Once again revolutionising how we think about and use seafood, Josh first shocked the kitchen by revealing a selection of cuts of beef, only to mirror them with matching pieces of tuna. He then tasked the chefs to bring surf and turf into the modern culinary era.
In her original season, Season 15, Rhiannon cooked for Josh in a mystery box, and was one of the top dishes of that challenge. This time around, things went in a very different direction. “I had high-fives and now I’ve gone home,” she told 10 Play, laughing.
“When he first came in on my season, I actually felt so intimidated,” Rhiannon admitted. “He was the one that I was the most intimidated by because I cook a lot of seafood. But to serve Josh Nialnd? This time around, I actually felt way more pressure because I did get a top dish in my first season.
“I felt like I had to really try and impress him,” she added. On top of that, Surf and Turf was the first dish she had with her husband, the infamous Deano, on their first date almost two decades ago. “Instantly, I felt a lot of pressure. I had a lot to prove and I just wanted to show Josh how much I had evolved.”
Creating an Asian-style beef broth and some lobster wontons, Rhiannon initially felt super confident in her dish as it’s something she’s made before, but as Josh and Andy roamed around the kitchen, they stopped at her bench and questioned if the dish was playing it too safe.
“I wish they didn’t come and see me,” Rhiannon laughed, “I feel like my dish was really good! I was on track to making it happen, and when they came to my bench, they completely rattled me. I wasn’t expecting it.
“The pressure of an elimination, and also feeling like I wanted to impress Josh, I needed to do something, you know?”
With just 20 minutes to go, Rhiannon decided to add minced lobster to her dumpling dough, altering the texture, splitting some of the wontons as they hit the plate.
“I did something I’ve never ever done before. Why would I do that? My logical brain said, why would you do that? But, in that particular moment, the stress of wanting to impress got to me. It definitely got me,” she said.
“Normally, when the judges come and give me advice, I can kind of pivot, but on this particular day, I just couldn’t do it. My brain was just not going in the direction it needed to,” she continued. “Even after the cook, I was thinking, why would I even do that?
“I feel like, had I stuck with what I was doing without being rattled, I maybe could have been safe. I knew the flavours were really good, but it is what it is. It’s what happens on the day and on that particular day, I couldn’t pivot.”
On top of it all, Rhiannon knew her dish wasn’t what she wanted it to be as she brought it up for judging. “I can’t act like it’s a great dish if I don't feel it,” she admitted.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve, it’s how I am. I will never not project what I’m feeling and it was tough because I knew that was not the dish I wanted to present.”
For some of the returning chefs, they know the pang of elimination but having made it all the way to the grand finale in Season 15, when the judges revealed it was Rhiannon’s time to hang up her apron, it was the first time she would walk out of the competition.
“A lot of people thought, ‘Well, you came second, now you’ll want to win’, [but] for me I still can’t believe I came second, still to this day. I was so stoked to get as far as I went in my season, and this time…of course, my competitive nature wanted me to go as far as I could, but I just wanted to enjoy this season,” she added.
“I wanted to show [the judges] that I had grown, and I wanted to cook things that I didn’t have the balls to cook in my season. This time it was like I know I can cook - just go and cook, and do things that I wouldn’t have done in my season, because I would have been too scared of how it would have been received.
“This time, I was like, I don’t care. I’m just going for it!”
Returning to the competition and being surrounded by so many chefs who have been in and around the industry, Rhiannon said it only amplified her ambition to continue chasing her food dream.
“Our first season, we were all cooks. This season, they’re all chefs! And the amount you pick up and learn is amazing, I’m definitely taking it into my next chapter,” she said.
“I’m so grateful for MasterChef, honestly. It changed my life, and it would not be what it is without the crew and the judges. They just make the show. I feel very blessed.”
MasterChef Australia: Back to Win continues Sundays at 7pm and Monday - Wednesday at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play
