While many contestants dream of coming into the MasterChef kitchen, Alice laughed and told 10 Play, “This is going to be a sad break-up story.”

Having lived in the United States for over a decade, after a relationship came to an end Alice decided to come back to Australia and stay for a month.

“As I flew back, the lady checked me into my flight at Delta at Sydney Airport, she and I hit it off and she asked me what I did for a living,” Alice explained. “I said I do economics research but I really want to have my own bakery and write cookbooks some day and she said, ‘You have to apply for MasterChef.’”

The woman then spent the next few months regularly messaging Alice, convincing her to finally put in an application.

“It was a completely serendipitous encounter at the airport… she changed my life just behind a counter,” she said.

At 29, the gifted academic earnt a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, followed by a Master of Arts from Stanford, has been published in the Wall Street Journal, speaks four languages fluently and is now the Director of China Research for a macroeconomic and geopolitical risk advisory firm.

Coming into the MasterChef kitchen, Alice saw this as just another learning opportunity.

“I’m the kind of person who wants to keep growing and learning… I wanted to do something wildly different so I thought okay, this is the time in which I can just be purely in learner mode in the kitchen and have a real crash course.”

While she wowed the judges early on with her fusion Mooncake Mochi, on Tuesday night Alice found herself in her first pressure test.

Standing in the pressure test alongside Declan and Grace, Alice watched as Donato Toce revealed the Messinetta, a reimagining of the well-loved Vienetta, but with a classic Messina twist.

On the outside, the work of art looked like the familiar ice cream cake, but inside hid several layers including a strawberry gel encased inside vanilla gelato, surrounded by a square of chocolate gelato all while enrobed in perfectly piped crème Chantilly and delicate shards of tempered chocolate.

Having grown up eating Messina, Alice was honoured that she was able to recreate one of their creations, despite the tough challenge ahead of her.

“I was just blown away by how beautiful it was,” Alice said. “It was like a work of art… I was in awe of the fact that I got to do this dessert that meant a lot to me growing up but was also such a work of art. I love making dishes that are not only tasty but beautiful.

“Obviously I had a lot of nerves going into it,” she continued. “Technique will get you a certain place and may save you but, at the end of the day, watching previous pressure tests… it’s always about stamina.

“Whoever was able to balance that and pivot when they had an issue, maintain good rhythm and stamina throughout was going to stay in the competition,” she added.

Known for her precise and scientific approach in the kitchen, Alice initially started out strong but as the challenge went on she hit a hurdle with her gelatos that saw her fall behind the clock, and struggle to make up time.

“With the other gelatos from Declan and Grace, the machine kept it cool and aerated it so it didn’t freeze over,” Alice explained. “Mine froze stiff in the machine so I spent a lot of time trying to get it out and then trying to melt it a bit on the counter because there was nothing I could do to get it in the moulds.

“From there on in, not that it was downhill but it just became pear-shaped. There’s nothing I can do chemically to walk that back.”

In the final minutes of the challenge, Alice said she was convinced she wasn’t even going to make it to plate up in time. “There was just a sense of relief that, even though it looked rough, I actually got it on the plate,” she said, laughing.

“And then a huge shout-out and gratitude towards Declan whose inner tradie came out, but his inner gentleman too.”

As Alice struggled with some of the more mechanical aspects of the challenge, Declan assisted her in using the spray gun to coat the top of the Messinetta.

“He’s the kind of person, and there are many others on the show, who is always looking out for other people. It’s not about his ego, and it’s so amazing to see that in a young man today,” she continued, “that willingness to drop everything and help, even if it’s a competition he just wants to help.”

Having watched MasterChef growing up, Alice said she knew what to expect when it came to the challenges, and thought she’d make some friends but never realised to what extent.

“I expected we’d get along and we’d be a quasi-family but I didn’t expect that we’d affect each other’s lives, really love, cherish and help each other and I’ve got friendships for life coming out of that show,” she said.

“We’re each others’ cheerleaders at the end of the day. This is why someone like Antonio has been incredible and I really resonated with him, his whole thing was we should be teaching each other and learning from each other because we all want each other to have the best cooks we can have… we want to bring each other up,” Alice continued.

“So much of the cooking really happens outside of the kitchen, we’re eating each other’s food or teaching each other or learning from each other and that’s just been incredible.”

“And it’s not just about food, it’s about connecting with fellow contestants about what it means to be a woman today or building self-confidence and resilience. A lot of those life lessons you learn organically just by being around amazing, good people.”

MasterChef Australia airs Sunday - Thursday at 7.30 on 10 and 10 Play