Unfortunately on Sunday night, Gordon Ramsay’s two-part elimination challenge, which saw the celebrities cook with egg and bacon, sent her home. The pressure of the MasterChef kitchen had become all too much.
“That was the most unexpected part - how much pressure there was,” Chrissie told 10 play. “Stuff got very real, very quickly… It was incredibly nerve-racking.”
In the first elimination challenge, Chrissie decided to cook a triple-layer coconut cake, which is the “cake that we have at my place for every special occasion, for every good thing that happens in our life as a family.
“There’s a lot of eggs in it so I thought it would be perfect. But I am going to be really pushing it to get it done,” Chrissie said in the episode.
In the interview, Chrissie admitted that time wasn’t her friend and that may have been her ultimate downfall.
“I think cooking to time was the hardest part of being on Celebrity MasterChef. I hadn't really thought too much about it, so I was really surprised at how flexible I am in terms of timing when I'm cooking because I do it for fun, and for the enjoyment. I never ever have once cooked to a time limit. So, if I had my time again, I'd probably practice that a bit more.”
Then in round two, Chrissie tackled a Quiche Lorraine, but she “forgot” to add the bacon and instead, made a “delicious” bacon gremolata to go with the quiche that the judges loved.
“I was really surprised at how anxious I got when I had to stand in front of Mel, Jock and Andy. They seemed to take forever to give you a verdict, it was the longest few minutes of my life. Those nerves are very, very real,” Chrissie told 10 play as she recalled the moments.
But despite not making it through to the next round and winning the money for Opening The Doors Foundation, which is an Aboriginal-led organisation that supports Aboriginal students and their families in primary and secondary schools across Victoria, Chrissie loved her time in the kitchen.
“It was a dream come true, I love the show and I love to cook. I'd lost hope that they would do a celebrity version and that I'd never ever get the chance, so when they reprised the format my hand was straight up,” Chrissie laughed. “I've got so many great memories. So many great experiences. I'll remember it forever and ever.”
One of Chrissie's favourite experiences from the show was meeting the other celebrities and forming close bonds.
“It was like heaven straight away. The first time we met, we all connected. They're just all beautiful, lovely people and I can't speak highly enough of them,” she said.
“The greatest thing out of it was that we made these incredible friendships and new friendships in your 40s are few and far in between. So, I feel incredibly blessed to have made friends with these extraordinary people. And the WhatsApp group just goes off still very funny and lovely.”
But Chrissie shared she had some extra love towards fellow celebrity, Tilly Ramsay.
“It was very cool, my favourite celebrity chef is Gordon Ramsay so I was thrilled to get the challenge set by him and it was it was just cool to meet Tilly’s dad as well because I was in love with her and it's nice to meet the parents,” she laughed.
Out of all the impressive dishes Chrissie presented to the judges, the one she was most proud of was her potato bake.
“It’s comforting and delicious and who doesn’t love a potato bake, I mean you just know that it's a crowd pleaser. The main reason I cook is to make people happy and you can't go wrong with the potato bake.”
Chrissie has been watching the show back with her family and they’ve “loved every minute”.
“The kids haven't seen me on television for a long time and they’re enjoying it, they’re like ‘oh you’re funny mum,” she laughed. “We've really enjoyed it.”
