Tony Price may be out but he’s definitely not down.
While getting eliminated from MasterChef in the final strait has been disappointing, Tony says he’s actually a very happy man.
“I’m in a good space,” grins semi-finalist Tony, who undercooked chicken meat narrowly missed going through to next week’s grand final. “I’ve got what I always wanted, and that is a job in the food industry. If it took going on TV and making a dick of myself, then it was worth it.”
In fact the former landscape gardener did himself proud, only losing at the final hurdle because the judges felt his Spanish chicken with periperi sauce wasn’t quite cooked through.
Tony says he was surprised to hear that because he felt the chicken dish, which he has made numerous times, was properly cooked, but he understands that when it came down to the wire, the judges had to start being very fussy.
He also thinks his cookbook idea – for international cuisine entitled Our Global Food Village – was a bit vague.
But he impressed throughout the competition with his culinary skills and innovative ideas and says he’s pleased to have made it all the way to third place.
“When we first went in the house I sized up the other competitors and after the second week I thought I might be able to make the top six. I hoped that would be enough to get me a profile and get me a job and it has all gone my way.”
One thing that did raise Tony’s profile was his decision to spill the beans on fellow contestants Ana Schwarz and Chelsea Winter after they swapped ingredients during the cooking challenge in Singapore.
“At the end of the day I’ve had a few haters but I’ve also had lots of support and I’m sitting comfortably in my own skin.
“I knew it was going to open a can of worms but it was something I thought I should do.”
Tony says things were a little bit awkward with Ana and Chelsea for a couple of a days but that soon blew over. “We are all good friends. It was like water off a duck’s back.”
Ana and Chelsea will be facing off in next week’s final and while Tony says it would have been good to be there competing for the top spot he was quite glad not to be facing the enormous stress that comes with a MasterChef final, and is happy to have come third.
“I feel like a very lucky man.”
* Want to know more about the fabulous job Tony has landed? Keep an eye on the NZ Woman’s Weekly over the next couple of weeks when all will be revealed.
Simon Gault checks out Tony’s work
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