podcast platform. This episode
Speaker 1: of the podcast, I'm joined by Kath and Theo. This
Speaker 1: week's eliminated cooks from mastershef Australia, who fairly stated were
Speaker 1: two of the most popular personalities this year. Caath Collins
Speaker 1: is a fifty four year old administration manager from Victoria
Speaker 1: who was ready to start her dreams and take on
Speaker 1: the culinary world by storm. She is a self taught
Speaker 1: cook with the love of all types of food. With
Speaker 1: over one hundred cookbooks, Kath proved to us this season
Speaker 1: that she has a passion for cooking. My other guest,
Speaker 1: Theo Lazoo, is a thirty seven year old electrician from Victoria.
Speaker 1: His parents came to Australia with nothing, with his mom
Speaker 1: from Greece and his dad from Cyprus. Theo has a
Speaker 1: deep affinity for the food and culture of his ancestral
Speaker 1: history and grew up learning from both his parents and
Speaker 1: his grandparents in the kitchen. Both of these contestants today
Speaker 1: are just awesome. And while you might have looked and
Speaker 1: seen that this is a long episode, I guarantee you
Speaker 1: you are going to love the way that these two
Speaker 1: share their story. I will find out how Cath coped
Speaker 1: with the loss of Jock, and I will hear about
Speaker 1: the pact that the cast made to get through this
Speaker 1: season on television. Theo will talk about his upbringing and
Speaker 1: how some tough love shaped him into being the man
Speaker 1: that he is today. You will hear how the relationships
Speaker 1: form behind the scenes from both Kaf and thea SO
Speaker 1: and we'll find out if Master Chef has changed their
Speaker 1: lives forever. Plus we will also get plenty of exclusives
Speaker 1: from behind the scenes of MasterChef Australia, which is currently
Speaker 1: on Network ten and you can now catch up on
Speaker 1: ten Play if you've fallen just that little bit behind. Anyway,
Speaker 1: let's bring Kath into the podcast first, and guys, I
Speaker 1: really hope you enjoy this heartwarming episode of TV reload.
Speaker 1: Hi Cath, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm good? Thanks, Ben.
Speaker 1: I think you are what TV producers call perfect casting.
Speaker 2: Oh really, okay, that's kind thank you.
Speaker 1: I think because you know, reality TV has always worked
Speaker 1: best when we as an audience can see ourselves on television,
Speaker 1: and when we watch you on television, there's something very
Speaker 1: magical that happens. I mean, I feel like Australia has
Speaker 1: related to you in a really powerful way.
Speaker 2: Oh look, I remember being back in the some of
Speaker 2: the auditions and cooking and our just remember the home
Speaker 2: and saying to my husband that was the most fun
Speaker 2: I have had personally for a very long time. And
Speaker 2: I remember in you know, one of my first audition cooks,
Speaker 2: I was running around crazy and remember saying to one
Speaker 2: of the producers, I am crazy, and he said, Kath,
Speaker 2: we love crazy, so look I and look for me.
Speaker 2: No filter once that time was gone, once they see
Speaker 2: your time starts. Now it was like an aud of
Speaker 2: body experience. I just went with whatever it was going
Speaker 2: to happen. I had no control.
Speaker 1: But that's I think what we like is. You know
Speaker 1: sometimes when you see people go on television, and producers
Speaker 1: will even say this to contestants, like, if you've got
Speaker 1: an idea of how you want to control the way
Speaker 1: that people see you, audiences will work that out. It
Speaker 1: seemed very real to me that you were just being
Speaker 1: yourself working out how to do the best job in
Speaker 1: a kitchen.
Speaker 2: Well. Absolutely, and the producers never said anything there was
Speaker 2: they said one thing. And I remember actually one of
Speaker 2: the early episodes where I had some really great feedback
Speaker 2: and actually put my hand on my mouth to stop
Speaker 2: saying wow, because of course I had, you know, seen
Speaker 2: you know, I had said wow, which I hadn't realized
Speaker 2: actually that I had said it so often. So with
Speaker 2: some of the other contestants we had a bit of
Speaker 2: a joke about it, so I thought, oh goodness, so
Speaker 2: I actually, you know, I did stop myself and they
Speaker 2: said to me, did someone say something to you CAF afterwards?
Speaker 2: And they said, do not worry about what you say.
Speaker 2: You just be you and that was it. So I
Speaker 2: never worried, you know, from that point on, and so
Speaker 2: whatever came just came.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so funny. I remember doing radio and they
Speaker 1: were like, you can't say certain words, and I can't
Speaker 1: remember what it was. It was something that I didn't
Speaker 1: even know that I said, but it was like my
Speaker 1: go to word of like a pivot, like almost like
Speaker 1: saying I would say this word.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Now I've got to the point where I don't even
Speaker 1: remember what that word was and it's completely gone. So
Speaker 1: I've been cured. Maybe you could be cured of the.
Speaker 2: Wow, there you go, thank you.
Speaker 1: I also thought that, you know, I don't know whether
Speaker 1: you'd heard any of my interviews, but I've been chatting
Speaker 1: with a lot of people. I can't remember who it was,
Speaker 1: but I asked someone, do you think Cauf's accent has
Speaker 1: gotten stronger as the series has gone on? Did you
Speaker 1: notice while watching it back how strong the Australian accent
Speaker 1: was and what was your relationship with hearing yourself back
Speaker 1: on TV.
Speaker 2: Oh, it did surprise me. Actually, I really thought initially
Speaker 2: when I heard myself, I was totally surprised and I
Speaker 2: thought I sounded like a really aussy bogan. No, and
Speaker 2: I didn't see myself as that, and I thought, oh
Speaker 2: my goodness, kat Look. But I did get used to
Speaker 2: hearing myself and I didn't hear that so much. But
Speaker 2: I did receive a fair few messages on Instagram asking
Speaker 2: where my accent was from. So I just said I'm
Speaker 2: from Melbourne. So and someone from the States. They said
Speaker 2: that they were having problems understanding Rhiannon and.
Speaker 1: I, wow, I did not. Maybe because I'm from Melbourne,
Speaker 1: I speak Melbourne. You go.
Speaker 2: It is Ipeak Melbourne is Master Chef Australia.
Speaker 1: The only reality TV show that you've ever really entertained
Speaker 1: the idea of doing.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's it. It's the only show. It's always been well,
Speaker 2: a magical show for me and for my daughters, for
Speaker 2: our family. It always been a positive show. So there
Speaker 2: was Yeah, there was never any doubt that this would
Speaker 2: be the only one.
Speaker 1: I did love the fact that you were attributing a
Speaker 1: lot of your time in the kitchen to your girls.
Speaker 1: I thought that was really sweet while watching the show back.
Speaker 1: Were you always watching it with them? And was their
Speaker 1: tears watching the showback that their mum was so proud
Speaker 1: of them and attributing so much of her hard work
Speaker 1: to them.
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Absolutely so. I have one of my youngest is actually
Speaker 2: overseays at the moment, so we watched just a little
Speaker 2: bit of it together. But my eldest daughter, you know,
Speaker 2: every night and my husband, we've been watching it and
Speaker 2: you know, especially last night, you know, Alexander's twenty three,
Speaker 2: but she was snuggling up to me like a little
Speaker 2: girl watching it and how we're used to when she
Speaker 2: was younger, and you know, we were very teary and
Speaker 2: emotional about it. And I'm even emotional now because just
Speaker 2: saying that, Yeah, last night was all about them.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I felt emotional. Calf. I felt like I
Speaker 1: wanted a hug from you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's a large part of you know, the
Speaker 1: magic of you. This season has just been you know,
Speaker 1: watching you on Masterschef Australia. This series feels like a
Speaker 1: warm hug from our own mums, do you know what
Speaker 1: I mean?
Speaker 3: I think there's something very.
Speaker 1: Magical about the ability to put your heart and soul
Speaker 1: and your true emotion into this that makes us just
Speaker 1: want to give you a hug.
Speaker 2: Ah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this season we've seen more everyday Australians take on
Speaker 1: the competition. You know, we've had some All Star seasons,
Speaker 1: we've seen some people who have taken their Master Chef
Speaker 1: journey and extended it, but this really stripped it back
Speaker 1: to being able to see people who probably were more
Speaker 1: aspirational getting into the kitchen. What about you, what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on what works for the Master Chef. Do
Speaker 1: you like to see people who are more experienced in
Speaker 1: the kitchen or do you like to see the everyday
Speaker 1: Australians take it on.
Speaker 2: I think this season's been really lovely and stripping it
Speaker 2: back to that, So for me, I think that's been
Speaker 2: part of the magic of this season. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: love that side of it.
Speaker 1: I think I like it as well, like it's different,
Speaker 1: Like I loved seeing Sashi and some of the big
Speaker 1: Julie goodwhen. I'd love seeing some of those names come
Speaker 1: back into the kitchen and find out exactly what they've
Speaker 1: done with the Master Chef experience. But then this series
Speaker 1: just feels like people who want to give this a
Speaker 1: go and see where the cooking experience might take them.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, so I did find it and I did love,
Speaker 2: you know, watching last season with Julie goodwhen and it
Speaker 2: is exciting. As someone who's always loved Master Chef, I
Speaker 2: did love that. So I think it's a really good mix. Actually,
Speaker 2: so this season though, you know, I'm lucky because I'm
Speaker 2: part of that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Do you know we need to ask the producers
Speaker 1: if we can do like a like a Julie Goodwin
Speaker 1: Award of the Year, because I feel like you've got
Speaker 1: that one in the bag, and then we should look
Speaker 1: for the Julie Goodwin of the Year every year.
Speaker 2: That would be gorgeous actually, and I loved Julie coming
Speaker 2: in the kitchen. I reached out to Julie when the
Speaker 2: episode was coming up. Julie reached out to me. It's
Speaker 2: been really lovely actually.
Speaker 1: So sorry to jump in. I'm like, what is.
Speaker 2: Oh well, even last night, you know, a couple of
Speaker 2: messages Julie just said okay, just you know, feeling so
Speaker 2: emotional and teary for you, and then coming back again
Speaker 2: and saying how beautiful was it with your girls? You know?
Speaker 2: And it is true when you when they say you're
Speaker 2: part of the Master Chef family. I really feel that
Speaker 2: because I've had lots of messages from previous contestants. You know.
Speaker 2: I was up in Darwin a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 2: visiting Robbie. We went to Monoli's restaurant. We met up
Speaker 2: with Dan from who was semi finalists last year, and
Speaker 2: it's just there's something about it. I'm just feeling really lucky.
Speaker 1: You do sort of fit into like an instant family
Speaker 1: of these people, and like, even if they're not from
Speaker 1: your series, there's like an unspoken bond that seems to happen.
Speaker 1: I don't know, and if you're not a part of it,
Speaker 1: people looking in don't really understand it. Like even my
Speaker 1: partner would be like, why would you go and hang
Speaker 1: out with someone from a different series that you know
Speaker 1: wasn't a part of us. Isn't that a little weird?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, no, it's like we're dolphins that speak
Speaker 1: in a language, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is exactly that, exactly. So it's yeah, like
Speaker 2: I say, I've had messages from different people from you know,
Speaker 2: different seasons, so that's been a pleasant surprise actually, and
Speaker 2: it's if you ever need anything, even need any help,
Speaker 2: just reach out. So that's lovely.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess if you're sort of like the people's princess,
Speaker 1: I guess in this series, I feel like Declan's kind
Speaker 1: of like very well celebrated from the boys side of things.
Speaker 1: Was you know he was the first person in the
Speaker 1: finals week? Did you think he was the most deserving
Speaker 1: of that spot or is that hard to even put
Speaker 1: that together?
Speaker 2: Oh, look, it's easy for me to say, yes, he's
Speaker 2: deserving at that spot. So Declan has had an amazing
Speaker 2: journey from right from the start. You know, just how
Speaker 2: beautiful he is, how emotionally intelligent he is, how caring
Speaker 2: he is. Just you know, we had our rooms beside
Speaker 2: each other, is Ray and I and it was Declan
Speaker 2: and Robbie. So we would go in out of each
Speaker 2: other's rooms, have cups of tea, share food, and you know,
Speaker 2: here we are the three oldies and Declin. That was
Speaker 2: our little group. You know, we always fought over Declan.
Speaker 2: You know, who's our adopted son. And you know I'd
Speaker 2: always be putting my hand up saying it's me. I'm
Speaker 2: his mommy, his mum. I haven't got any boys, so
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: He always wanted.
Speaker 3: Yes, he is.
Speaker 2: You know, he rang me yesterday. He's respect to his mum.
Speaker 2: When I think, you know, it's two o'clock and I think, oh,
Speaker 2: I wonder how Declan is, and I'll just think, I
Speaker 2: know he's at work, I'll ring his mum. So we
Speaker 2: have a beautiful relationship with everyone's families.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's so sweet. Well, last night we
Speaker 1: got to see you cooking with some very polarizing ingredients.
Speaker 1: I love anchovies that I know a lot of people don't.
Speaker 1: I don't particularly like dijon mustard, so that's I feel
Speaker 1: like there's always a bit of a polarizing mustard. How
Speaker 1: did you go with those ingredients? I mean, do you
Speaker 1: think it would have been different had you had anchovies?
Speaker 1: I mean, what was happening in your mind when you're
Speaker 1: playing it all back?
Speaker 2: Oh goodness, Yeah, I was really taken aback that it
Speaker 2: was dujon mustard because I had cooked with diujon mustard
Speaker 2: early in the competition. I was just a bit taken aback,
Speaker 2: and I think I was a bit shaken by that actually,
Speaker 2: because I was just a bit shocked. So whilst I
Speaker 2: was really happy with my dish, and I was really
Speaker 2: pleased that I did fish, and yeah, I was really
Speaker 2: pleased with that. But of course I was feeling confident
Speaker 2: going to the second round because I was quite happy
Speaker 2: with my first dish. So my second dish, you know,
Speaker 2: like it just whilst I had quite a clear vision
Speaker 2: at the start, I had never completely, you know, made
Speaker 2: this dish before, so it was, you know, a concept
Speaker 2: dessert that I had in my mind, and I chose
Speaker 2: to do it then, and it was in the moment,
Speaker 2: and you know, I think, you know, in hindsight it
Speaker 2: was the wrong decision.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess that was what I was thinking. When
Speaker 1: you were talking about it. You were like, oh, I
Speaker 1: want to make you know, a dish that's a dessert
Speaker 1: with Australian native ingredients and I was like, yep, great
Speaker 1: that that is. Talking to the judges and what they
Speaker 1: were and I was like, this is great. And then
Speaker 1: you were like, I've never made wattle seed short bread
Speaker 1: shortbread before with chocolate parfa and I was like why,
Speaker 1: I mean, is that a part of the show that
Speaker 1: you want to try and take a big risk to
Speaker 1: win a bit of a mile? I mean, why would
Speaker 1: you might not have cooked something that you knew very well.
Speaker 2: And that's the thing with Master Chef, Well, the thing
Speaker 2: with my journey on Master Chef is because you just
Speaker 2: put on the spot. And honestly, that is just what
Speaker 2: my brain said to me. And that was just when
Speaker 2: going into going into the pantry. That was just was
Speaker 2: happening in my mind as I was going in there.
Speaker 2: So again I just say that once they say your
Speaker 2: time starts, now, I felt like I had no control
Speaker 2: over what I was what I was or do we so.
Speaker 1: That a body experience?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, I really enjoyed watching your food being made.
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed Roundo's food as well. With her food
Speaker 1: being made, it will always looked really delicious. Did you
Speaker 1: both get to try each other's food with those cooks,
Speaker 1: because that's what I wanted to know, whether or not
Speaker 1: you while you're on the show, Can you sample other
Speaker 1: people's food while they're making it?
Speaker 2: No, you don't actually do that. So sometimes we try
Speaker 2: and sneak in a little bit if you're cooking beside
Speaker 2: each other, but generally no, you don't. Well, you just
Speaker 2: shared what the experience afterwards? What did you do? What
Speaker 2: did you do? You know, so we always, you know,
Speaker 2: every night we'd have our cup of tea, you put
Speaker 2: our feet up, and.
Speaker 1: Then you can swap the notes. I just kept thinking
Speaker 1: with it when as soon as she started putting the
Speaker 1: anchovies into the chicken and then started making it, and
Speaker 1: I was like, crispy chicken anchovies. This sounds amazing.
Speaker 2: Ray was really happy afterwards, And again it was a
Speaker 2: thing like an added body experience for Ray. When we
Speaker 2: came out and you know, she told me what she'd cooked,
Speaker 2: I said, oh my god, that sounds amazing. Yeah. I
Speaker 2: don't know what came over me, you know, so it Yeah,
Speaker 2: we loved all those experiences.
Speaker 1: Can you at the stage of the competition, now that
Speaker 1: you've come out, can you talk about some of the
Speaker 1: fans online that are demanding for you and rhann and
Speaker 1: to have your own cooking show. I don't know how
Speaker 1: much you've read online, but people are like, if those
Speaker 1: two ladies have a cooking show, I will watch it.
Speaker 1: So I don't know. Have people reached out to you
Speaker 1: at this stage to ask if you do it?
Speaker 2: Look it was another girlfriend actually sent me the link
Speaker 2: of the article talking about fans wanting Rey and I
Speaker 2: to do a cooking show, and I had a bit
Speaker 2: of a chuckle to myself, and I sent the link
Speaker 2: up to Rhiannon and just with some really laughing emoji,
Speaker 2: said I imagine this, and we both, you know, we
Speaker 2: had a chat about it, and I said to her,
Speaker 2: I had a dream actually that we did some episodes
Speaker 2: in my kitchen. Then I came up and I did
Speaker 2: some episodes in your kitchen in Queensland. Imagine that. And
Speaker 2: I said, imagine some people, you know, both of us,
Speaker 2: with our excell I understand this.
Speaker 1: They would, they would. I was reading all the comments,
Speaker 1: like I said, I was reading stuff this morning about it,
Speaker 1: and it just was you know, I started thinking. I
Speaker 1: started visualizing this show. I mean, it could be something
Speaker 1: as simple as having that little window into the kitchens
Speaker 1: that you both both your women are cooking in. Or
Speaker 1: it could be a bigger show, like I think that
Speaker 1: you know, you could go around and you could take
Speaker 1: that show on tour.
Speaker 2: Look, I mean I would do imagine, you know, traveling
Speaker 2: around doing it and meeting people, you know, communities, and
Speaker 2: that would be that would be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: We would just love that.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, you've got a fan here, so I'll be
Speaker 1: better watch it. Yeah, we need any petitions being signed, then.
Speaker 3: We'll get on it.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like we can finally see a winner.
Speaker 1: Am I wrong by saying this? Is obviously my personal opinion?
Speaker 1: But is THEO looking more likely to be the person
Speaker 1: that's going to win at this point of the competition?
Speaker 1: And I guess my question too is how does it
Speaker 1: feel in the kitchen at this point? Who is someone
Speaker 1: that's sort of coming out of the top and looking
Speaker 1: like they might win?
Speaker 2: Goodness, so you think there's only four of them, so
Speaker 2: you know, Brent's back to win. You know, he's right
Speaker 2: from the start, he said that, So he's really focused.
Speaker 2: He has a very clear, you know, cooking identity. Really
Speaker 2: so I think that, you know, he's done very very
Speaker 2: well for you. Oh look the bread man, he's just
Speaker 2: an absolute delight. So he really wants to change his life.
Speaker 2: Is an electrician and he doesn't want to be an electrician,
Speaker 2: wants to be a bread boy. So Declan is just
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, I've got Ree, my best buddy, Declan,
Speaker 2: my adopted son. You know, I'm putting my money on
Speaker 2: Rie and Declin to be there.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Okay, Well.
Speaker 2: I think that's because of love, you know, but it's hard.
Speaker 1: Because it does cloud your judgment. I think when you're
Speaker 1: in an experience like that, you know audiences might be
Speaker 1: judging it on food, but for you, you've had like
Speaker 1: this emotional connection with these people.
Speaker 2: But also it is on any given day, So you
Speaker 2: look at me last night made it just a really
Speaker 2: just a poor decision and yeah that just you know,
Speaker 2: so you just don't know it is on the day too.
Speaker 2: Any of them can win it. It's Joss, who is
Speaker 2: it going to be on the day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's really quite interesting because it's a competition where
Speaker 1: we see big cooks go home just by one small mistake,
Speaker 1: and when you've got four people now left in the competition,
Speaker 1: there's very little in it. Like it could easily re
Speaker 1: root itself. Is that a word? Reroute itself? Anyway? It
Speaker 1: could go anywhere, It could go anyway, but anyway, I'm
Speaker 1: pleased to know who you think might be there in
Speaker 1: the final two, which is interesting. I guess the best
Speaker 1: thing to ask you at this point is has this
Speaker 1: show changed your life?
Speaker 2: Oh? Changed my life? I'm not sure that it's changed
Speaker 2: my life, but it's just given me just so much
Speaker 2: joy and that, you know, the joy that I've shared
Speaker 2: with my family and friends, reconnected with people, you know,
Speaker 2: reconnected with people. I've really looked after myself. And I
Speaker 2: think that that you know, emotionally, you know, nearly fifty five,
Speaker 2: you know, menopausal woman, you know that, you know, which
Speaker 2: is pretty hard being this age when you go through
Speaker 2: you know, where where do I go to now? From
Speaker 2: having older children and different phase of my life? So
Speaker 2: I think that's been awesome. Is that really it's allowed
Speaker 2: me to explore so I can now you know, still
Speaker 2: have a new career at this age. So that's what
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to, and that's really exciting.
Speaker 1: We often do that in our lives, like we chapter
Speaker 1: our lives and we're like, you know, what would be next?
Speaker 1: And I think to be fifty four, turning fifty five
Speaker 1: and having this master and doing so well, like do
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like you didn't just get
Speaker 1: on the show, you did so well and then have
Speaker 1: so many people obsessed with you, Like that's a great
Speaker 1: thing to feel at fifty nearly fifty five.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, just so it is, you know, it is just
Speaker 2: joyful and the man of messages that I've received, you
Speaker 2: know obviously about my cooking, about you know, how I
Speaker 2: looked after myself and my self talk, which I didn't
Speaker 2: realize I spoke to myself so much, so that was
Speaker 2: a surprise to me looking at it very I love it.
Speaker 1: No, I love her self talk. Well, my two best friends.
Speaker 1: I've got these two best girlfriends that I've been friends
Speaker 1: with for decades and they both do the same thing.
Speaker 1: And it's funny. We were only just talking about it
Speaker 1: the other day. I think it's actually a really good
Speaker 1: way of processing things. It's allowing you to think about
Speaker 1: what's going on and sort of have that narrative going there.
Speaker 1: And it's cute that you don't know that you're saying it,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just I remember rhann And saying to
Speaker 2: me after a cook case she was talking to job
Speaker 2: actually and she just said to oh my god, everyone
Speaker 2: has to cook beside Kath at least once. She said oh,
Speaker 2: she said that. I thought Kath was talking to me,
Speaker 2: so I'd actually said how you're going, Swedie and she
Speaker 2: said good, But I was actually talking to myself, which
Speaker 2: I didn't realize. I say, and she said, oh you're
Speaker 2: going wow, And I said, oh, right, so I just said,
Speaker 2: you know, he could, and do you know what, I
Speaker 2: actually didn't realize that the which is a bit crazy naive,
Speaker 2: that the judges could hear what we were saying. I
Speaker 2: knew that we had a microphone on, but I just
Speaker 2: thought it was like producer sort of stuff. And Joe
Speaker 2: said to me, oh, cas, I can hear everything. You
Speaker 2: narrate everything. You ask yourself questions and you answer them.
Speaker 2: And I said, what can you hear me? He said, yes, Kat,
Speaker 2: we can hear everything. So that was quite a funny moment.
Speaker 1: You're being recorded for television. They aren't going to miss anything.
Speaker 1: My partner doesn't like it though, Like so I obviously
Speaker 1: lived with my two best friends for years, so I
Speaker 1: just got used to that that they the narrating their
Speaker 1: own story. But my partner's always like, we'll go away
Speaker 1: for a weekend, and he gets really frustrated because he
Speaker 1: tries to talk to them and they're not in a
Speaker 1: state where they want it. They're not trying to engage,
Speaker 1: do you know what I mean? And then they just
Speaker 1: ignore him and he's like, what is that weird thing
Speaker 1: that they do where they're unstacking the dishwasher and they're
Speaker 1: talking to themselves anyway, not a sign of madness.
Speaker 2: Apparently, it's you're really resilient. Resilient people talk to themselves.
Speaker 1: So there you're going, well, that's a beautiful thing to know.
Speaker 1: This Has the series been an emotional sendoff for Jock?
Speaker 1: I mean, this was an unseen thing that has really
Speaker 1: come out of you know, came out of nobhe It
Speaker 1: really shocked Australia in lots of ways, but no more
Speaker 1: so than the people that would have been on the show.
Speaker 1: Has this been an emotional send off for Jock? And
Speaker 1: how will you remember him?
Speaker 2: It certainly has. I think just in the lead up
Speaker 2: to the first episode, you know, it was just devastating
Speaker 2: news and we wondered, you know, how we would be
Speaker 2: going watching the show, and I think one of the
Speaker 2: you know, we've got a group, Chad and one of
Speaker 2: the girls. Actually, you know, we all agreed that we
Speaker 2: need to let ourselves celebrate the season and give ourselves
Speaker 2: permission to celebrate the season and what it was and
Speaker 2: to celebrate jobs. So I really say it, you know
Speaker 2: that it's yeah, it's just in honor of job, that's
Speaker 2: all I can say. Yeah, we're very lucky to cross
Speaker 2: paths amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think thank you for being able to talk
Speaker 1: about it. It's funny. I feel like I should say
Speaker 1: this to the people listening to the podcast, that I
Speaker 1: haven't chosen to speak about him until talking to you.
Speaker 1: And I know this might sound a little bit strange,
Speaker 1: but I guess it's that relationship that we have had
Speaker 1: watching the show with you, Like you know, when something
Speaker 1: goes wrong, you want to ask your mum, and so
Speaker 1: I feel like, for me, I wanted to talk about
Speaker 1: that with you because I felt like, you know, like
Speaker 1: a lot of people in Australia, we want to talk
Speaker 1: about it in a way, but we don't know who
Speaker 1: to talk about it with. And I did really choose
Speaker 1: you to be able to have that conversation. So I
Speaker 1: appreciate you being able to share how that has gone
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 3: I really do thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks. So, what do you think you're going to do next?
Speaker 1: Have you thought about it? I might do a cooking show,
Speaker 1: but like, what do you think is going to happen
Speaker 1: for you next? Do you have any ideas?
Speaker 2: It's a little bit surreal. What is life after Master Chef?
Speaker 2: So look, I've started on a book, so it's Cat's
Speaker 2: Kitchen from How to Wow. So it's just a collection
Speaker 2: of recipes that I've really shared with my daughters over
Speaker 2: the years. So that's something that I've whilst it's being
Speaker 2: aired that it was, yes, so something to focus on,
Speaker 2: I suppose. So I'd love to do. I mean, a
Speaker 2: cooking show would be awesome. I'd love to really you know,
Speaker 2: do some cooking classes with young people, with young kids,
Speaker 2: with young people with challenges. You know. I'd love to
Speaker 2: give back, you know. Jock always said that that's really important.
Speaker 2: I'd love to be working with young people. I love
Speaker 2: high tea, so that was always one of my dreams.
Speaker 2: So to maybe team up with a venue or do
Speaker 2: some pop ups and maybe just to do some intimate
Speaker 2: events with people, you know, whether it's in people's homes
Speaker 2: and just do a nice dinner party, girls, lunches, just
Speaker 2: just share the joy of you know, of cooking really well.
Speaker 1: I think you need to get that book up before
Speaker 1: Christmas because that would be on the Christmas bestseller list.
Speaker 1: I think like that that's going to go off. We
Speaker 1: want a little cardboard cut out of you in like
Speaker 1: bigw and bookstores next to good next to Jully.
Speaker 2: Goodness, of course, yeah, of course.
Speaker 1: Well before you go. Something that I ask everybody is
Speaker 1: what is something from behind the scenes, something that we
Speaker 1: might not see, but something that happens, you know, while
Speaker 1: making Master Chef. What's something that people wouldn't know but
Speaker 1: would love to know.
Speaker 2: Oh, I would say that in preparation for Master Chef,
Speaker 2: I bought a whole new wardrobe. So I would go
Speaker 2: off and I'd buy a nice shirt and I'd say
Speaker 2: to Brad, this is a gantry shirt. And I'd come
Speaker 2: back again and you'd say, oh, okay, another Master Chef outfit.
Speaker 2: And then of course we started filming, we were advised
Speaker 2: that we actually have to wear just block colors, so
Speaker 2: because they strove if you have anything patterned at strives
Speaker 2: with the camera. So all of my outfit that I
Speaker 2: had bought previously beautiful patterned shirts, et cetera, I couldn't wear.
Speaker 2: So had to then go and buy a whole new wardrobe.
Speaker 2: And then I thought, look, originally I bought black T
Speaker 2: shirts and they said, now if you're one, you have
Speaker 2: to wear block colors, but don't just go and buy
Speaker 2: all black. So okay, So I've gone from all the
Speaker 2: patents to the black and then I just went the colors.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 1: How many outfits did you manage to get by the
Speaker 1: time You've got you know, your original outfits, your black outfits,
Speaker 1: and now your block outfits. I mean that's a lot
Speaker 1: of clothing.
Speaker 2: I've done very well, Yes, very well.
Speaker 1: Tell them to people online. People will buy. I want
Speaker 1: to get close to you. Yeah, Look, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for taking the time and being so generous and
Speaker 1: talking with me today. I've absolutely loved watching you. I
Speaker 1: feel like this season will always be remembered with you,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to follow your journey.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Being Kath was really sweet and I did kind of
Speaker 1: expect that, but she did have me in tears at times,
Speaker 1: and it was really heartwarming to hear about what her
Speaker 1: Master Chef journey meant to her. But now we have
Speaker 1: THEO coming in and he's ready to share his story
Speaker 1: and Guys, I think you're going to love him even
Speaker 1: more after hearing about his heartbreaking and his time on
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three series. Guys, I want to welcome
Speaker 1: theater the podcast. You were a contestant right from the
Speaker 1: start that my friends had earmarked as the winner, and
Speaker 1: like it's just so surprising that you came out of
Speaker 1: the kitchen. I'm totally shocked to be talking to you today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard hearing that because so many people along
Speaker 3: the way have been saying, you know, you're going to win,
Speaker 3: We've got you, You're going to win, for sure, and
Speaker 3: it's so hard. And it's just one thing that sort
Speaker 3: of came unstuck and then that that was it. And
Speaker 3: that's the way. That's what this is all about, this competition,
Speaker 3: isn't it. It's you could be the better cook, but
Speaker 3: one day you just have a bad cook and that's it.
Speaker 3: You go home.
Speaker 1: I call it the good old Master Chef bait and switch.
Speaker 1: They allow us to think one thing and then change
Speaker 1: the narrative. What was going through your mind? This is
Speaker 1: all I want to know from watching the episode. What
Speaker 1: was going through your mind as you were eliminated. I
Speaker 1: wanted to know. Were you pissed? I'd be pissed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was. I was really mad at myself, and
Speaker 3: I was really I was mad because it's so funny
Speaker 3: like and a lot of the people give me a
Speaker 3: shit about this, but I was mad that I was
Speaker 3: mad at myself. So like I've been the last like, well,
Speaker 3: I don't know, like ten years trying to be better
Speaker 3: at not being mad at myself and getting it. I
Speaker 3: GA September and I like fly off the handle at
Speaker 3: myself most of the time. And my girlfriends really helped
Speaker 3: me change that about me. And I said to her
Speaker 3: before going on that I don't want to do that,
Speaker 3: and she's like, well, just think about me. And I
Speaker 3: lost it in that moment, and I was mad at
Speaker 3: myself for doing that, and also being out of the competition,
Speaker 3: Like I was devastated because I was thinking in the beginning,
Speaker 3: I was like, well, whatever happens happens. But then when
Speaker 3: you get further and further along and it's like top five,
Speaker 3: and I'm like I can win this thing now, like
Speaker 3: I actually can, And then that sent me home. I
Speaker 3: was like, yeah, I was really upset.
Speaker 1: It kind of made me like you endeared yourself more
Speaker 1: to me as in the audience, Like I think if
Speaker 1: you were to have a look on your face of anger,
Speaker 1: then you know, it looked like you were I don't know,
Speaker 1: I thought you were too good or anything that didn't
Speaker 1: really come across. What came across was that emotion you
Speaker 1: looked frustrated with yourself, and it only made I think
Speaker 1: Australian audiences like you more because you, you know, just
Speaker 1: being yourself and of course disappointing to be coming out
Speaker 1: of the competition at this point. If you'd said, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you for the experience, it's all been fine, and
Speaker 1: you just skipped off into the distance, I think that
Speaker 1: would have been really good.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, And that's what I am real like, it's
Speaker 3: just whatever I'm feeling. I'm not acting in any so.
Speaker 3: You know, this is great and it was great, but geez,
Speaker 3: I'm shattered, like one hundred percent. I'm really shattered that
Speaker 3: I didn't take it out. And that's the truth.
Speaker 1: You know what. I remember speaking to Ricky Lee Coolt
Speaker 1: after she was eliminated from a Alien I all these
Speaker 1: years ago. She came out eighth and the amount of
Speaker 1: people that came up to her and still believe she
Speaker 1: won her series. I kind of feel like you are
Speaker 1: the Ricky Lee of this series. I feel like in instacrame,
Speaker 1: people will only remember that you won because that's the
Speaker 1: way that it seemed like it was going to great.
Speaker 3: I love it and I'm going to learn to launch
Speaker 3: my singing career as well, I think footsteps.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's funny. It's funny the way the perception
Speaker 1: of the trail audience changed at the time. How was
Speaker 1: the experience for you? Did you find anything particularly hard.
Speaker 3: It was hard being away fro from my partner who
Speaker 3: had only been in Australia for like six months, and
Speaker 3: then I left her, you know, sort of all alone,
Speaker 3: which I found really hard. I felt guilty about that.
Speaker 3: I still feel guilty about it, even though she says
Speaker 3: it was fine and whatever. That was really difficult. But
Speaker 3: as far as the competition itself, there was really stressful moments,
Speaker 3: like you know, like you saw, and really stressful times
Speaker 3: for a small block of time. But I really enjoyed it,
Speaker 3: like I loved it, and I love making friends with everyone.
Speaker 3: And it was a time to just immerse yourself in cooking,
Speaker 3: which is not it's pretty rare, and without having the
Speaker 3: pressure of a business or something like that. If you
Speaker 3: were you know, open akery, which I'm going to do
Speaker 3: and that, or a restaurant, you've got that pressure of
Speaker 3: making money and you know, covers every night and all that.
Speaker 3: But in this it was just like be created and
Speaker 3: have fun with that, and that was amazing.
Speaker 1: To me, Yeah, there's so many outside voices that I
Speaker 1: think factor in that. I don't think when you're watching
Speaker 1: the show you can understand a voice. Though that we
Speaker 1: do here a lot is the screaming by the judges.
Speaker 1: You know. For me, I've got like ADHD, so like
Speaker 1: if someone makes a noise there, I like got to
Speaker 1: chase it. And I just was wondering how much of
Speaker 1: that screaming by the judges really affects you in the kitchen.
Speaker 3: You mean, when they're like saying like minutes ago and
Speaker 3: tell me to go on, I feel like.
Speaker 1: They're always screaming.
Speaker 3: They're like, oh guys, I'd be like, I reckon, I
Speaker 3: had tunnle vision or something like. I didn't hear it.
Speaker 3: The only time I heard it was when they came
Speaker 3: up to my bench and they're like right there, what
Speaker 3: are you doing? And I'm like, try to give it
Speaker 3: fast answers so they can go away so I can
Speaker 3: continue cooking. Like I just really wanted to focus on
Speaker 3: what I was doing, so that that was really hard
Speaker 3: when they came up to me and were like, tell
Speaker 3: us about your dish, and especially if you don't have
Speaker 3: a clear picture of what your dish is yet and
Speaker 3: they're like, that doesn't sound that doesn't sound like a
Speaker 3: good complete dish or whatever. I'm like, oh no. So
Speaker 3: that's when you sort of feel the pressure from them,
Speaker 3: so that when they're yelling just whatever, you've.
Speaker 1: Got an ability to maybe switch it off a little bit. Roight.
Speaker 1: I'd just be like, I think I'm a people pleaser,
Speaker 1: So I'm so often hanging onto everything that people are
Speaker 1: saying so to give them what they need. And I
Speaker 1: think you need to sort of have a particular mindset
Speaker 1: that you can.
Speaker 3: I'm definitely not a people pleaser.
Speaker 1: Well that's great, and let me tell you the amount
Speaker 1: of time of my life that I've wasted being a
Speaker 1: people pleaser. I wish that I wasn't that.
Speaker 3: If you don't like me, you don't like me. That's it.
Speaker 1: That's a really good segue into you know, the relationships
Speaker 1: that you build. I mean, you're there to cook, but
Speaker 1: you know, a large part of this experience you make
Speaker 1: these lifelong friendships. Who were your friends that you made
Speaker 1: this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, really important. But an amazing step in this whole
Speaker 3: process is that is making friends with with people. And
Speaker 3: I became really close with Phil, who was my roommate
Speaker 3: for most of the time until he was eliminated. Jacquelin
Speaker 3: as well was my roommate after that. Bonded well with him,
Speaker 3: and then Grace and Amy really great great friends with them,
Speaker 3: and Brent, and then also Re and Cath because we
Speaker 3: spent so much time together as well. But and Antonio,
Speaker 3: I could go on to be honest, like pretty much
Speaker 3: everyone was friends. But the closest I am is with Phil, Grace, Amy,
Speaker 3: and Brent. I think it's because they live in well,
Speaker 3: Brent doesn't live here, but they live in Victoria, so
Speaker 3: it's easier for us to catch up, so it's a
Speaker 3: bit harder. You know. Antonio is a great, great guy,
Speaker 3: but you know who lives in Sydney and Declan as well,
Speaker 3: so I think, yeah, it's more than catching up with
Speaker 3: people is easier. So it's nice. But it's so good
Speaker 3: to have those friendships out of I don't know where,
Speaker 3: you know, And when you get older, as you know,
Speaker 3: you don't make friends as quickly as what you do
Speaker 3: when you're young. When you're younger, you just throw a
Speaker 3: ball at someone and you're like, you're my best friend.
Speaker 3: And now it's harder to make friends, you know, so, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's good.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess it's adults. We don't really get the
Speaker 1: opportunity to be put into school like environment. As we
Speaker 1: get older, we get more insular in the groups that
Speaker 1: we've formed. But having an opportunity to find like minded
Speaker 1: people who all enjoy cooking, obviously is an unusual experience
Speaker 1: for most people. I think more adults should be doing
Speaker 1: extracurricular activities that involve them being in group settings because
Speaker 1: it is the foundation to make solid friendships.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it felt like school in a way, like
Speaker 3: a school camp almost, you know, like it felt like
Speaker 3: we were on a school camp the whole time. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I think it's really important for people to follow their passions.
Speaker 3: And even if it's one day a week getting together
Speaker 3: with a group of people doing something like why not,
Speaker 3: more people should do it. And everything that's going on
Speaker 3: mental health and everything that people are struggling with these days,
Speaker 3: I think it would be an amazing thing to have
Speaker 3: people have an outlet where they can meet people and
Speaker 3: be like minded people have a joke around. And you know,
Speaker 3: my friends, my friends from school, do not do that.
Speaker 3: Their lives are too busy, they think, And you know,
Speaker 3: but I think people may make time for it and
Speaker 3: you can be better off for it.
Speaker 1: Do you know what's really interesting is like when you
Speaker 1: know where any of my friends have had a break
Speaker 1: up and we're in our forties, so it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: if we're gonna have a breakup in your forties, it
Speaker 1: feels like a lot or they fall out with a
Speaker 1: long term friend. I always say, go and do something extracurricular,
Speaker 1: like you know what, do you enjoy painting or cooking
Speaker 1: or just go and roll yourself in something that's going
Speaker 1: to surround yourself with new faces, because that is like
Speaker 1: a ticket to the next level.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I thrive on making new connections like I always
Speaker 3: always have. You know, I moved to France and you know,
Speaker 3: bake bread and it was there alone and made lifelong
Speaker 3: friends there as well, And I think it's super important
Speaker 3: to do that. And definitely, you know, that's really really
Speaker 3: hard to do, but you can do other things and
Speaker 3: it keeps you young and it keeps you your mind fresh,
Speaker 3: and you know, even doing this Master Chef experience, I
Speaker 3: think I wouldn't a lot of people wouldn't do it
Speaker 3: because they're afraid what's going to happen. But what bad
Speaker 3: can happen? You know, it's only good things. You know,
Speaker 3: if you make new connections, if you develop new skills,
Speaker 3: if you you know, even if it's you're only on
Speaker 3: it for a week, you're still in that world and
Speaker 3: making new friends and making new connections and skills and everything.
Speaker 3: I think it's really important.
Speaker 1: I always you know, my mom brought me up and
Speaker 1: she would say to me, if you were ever scared
Speaker 1: of something, you know, if you have fear, to push
Speaker 1: yourself against it, because there usually would be a reward
Speaker 1: behind it. Interestingly enough, though, I reminded her of her
Speaker 1: saying that to me as a kid recently, and she said,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have said that. I'd have said, if something's
Speaker 1: a struggle, run in the opposite direction. I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: you didn't teach me that the opposite That's why I've
Speaker 1: jumped out of planes. And she's like, well, that was
Speaker 1: a stupid idea.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think. I think pushing yourself out of your
Speaker 3: comfort zone and being uncomfortable is where you get the
Speaker 3: best rewards. And your mum was right back in the day.
Speaker 3: Maybe she changed an old old age. She's like, don't
Speaker 3: take you more risks, but Yeah, it's one hundred percent
Speaker 3: where you you grow the most and you make you
Speaker 3: make the most, and you also make the best memories
Speaker 3: in those times when you're of course really uncomfortable and
Speaker 3: pushing yourself to the limit. Like who has a memory
Speaker 3: of a YAO was comfortable and I watched TV that night.
Speaker 3: You don't remember that, you remember the hard stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's true. We kind of we pack our
Speaker 1: lives that way though. I mean, we kind of need
Speaker 1: the people that are going to want to watch Master
Speaker 1: Chef every night, do you know what I mean? Like
Speaker 1: it's great, but at the same time, you know, it's
Speaker 1: good to be able to fill your life with other
Speaker 1: things as well, you know, speaking about what people watch,
Speaker 1: everyone's talking about re and Cass being on their own
Speaker 1: cooking show and saying how good that would be. I
Speaker 1: don't know, if you've read the fan forums, this is
Speaker 1: one thing that they're focusing on. Would you be interested
Speaker 1: in watching a cooking show of those two women got together?
Speaker 3: Jeez, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think it'd be mayhem to watch them together my
Speaker 4: style of show. But yeah, it would be very view
Speaker 4: and interesting show for for some people, but yeah, probably
Speaker 4: not for me. Maybe if it was the un edited version,
Speaker 4: it would be pretty funny because.
Speaker 3: Ree is very she swears a lot, and it doesn't
Speaker 3: make it doesn't make the cut, but it's quite funny. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's quite funny to see. And she actually had a
Speaker 3: funny effect on Kat because Kath never swore, I swear
Speaker 3: until about halfway through this days and she starts, you know,
Speaker 3: just swearing her head off. I'm like, where did this
Speaker 3: come from? And it's right, she's a putty map. It's funny.
Speaker 1: I was brought up not allowed to swear, so like,
Speaker 1: I don't have swearing and it's funny. When I started podcasting,
Speaker 1: they were like, you know, just make sure you try
Speaker 1: not to swear too much of the podcast. And I
Speaker 1: really don't because it just doesn't come naturally to me.
Speaker 1: But I still, as an adult, get really shocked when
Speaker 1: people like use a lot of swear words. I'm like,
Speaker 1: they got Tourette's, Like, what's wrong with them?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, when I was growing up, I wasn't allowed
Speaker 3: to swear in front of my mom and my dad. Actually, yeah,
Speaker 3: I wasn't allowed to swear. And I remember I was
Speaker 3: like maybe seventeen or eighteen. My dad said something and
Speaker 3: I was going to I was going to swear. He's like,
Speaker 3: you can swear now, you're allowed to, and I'm like, oh, nah, nah,
Speaker 3: I don't want to like I did. I felt like
Speaker 3: uncomfortable to do it because actually, when I was younger,
Speaker 3: I remember this very vivid memory that I was helping
Speaker 3: my dad would but he was doing a barbecue and
Speaker 3: he goes, can you go inside and get me a bowl?
Speaker 3: And apparently I can't remember saying it, but I said, oh,
Speaker 3: do I have to? Am I lad I swear on this? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You go. The weird thing is you're allowed to swear.
Speaker 1: It's an R rated podcast. Just all that makes it
Speaker 1: sound like something else can happen. No, you can do whatever.
Speaker 3: You're like, I'm not going to take my pants off yet,
Speaker 3: that's for sure. My dad asked me to get a bowl,
Speaker 3: and I said, do I have to fucking do everything
Speaker 3: around him? And I was like five years old and
Speaker 3: I'm ran up to me, grabbed my mouth, emptied a
Speaker 3: whole pepper shaker in my mouth and hold my mouth
Speaker 3: shrap like that, and I was like I couldn't. She
Speaker 3: wouldn't let me spit it out. And my grandma was
Speaker 3: like let me spit it out. Let me spit it out.
Speaker 3: And then I remember that, just that memory, I did
Speaker 3: I want to ever swear in front of my mom
Speaker 3: ever again. So until I was eighteen years old, I
Speaker 3: didn't swear in front of my mom, like and I
Speaker 3: still struggled to swear in front of my mom. My
Speaker 3: dad's fine, my dad swears his head off. But yeah,
Speaker 3: it's quite funny. That memory just really sticks in my mind.
Speaker 1: Those parenting police, they'd be like, oh, no, you can't
Speaker 1: do that to kids. But like I grew up in
Speaker 1: the eighties, like that stuff happened all the time, and
Speaker 1: you know, I actually think some of those lessons that
Speaker 1: I learned that way were actually really vital.
Speaker 3: So my dad did a lot of things like that
Speaker 3: to me. I remember when I was like six or seven,
Speaker 3: I was like, because they used to smoke, and I said, oh,
Speaker 3: what's give me like a drag or something, and he's like,
Speaker 3: all right, have a drag of the cigarette and just
Speaker 3: threw up everywhere. Haven't touched the smoke since. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's another thing.
Speaker 1: So my partner has the same thing, and like he
Speaker 1: can't smoke because he had the same thing his parents
Speaker 1: let him smoke anyway. This is like and not this
Speaker 1: is like becoming like a parenting podcast and that's really
Speaker 1: not me and probably not you either. Do you think
Speaker 1: that Declan has one points with the judges by offering
Speaker 1: a lot of his personality with his cooking this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean Declan's Declan's another person. That's just who
Speaker 3: he is as well, so he's not acting at all.
Speaker 3: He's like that twenty four to seven, so he's been
Speaker 3: just real and like, I love Declan, He's a great guy.
Speaker 3: So yeah, if he if I don't know, I don't.
Speaker 3: I think the judges are very good at just judging
Speaker 3: the food itself, so I think that that is really
Speaker 3: important to them. I think that's what they what they
Speaker 3: hold true to their craft. I think that's really important
Speaker 3: for them, and as it should be, because you definitely
Speaker 3: don't want to be judging on someone's character, because yeah,
Speaker 3: I think it's not and I haven't seen it at all.
Speaker 3: I've loved the way they've gone about their judging and
Speaker 3: everything like that, and I think very very fair in
Speaker 3: my mind.
Speaker 1: What about Brent as well, Like Brent had an emotional
Speaker 1: return to the kitchen, which was highly celebrated, but did
Speaker 1: he have a massive advantage in terms of preparing himself
Speaker 1: for this show. I mean kind of knew how the
Speaker 1: sausage was made, so to speak.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good analogy. Yeah, I mean in the beginning,
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, this is a big threat. Like
Speaker 3: when he came through those doors, everyone's clapping and sharing,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, damn, someone that knows how it works,
Speaker 3: you know in a way. So I was a bit
Speaker 3: worried about that. And you know, it is what it is,
Speaker 3: like if he knows what they what they like. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's not if he knows what they like, it's just
Speaker 3: having been in that pressure cooker situation, you know how
Speaker 3: to maybe handle it a bit better. But you know,
Speaker 3: having said that, Brent didn't handle very well when he
Speaker 3: was there, so big props to him for being able
Speaker 3: to return and do it. But yeah, I was worried
Speaker 3: in the beginning. I was like, damn, this guy is
Speaker 3: the real competition now because everyone else was, you know,
Speaker 3: the same as me, hadn't been there before. So I
Speaker 3: definitely saw him as competition. Like on the first first
Speaker 3: day I saw him and he was running backwards hat
Speaker 3: as well. I'm like, man, that's my thing. What are
Speaker 3: you doing?
Speaker 1: That's trademark? Don't touch it exactly. You know the trip
Speaker 1: to Sydney as well, you know that would have been
Speaker 1: really exciting. I don't think you guys could see that
Speaker 1: that was coming, but you know, I just was thinking,
Speaker 1: I can't remember what I need to buy at the supermarket,
Speaker 1: let alone recreate something in my mind on a back
Speaker 1: from Sydney. How hard was that challenge for you? And
Speaker 1: did that really not play into your particular skill set
Speaker 1: at this point?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I was trying to channel my inner rain Man
Speaker 3: like on that one, but just you know, it's really
Speaker 3: hard to just get all those numbers because it's very particular,
Speaker 3: very and in that fine dining style, you need to
Speaker 3: be precise. And yeah, you're right, it doesn't play into
Speaker 3: my hands, that's for sure. And probably that whole, that
Speaker 3: whole thing leading up to that then led to me
Speaker 3: not being able to keep my calm in feeling that
Speaker 3: membrane because you know, stressed out to think about I
Speaker 3: need to remember all these numbers and get it right,
Speaker 3: and then going into peeling it thinking that, you know,
Speaker 3: that's a stressful situation, and I sort of remember just
Speaker 3: starting to do it and being like, no, it's not
Speaker 3: working straight away, you know, not that negativity. No it's
Speaker 3: not going to work. It's not working. Just yeah, just
Speaker 3: screwed me over a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it certainly is something I relate to really easily,
Speaker 1: like as in, once my brain tells me that I
Speaker 1: can't do something, it's almost impossible to shake that. So
Speaker 1: I really relate to your experience.
Speaker 3: It's definitely a maturity thing, I think.
Speaker 1: And you know, well, that's something I've not got for you.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, neither. So at the age of thirty seven,
Speaker 3: I would have got it by now. But I am
Speaker 3: a lot better than I was because I remember when
Speaker 3: I was younger, you play cricket in the backyard or
Speaker 3: kick the footy or whatever. I'd go out and throw
Speaker 3: the cricket bat and be like I'm going home, you know,
Speaker 3: like that sort of thing. So that's what I was like.
Speaker 3: So I think I've got a lot better and I've
Speaker 3: managed it really well until that point. I think that
Speaker 3: was the breaking point for me. And yeah, there was
Speaker 3: a lot there was. I was really angry that that day.
Speaker 3: It was really sucks in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, was it the squid though, Like I couldn't work out.
Speaker 1: Like you know, when you're watching a show like this
Speaker 1: is hard to really know because it can be something
Speaker 1: so finite, like it can be something very small as well.
Speaker 1: What was it? Where did that kick in? Where was
Speaker 1: the throwing away of the cricket bat for you? Where
Speaker 1: you just thought, I don't know how to come back
Speaker 1: from this.
Speaker 3: As soon as as soon as I couldn't peel the
Speaker 3: membrane like the first go I knew it would be
Speaker 3: harder going back at it because you start it and
Speaker 3: it's sort of like you're kind of ruining the part
Speaker 3: of the squid that you're trying to pull, so then
Speaker 3: it becomes harder and harder to pool. So I knew
Speaker 3: at that point as soon as it didn't come straight away,
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, fucked, yeah, I like, you know, and
Speaker 3: then it's in my head, you're not going to be
Speaker 3: in the top three. You've wasted all this time on
Speaker 3: this Master Chef journey and you're going to come forth
Speaker 3: like that's horrible, Like you know, you've you've left your
Speaker 3: partner at home, you're an asshole, you're you know, all
Speaker 3: these things that you know going in my head that
Speaker 3: trying to fight against like. You don't have that. You
Speaker 3: don't have that foresight to sit back and go nothing,
Speaker 3: You're all right, you're not an asshole, you're doing well.
Speaker 3: You didn't leave your girlfriend at home to come and
Speaker 3: a cooking show. You know, it's all good. I just
Speaker 3: didn't have that maturity to do to say that to myself,
Speaker 3: and that's what it was.
Speaker 1: And maybe you never will. But again, I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: that people will think back to this series and only
Speaker 1: remember you as the winner, and that's all we need
Speaker 1: to care about. Really, at this point, we need to
Speaker 1: care about. Yes, you know, if the judges did have
Speaker 1: a favorite, or you have a connection yourself with one
Speaker 1: of the judges, was there someone you connected with more
Speaker 1: than anyone else.
Speaker 3: I had a different relationship with all of them, I
Speaker 3: feel But I feel like I was very similar to
Speaker 3: Jock in the way that he delivered his feedback to
Speaker 3: me and sort of was. I could see that he was,
Speaker 3: you know, very similar to me in the way, you know,
Speaker 3: he didn't like sugarcoating things. So it'd be like, you know,
Speaker 3: stuff that up. You know, that's what you stuffed up.
Speaker 3: You need to get better at that. And I would
Speaker 3: take that as yes, thank you, like, don't shoot, don't
Speaker 3: say this was fantastic, this was great, and then not
Speaker 3: talk about the stuff that I didn't do well, if
Speaker 3: that makes sense. You know, if you could make all
Speaker 3: these things and you could just point out they're really
Speaker 3: good stuff and then say, well, good jobs there are
Speaker 3: like well done. But Jock would just say, you know,
Speaker 3: first of all that stuff was good, great, but this
Speaker 3: is what you you made a mistake on and you
Speaker 3: need to get better at that. And that helped me
Speaker 3: a lot, really really helped me a lot, So I'm
Speaker 3: very grateful.
Speaker 1: The best currency in life with communication is always truth.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because people get lost in that, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. People forget to be truthful about
Speaker 1: who they are and what they say. And sometimes we
Speaker 1: want to say to people something better than it is,
Speaker 1: we want to make them feel better. But the truth
Speaker 1: is what people want to hear, even if it is hard.
Speaker 3: You know. Well, I think a lot of people don't
Speaker 3: know how to deliver the truth without being me about it.
Speaker 3: I think John did that really well, you know, like,
Speaker 3: I think he was really great at explaining what you
Speaker 3: did wrong, but not in a way of well you're
Speaker 3: not good enough. It's not like that. It's just you
Speaker 3: didn't do that part. Well, just work on that part
Speaker 3: and that's where you'll you'll you'll get better at it.
Speaker 3: And I think that's that's exactly the way I operate.
Speaker 3: You know, if someone you know, the classic we eat
Speaker 3: eat dinner at home, well, mom and dad, and every
Speaker 3: single time we'll say, there'll be a critique on the
Speaker 3: table of something. You know, Mum's probably over it, to
Speaker 3: be honest, but it's like, this is really good, Mum,
Speaker 3: but I reckon that it's a bit too salty all that.
Speaker 3: You know, we all have our things that we say,
Speaker 3: and I think it's really important because you just keep
Speaker 3: doing the same stuff that people say, yeah, well done,
Speaker 3: and it's no good. Then what's the point. You're not
Speaker 3: getting any better.
Speaker 1: So I have this mantra, which is, you know, you
Speaker 1: can be a good person or a bad person, but
Speaker 1: as long as you being genuinely yourself, people will like you.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1: If the food is salty to you, even though it
Speaker 1: might not be salty to everyone else, if you're speaking
Speaker 1: your truth, it doesn't come across mean, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. And the way you deliver it. That's a
Speaker 3: bit too salty for me, you know, rather than that's
Speaker 3: way too salty. You don't know what you're doing. That's
Speaker 3: not how you deliver it, you know, it's all about delivery.
Speaker 1: I really don't think that you need to win a
Speaker 1: show like Master Chef to really stand out from your experience,
Speaker 1: and we've seen that in previous seasons before. I'm just
Speaker 1: super curious, you know, what do you want to do
Speaker 1: with this whole experience next? Like what have you got planned?
Speaker 3: I'm going to open a bakery for sure, and I
Speaker 3: want to take over the bakery world in Melbourne and
Speaker 3: just be everywhere. That's my number one goal. That's the
Speaker 3: end goal. That's like where my happiness lies. But also,
Speaker 3: you know, I want to do a lot of things
Speaker 3: on social media and things like that. I would love
Speaker 3: to just get my get my name out there even
Speaker 3: further with cooking and with bread and help people, help
Speaker 3: people cook and you know, do simple things and just
Speaker 3: and be real, like you said, like be real and
Speaker 3: just be myself and I think people will will take
Speaker 3: to that. But yeah, the bakery is my number one
Speaker 3: goal because that's where my passion lies.
Speaker 1: I feel like that journey is upon you. I feel
Speaker 1: like you're on that journey. You are being real and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a Melbournie and so I'll be buying
Speaker 1: the bread. I guess the best question to ask you
Speaker 1: at this point is who, in your eyes deserves to
Speaker 1: win the show at the moment.
Speaker 3: I reckon. I think Declan deserves to win the show
Speaker 3: in terms of growth. I think he's done really well
Speaker 3: in terms of growth. But I also think that that
Speaker 3: Brent is the better cook, to be honest, So I
Speaker 3: don't know. And Ree's great as Well's really good as well,
Speaker 3: but I don't think she has what the boys. The
Speaker 3: boys have in terms of cooking ability. So yeah, it'd
Speaker 3: be interesting to see who takes it out.
Speaker 1: So my last question to ask you, something that I
Speaker 1: ask everybody is what is a question? What is something
Speaker 1: from behind the scenes, something that we as an audience
Speaker 1: won't see, kind of like a behind the scene secret
Speaker 1: of the show.
Speaker 3: You know, Like I said to you, my partner was
Speaker 3: from is from France and she had on even been
Speaker 3: in the country for six months, so just a like
Speaker 3: cheeky phone call to her every now and again, and
Speaker 3: you know, checking in on her and seeing if she's okay,
Speaker 3: you know, because it really took a toll on me.
Speaker 3: I think being away from her was really hard because
Speaker 3: I knew that I know that she's not great, well
Speaker 3: she's not great at being alone, but it's in a
Speaker 3: foreign country on her own, you know, it was really difficult.
Speaker 3: So I would always want to check in, you know,
Speaker 3: after every every day and just be like, look, I'm here,
Speaker 3: I'm still nearby, you know. And I think that put
Speaker 3: her mind at ease. And I think that was really
Speaker 3: really an important part of this because if I couldn't
Speaker 3: have done that, I don't think I could have could
Speaker 3: have been on this journey.
Speaker 1: Is it like prison? You only laid one phone call? Like,
Speaker 1: can you only have one all a day?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, And it's like one of those old school
Speaker 3: phones that you have to put money in. I'm just
Speaker 3: picturing the.
Speaker 1: I picturing Ree and Cath like in a scene of
Speaker 1: Prisoner or Wentworth, you know, standing in the queue. You know,
Speaker 1: come on THEO. Times up?
Speaker 3: Orange is the New Black?
Speaker 1: Maybe absolutely THEO. You know, you are an amazing person.
Speaker 1: I think you have done such a great job this series.
Speaker 1: One of my favorites. Clear favorites this series to watch
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I expect you in front of the line
Speaker 3: at the bakery when I open it.
Speaker 1: I'm in Melbourne, I'll be there and I am looking
Speaker 1: forward to being just that little bit bigger from eating
Speaker 1: all of that bread.
Speaker 3: Yeah nice, I love it. Thanks mate, Thank you.