Mumbai, Jun 6 (IANS): Andy Allen, who won the fourth season of 'Masterchef Australia', is back on the show 'MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites' this time seated on the judge's chair.
The culinary artiste recently looked back at his journey from winning the show to judging the new talents' skills at work.
He calls his journey "pretty wild" as he says, "Winning the competition was actually a big surprise. I didn't know what to do with the win."
Andy, who was one exam away from becoming an electrician, headed to 'Masterchef Australia 4' where he met guests chefs Mark Labrooy and Darren Robertson and with them, he took a role down at Three Blue Ducks Pop Up at Falls Creek in 2013.
Recollecting the events after season 4, Allen shares, "But then I was lucky enough to link up with the guys from the Three Blue Ducks (Australian) which gave me a pathway in the industry - and that then ultimately led to me being asked back as a judge in the current format."
The new season brings back 12 popular contestants including a few season winners from previous editions like Julie Goodwin, Sashi Cheliah, Billie McKay, Minoli De Silva, Tommy Pham, Alvin Quah, Michael Weldon, Mindy Woods, Christina Batista, Sarah Todd, John Carasig and Aldo Ortado, where they compete against each other for the prize money of 250,000 dollars.
One would wonder how MasterChef Australia would engage the audience in terms of entertainment and imparting knowledge on new skills. Well Andy has a straight up answer in his sleeve, "I think having 12 favourites back immediately gives it entertainment value. They've been there before, people know them and love them, and now they have to really show off their industry skills against 12 unbelievably good home cooks - the fans."
For him the artistic expression in food begins with the flavour as he says, "It's all about flavour. You can have all the bells and whistles but if an artistic creation doesn't taste good, it's lost."
'MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites', is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.