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 Master
Speaker 1: Chef Australia's twenty twenty two winner and runner up. It's
Speaker 1: Billy and Sarah. This season we welcome back to the
Speaker 1: kitchen the most celebrated contestants ever and while these ladies
Speaker 1: have their work cut out for them with some impressive fans,
Speaker 1: it was the two remaining favorites who battled it out
Speaker 1: in the finale. This is the second time Billy has
Speaker 1: won Master Chef Australia and while she has cashed in
Speaker 1: her two hundred and fifty three, I feel like this
Speaker 1: experience is more than just the money. Both girls can
Speaker 1: walk away from the competition with their heads held high,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see what they both do next.
Speaker 1: We will discuss their final bond, friendships, what is next
Speaker 1: for the two of them, and all the twists and
Speaker 1: turns along the way that has made this season one
Speaker 1: of the most memorable season of Master Chef. Ever. However,
Speaker 1: let's get started. I'd like to welcome two of the
Speaker 1: most celebrated people on television in twenty twenty two. It's
Speaker 1: Billy and Sarah from Master Chef Australia.
Speaker 2: I was like, I'm not coming back.
Speaker 3: Master Sheff has produced some of the biggest names in food.
Speaker 4: Winning at the first time. I was pretty young.
Speaker 1: The first time ever, it's funds versus favorites.
Speaker 2: We just need to lift each other up and be supportive.
Speaker 4: And you've impressed us week after week, not only with
Speaker 4: the caliber of your cooking, but with your incredible fighting spirit.
Speaker 4: FINALI is always going to be really intense.
Speaker 1: Show in Australia.
Speaker 4: I'm glad I can say now that all of that
Speaker 4: pain and waiting was worth it.
Speaker 1: Hi, Sarah, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm good. I feel really good. I think you know.
Speaker 3: Master Shepher's finished now and I'm excited for just like
Speaker 3: getting out there in the big wide world.
Speaker 2: Again, it's a bit of a bubble, this reality TV stuff.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, congratulations on coming second. I mean, this is a
Speaker 1: very good badge of honor. You might not have taken
Speaker 1: out the top prize, but to make it through this
Speaker 1: competition with such amazing talent, Like it's been the toughest
Speaker 1: season in terms of talent I think we've ever seen
Speaker 1: on the show.
Speaker 3: Oh totally, even the fans. I'm just blown away with
Speaker 3: the types of dishes that they're cooking. And there were
Speaker 3: so many weeks where I was like, Yep, I'm getting
Speaker 3: eliminated this week.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm getting eliminated this week.
Speaker 3: Can It just never happened, And I kept getting closer
Speaker 3: and closer, and to be in the finale felt incredible.
Speaker 3: I felt for the first time, I felt kind of
Speaker 3: at ease walking into the kitchen, so I kind of,
Speaker 3: you know, I didn't feel bad if I lost.
Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, I've made it. This is a
Speaker 2: huge achievement.
Speaker 3: And I felt just really excited to cook and I
Speaker 3: think I think it kind of showed through in my dishes.
Speaker 2: I was really proud of what I put up, and.
Speaker 3: I think that's the that's the best way to leave
Speaker 3: the competition just feeling proud of how I cooked and
Speaker 3: what I put up.
Speaker 1: I think that the food that you cook on the
Speaker 1: show is like three D television. It's so visceral that
Speaker 1: when you're seeing home and you're watching your food, you
Speaker 1: can taste it or you just want to go and
Speaker 1: eat it, you know what I mean. And it's an
Speaker 1: amazing thing to be sitting at home just being like
Speaker 1: suitantalized by something that you can't smell and you can't taste.
Speaker 2: I know, it's strange, isn't it.
Speaker 3: Whether they going to invent like smell a vision or
Speaker 3: you know somewhere you can taste it almost through the TV.
Speaker 3: I guess you don't need it, because yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: Master Chef does a very good job at.
Speaker 1: That the closest it you're going to come to it.
Speaker 1: I don't think I want smellvision because there's way too
Speaker 1: many other categories that that's not going to work in
Speaker 1: our favor, my friend.
Speaker 2: True, true, true.
Speaker 1: Do you think that the right two people manage to
Speaker 1: make it to the finale? I mean, do you think
Speaker 1: that you and Billy were the right two people at
Speaker 1: the end?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think Billy is amazing.
Speaker 3: I think she's really talented and she is great at
Speaker 3: the competition.
Speaker 2: I think she did a great job to get there.
Speaker 3: I think there's other people that I would have loved
Speaker 3: to be closer to the end as well. Like I
Speaker 3: think Mindy is an incredible cook and she's really really talented.
Speaker 3: I would have liked to see her closer to the end.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean I think that, you know, you
Speaker 3: get to that point in your career where I feel
Speaker 3: like I'm really comfortable in my style and what I've
Speaker 3: achieved and I'm happy that I got to the end,
Speaker 3: and yeah, and I think I've worked really hard to
Speaker 3: get there, and I feel glad that I was.
Speaker 2: In the finale.
Speaker 1: How amazing is Mindy? Like I did this podcast with
Speaker 1: her and afterwards I was like looking at flights to
Speaker 1: fly to Byron, and I'm I needed to go on
Speaker 1: a cooking spiritual journey with that woman. And I what
Speaker 1: an amazing person to go to be alongside in a
Speaker 1: competition like this.
Speaker 2: Well that's the thing.
Speaker 3: I don't think I could have gotten to the end
Speaker 3: without having those friendships.
Speaker 2: And I get this. They blew her Mindy and Aldo
Speaker 2: flew in yesterday just to be with me to watch
Speaker 2: the finale. I was telling my mom.
Speaker 3: My mom staid bawling her eyes out, Like you you
Speaker 3: realize how lucky you are when you have when you
Speaker 3: gain friendships like that, and they're just so damn supportive,
Speaker 3: like when you meet such genuine, honest, like caring people,
Speaker 3: Like I think just winning mastership is nothing when I'm
Speaker 3: walking away with such incredible friendship since it's.
Speaker 1: Huge, especially with those two. I mean, who does that.
Speaker 1: Who gets on a plane to go and sit next
Speaker 1: to someone and hold their hand. I mean it's you
Speaker 1: feel like that's what you'd love to do for your friends,
Speaker 1: but to actually do.
Speaker 3: It, yes, I know, like, oh, it's amazing. Honestly, I
Speaker 3: am pretty needy though.
Speaker 1: So no, I think high maintenance, and I think we
Speaker 1: ought to be. Billy seemed to be the one to
Speaker 1: beat from the start of the competition. I think with
Speaker 1: so much attention on Julie, people may have underestimated other contestants,
Speaker 1: maybe like Billy and yourself. What do you think?
Speaker 2: I think?
Speaker 3: So, I think throughout the competition there was you know,
Speaker 3: people that kept like really showing these incredible styles and
Speaker 3: it's just the hard thing about Masters, you have one
Speaker 3: bad cook and that could be sending you home. And
Speaker 3: we saw that with Sashy and with Mindy and you
Speaker 3: know a few other contestants in the show, and it's unfortunate,
Speaker 3: but it's a it's a cooking competition at the end
Speaker 3: of the day.
Speaker 2: And so I think that probably, you know, Billy and.
Speaker 3: I had these tools to kind of like where like
Speaker 3: that gets really tough, you can pull it, pull it out,
Speaker 3: and get through and the pressure doesn't get to either
Speaker 3: of us too much. So I think that really helps
Speaker 3: in a competition like mastershaf for sure.
Speaker 1: What made you want to come back to the show?
Speaker 1: I mean, did you have a personal checklist?
Speaker 3: No, I was like, I'm not coming back, to be honest,
Speaker 3: And you know, I had the chat with the producers
Speaker 3: and I was nervous, Like I think coming back into
Speaker 3: the show, you.
Speaker 2: You obviously feel like you have something that you.
Speaker 3: Have to prove, even though that's not necessarily the case,
Speaker 3: you do feel like there's something that you need, some
Speaker 3: sort of expectation you need to live up to. So
Speaker 3: I was definitely nervous about that, but I don't know,
Speaker 3: I felt like it was kind of the stars aligning.
Speaker 3: I you know, had some pretty massive loss in loss
Speaker 3: in India with my restaurants and COVID and having to
Speaker 3: shut down two of them, and it felt like at
Speaker 3: this point it was kind of a bit of a
Speaker 3: sign I feel, and borders were shut so I couldn't
Speaker 3: fly back and forth, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm just going to go for it. I think
Speaker 3: someone's telling me to do this, so I'm going to
Speaker 3: do it. And yeah, like I think going through the
Speaker 3: process and just like the experiences that I had with
Speaker 3: you know, meeting people and gaining these friends that feel
Speaker 3: like family and then getting to the finale, like it's
Speaker 3: pretty huge. But I think even more than that, I've
Speaker 3: always kind of been searching for really finding that heart
Speaker 3: and soul of my cooking, which is me, and definitely
Speaker 3: through this series I found that there was there was
Speaker 3: a moment where I did the lobster dish where I
Speaker 3: won the immunity, and I think it was Jock who
Speaker 3: said that it was three Michelin style worthy and it's
Speaker 3: kind of these French techniques with Indian flavors.
Speaker 2: And as soon as I.
Speaker 3: Kind of fell into this kind of direction, all of
Speaker 3: my dishes just seemed to fall into place. And I
Speaker 3: think it was just kind of like this switch in
Speaker 3: my brain that I was like, this is my style
Speaker 3: of cooking, Like, this is what I do and it's
Speaker 3: not like cicating dishes that I've learned from people through
Speaker 3: my travels or anything like that. So yeah, I felt
Speaker 3: like that was a big realization that I feel like
Speaker 3: I didn't expect I was going to get throughout the competition.
Speaker 1: Well. I think competition based reality shows can be quite
Speaker 1: a lot to put into your life. I like to
Speaker 1: say to people, you know, when you decide to do
Speaker 1: a show like this, you might not win. I mean
Speaker 1: for km second, which is pretty good, but the show
Speaker 1: will give you something. It'll shake up your life in
Speaker 1: a little bit of a way if you can ride
Speaker 1: that in the right way and you don't sort of
Speaker 1: try and make it into something that it's not. I
Speaker 1: feel like it on Earth's things. So you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: when something like you know, maybe things haven't been so
Speaker 1: great through COVID that you going and rocking another series
Speaker 1: of Master Chef is probably right time, right place for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3: And that's the thing I think that just realizing that
Speaker 3: when you go into reality TV. You have to kind
Speaker 3: of just go along with the process and you do
Speaker 3: find out what you're meant to along the way, and
Speaker 3: it can be yes, so many different things.
Speaker 2: I think it does. It is a pretty incredible experience,
Speaker 2: and you do feel.
Speaker 3: Like once you've been on one of these kind of shows,
Speaker 3: you've become like this little you know, group of people
Speaker 3: that you've all been through the same thing, and it's
Speaker 3: kind of, yeah, changed you in a certain way for sure,
Speaker 3: which a lot of people get something. Yeah, it definitely
Speaker 3: binds you together and you, yeah, you definitely get something
Speaker 3: out of It's kind of like a little bit of
Speaker 3: a psychology session in a certain mind.
Speaker 1: Anyone that hasn't done reality TV that's listening to this
Speaker 1: is like, oh my god, these people have read way
Speaker 1: too much into this, but it's true.
Speaker 3: It is like you just when do you sit down,
Speaker 3: you know, in these confessional rooms and like analyze your
Speaker 3: thought process, Like we don't do that in normal life,
Speaker 3: so never maybe that's why I'm an overthinker. It started
Speaker 3: by my first season.
Speaker 1: I don't know, Like I think sometimes it can be
Speaker 1: a little bit like therapy, you know, because yeah, you're
Speaker 1: holding a mirror and then you're having these self referential
Speaker 1: moments where you get to sort of unpack things, and
Speaker 1: you're right, we don't do that in our real world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very true, and it does.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just like, yeah, thinking through your thought process
Speaker 3: and kind of Yeah, I think it's a good thing, definitely.
Speaker 1: I was chatting with Billy and I asked her, what
Speaker 1: advice do you guys have for contestants, you know, coming
Speaker 1: off the show, what does it take to survive in
Speaker 1: the real world, you know, like in real food world.
Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing is and I've had a
Speaker 3: lot of conversations with the fans because yeah, they're just
Speaker 3: looking for that inspiration. But I think the biggest thing
Speaker 3: is to realize that no one's going to hand you
Speaker 3: a career on a silver platter after coming out of
Speaker 3: a reality show. You have to find your you know
Speaker 3: what you want to do, and you have to go
Speaker 3: for it. And the thing is, these reality shows give
Speaker 3: you a huge kickstart and a huge platform to launch off,
Speaker 3: but ultimately you have to do the work.
Speaker 2: Nobody's going to do that for you.
Speaker 3: And yeah, that's something that helped me when I kind
Speaker 3: of got out of Master Chef.
Speaker 2: The first time, I.
Speaker 1: Said to people, come off all reality shows, and I
Speaker 1: use Master Chef as the sort of the Is it
Speaker 1: a euphemism, I'm not too sure, but I always say,
Speaker 1: you know, being on a reality show, it's like being
Speaker 1: given a chef's hat. But there's no point in being
Speaker 1: given the chef's hat, you know, if you haven't opened
Speaker 1: the restaurant exactly.
Speaker 2: And that's the thing. You need, the credibility behind you.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, there's a lot of these contestants
Speaker 3: like I want to be a like a television personality,
Speaker 3: but I was like, but you need to. You need
Speaker 3: to have the substance there before you can can do that.
Speaker 3: You need to It can be anything. You could be
Speaker 3: a food writer, you could be you know, have a restaurant,
Speaker 3: or it could be I don't know, it could be
Speaker 3: some sort of product. But there needs to be some
Speaker 3: sort of heart and soul to what you do before
Speaker 3: these other things come along afterwards. And that was, you know,
Speaker 3: I was very determined after the first season of Master
Speaker 3: Chef to not do any media or television until I'd
Speaker 3: open my restaurant. I just didn't feel I feel whole, basically,
Speaker 3: like I needed my what you know, gave me purpose first,
Speaker 3: and then all of the rest kind of came after that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that's important for sure.
Speaker 1: I don't know how you haven't become like a brand
Speaker 1: ambassador for everything in the beauty industry. I don't, like,
Speaker 1: you know, to the face of Ola, you could knock
Speaker 1: what is cape she's got?
Speaker 2: Like, keep it coming, keep it coming.
Speaker 1: You need it today, you need it today.
Speaker 2: I need it for the next week. I need it
Speaker 2: for the next week, and then then I'll be all right.
Speaker 1: But I guess, you know, with Mindy and that sort
Speaker 1: of personality, I mean, she and Aldo, they both are
Speaker 1: the sort of people that love to pick you up
Speaker 1: as well, so I think, you know, you can lean
Speaker 1: back into them as well. Yeah, how did it feel
Speaker 1: to be a part of this finale with two women?
Speaker 1: Was that important? Did that feel like something for you?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was.
Speaker 3: It was kind of an interesting season because the women
Speaker 3: were actually quite you know, there's quite more, quite a
Speaker 3: lot more women for the majority of you know, towards
Speaker 3: the end of the season. And yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 3: it's amazing. I think that I have a lot of
Speaker 3: the you know, younger girls kind of looking up to me,
Speaker 3: and and yeah, I kind of take it quite seriously
Speaker 3: because I feel like having those those role models that
Speaker 3: you can look up to and aspire to, and it's
Speaker 3: it's really motivating, I think to see two women in
Speaker 3: the finale, you know, mothers, Yeah, just really hard working.
Speaker 2: I think it's a really great thing to see.
Speaker 3: And yeah, it's exciting that that can happen and it
Speaker 3: can feel pretty normal now, which is amazing.
Speaker 1: I don't know why, but it kind of looked like
Speaker 1: at some point I was like, they kind of look
Speaker 1: like sisters in a way.
Speaker 3: I mean, you do look, I know, it's we're very
Speaker 3: similar in our like body shape and hair and everything
Speaker 3: we are. It's quite Yeah, it's pretty funny. I feel
Speaker 3: even a little bit in our personality in ways as well,
Speaker 3: like a little.
Speaker 4: Bit, I don't know.
Speaker 1: There was a moment as well where there was a
Speaker 1: few like looks towards each other, which was a sort
Speaker 1: of genuine admiration at a time of competitiveness, and that
Speaker 1: was quite beautiful to watch for audiences to see that
Speaker 1: we can be competitive, but we can be supportive as well.
Speaker 3: And I think that yeah, totally, and I think we
Speaker 3: all need to be like that in life, and I
Speaker 3: think we get you know, we start to feel you know,
Speaker 3: people start to feel insecure and kind of you know,
Speaker 3: there can be a bit of that putting down to
Speaker 3: other people. But I just think that if we're all
Speaker 3: lifting each other up, I mean, there's plenty of space
Speaker 3: in the world for work and for friendships that we
Speaker 3: just need to lift each other up and be supportive
Speaker 3: and we can all win. And I think there definitely
Speaker 3: needs to be more of that going around for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially for younger audiences to be able to watch
Speaker 1: that on the TV as well. It's good to be
Speaker 1: able to have, you know, good role models. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, totally, we're getting intowards dangerous territory of
Speaker 1: being very wanky here, but you know, I still think
Speaker 1: it is very I still think it is very important.
Speaker 1: Did you wonder if Heston, I mean, I know that
Speaker 1: you had worked with Heston, I mean you'd had you
Speaker 1: had your own interactions, but Billie having worked at the
Speaker 1: Fat Duck, did you wonder whether that was an advantage
Speaker 1: for her in the in this final pressure test.
Speaker 3: I think that you know, obviously we all have had
Speaker 3: our experience. We knew that kind of coming into the
Speaker 3: competition this time around, that we've we're up against other
Speaker 3: favorites that have been working in the industry, so there's
Speaker 3: gone to be challenges where people.
Speaker 2: Have an advantage over others.
Speaker 3: And yeah, and I'm sure it's kind of gone the
Speaker 3: other way and different challenges throughout as well. And ultimately
Speaker 3: it's a cooking competition and you know, pastry or savory,
Speaker 3: whatever it is there, you need to be ready for it,
Speaker 3: because we need to be ready for everything in Master Chef.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that obviously she would have a
Speaker 3: lot more skills in that area, but that's it's a competition,
Speaker 3: so you know, it's I didn't go in thinking, you know,
Speaker 3: she's got an advantage. I just went in thinking that,
Speaker 3: you know, it's a pressure test, take it step by
Speaker 3: step and just kind of give it everything that I
Speaker 3: have and that's that's all that I can do.
Speaker 1: Well after two seasons of working on the show, and
Speaker 1: I mean the show has evolved over time, you know,
Speaker 1: what do you think that they could do, Like, what
Speaker 1: do you think Channel ten and and of mole could
Speaker 1: do to try and spice up the show next time around?
Speaker 2: I think that.
Speaker 1: No, I mean it sounds like a stupid thing to say,
Speaker 1: because that means it sounds like we're trying to make
Speaker 1: it spicy where I know.
Speaker 2: I was like, well, we could go to India.
Speaker 1: I would love that. Do you know that it's so strange.
Speaker 1: I was saying this to Sashi. You know, when I
Speaker 1: was growing up, on Friday nights, we would always have takeaway.
Speaker 1: It's quite an Australian you know thing to do a
Speaker 1: Friday night takeaway night, and Mum would always say what
Speaker 1: do you want and all that. You know, all of
Speaker 1: our friends would be like they would want McDonald's and
Speaker 1: Hungry Jack's. My brother and I were like, we want
Speaker 1: Indian food, like amazing, that's all we wanted, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's just so damn tasty, Like I
Speaker 3: think that. Yeah, once you get a taste for it
Speaker 3: and you've got some good you know, Indian takeaway, it's
Speaker 3: very addictive. So we had a huge curry night last night.
Speaker 3: I made all of these different North Indian curries and
Speaker 3: it was, Yeah, it was a fun night, everyone eating
Speaker 3: with their hands and enjoying it and having.
Speaker 1: Champagne darving and I'm jealous and I have Pomo I have.
Speaker 2: You should have been there. You should have been.
Speaker 1: There with.
Speaker 4: Be.
Speaker 1: I just turned up and you guys like, why is
Speaker 1: this guy that we've been doing this podcast? Why the
Speaker 1: hell is he here? You know us? Something I've been
Speaker 1: asking actually, no good A good question to ask you,
Speaker 1: I think before you go is sort of you know,
Speaker 1: what do you want to do now? What is this
Speaker 1: second experience of mastership conjured up for you? Like? Where
Speaker 1: are you going to take this?
Speaker 2: So?
Speaker 3: I mean I've been going back and forth from India
Speaker 3: for you know, the last eight years, and I'm getting
Speaker 3: to that point where I've realized that I do need
Speaker 3: to figure out something it's a bit more stable and
Speaker 3: not always on a plane every second week. And so
Speaker 3: over the last kind of eighteen months, I've been working
Speaker 3: on my own brand from scratch with my brother actually,
Speaker 3: and it's called I think you'll probably probably like this one.
Speaker 3: It's called Hot Toddy and it's a range of chili sauces.
Speaker 3: But yeah, we want to expand it into lots of
Speaker 3: different things, and yeah, just just launching it now, and
Speaker 3: something that we've been putting a lot of time and
Speaker 3: effort into over the whole you know, last eighteen months
Speaker 3: and to see it kind of come to fruition and
Speaker 3: it's one of those things where it's like when you
Speaker 3: start diving into it, you realize just how much goes
Speaker 3: into creating a brand and a product. And it's been
Speaker 3: fun and I love it, and yeah, I think it's
Speaker 3: just something for me. That's that's mine and you know,
Speaker 3: my brothers and we're really passionate about it. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I just want to start kind of expanding that and
Speaker 3: going for it.
Speaker 1: Well, you know me very well because I ran into
Speaker 1: a friend of mine by mistake, just getting something from
Speaker 1: the shops yesterday, and when I saw her, she was like,
Speaker 1: do you want to catch up over the weekend? And
Speaker 1: I was like, do you know what we should do?
Speaker 1: Because it's really cold in Melbourne. I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: going to come around and we're going to, like in
Speaker 1: the middle of the day, we're going to have a
Speaker 1: hot Toddy.
Speaker 2: She was like, yes, oh my god, Yes, it's so good.
Speaker 1: In my mind, I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: It's like they're just just such a good drink, such
Speaker 3: a good thrik.
Speaker 1: When it's cold and it's miserable and you feel sad
Speaker 1: and just go and hang out with your friend and
Speaker 1: have a hot toddy. There's nothing better. I know. Something
Speaker 1: that I ask everybody that joins the podcast is a
Speaker 1: kind of a the scenes question. But what's something from
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, something that we didn't see that we
Speaker 1: won't see from your time on Mastership? Yeah, kind of
Speaker 1: like a tasty behind the scenes secret.
Speaker 2: Hm, that's interesting.
Speaker 1: Every nearly everyone has talked about the dancing and the
Speaker 1: singing and the cooking and the friendship, but stuff it
Speaker 1: is like, you know, I don't know for you, what
Speaker 1: are the what's the communication like between you and the
Speaker 1: producers after the show's done and you're waiting to find
Speaker 1: out the result. I mean, did they call you the
Speaker 1: morning of or did you watch it live with everything?
Speaker 3: No, they called me the morning of, and yeah, I
Speaker 3: think that kind of three weeks of time between filming
Speaker 3: the finale and finding out. It's definitely something that is Yeah,
Speaker 3: it puts a lot of pressure on I'm sure Billy
Speaker 3: and myself. And yeah, it was like I was busy
Speaker 3: for a lot of it, but then that last week
Speaker 3: I played through my head winning and losing probably a
Speaker 3: one hundred times.
Speaker 2: So it's like it's a very strange feeling.
Speaker 3: But you know what, yeah, and yeah, I think that
Speaker 3: it's just leaning on, like we said that, support and
Speaker 3: having good people around you because you know, ultimately we're
Speaker 3: not we're not saving lives, we're cooking food and where
Speaker 3: you know, it's such a great opportunity, and yeah, feel
Speaker 3: just lucky that I went through it and to have, yeah,
Speaker 3: walked away getting to the finale, having amazing people around me,
Speaker 3: So it's all worth it. And yeah, it's a crazy
Speaker 3: it's a crazy thing. Like we kept saying to each other,
Speaker 3: like what have we done? Why are we putting ourselves
Speaker 3: through this again? But it's so damn addictive, like the
Speaker 3: pressure and you know, everything that goes on in the show,
Speaker 3: you're sad once it's over. You've spent Like when do
Speaker 3: you ever spend six months with you know, a bunch
Speaker 3: of friends and hanging out cooking every day and like
Speaker 3: it just doesn't happen. So it's the dream, it's living
Speaker 3: a dream. Just take out a bit of the stress
Speaker 3: and then I could do it again. But no, I
Speaker 3: don't know about that. Actually, let's see.
Speaker 1: You need a little bit more time, a little bit
Speaker 1: more time. When people return on reality shows too quickly,
Speaker 1: You're always like, how are these people doing this? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: yesterday I was talking to Reggie, who won Big Brother
Speaker 1: for the second time last night for Big Brother, and
Speaker 1: she was celebrating it because she thought she was the
Speaker 1: only person to win Big Brother twice in the world
Speaker 1: and I was like, no, apparently there's these people that
Speaker 1: have won it twice, but they do Big Brother that
Speaker 1: goes for twelve months in Germany. And she was like,
Speaker 1: that's two years of your life to win Big Brother twice.
Speaker 1: And really, Big Big Brother give you like maybe the money,
Speaker 1: but you know what that is to yourself, it's like prison.
Speaker 3: It is, well, I mean it's crazy, but like we
Speaker 3: just did it twice for six months each time, Like
Speaker 3: that's a year of that's a year of our life
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: Like it's so full. And how long was it when
Speaker 2: you were in your show?
Speaker 1: How long did you film? Four months?
Speaker 2: It was yeah, yeah, it's full on, right.
Speaker 1: It is full on, But like, you know, it was
Speaker 1: such a bonding experience with the people that I did
Speaker 1: get along with on that show. Like, funnily enough, I'm
Speaker 1: talking to in a hotel room that I'm sharing with
Speaker 1: Leila Sabritski, who came second on my serious of Big Brother.
Speaker 1: Oh you know, and I was on the show ten
Speaker 1: years ago, Like it's lovely that we we're still mates.
Speaker 1: We're like booking accommodation and she was like, I would
Speaker 1: be offended if you didn't stay with we didn't stay
Speaker 1: in the same hotel room, you know.
Speaker 3: So yeah, no, it is like even last night, Sam
Speaker 3: from my season six came as well, and yeah, like
Speaker 3: when I so after master Chef, I separated from my
Speaker 3: partner and Phoenix and I moved in with her and
Speaker 3: then I lived with her until we got back up
Speaker 3: on our feet and then like last night, like she's
Speaker 3: there with you know, mintin Eldo and it's just like
Speaker 3: it's just insane that you know, lifelong friends and yeah,
Speaker 3: it's it's amazing.
Speaker 2: It's a huge thing for sure.
Speaker 1: Well it's like family and you feel like family because
Speaker 1: Mastership does go on for you know. By the time, Sarah,
Speaker 1: there has been an absolute joy chatting to you, like
Speaker 1: it really has. And I wish you all the best
Speaker 1: coming out of the competition. And you know, I think
Speaker 1: like a lot of Australia you know, will be in
Speaker 1: your I'll be in your audience.
Speaker 3: Thank you and I'm sure we'll be, you know, booking
Speaker 3: our trip to Byron and to stay with Mindy very soon.
Speaker 1: I want to do something spiritual with her, which is
Speaker 1: not usually on brand for me, but she was talking
Speaker 1: about putting her feet in the sand and getting the
Speaker 1: pippies and you know, yeah.
Speaker 2: She's amazing. She just yeah, she'll she'll make sure that
Speaker 2: we're all feeling.
Speaker 1: Very relaxed, good for the soul. Anyway, I'll let you
Speaker 1: go enjoy chatting to the media today and good luck.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Such an pleasure.
Speaker 1: That was a really fun chat with Sarah. But now
Speaker 1: we have the winner of Mastership Australia fans versus favorites
Speaker 1: joining us. I think you're really gonna love this chat.
Speaker 1: So let's bring Billy into the podcast. Hi, Billy, how
Speaker 1: are you.
Speaker 4: I'm really good. I'm yeah, feeling in a bit of shock,
Speaker 4: but feeling pretty good.
Speaker 1: Well. Congratulations on winning Master Chef Australia. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is just so amazing and you've absolutely smashed the competition.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. It was really really hard, I think,
Speaker 4: but I had such a great time and learned a
Speaker 4: lot along the way as well. And to take out
Speaker 4: the title again, I'm just gobsmacked relieved as well.
Speaker 1: Though you can think that the right two people had
Speaker 1: made it to the finale.
Speaker 4: I think there were a lot of worthy candidates, and
Speaker 4: I think Master Chef is definitely you know, you're only
Speaker 4: as good as your last challenge. I think there's a
Speaker 4: certain aspect of luck. I think that gets you through
Speaker 4: some of the days. You know, if you pick out
Speaker 4: the right colored apron from the bag, or end up
Speaker 4: in a certain team or whatever it is. Sarah and
Speaker 4: I I think we got a bit lucky. We worked
Speaker 4: really hard, ended up in that final too well.
Speaker 1: Everyone talked about it all season on the podcast. I
Speaker 1: was overwhelmed by it. I just couldn't believe how calm
Speaker 1: you would be. But I wanted to know where did
Speaker 1: you learn your ability on how to stay so calm
Speaker 1: and so focused in these pressure tests. I don't know.
Speaker 4: I don't know where I learned it, but I certainly
Speaker 4: found that pressure tests were where I thrived, because, yeah,
Speaker 4: something about working under that pressure that I really really love.
Speaker 4: I guess. Yeah, telling myself constantly to stay calm probably
Speaker 4: helped a bit. But yeah, I wasn't really aware that
Speaker 4: I came across that calm until people started pointing it out,
Speaker 4: because I really felt like on the inside I was
Speaker 4: not so calm.
Speaker 1: Well, I have to come clean on something. Talking to
Speaker 1: one of the other contestants, I said, I remember reading
Speaker 1: the book about Hannibal Lecter, and the author described Hannibal
Speaker 1: Lecter as his heartbeat would never go above a certain level.
Speaker 1: He was always calm when he ate people. And then
Speaker 1: I was like, I do I feel like Billy's the
Speaker 1: Hannibal Lecter of the kitchen. No matter what happened, you
Speaker 1: seem to just have this really, you know, the heartbeat
Speaker 1: never went above you just calmly put it all together.
Speaker 1: So I do apologize for the Hannibal Lecter reference.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look, it's a strong reference, but I don't mind it.
Speaker 4: I don't mind it as long as you say of
Speaker 4: the master Chef, well, just you know, not how of
Speaker 4: a lector.
Speaker 1: I didn't eat anyone, but you certainly serve some food
Speaker 1: for people to eat. So look, we'll try and leave
Speaker 1: it there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: You know, you've had a real journey since your first
Speaker 1: time on the show away from food. What has life
Speaker 1: taught you in between these two amazing wins?
Speaker 4: Quite a lot, I think winning At the first time,
Speaker 4: I was pretty young, and you know, had the opportunity
Speaker 4: to go and work over at the Fat Duck for
Speaker 4: Heston for a little while, so it felt like I
Speaker 4: packed a few things in between seasons of going on
Speaker 4: Master Chef. I had a daughter as well, I got married. Yeah,
Speaker 4: so there was a lot going on, But the timing
Speaker 4: was sort of perfect when it came around for the
Speaker 4: second time, and yeah, the feeling was to go back
Speaker 4: and do it again.
Speaker 1: What made you want to step out of the Fat
Speaker 1: Duck and maybe look into other things in your life
Speaker 1: away from food.
Speaker 4: I felt like I'd given the Fat Duck a bit
Speaker 4: of a go. It wasn't wasn't exactly for me, while
Speaker 4: I really enjoyed it and I learnt so much there.
Speaker 4: It's a different, different type of cooking to what I'm
Speaker 4: used to. So yeah, got that experience sort of out
Speaker 4: of the way and did it traveling, and yeah, I
Speaker 4: just I just sort of went away from cooking for
Speaker 4: a while. They're definitely not on purpose. I think it
Speaker 4: just sort of happened, and I really really missed it,
Speaker 4: and I didn't realize how much I was missing it
Speaker 4: until I got that call from Master Chef to come
Speaker 4: back again.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean I wondered whether or not cooking at
Speaker 1: the Fat Duck would just feel like a pressure test
Speaker 1: every time you cook someone a meal.
Speaker 4: Totally. Look, there was the pastry kitchen was up, and
Speaker 4: every time I'd walk past, I'd see a chef blowing
Speaker 4: sugar balls, just you know, one at a time, one
Speaker 4: after the other, with no troubles whatsoever. So yeah, there
Speaker 4: was a lot of triggering moments at the Fat Duck.
Speaker 1: Well interesting, you know, with that experience, what advice do
Speaker 1: you have for contestants coming off the show? What do
Speaker 1: you think it takes to survive in the real food world.
Speaker 4: I think it takes a lot of grit and determination. Definitely.
Speaker 4: My advice would be to do what you want to do,
Speaker 4: not what you think you should be doing post mastershif
Speaker 4: because you can. Then I certainly did go into a
Speaker 4: bit of a spiral of what I thought I should
Speaker 4: be doing last time and not actually giving it any
Speaker 4: thought of what I wanted to do. So I've given
Speaker 4: that a bit a lot more thought this time, actually,
Speaker 4: And yeah, it just makes for a better experience post mastership,
Speaker 4: which can be pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: It's like a real head versus heart thing. You know,
Speaker 1: you've got to keep the balance, and I think you've
Speaker 1: been able to do that, and that's sort of come
Speaker 1: across in the storytelling of where you've been and where
Speaker 1: you are now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, totally work out that balance. It's very important.
Speaker 1: I want to know about this finale. So you're in
Speaker 1: a finale, you're in it with Sarah. Was there a
Speaker 1: competitive energy between the two of you? What was it
Speaker 1: like for you inside the kitchen?
Speaker 4: Look. I think by the time we got to finale,
Speaker 4: the competition had really really started heating up. The challenges
Speaker 4: seemed like they were getting harder and harder as each
Speaker 4: day went by. And finding myself at top two with Sarah,
Speaker 4: who is a force in that kitchen. She does this
Speaker 4: for a living, she has restaurants in India, and I
Speaker 4: just felt pretty small next to her. So, yeah, I
Speaker 4: had to really rev up a bit, I think, and
Speaker 4: have a bit of faith in myself and yeah, just
Speaker 4: do my best and try.
Speaker 1: And get there was the Cuman Panicotta with Roseman and
Speaker 1: Rhubarb not setting. Was that the closest that you thought
Speaker 1: to maybe I'm not going to win this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, I think I wasn't really aware of how
Speaker 4: I'm set it was when I when I took it
Speaker 4: out of the fridge, I looked at it and I
Speaker 4: thought it was set, But there was a layer I think,
Speaker 4: right underneath where it was it was still liquid. So yeah,
Speaker 4: when Jock started sort of poking around at dessert with
Speaker 4: his spoon, I thought, oh, no, I've just ruined any
Speaker 4: chance of taking this title out with an unset Paniconna
Speaker 4: the Crime in the Master's Chef.
Speaker 1: Kitchen Crime for our Hannibal Elector of the Kitchen. Absolutely
Speaker 1: it did create, though, this ultimate TV moment for a finale.
Speaker 1: I mean, watching it myself, I was like, God, this
Speaker 1: is just so intense and more intense than any other episodes.
Speaker 1: Do you think that these moments get more TV magic
Speaker 1: put into them in the finale to create some more
Speaker 1: tension or is that exactly how it played out.
Speaker 4: No, I think that's just how it That's just how
Speaker 4: it is. I think the finale is always going to
Speaker 4: be really intense because you know, you know that winning
Speaker 4: is on the line all the way through the competition,
Speaker 4: but until you're there at top two, that's when you're well.
Speaker 4: For me anyway, that's when I thought to myself, Oh, this,
Speaker 4: you know, I could I could actually win this here,
Speaker 4: and I hadn't really thought that all the way through.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that was that was a nice realization.
Speaker 1: I kind of felt like you had this. I don't
Speaker 1: know whether it was a psychic vibe that I had,
Speaker 1: but I just watched you throughout the whole competition, and
Speaker 1: whilst I loved Julie and Sashi, there was just so
Speaker 1: many amazing people in this competition. I did sort of
Speaker 1: had this feeling like this knowing that maybe you thought
Speaker 1: this was possible, maybe you thought that you could take
Speaker 1: the competition out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I guess I have to have that feeling,
Speaker 4: you know, in order to have won it. I definitely
Speaker 4: knew I was capable of it, but I knew it
Speaker 4: was going to be harder than it was last time,
Speaker 4: considering the you know, returning contestants and the competition that
Speaker 4: they brought. So yeah, I knew it wasn't going to
Speaker 4: be an easy feat but I just tried to take
Speaker 4: it one day at a time and not think about that.
Speaker 4: But it was there in the back of my head
Speaker 4: and I really really wanted to get there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it kind of felt like you might have manifested
Speaker 1: this or something. It was just I don't know, there
Speaker 1: was a bit of a knowing thing for me from
Speaker 1: just a viewers' perspective, from.
Speaker 4: My pinca, well, I like that's that may have worked
Speaker 4: for me.
Speaker 1: Do you think that it was almost an impossible mission, though,
Speaker 1: for these fans to beat any of these favorites, because
Speaker 1: you know, it seemed on paper like it might be
Speaker 1: a little bit unfair, a little bit unbalanced. You know,
Speaker 1: was there any chance that they that these fans had
Speaker 1: any chance of beating someone like you?
Speaker 4: I felt so intimidated going back into the competition up
Speaker 4: against the returning contestants, So I can't imagine how the
Speaker 4: fans would have felt. But they really really showed up.
Speaker 4: They put in a lot of work. Dan especially, he
Speaker 4: studied and practiced in every spare moment that he had
Speaker 4: and I think seeing his growth throughout the season because
Speaker 4: he studied the whole time. And yeah, they improved, They
Speaker 4: improved quickly than any of us did. I think, Yeah,
Speaker 4: that was really good to watch, and I definitely think
Speaker 4: it would have been hard for them going up against
Speaker 4: us as returning contestants, but they really put the.
Speaker 1: Effort in Dan did such a great job, and he
Speaker 1: was such a crowd favorite, you know, for everyone watching
Speaker 1: the show. I wanted to know though, like in his situation,
Speaker 1: did he teach you anything about cooking?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Definitely. I think we all have such different styles. And
Speaker 4: Dan had sort of came in to the competition with,
Speaker 4: you know, a few different dishes under his belt. But
Speaker 4: as I said earlier, he practiced so much and he'd often,
Speaker 4: you know, asked me to come and taste something or
Speaker 4: ask for advice on something, and more often than not,
Speaker 4: I'd be tasting something that I hadn't even cooked before,
Speaker 4: and I'd be saying, how did you do that? Like
Speaker 4: what do you call this? So I learned a lot
Speaker 4: from him and the other fans as well. It was
Speaker 4: really cool.
Speaker 1: I think that's the beautiful currency of this show, though,
Speaker 1: is that you can see that people's minds are open
Speaker 1: to being able to learn things from each other. There
Speaker 1: seems to be a real community amongst food that even
Speaker 1: the audience can feel, even though we're not necessarily seeing it,
Speaker 1: Like we're not seeing you guys back in your rooms
Speaker 1: cooking together or seeing that conversation flow, but you can
Speaker 1: really feel that community spirit amongst this show, it's quite palpable.
Speaker 4: I yeah, have to agree. We just bonded really quickly
Speaker 4: this season. I feel like because we were sort of
Speaker 4: in a bit of a mentoring role to the fans,
Speaker 4: it just made for such quick friendships. But yeah, a
Speaker 4: lot of learning as well, so it was pretty special.
Speaker 4: I have to say I made some very very good
Speaker 4: friends over the last six months, and yeah, learned a
Speaker 4: whole lot about food as well.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: I was reading online yesterday and someone was saying, Oh, look,
Speaker 1: if they did fans versus favorites again or something like this,
Speaker 1: maybe they'd be pelling people up and having some more
Speaker 1: mentorship from the people that have succeeded and have done
Speaker 1: so well that have returned to kitchen. Like, is there
Speaker 1: a way of more of a mentorship to the new
Speaker 1: people and less of a competition.
Speaker 4: That could definitely work, after all, I guess the returning contestants,
Speaker 4: we've done it before and we know what it's like.
Speaker 4: I guess that is one of the bigger advantages, is
Speaker 4: just knowing what that pressure feels like and how to
Speaker 4: handle it in the kitchen. So we definitely had that
Speaker 4: sort of advantage going in, and yeah, to be able
Speaker 4: to sort of guide new contestants through that, I reckon
Speaker 4: would be pretty helpful.
Speaker 1: How long have you had to wait to find out
Speaker 1: that you've actually won this thing? Like, have you been
Speaker 1: sitting around for a really long time feeling like you've
Speaker 1: been left on the shelf?
Speaker 4: Not too long. It was only a matter of weeks.
Speaker 4: It was a bit longer the last time round in
Speaker 4: season seven, but yeah, this time it wasn't too long,
Speaker 4: which was nice. I wasn't sort of at the stage
Speaker 4: of pulling my hair out or anything like that, so
Speaker 4: it was okay.
Speaker 1: If it was me. I'm just envisioning myself each with
Speaker 1: the wind in my head, try to keep it together.
Speaker 4: I think I just tried not to think about it
Speaker 4: too much, and towards the end that was hard because
Speaker 4: you know, it was really heating up on TV and
Speaker 4: it's hard to escape it, really, But I'm glad I
Speaker 4: can say now that all of that pain and waiting
Speaker 4: was worth it.
Speaker 1: I'm just always trying to picture everyone watching the show,
Speaker 1: Like for me, i'd be having a veno and the
Speaker 1: first half of watching the show, I'd be halfway through
Speaker 1: the glass, and I think by the time it was over,
Speaker 1: I'd be well and truly into the bottle.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, the show actually it had started while we
Speaker 4: were still filming, so a few of us left at
Speaker 4: that stage, and Alvin and I would have viewing parties together.
Speaker 4: Someone would bring the wine and someone would bring the cheese,
Speaker 4: and it was, yeah, lots and lots of fun. But yeah,
Speaker 4: the episodes that I have watched lately definitely had a
Speaker 4: glass or two of wine go with them.
Speaker 1: That's my dream to watch TV with Alvin, Like I
Speaker 1: love him. I think he's just lovely, the.
Speaker 4: Best he I don't think I've ever laughed so much
Speaker 4: at anyone in my life. He is one of the
Speaker 4: funniest people and the most kind hearted person. And yeah,
Speaker 4: it's just unbelievable. But you know, I remember watching Alvin
Speaker 4: on his season and making drunk with my mom and
Speaker 4: my sister, and then, you know, fast forward to twenty
Speaker 4: twenty two and I'm drinking wine on a lounge with him,
Speaker 4: watching us both on Master. Yet.
Speaker 1: Well, let's manifest this you and Alvin on Celebrity goggle Box.
Speaker 1: That is a dream for me. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's a dream for you, but I would I would
Speaker 1: love to be a fly on the wall watching you
Speaker 1: guys watch television.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I'm on board for that. That sounds wonderful.
Speaker 1: Well, what can we see from you next? I mean,
Speaker 1: what has this competition done to you? Is is there
Speaker 1: a way in your mind that this show has allowed
Speaker 1: you to sort of grow and improve them? What do
Speaker 1: you want to do with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I've got my spark back for cooking. I feel
Speaker 4: like I'm more capable now of doing what I've always
Speaker 4: wanted to do, that's to open a little restaurant. So
Speaker 4: that's on the cards, probably after having a little bit
Speaker 4: of a break and they relax, maybe a little holiday
Speaker 4: or something.
Speaker 1: I just love that what they give you when you win.
Speaker 1: And so you've now won two giant plates, and so
Speaker 1: you know, it's like you've got to get four of
Speaker 1: them now, so you can have people over for dinner
Speaker 1: and you can serve the food on these winning trophy plates.
Speaker 1: I think it's in your future.
Speaker 4: Probably not the best.
Speaker 1: Option, maybe not. Maybe that's a bit of a bit outlandish.
Speaker 4: I like the idea of the plate. Maybe maybe like
Speaker 4: a cheese sport or something.
Speaker 1: Really shock, we've got two of them, you know, Billy.
Speaker 1: Everyone who's joined the podcast throughout the series. I've been
Speaker 1: able to ask them this question, what is something from
Speaker 1: behind the scene, something that we didn't see that we
Speaker 1: won't see, something of a behind the scene secret in
Speaker 1: your time or mastership?
Speaker 4: Oh wow, I bet you there's a lot. Have you
Speaker 4: heard about kmar dancing.
Speaker 1: You've heard a lot about the dancing of Pema. I
Speaker 1: love joy. I think good shimmy and everyone's life is important.
Speaker 4: Yes, look, I think one of my favorites. Well, it
Speaker 4: was a constant moment of master Chef in our downtime
Speaker 4: when we'd sort of sit in the green room, you'd
Speaker 4: look out the window and came mart. We'd be out
Speaker 4: there with the earphones in, just dancing, and it was
Speaker 4: just the most enjoyous thing to watch. And I really
Speaker 4: miss that now. I look up my window at home
Speaker 4: and I half expect to see her dancing that she's
Speaker 4: not there. But yeah, she's amazing. She's such a beautiful person.
Speaker 1: We'll organize the screens. Who you compute it a little
Speaker 1: Latin Spanish shimmy which just comes on every now and
Speaker 1: again to keep him.
Speaker 4: Motivated and absolutely just put a smile on my face
Speaker 4: every time.
Speaker 1: Billy. It was so lovely to be able to have
Speaker 1: this chat with you. I think you just did such
Speaker 1: a fantastic job. I think Australia felt like the rightness
Speaker 1: and has won this. No offense to Sarah, but yeah,
Speaker 1: congratulations and you know I think Australia will be in
Speaker 1: your audience for life.
Speaker 4: Oh well, thank you so much. It's been love way
Speaker 4: to chat to you, and thanks for their support.