‘ WE CAN’T WAIT!’
SEASON NINE IS SHAPING UP TO BE THE MOST DRAMATIC YET – AND HERE’S WHERE IT STARTS! offsider in the kitchen. He has been saying for ages we should have a go at MKR. Now that he has his corner store up and running he would love to add a kitchen serving Gr
What made you decide to go on the show?
JESS: Emma and I used to watch MKR all the time and we’d watch it and say: ‘We can do better than that!’ And we thought: ‘That’s it. We’re doing it!’ We had a fan base on Facebook – we used to do a running commentary on the show and people would follow us just to hear what we’d say. It was never mean and trolling, just funny – but now the tables have turned! Are you worried people won’t get your humour on TV?
EMMA: People tend to not get our humour, or think we’re all-out bitches. Drama with a little bit of cooking! Who wants to watch people just cooking? If that was the case, you could go to the kitchen and watch your mum or husband whipping up dinner! Describe your relationship.
JESS: Emma and I are more like best friends than sisters – I know that sounds cliched. My husband is so dead against our relationship because he thinks it’s sick! He thinks no-one can spend that much time with their family. He says: ‘Do you have any friends? You’ll be out with your sister all day, then you’ll get home and get on the phone to her all night – and we live next door to each other!’ Our family is the Australian version of the Kardashians! There’s nothing that isn’t talked about, that isn’t everyone else’s business – it’s like a comedy.
EMMA: But I’m the only one with a big ass, so I’d have to be Kim! What are you expecting MKR will be like?
EMMA: I’m thinking we’ll come in, cook a couple of little dishes, have a few wines and have a laugh. Have you watched
MKR before? Would you compare yourselves to any other team? JESS: Yes but you can’t compare us to anybody!
You’re the first instant restaurant – are you ready for all the attention?
JOSH: The pressure of being up first is full on. If I’d known we were going to be first, I don’t know if we would’ve said yes! And the Italian community can be quite judgemental, saying: ‘Aaaah, these boys – what do they know!’ We’re up first so that’s a bit of pressure – we love pressure, but not too much. But if we go wrong, hopefully our charm can get us through.
We understand you have a lot of food experience behind you two, how did you find cooking on the show?
JOSH: You know we’ve never really cooked. Our mum’s cooked our whole lives, my dad has a restaurant, and we have a food truck and catering, but we don’t really cook – we just run it. We do basic food, but when we were on the show and it was time to take the cooking up a notch – that was really intense for us.
Are you ready for any female attention you might get from fans?
NIC: I love women, it’s as simple as that. If you want me to be straight up honest: I love women! I don’t know if we’re going to get a lot of attention from the show, but if we do, I’ll be ready for it. I’ll be friendly, but that’s about it. I have a girlfriend!
And I’m married!
JOSH: Is this your first brush with fame?
JOSH: Playing soccer in Italy, you are recognised by the locals. I have been involved in TV appearances before!
Who or what is your food inspiration?
NIC: My mum. Travelling for me is massive as well.
This is an exciting time for you guys...
STELLA: Jazzey’s really passionate about it. I’m very happy to be here – but Jazzey is ecstatic. I’ve never seen somebody so excited or committed in my whole life!
How did you guys meet?
JAZZEY: We officially met at school in Year 7. We knew of each other before that – well Stella knew of me because I was dating a boy that she liked, so she hated me! And then she met me and really liked me, and I really liked her – and I didn’t have the boyfriend any more, so that didn’t matter! We went to a performing arts college and we were both into singing and a lot of our time was spent together – after-school choirs together, singing lessons together.
We’ve heard there will be a few fireworks during Group One’s Instant Restaurant round...
JAZZEY: Yes, there are very different characters and that’s always going to lead to clashes over different things. And when you’ve got a lot of people passionate about food around a table critiquing people’s cooking, then they can get a little full on about it! Sometimes the tension strays off the food a little bit and that can be dangerous territory – a couple of times it was a bit: ‘Oooooh!’
Did you learn anything about each other while you were on the show?
STELLA: Jazzey just kept on saying that she had no idea I was so bossy. She said: ‘I’m getting such a rude shock!’ But in a funny way, obviously.
What will you both bring to the competition?
JAZZEY: Stella and I don’t take ourselves too seriously so hopefully we bring a fun dynamic between all the other serious teams. STELLA: You can make quality food and have a laugh at the same time.
What made you guys decide to go on the show?
KIM: I’ve been watching MKR for three or four seasons. In the back of your mind you have this ‘I can do this’ type of thing. When I spoke to Suong, we always talked about going on the show, but we were so busy with our lives. She has four kids, I have three. All you do is run around with the kids – we never have any time for ourselves. We decided to change that and apply.
You came to Australia as refugees, did you ever think you’d end up on TV?
SUONG: I left Vietnam with my family when I was three to come to Australia by boat, which was homemade. We got to Malaysia and stayed there for a year and a bit, and then came to Australia. The Australian government gave us a voucher to spend at the Salvation Army. Without that voucher, we would have nothing. My father was a farmer, and when I was little he wouldn’t let me run, he wouldn’t let me skip, I wasn’t allowed to play sports, I had to have my hair long, I had to wear certain clothes. We learnt English together. I had to teach him to count to 100 so he could get a job. So this is amazing – I have to pinch myself!
Steve, I think this is the first time we’ve had an archaeologist on the show!
STEVE: Well one of the reasons I went on the show is that everyone has their food dream. My food dream is to look at the archaeology of food and bring that into the mainstream. Talk about where our food comes from and all the different stories about the food that we eat. There’s a huge disconnect between what we eat and people understanding where their food comes from, and that transfers into an unhealthy aspect of our society. So that’s my angle on food – not just the cooking, but the history of it. Why did you enter the competition? STEVE: It was Stuss’s idea to sign up. He is the cook, I am his
Were you worried about how you’d get on during filming?
STEVE: We’re really good mates. Things get heated between us every now and again but we always get through it.
Whose idea was it to go on the show?
EMILY: Me! I have always really wanted to. We used to live in Sydney in small apartments and it was never something we thought was possible. But when we moved to the Gold Coast, we finally felt like it was the right time. I don’t think Alex expected me to go through with the application, but he was really excited once we started getting ready for it.
How do you think you will cope with any drama that happens around the Instant Restaurant tables?
EMILY: When fireworks happen in life, Alex and I usually stick to ourselves. We are so pumped to be on the show and just want to focus on our cooking. We are the kind of people who pick our battles!
ALEX: I don’t want to lose sight of why we are there by getting caught up in the drama. I don’t want anyone to come in and break the concentration we have. Hopefully there will be people like us who love their food and are passionate about that – and then others who are along for the ride.
What’s your food dream?
ALEX: We always said that if we won MKR then we would put the prize money towards a restaurant business of our own. We’d love to get that off the ground. We’ve both been in the hospitality industry for a while, I’ve been consulting for a while – mainly with drinks – but we do love our food. Em’s a restaurant manager.
We hear you’re a great chef Ash, but Matty, is it true you can’t cook very well?
MATTY: Yes, I don’t think people around the table will believe me when I say I can’t cook, that it’s an act. But I’m here doing this for my girl. When Ash asked me about going on the show, everyone told me that I could be that guy who couldn’t cook but still wanted to have a go, which I liked.
ASH: It definitely wasn’t Matty’s idea to go on the show!
But Ash, you’re a bit more adventurous – you’ve even eaten guinea pig!
I love eating different foods. I’m South African, which means I’ll eat anything. But I love travelling and eating street food, so anything that’s considered a local delicacy I will definitely try it. I’ve eaten snake. The day I had guinea pig, I also ate alpaca. The guinea pig was nice, the alpaca... not so good!
What’s the best thing about cooking with each other?
RACHAEL: I just think we have so much fun in the kitchen – we’re not boring and we make it so lively in there. We make it really fun. We like to have a little dance when we cook. We wanted to show everyone that cooking doesn’t have to be so boring.
And the worst?
RACHAEL: Sometimes she’s a bit stuck in her ways – and she’s the biggest clean freak you’ve met in your life!
ROULA: Rachael’s a bit sloppy! I think a clean kitchen represents a really good meal and a dirty kitchen represents a dirty meal. So I tried to teach that to Rachael because she just had everything everywhere. I was like: ‘Babe, this is not how you do it.’ I was a clean freak and I was constantly cleaning up after her – that’s the only thing that irritated me.
So you both love to dance?
RACHAEL: Yes, I am a dance teacher – Roula has done some casual classes with me – and I just went to Sydney to perform in a national competition. Roula is just starting to learn hip-hop, but I do everything. I’ve been dancing since I was two – hip-hop, contemporary, ballet, jazz. The competition side of it is crazy!