July 11, 2024 • 23 mins
Hi Guys, welcome back to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking or downloading on today’s episode with Mimi one of the eliminated contestant on Masterchef Australia for 2024. I had a technical difficultly on Monday and while we could have just left this chat and sent it to the gods… so many people demanded I circle back and that I think has lot to do with Mimi’s popularity.
Born in Hong Kong, Mimi moved to Sydney aged one, but returned to Hong Kong to live at age 11 for seven years with her beloved grandma - following her parents’ divorce. She and brother were raised in humble Hong Kong public housing, her grandma instilling in them the philosophies of being a nurturer, cook and caretaker.
Mimi is highly curious cook as an adult and audiences really connected to Mimi’s honesty and integrity this season. Her background in teaching is proof that she is woman who enjoys learning and pushing herself.
There has been something quite beautiful in what she brought to the Masterchef kitchen.
- We will unpack the inner monologue that occurs when filming reality TV and what the week has been like since exiting the competition.
- This is a great opportunity to talk about who Mimi would like to see win the show and I will flip the question in a way on who the favourite judge has been this season
- We will talk about her student and what the feedback has been like this week.
- We will dive deep into the thought you can control your edit and I think people will enjoy Mimi’s behind the scenes secret that involves some of the pranking that happened this season.
There is so much to unpack with Mimi. So sit back and relax as we unpack her time in the Masterchef Australian kitchen.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload the podcast Last Weep Neverlin. Hey guys, welcome
back to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking and downloading.
On today's episode with Mimi, one of the eliminated contestants
on Mastership Australia for twenty twenty four, I had a
technical difficulty on Monday, and while we could have just
let this chat go to the gods, so many people
(00:22):
were demanding I circle back, and I think that has
a lot to do with the popularity of Mimi. Born
in Hong Kong, Mimi moved to Sydney age one, but
returned to Hong Kong to live at the age of
eleven for seven years with her beloved grandmother following her parents' divorce.
She and her brother were raised in a humble Hong
Kong public housing, her grandmother instilling in them the philosophies
(00:44):
of being a nurturer, cook and caretaker. Mimi is highly
curious and a highly curious cook as an adult, and
I think audiences really connected to Mimy's honesty and integrity
this season. Her background is in teaching high school and
there is the that this woman enjoys learning and pushing herself.
We will unpack the inner monologue that occurs when filming
(01:06):
reality television and what the week has been like since
exiting the competition. There is a great opportunity to talk
about who Mimi would like to see whin the show
at this point, and I will flip the question on
who her favorite judge has been this season. We will
talk about her students and what the feedback has been like.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This week. We will dive deep into the idea that you.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Can control your edit and what you're thinking, and I
think people will really enjoy Mimi's behind the scenes secret
that involves some pranking that happened during the season. There's
actually so much to unpack with Mimy as I always say,
so sit back and relax as we unpack her time
in the Mastershef Australian Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
MORNI, Hi, how are you? Hi, Ben?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I'm doing very well.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know, this is the only time I've ever had
to re record a chat with anyone. But interestingly enough,
when I didn't play your chat before, Harry, I had
all of these Master Chef fans coming for me and
they were like, how very dare you?
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Well now I'm feeling very special.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, for people who are listening to this podcast, this
is a do over, but I did not want you
to miss out on being able to hear some tea
from Mimy and to unpack her time on the show.
So welcome back, Mimy.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Don't give Ben too much grief. He's a good chat.
I'm very happy to do it again.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, I just think it's good for me to talk
to you pretty much every day because I'm such a
big fan. Maybe I'm just like you know, your hype
girl in the background.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I feel very good about myself with you and my
hype girl, and I got to talk to you every day.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, it's quite interesting because I think I can only
add further information to what we were discussing the other day,
and so many other people that were so many people
that watch the show were saying that they could see
that you are this deep thinker. You're not somebody who
stands on other people. You're just who you are, and
that made people feel like they were represented by you,
(02:57):
which I think is quite an amazing thing to hear.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
It certainly is, and it's not something that I it's
not a compliment that I get given often. But when
I think back to my experience on the show, it
was very important to me that I represented myself in
everything that I did as much as possible, because you know,
as a high school teacher, that's what.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I do day to day.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
But going into this experience of competitive cooking and working television,
I think as a deep thinker. One of the promises
I made to myself was to make sure that I
stuck to my guts as much as possible, because everyone
has an opinion, and everyone has a thing to say,
and everyone has a way of approaching cooking and how
to navigate this competition. So from day one, that was
(03:42):
just something that I said was important and I stuck
to it.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's so interesting because this has never happened where I'm
talking to someone a couple of days away.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
From the experience. I'd love to know what's.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It like when you're looking back a few days later
and you've had more time to unpack it, Like there
were a difference between how you're sort of looking at
the whole experience to how we spoke about it the
other day.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Look immediately, I think you're still I was still imbued
with so much of the anxiety in fears of what
other people would think or say with the outcome of
the competition, especially in my placement.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
You know, it's just my brain voice doing.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
The worst case scenario thing, which it happens to a
lot of people. But over the course of the last
few days, I actually had a lot of my colleagues
call me asking, you know, how I am, and that
they were super proud of me, And I think it
was kind of a bit of a wake up call.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
The whole time, one of.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
My fears was thinking that I had disappointed a lot
of people, But a lot of the feedback.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I've gotten from fans and from friends and family was just,
you know, a huge reminder of what an achievement this
is to just even be a part of the show
and let alone make it this far.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
And now, you know, I'm just thrilled and super excited
to go out and create all these new things. Much
of my attitude on experience now is just trying to
take the best of the poise in the competition and
the creativity that I had during it and apply it
to my profile of work.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Now, what do you think we're so hard on ourselves?
Because I don't think you're I don't think you're alone.
I really don't. I think that when you put yourself
out there, and this is a different sort of thing
to that saying putting yourself out there, This.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is literally putting yourself out there. You are national television,
you know what I mean. But why when we in.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Everyday life, when we put ourselves out there, do we
allow this self doubt.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
To creep in?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Because there must be something in our minds that tells
us that we did a good job.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
This is a very complex question, but I think my
self doubt has always been a safety need for failure.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I think that's true in a lot.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Of cases with the students that I see every day
as well. It's like you doubt yourself first so that
you prepare yourself for what's worst. And you're much less
a fool if you prepare to fail than if you're
prepare to succeed. And I think that's how that's how
society wishes it to be. It is that people are
humble and down to earth and not filled with pride
(06:13):
and ego, and we kind of let those voices get
to us. And I have to say, you know, this
whole journey has been as equal about food as it has.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Been about my own confidence.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
And I think a lot of times I did come
across as super bubbly and unfazed, but behind the scenes
there was a lot of hard work put in to
make sure that I could put my best foot forward
in that way as well. Espe in those first few weeks,
the self doubt was so intense.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
It was so intense that I even.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Struggled to be my fuller self because I was so
stuck into considering my own mental health and how it
was going to affect the people around me.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And yeah, it's not often.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Spoken about, but I think it is important to touch
on that. You know, we are human beings at the
end of the day. And yeah, I'm just really glad
that it's after a few days from elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I'm really glad I can look back on it with
a smile. Now.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Maybe we've just become really good at masking things. Because
it's funny. Some people will say to me that I
come across a certain way because I sound quite confident
at times. Probably not all the time, but people will
see that, and in actual fact, my Mum will say
to them, no, out of my children he's the most insecure.
But I've also perfected that, you know what I mean,
(07:27):
I've perfected the art of making sure people can't see
that from me. And so I think people would be
surprised about what goes on inside the inner monologue, inside
what we're saying to ourselves, because what we project isn't
always exactly how we feel.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
That's very interesting, and I really appreciate you first sharing
that then, because I just there was actually so much
turmoil of me considering that, because I really wanted to
be authentic. But then in being authentic, you then think
about if you are working on television, so much of
it is a performance, and because it isn't unnecessary amount
of narrating about yourself and about how you feel, and
(08:03):
people forget that, it's like an an unordinary amount of
talking about yourself and huge adjustment as someone who is
I feel like a day to day human being. I
have about of self doubt, abouts of confidence.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Good moments, bad moments.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You then just have to factor in the part where
you have to announce what you're feeling in announce the
changes in your disposition, and it then just becomes extremely complicated,
to say the least, It was definitely an incredible journey
of self discovery, and you know, I'm very glad to
come out of this with a brand new kind of
(08:43):
like a like a Mimi version that all.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Maybe it's three point zero in your life. Yeah, you know,
I often say that to my friends. I say, maybe it's,
but you know what it's while while you finish up
on that point, I want to say, whatever is happening
behind the scenes, or whatever happened behind the scene when
you're a master chef, it must have been the right
level of something because you work quieter in some ways
throughout the show, but you resonated harder and faster than
(09:10):
a lot of the other people. So while you're so
conscious on being authentic, it's interesting that's what people saw.
People saw you for being a very real person amongst
some bigger personalities. Some of those other personalities came across
a little bit more polarizing. Well, you're a woman on
a show trying to do your best, and that's what
(09:30):
people brought into.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, I'm really glad it came up that way.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
These topics are very definitely, very interesting to talk about
because it's not like I didn't realize the kind of archetype.
I was feeling it when I go on something like
this with ethnicity, race, gender, all those things, and I
guess I just wanted to do it right and also
just wanted to pay respects to everyone else in the
room as well, with all things considered.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, yeah, you can't help it be like that.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
You know, you sometimes feel like when you go on
televis it can come across like you're trying to say
to your minority. I guess that you're being the spokesperson
for it, or maybe you then start to feel the
pressure of feeling like you must represent them and you
have a duty of care, where actually, maybe it's none
of those things. Maybe you're just wanting an adventure and
(10:18):
we take away all of those minorities that you would
have been representing and just be you because that's all
I saw from you, just you for who you are.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That's so that's so incredible to here, that's a very
refreshing here.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's a funny.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I have a funny reflection on this topic where I
was speaking to a friend about, you know, some specific
cooks on the show, and they were like, you know,
what's interesting to me is that your best cook was
one much later on in the competition, where you were
cooking a dish that was derived both from your upbringing
(10:55):
in Cantonese culture, but also having experienced so much of
Australian food that you could tell that you didn't have this,
you know, surprised giddiness about you. When you were listening
to the feedback, you were just relieved. My friend had
told me that, and I was just like, you know what, Yeah,
I had spent especially of course during the throes of
(11:17):
Hong Kong Week, I had so much pressure on my
shoulders because I felt like I was representing something much.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Greater, which I undoubtedly was.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
But my best work came to me when I was
reminded that, you know, I'm not just what I represent
and what people see. It's also just what I choose
to be and what I choose to do. And what
is universal here is that I think I want to
call it a youthful curiosity in it and a devotion
to being creative and having fun.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Sometimes.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I remember thinking after doing Big Brother, I was like,
oh my god, I felt like I had to represent
the queer culture. I was like, I'm a queer person.
I'm the first gay person in Australia when a reality
show and now I have to represent and then I
would I actually got a job doing a podcast working
at a queer radio station, funnily enough, and I was
go out of my depth and it felt as though
(12:10):
so out of Yeah, it's so bizarre because then I
felt like I'm a Chinese person without knowing how to
speak Chinese.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I get that feeling a lot sometimes.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And I'm like, who am I?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And I then realized that it's me that's putting the
pressure on myself to represent this community, it's not them
putting the pressure on me, you know. And just doing
the job and just getting up there and asking the
questions and sometimes not always knowing the answer turned out
to be my escape back of that pressure. It's a
hard one. And you know what's also funny about doing
a podcast about yourself is you never get.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
To talk like this, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
In society we've been told we can't be so self referential,
we can't be so reflective, we're told not to do that,
where today it's like, you know, we could take the
hat off and do that, you know, and do that
and it's kind of nice. It's kind of refreshing.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It is very refreshing. But I'll tell you a funny story.
The first kind of date I went on post show.
The first bit of feedback.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
I got on that date was I was talking too much.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
About my No, did the guy say that to you?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I did ask the feedback because I was like, oh,
you know what, I haven't been very social for the
last few months.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Dude to this really big thing that I'm doing. How
did I do?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
And then he was just like, you're great, except I've
just noticed that you're talking a lot about yourself.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
And then I was just like, oh, that's my problem.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We as humans, we are so curious about ourselves, and
you know, we want to know why we do the
things that we do. And I think there was nothing
wrong with I mean, there's a difference between being an
arcissist and being just cautious and curious about yourself wanting
to find out more, do you know what I mean?
Some really strong differences. But maybe if that man thought
(13:51):
that maybe it's the wrong match.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Maybe I am a teacher at the end of the day,
and so I have all the hours in the day
to talk about myself, and I have people listening clostantly yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Getting back into Mastershift, though, I really want to ask
you just a couple of questions. We're so lucky to
be talking today. There has been an elimination since we
last spoke, so now we have ourselves at top three.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I want to know.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Who is your pick to win out of who we
now know is in the top three.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I mean, it'd be pretty awesome to see Pezzle win it.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
He has worked so hard, to be honest, I've worked
with him on a lot of the service challenges, and
I feel like people underestimate his attitude and his positivity
around food and around leading people and so much of
working purposes about that, and yeah, just for the everyday man,
I'm kind of.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Keen to see him lift up the trophy if possible.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I kind of have changed my mind a few times.
I was really gunning for this Harry win and now
that Harry's out of the competition.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It's interesting with.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Reality TV how you can pull a piece of the
puzzle at and it makes you see things differently.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And I also think.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
That there's a bit of a wave of thought that
seems to be happening about Pezza that people are saying
he doesn't deserve to win for whatever reason. I don't
even want to go delve into it. But the more
that I read that, the more that I now want
him to win.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah, it's in our rebellion in us.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, like I think he deserves it.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Now I'm thinking, had you asked me that question while
Harry was still in the competition, I would have said, no,
Pezzes next to go. Where Now I see the three
and I'm like, I should be going for Nat in
my order. I know I really would be, But now
I'm starting to think if Pesza wins, I'm going to
be the happiest.
Speaker 9 (15:31):
Well, now I have to about the show as if viewer,
and I think as a viewer, everyone has a soft
spot for Nat, but pezz is your secret underdog and
sometimes you just have that really closeted feeling of wanting
him to win. But I will say this, it's Master
Chef season sixteen, and I think there's a lot of,
you know, props to them.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
There's a lot of expectation there in terms of the
types of food we see.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
And I don't think it accounts.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
I don't think the day to day viewer textingoul account
the transition food in the progression of food in the
food industry that you know, it doesn't it's not necessarily
the modern nouvel fine dining esque food that climbs to
the top. So for that reason and for what Pezzi
represents in his food, I also think it pretty incredible
(16:18):
if he does win to represent that part of the
food industry that you know, as a as an ethnic
cook and as a very casual cultural cook, a lot
of the times, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, I think the sweet spot for me with this
show is I like to see home cooks. There was
a couple of seasons where you started to showcasing people
who could do extraordinary things that we couldn't make at home,
and then it kind of lost me for a little bit.
And then what I do enjoy is everyday Australians being
on this show that are at that middle ground, you know,
that we actually feel like is just that level above
(16:52):
us as cooks ourselves at home, that we can strive
and try to be, you know, and want to be,
you know, and that it's achievable.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Oh my god, I just just on the word achievable.
So much of this, so much of watching the show
and then being in the show is just thinking that
none of this is achievable in the times, in the
time span and at home. Let me tell you that
the thing is, when you put your mind to it,
you can do it.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
It's just seventy five minutes feels incredibly long.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Now, so before you go as well, something that we
did the other day that was really good was that
instead of prioritizing who your favorite judge was, you gave
me a little bit of a summary about why you
enjoyed working alongside these judges. Can we talk about them?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
I love all of them equally, So to me, Poe
was definitely the most relatable because she had done it.
Also just culturally and her demeanor she's just super klined
and gentle, was very very made us all feel very
safe and secure. So that's incredible. And then you just have,
you know, a beautiful face like Sophia standing up front
(18:00):
with her eloquence in terms of talking about food, but
also her understanding of the way food works intertwined with
different things, and that also, you know, we learn a
lot from her about her understanding of food and her
traveling and just applying things that happen in the kitchen in.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
The real world. She did that really well. Jean Christoph.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
We all kind of.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Expected him to be this very stern, militant French cook,
but he completely usurped our expectations by being this extremely romantic, lovable,
passionate human being that kind of just evoked the same
thing in all of us. He almost gave us something
all to aspire to and talk about, and that was
(18:44):
super lovely because we all bonded over getting to experience
his presence, which was very, very lovely. And he's someone
that kind of sometimes loves to overshare, so we kind
of revel in that and feel really special.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I love and overshare, and I mean this in the.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Best way possible.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
If you're listening, I do apologize if you don't like
to take this contents. But I thought I've read the
most toxic obsession with Andy Allen.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
He just gave the best criticism having done it for
so long, So I had this kind of secret addiction
of really wanting to impress him, and he just ended
being the person that I liked the most on the
panel and was most excited to hear feedback from. For
every cook, he was so poignant, succinct, effective as a
(19:36):
mentor as a teacher, and I really expected that.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yeah, it's interesting to hear stuff about Andy because not
everyone has been highlighting him. And that's kind of why
I sort of in the last few episodes, I've sort
of flipped it to try and get an overall picture
of everybody, because people kept talking about Poe, and I
think that is a very human person. She's a very
easily relatable person as well, so I guess it was
easy to to see that. But the more and more
(20:01):
that I hear about Andy from you and Harry yesterday
is more of an understanding that the audience I think
need to see. It is a different site. Before you go,
I need to ask you as well about a secret
from behind the scenes of this show. I can't even
remember now what your secret was.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
My secret was.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
I think fans of the show would really love to know.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
This is that out of all twenty two of us,
my favorite memories from behind the scenes are of Dash
and Harry playing Franks on staff. It really kept me entertained.
You know, they run such a tight ship where we
don't know so much of what's going on because that's
the nature of the competition. So Dash would just cleverly
(20:47):
create these traps to see if staff will fall into
them so that we would be able to, for example,
find out if we were traveling or not. And Oh,
it just gave me the best laugh that's reprieved from
this reci competition.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Who's the prankster that you don't want on not on
your side in this scenario, Like who's a better prankster,
Harry or Dush.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I think Dust is the worst one, but Harry Justice
feeling things like he spent he spent like he spent twenty.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
Four hours on one shoot day part Like every stuff
member passing by, he'd be like, you got a little
updog on your channel or something, and then obviously the
staff members would fall for it and go, oh, what's up, Doug,
and he'd just nick it to himself annoyed everyone so much.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I love that. I love that about him.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But it was so nice trating to these people throughout
the season because you get a different human element to
all of it. And I enjoy the secret from you
because it really is a behind the scenes something that
we didn't get to see.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
But it kind of.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Proves that little mischievous look that these two boys had
had in their faces the whole way through this.
Speaker 7 (21:49):
Yeah, we all love a class clown of course, very
lucky to have spent that much time across the season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, can I just say thank you so much for
being so generous with your time and coming and doing
do over with me. Everyone can get off my back
now and not miss it about the omission of Mimi.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
We have it here.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Thank you, And I just want to say I am
in your audience. I can't wait to see what you
do make this noodle bar happen. I don't care, like,
just get out there and do what makes you feel happy.
Maybe it's teaching, Maybe you will. This experience has made
you love teaching more. What I'm in the audience from
you is to see you happy.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Thanks Benjamin.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
That actually that means the world to me, and I
would I am not complaining that I get to speak to.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
You again just every day, just every day.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Are we there to be your hype girl and hype
you up and send you off.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I'll be the best version of yourself.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I want that.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
You're so cleete.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Okay, I got to let you go enjoy the rest
of your day, and I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I'm sure I'll run into you at some point. I
just have that feeling.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Yes, all right, I'll speak to you soon.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Then cheers, By then,
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload the podcast Last Weep Neverlin. Hey guys, welcome
back to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking and downloading.
On today's episode with Mimi, one of the eliminated contestants
on Mastership Australia for twenty twenty four, I had a
technical difficulty on Monday, and while we could have just
let this chat go to the gods, so many people
(00:22):
were demanding I circle back, and I think that has
a lot to do with the popularity of Mimi. Born
in Hong Kong, Mimi moved to Sydney age one, but
returned to Hong Kong to live at the age of
eleven for seven years with her beloved grandmother following her parents' divorce.
She and her brother were raised in a humble Hong
Kong public housing, her grandmother instilling in them the philosophies
(00:44):
of being a nurturer, cook and caretaker. Mimi is highly
curious and a highly curious cook as an adult, and
I think audiences really connected to Mimy's honesty and integrity
this season. Her background is in teaching high school and
there is the that this woman enjoys learning and pushing herself.
We will unpack the inner monologue that occurs when filming
(01:06):
reality television and what the week has been like since
exiting the competition. There is a great opportunity to talk
about who Mimi would like to see whin the show
at this point, and I will flip the question on
who her favorite judge has been this season. We will
talk about her students and what the feedback has been like.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This week. We will dive deep into the idea that you.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Can control your edit and what you're thinking, and I
think people will really enjoy Mimi's behind the scenes secret
that involves some pranking that happened during the season. There's
actually so much to unpack with Mimy as I always say,
so sit back and relax as we unpack her time
in the Mastershef Australian Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
MORNI, Hi, how are you? Hi, Ben?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I'm doing very well.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know, this is the only time I've ever had
to re record a chat with anyone. But interestingly enough,
when I didn't play your chat before, Harry, I had
all of these Master Chef fans coming for me and
they were like, how very dare you?
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Well now I'm feeling very special.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, for people who are listening to this podcast, this
is a do over, but I did not want you
to miss out on being able to hear some tea
from Mimy and to unpack her time on the show.
So welcome back, Mimy.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Don't give Ben too much grief. He's a good chat.
I'm very happy to do it again.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, I just think it's good for me to talk
to you pretty much every day because I'm such a
big fan. Maybe I'm just like you know, your hype
girl in the background.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I feel very good about myself with you and my
hype girl, and I got to talk to you every day.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, it's quite interesting because I think I can only
add further information to what we were discussing the other day,
and so many other people that were so many people
that watch the show were saying that they could see
that you are this deep thinker. You're not somebody who
stands on other people. You're just who you are, and
that made people feel like they were represented by you,
(02:57):
which I think is quite an amazing thing to hear.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
It certainly is, and it's not something that I it's
not a compliment that I get given often. But when
I think back to my experience on the show, it
was very important to me that I represented myself in
everything that I did as much as possible, because you know,
as a high school teacher, that's what.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I do day to day.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
But going into this experience of competitive cooking and working television,
I think as a deep thinker. One of the promises
I made to myself was to make sure that I
stuck to my guts as much as possible, because everyone
has an opinion, and everyone has a thing to say,
and everyone has a way of approaching cooking and how
to navigate this competition. So from day one, that was
(03:42):
just something that I said was important and I stuck
to it.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's so interesting because this has never happened where I'm
talking to someone a couple of days away.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
From the experience. I'd love to know what's.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It like when you're looking back a few days later
and you've had more time to unpack it, Like there
were a difference between how you're sort of looking at
the whole experience to how we spoke about it the
other day.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Look immediately, I think you're still I was still imbued
with so much of the anxiety in fears of what
other people would think or say with the outcome of
the competition, especially in my placement.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
You know, it's just my brain voice doing.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
The worst case scenario thing, which it happens to a
lot of people. But over the course of the last
few days, I actually had a lot of my colleagues
call me asking, you know, how I am, and that
they were super proud of me, And I think it
was kind of a bit of a wake up call.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
The whole time, one of.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
My fears was thinking that I had disappointed a lot
of people, But a lot of the feedback.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I've gotten from fans and from friends and family was just,
you know, a huge reminder of what an achievement this
is to just even be a part of the show
and let alone make it this far.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
And now, you know, I'm just thrilled and super excited
to go out and create all these new things. Much
of my attitude on experience now is just trying to
take the best of the poise in the competition and
the creativity that I had during it and apply it
to my profile of work.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Now, what do you think we're so hard on ourselves?
Because I don't think you're I don't think you're alone.
I really don't. I think that when you put yourself
out there, and this is a different sort of thing
to that saying putting yourself out there, This.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is literally putting yourself out there. You are national television,
you know what I mean. But why when we in.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Everyday life, when we put ourselves out there, do we
allow this self doubt.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
To creep in?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Because there must be something in our minds that tells
us that we did a good job.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
This is a very complex question, but I think my
self doubt has always been a safety need for failure.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I think that's true in a lot.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Of cases with the students that I see every day
as well. It's like you doubt yourself first so that
you prepare yourself for what's worst. And you're much less
a fool if you prepare to fail than if you're
prepare to succeed. And I think that's how that's how
society wishes it to be. It is that people are
humble and down to earth and not filled with pride
(06:13):
and ego, and we kind of let those voices get
to us. And I have to say, you know, this
whole journey has been as equal about food as it has.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Been about my own confidence.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
And I think a lot of times I did come
across as super bubbly and unfazed, but behind the scenes
there was a lot of hard work put in to
make sure that I could put my best foot forward
in that way as well. Espe in those first few weeks,
the self doubt was so intense.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
It was so intense that I even.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Struggled to be my fuller self because I was so
stuck into considering my own mental health and how it
was going to affect the people around me.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And yeah, it's not often.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Spoken about, but I think it is important to touch
on that. You know, we are human beings at the
end of the day. And yeah, I'm just really glad
that it's after a few days from elimination.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I'm really glad I can look back on it with
a smile. Now.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Maybe we've just become really good at masking things. Because
it's funny. Some people will say to me that I
come across a certain way because I sound quite confident
at times. Probably not all the time, but people will
see that, and in actual fact, my Mum will say
to them, no, out of my children he's the most insecure.
But I've also perfected that, you know what I mean,
(07:27):
I've perfected the art of making sure people can't see
that from me. And so I think people would be
surprised about what goes on inside the inner monologue, inside
what we're saying to ourselves, because what we project isn't
always exactly how we feel.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
That's very interesting, and I really appreciate you first sharing
that then, because I just there was actually so much
turmoil of me considering that, because I really wanted to
be authentic. But then in being authentic, you then think
about if you are working on television, so much of
it is a performance, and because it isn't unnecessary amount
of narrating about yourself and about how you feel, and
(08:03):
people forget that, it's like an an unordinary amount of
talking about yourself and huge adjustment as someone who is
I feel like a day to day human being. I
have about of self doubt, abouts of confidence.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Good moments, bad moments.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You then just have to factor in the part where
you have to announce what you're feeling in announce the
changes in your disposition, and it then just becomes extremely complicated,
to say the least, It was definitely an incredible journey
of self discovery, and you know, I'm very glad to
come out of this with a brand new kind of
(08:43):
like a like a Mimi version that all.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Maybe it's three point zero in your life. Yeah, you know,
I often say that to my friends. I say, maybe it's,
but you know what it's while while you finish up
on that point, I want to say, whatever is happening
behind the scenes, or whatever happened behind the scene when
you're a master chef, it must have been the right
level of something because you work quieter in some ways
throughout the show, but you resonated harder and faster than
(09:10):
a lot of the other people. So while you're so
conscious on being authentic, it's interesting that's what people saw.
People saw you for being a very real person amongst
some bigger personalities. Some of those other personalities came across
a little bit more polarizing. Well, you're a woman on
a show trying to do your best, and that's what
(09:30):
people brought into.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, I'm really glad it came up that way.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
These topics are very definitely, very interesting to talk about
because it's not like I didn't realize the kind of archetype.
I was feeling it when I go on something like
this with ethnicity, race, gender, all those things, and I
guess I just wanted to do it right and also
just wanted to pay respects to everyone else in the
room as well, with all things considered.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, yeah, you can't help it be like that.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
You know, you sometimes feel like when you go on
televis it can come across like you're trying to say
to your minority. I guess that you're being the spokesperson
for it, or maybe you then start to feel the
pressure of feeling like you must represent them and you
have a duty of care, where actually, maybe it's none
of those things. Maybe you're just wanting an adventure and
(10:18):
we take away all of those minorities that you would
have been representing and just be you because that's all
I saw from you, just you for who you are.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That's so that's so incredible to here, that's a very
refreshing here.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's a funny.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I have a funny reflection on this topic where I
was speaking to a friend about, you know, some specific
cooks on the show, and they were like, you know,
what's interesting to me is that your best cook was
one much later on in the competition, where you were
cooking a dish that was derived both from your upbringing
(10:55):
in Cantonese culture, but also having experienced so much of
Australian food that you could tell that you didn't have this,
you know, surprised giddiness about you. When you were listening
to the feedback, you were just relieved. My friend had
told me that, and I was just like, you know what, Yeah,
I had spent especially of course during the throes of
(11:17):
Hong Kong Week, I had so much pressure on my
shoulders because I felt like I was representing something much.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Greater, which I undoubtedly was.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
But my best work came to me when I was
reminded that, you know, I'm not just what I represent
and what people see. It's also just what I choose
to be and what I choose to do. And what
is universal here is that I think I want to
call it a youthful curiosity in it and a devotion
to being creative and having fun.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Sometimes.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I remember thinking after doing Big Brother, I was like,
oh my god, I felt like I had to represent
the queer culture. I was like, I'm a queer person.
I'm the first gay person in Australia when a reality
show and now I have to represent and then I
would I actually got a job doing a podcast working
at a queer radio station, funnily enough, and I was
go out of my depth and it felt as though
(12:10):
so out of Yeah, it's so bizarre because then I
felt like I'm a Chinese person without knowing how to
speak Chinese.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I get that feeling a lot sometimes.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And I'm like, who am I?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And I then realized that it's me that's putting the
pressure on myself to represent this community, it's not them
putting the pressure on me, you know. And just doing
the job and just getting up there and asking the
questions and sometimes not always knowing the answer turned out
to be my escape back of that pressure. It's a
hard one. And you know what's also funny about doing
a podcast about yourself is you never get.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
To talk like this, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
In society we've been told we can't be so self referential,
we can't be so reflective, we're told not to do that,
where today it's like, you know, we could take the
hat off and do that, you know, and do that
and it's kind of nice. It's kind of refreshing.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It is very refreshing. But I'll tell you a funny story.
The first kind of date I went on post show.
The first bit of feedback.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
I got on that date was I was talking too much.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
About my No, did the guy say that to you?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I did ask the feedback because I was like, oh,
you know what, I haven't been very social for the
last few months.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Dude to this really big thing that I'm doing. How
did I do?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
And then he was just like, you're great, except I've
just noticed that you're talking a lot about yourself.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
And then I was just like, oh, that's my problem.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We as humans, we are so curious about ourselves, and
you know, we want to know why we do the
things that we do. And I think there was nothing
wrong with I mean, there's a difference between being an
arcissist and being just cautious and curious about yourself wanting
to find out more, do you know what I mean?
Some really strong differences. But maybe if that man thought
(13:51):
that maybe it's the wrong match.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Maybe I am a teacher at the end of the day,
and so I have all the hours in the day
to talk about myself, and I have people listening clostantly yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Getting back into Mastershift, though, I really want to ask
you just a couple of questions. We're so lucky to
be talking today. There has been an elimination since we
last spoke, so now we have ourselves at top three.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I want to know.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Who is your pick to win out of who we
now know is in the top three.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I mean, it'd be pretty awesome to see Pezzle win it.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
He has worked so hard, to be honest, I've worked
with him on a lot of the service challenges, and
I feel like people underestimate his attitude and his positivity
around food and around leading people and so much of
working purposes about that, and yeah, just for the everyday man,
I'm kind of.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Keen to see him lift up the trophy if possible.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I kind of have changed my mind a few times.
I was really gunning for this Harry win and now
that Harry's out of the competition.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It's interesting with.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Reality TV how you can pull a piece of the
puzzle at and it makes you see things differently.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And I also think.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
That there's a bit of a wave of thought that
seems to be happening about Pezza that people are saying
he doesn't deserve to win for whatever reason. I don't
even want to go delve into it. But the more
that I read that, the more that I now want
him to win.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah, it's in our rebellion in us.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, like I think he deserves it.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Now I'm thinking, had you asked me that question while
Harry was still in the competition, I would have said, no,
Pezzes next to go. Where Now I see the three
and I'm like, I should be going for Nat in
my order. I know I really would be, But now
I'm starting to think if Pesza wins, I'm going to
be the happiest.
Speaker 9 (15:31):
Well, now I have to about the show as if viewer,
and I think as a viewer, everyone has a soft
spot for Nat, but pezz is your secret underdog and
sometimes you just have that really closeted feeling of wanting
him to win. But I will say this, it's Master
Chef season sixteen, and I think there's a lot of,
you know, props to them.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
There's a lot of expectation there in terms of the
types of food we see.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
And I don't think it accounts.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
I don't think the day to day viewer textingoul account
the transition food in the progression of food in the
food industry that you know, it doesn't it's not necessarily
the modern nouvel fine dining esque food that climbs to
the top. So for that reason and for what Pezzi
represents in his food, I also think it pretty incredible
(16:18):
if he does win to represent that part of the
food industry that you know, as a as an ethnic
cook and as a very casual cultural cook, a lot
of the times, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, I think the sweet spot for me with this
show is I like to see home cooks. There was
a couple of seasons where you started to showcasing people
who could do extraordinary things that we couldn't make at home,
and then it kind of lost me for a little bit.
And then what I do enjoy is everyday Australians being
on this show that are at that middle ground, you know,
that we actually feel like is just that level above
(16:52):
us as cooks ourselves at home, that we can strive
and try to be, you know, and want to be,
you know, and that it's achievable.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Oh my god, I just just on the word achievable.
So much of this, so much of watching the show
and then being in the show is just thinking that
none of this is achievable in the times, in the
time span and at home. Let me tell you that
the thing is, when you put your mind to it,
you can do it.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
It's just seventy five minutes feels incredibly long.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Now, so before you go as well, something that we
did the other day that was really good was that
instead of prioritizing who your favorite judge was, you gave
me a little bit of a summary about why you
enjoyed working alongside these judges. Can we talk about them?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
I love all of them equally, So to me, Poe
was definitely the most relatable because she had done it.
Also just culturally and her demeanor she's just super klined
and gentle, was very very made us all feel very
safe and secure. So that's incredible. And then you just have,
you know, a beautiful face like Sophia standing up front
(18:00):
with her eloquence in terms of talking about food, but
also her understanding of the way food works intertwined with
different things, and that also, you know, we learn a
lot from her about her understanding of food and her
traveling and just applying things that happen in the kitchen in.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
The real world. She did that really well. Jean Christoph.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
We all kind of.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Expected him to be this very stern, militant French cook,
but he completely usurped our expectations by being this extremely romantic, lovable,
passionate human being that kind of just evoked the same
thing in all of us. He almost gave us something
all to aspire to and talk about, and that was
(18:44):
super lovely because we all bonded over getting to experience
his presence, which was very, very lovely. And he's someone
that kind of sometimes loves to overshare, so we kind
of revel in that and feel really special.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I love and overshare, and I mean this in the.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Best way possible.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
If you're listening, I do apologize if you don't like
to take this contents. But I thought I've read the
most toxic obsession with Andy Allen.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
He just gave the best criticism having done it for
so long, So I had this kind of secret addiction
of really wanting to impress him, and he just ended
being the person that I liked the most on the
panel and was most excited to hear feedback from. For
every cook, he was so poignant, succinct, effective as a
(19:36):
mentor as a teacher, and I really expected that.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yeah, it's interesting to hear stuff about Andy because not
everyone has been highlighting him. And that's kind of why
I sort of in the last few episodes, I've sort
of flipped it to try and get an overall picture
of everybody, because people kept talking about Poe, and I
think that is a very human person. She's a very
easily relatable person as well, so I guess it was
easy to to see that. But the more and more
(20:01):
that I hear about Andy from you and Harry yesterday
is more of an understanding that the audience I think
need to see. It is a different site. Before you go,
I need to ask you as well about a secret
from behind the scenes of this show. I can't even
remember now what your secret was.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
My secret was.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
I think fans of the show would really love to know.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
This is that out of all twenty two of us,
my favorite memories from behind the scenes are of Dash
and Harry playing Franks on staff. It really kept me entertained.
You know, they run such a tight ship where we
don't know so much of what's going on because that's
the nature of the competition. So Dash would just cleverly
(20:47):
create these traps to see if staff will fall into
them so that we would be able to, for example,
find out if we were traveling or not. And Oh,
it just gave me the best laugh that's reprieved from
this reci competition.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Who's the prankster that you don't want on not on
your side in this scenario, Like who's a better prankster,
Harry or Dush.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I think Dust is the worst one, but Harry Justice
feeling things like he spent he spent like he spent twenty.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
Four hours on one shoot day part Like every stuff
member passing by, he'd be like, you got a little
updog on your channel or something, and then obviously the
staff members would fall for it and go, oh, what's up, Doug,
and he'd just nick it to himself annoyed everyone so much.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I love that. I love that about him.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But it was so nice trating to these people throughout
the season because you get a different human element to
all of it. And I enjoy the secret from you
because it really is a behind the scenes something that
we didn't get to see.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
But it kind of.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Proves that little mischievous look that these two boys had
had in their faces the whole way through this.
Speaker 7 (21:49):
Yeah, we all love a class clown of course, very
lucky to have spent that much time across the season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, can I just say thank you so much for
being so generous with your time and coming and doing
do over with me. Everyone can get off my back
now and not miss it about the omission of Mimi.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
We have it here.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Thank you, And I just want to say I am
in your audience. I can't wait to see what you
do make this noodle bar happen. I don't care, like,
just get out there and do what makes you feel happy.
Maybe it's teaching, Maybe you will. This experience has made
you love teaching more. What I'm in the audience from
you is to see you happy.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Thanks Benjamin.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
That actually that means the world to me, and I
would I am not complaining that I get to speak to.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
You again just every day, just every day.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Are we there to be your hype girl and hype
you up and send you off.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I'll be the best version of yourself.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I want that.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
You're so cleete.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Okay, I got to let you go enjoy the rest
of your day, and I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I'm sure I'll run into you at some point. I
just have that feeling.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Yes, all right, I'll speak to you soon.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Then cheers, By then,
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