Sunday night’s (June 27) episode of MasterChef Australia was a massive one, with the competition waving goodbye to not one, but two of its beloved contestants.
After winning back her apron during second chance week, Minoli De Silva was once again sent home in the first round of the elimination cook, while Scott Bagnell was the second to have his MasterChef dreams come to an end.
Both contestants told POPSUGAR Australia that the had found renewed inspiration from working with their fellow contestants, with De Silva adding that she really learned to back herself and cook food that she truly loved while “discovering a different view on food and how to nourish your body and how to cook using flavour rather than the umbrella bracket of different cuisine.”
Meanwhile, Bagnell expressed joy that at least his final cook was one he was proud of.
“I sort of realised that my time was up,” he told POPSUGAR Australia. “I had two elements that had flaws — the overcooked fish and not heroing that damn horseradish!
“[But] I’m happy that I had a pretty good cook that I went out on. I think my worst nightmare was going out on a train wreck or not getting a dish up. There were plenty of times I thought I was going to serve the judges nothing. I’m glad that I got something out and it looked pretty good.”
Both former contestants have wasted no time in applying their newly minted chef skills to the real world, with De Silva opening a pop-up in Darwin called The Terrace which will celebrate her love for Southeast Asian flavours as well as working with a not-for-profit organisation, the Melaleuca Refugee Centre. With the latter, De Silva will be collaborating with the team to come up with ideas to highlight food, educate and inspire people and to provide assistance to survivors of torture and trauma.
Bagnell, meanwhile, has launched a food blog name Growkery — a Scottish word that describes something we can all, surely, relate to.
“Groke is a Scottish word that means to ‘stare at someone eating hoping that they will share their food with you,'” he explained.
“I always have food envy,” he laughed. “Every time I got to a restaurant and order, I look at the person beside me and think ‘I really want their food!’, so it really resonated with me. So I’ve sort of built this brand around that story and my love of food and wanting to “groke” over food.”
Having had such positive experiences on the reality competition, both De Silva and Bagnell encourage anyone who is thinking about applying for the 2022 season to just go for it.
“Be authentic,” De Silva advises. “Don’t try to be anyone else, because there’s already someone out there that does that. The best thing that anyone can do is to listen to that seed of doubt telling them not to go for it, and then challenge it and just do it. Because that’s what I did, and I’ve never been more proud of myself.
“You learn to recognise that uncomfortable feeling after a while and then just keep pushing yourself. It’s such a spectacular feeling. Also, cook what you love. You don’t need a backstory if that’s what you’ve always loved cooking, just cook that and be authentic. It’s the best experience you probably ever go through.”
Bagnell agrees that authenticity is key and is transparent about the fact that getting into the competition will mean spending months and months away from family and friends.
“Being away and just completely isolated is really difficult,” he confessed. “You just get in that bubble, but I think the pressure of this competition helps you deal with it a bit because you’re so focused on just cooking and practising and trying to prepare for the next challenge that you do sort of not think about home.”
In terms of practising, Bagnell urges anyone who applies to make speed in the kitchen a priority.
“The biggest thing, which I did not practice before going into the kitchen, is practice cooking things quickly,” he advised. “Cooking is a hobby, and I just spent hours on the weekend playing — but you don’t have that time in the kitchen.”
He laughed, “It’s one of the things that I was once I got in there, I was like, ‘Oh dear, I should have been practising how to cook things FAST!.'”
You can follow Minoli on Instagram at @minoli.desilva and Scott at @ssbagnell and @growkery to keep up to date with everything they are up to.
