Masterchef Love Story: Chris and Julia

But it’s precisely her lust for food that has led former MasterChef contestant Chris Badenoch to fall in love with fellow contestant Julia Jenkins.
On paper they’re an unlikely couple – he’s the grumpy, trilby-wearing food snob who scowled his way through last season’s show while she’s the sweet, shy girl with the coy smile who barely looked up from her chopping board.
But appearances can be deceiving, as New Idea found out when we spent the day with the pair at Chris’ home in Melbourne. While much has been made of the 18-year age gap, Chris’ Casanova past and the wisdom of finding love on a TV show, as they sit together on the sofa it’s clear this relationship
is far deeper than your average reality show romance.

KINDRED SPIRITS
Speaking exclusively about their relationship, Chris says the friendship grew into something more as he and Julia spent more time together after the MasterChef finale last July.
‘We had so many things in common and whether we were having a drink or eating out or at a movie, we were never short of conversation,’ he says. ‘There were never any awkward pauses and we always laughed together so it just naturally evolved into a relationship.’
The 42-year-old former graphic artist says he was enamoured as much with Julia’s enthusiasm for eating goat and drinking beer as he was by her good looks.
‘I love the fact that she’s not your average woman,’ he admits.
‘She’s quite different and unique and she’s got good taste in everything from food to clothes.’
So is he in love? ‘Yes,’ he says, producing a gentle smile, rarely seen on the show. ‘I’m just happy when she’s around and I miss her when she’s not here. I enjoy being with her all the time.’
As for Julia, she’s more naturally effusive about food than Chris, even writing on her blog that ‘if food were a man, I’d make it my boyfriend, then my husband and then have 10,000 of its babies, then hope I died first so I would never have to live without it’.
So how is Chris ever going to entice her as much as a fried pig’s ear or a balsamic-braised brussels sprout (she raves about both)?
‘I know, I’m very enthusiastic about food,’ she laughs. ‘But it’s just one of my loves so there’s still room for him.’
Although MasterChef portrayed Julia as shy and inoffensive, she’s extremely strong-willed, quick-witted and reticent about showing affection. Certainly this is not a relationship between an accomplished older man and a fawning younger woman.
‘Millions of people have asked me why I like Chris but if I say it’s because of his sense of humour or our respect for each other then it sounds like a cliche,’ she says awkwardly.
‘If I had a series of check boxes, Chris would tick pretty much all of them, even ones I didn’t realise I wanted.’
She winds a finger around her glossy long hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail for most of the show.
‘Chris is not at all like the villain he was portrayed as on MasterChef,’ she says. ‘He’s a genuinely nice, friendly, caring guy and if I’m away he’s always calling to ask how I am and if I’m OK. Our conversations are so easy and we share so much in common – from our sense of humour to music to our mutual love of science fiction.’
Julia, 24, says she’s never once noticed their 18-year age difference. ‘That’s probably because he’s immature,’ she laughs, kicking off her shoes and putting on a David Bowie album. ‘Seriously though, I can’t fathom the focus on our ages. We like the same TV shows and the same music – it’s not like he’s talking about The Beatles and I’m going: “Woo hoo, Lady Gaga.”’
Chris believes the age gap is irrelevant because both are stimulated by curiosity and good taste rather than trends or fashion. ‘We both just like the things we like, whether that’s eating rabbit or watching [UK comedy show]
The Mighty Boosh. We don’t get caught up in what’s popular or screamingly fashionable.’

HERO OR VILLAIN?
It’s this mutual eccentricity that made them both such unlikely contenders for a mainstream show like MasterChef. But as Chris says, he thought he was signing up for ‘a small cooking show’, not the juggernaut that MasterChef has become.
‘I only applied for it a couple of days before the applications closed because I’ve always wanted to write a cookbook and I thought it would be easier if I had a profile. I love the whole concept of matching beer with food and I knew that was something new.’Alongside the housewives and pretty young girls such as Julia, Justine Schofield and runner-up Poh Ling Yeow, his frankness and determination to win saw him characterised as an ambitious bad boy. He criticised the eventual winner Julie Goodwin for ‘dodging so many bullets’ and another contestant Andre Ursini commented that he was ‘cynical and negative’.
‘I was determined and I did want to win but in reality I don’t take life that seriously. Every time I smiled or was seen laughing or mucking around, the producers cut that out because they needed me to be a villain. I didn’t cry or wobble or become flustered so my confidence got mistaken for arrogance which is not the case.’
His image wasn’t helped when news of his relationship with Julia was followed by claims from other girls that they’d enjoyed a romance with him when he was reportedly in a long-term relationship with another woman.He was quickly dubbed the ‘Kitchen Casanova’ and at least one girl claimed he had broken her heart. Chris fumes as he recalls that time: ‘People said they were my girlfriend when they never were, never had been and never would be. When Julia and I got together we were both single and even though she trusted me, we both found it frustrating.’
So why did he not come out and dispel the rumours? ‘I was advised not to get involved and my friends knew the truth and were supportive so I left it to people to make up theirown opinion.’
Julia says: ‘I could understand someone claiming they were Brad Pitt’s love child and, no offence to Chris, but he had just come off a reality TV show and some people obviously wanted their 15 minutes of fame. It wasn’t true and I completely trust him.’

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
These days the pair are simply enjoying each other’s company which involves long discussions about food and plenty of beer-fuelled cooking sessions in the kitchen. Chris has taught Julia
a lot about unusual cuts of meat while she’s helped him appreciate cake baking and vegetables.
‘She loves silverbeet so we have it all the time and now I really like it,’ he laughs.
For the past few months, however, the couple have endured long periods apart as Julia films a new cooking show called Delish for the 7Two channel. She’s co-hosting the show with gardening guru Neville Passmore and focusing on the journey from garden to plate.

Like Chris, she is enjoying the freelance lifestyle MasterChef has provided, with both of them juggling cooking demonstrations, recipe development and guest appearances. Chris would still like to open a restaurant combining food and beer, but right now he’s concentrating on his as-yet unnamed cookbook which is due out later this year.
The couple haven’t ruled out working together on a project but it would have to
be something that ‘encourages people to cook properly’.
‘Cooking is not about opening tins or jars,’ Chris says. ‘I think it’s the responsibility of everyone who took part in MasterChef to help people to cook properly.
I hate this attitude that people don’t have time to cook. It’s complete rubbish. It takes just 10 minutes to put on a long slow braise in the oven and then you can go out to football or take the kids to the park and come back and have a fantastic meal waiting.’
Both say they want to see Aussie children given wider food choices. Julia is always trying out new food on her family and Chris says parents were amazed when their children devoured his salmon and beer pancakes at a cooking demo.
‘In Europe kids eat snails and olives but here we discourage kids from experimenting,’ he says.
So do they ever argue in the kitchen? ‘No, we work really well together,’ says Julia, who can’t imagine sitting down while Chris produced a meal for her. They recently offered to take a Spanish omelette to a barbecue but it was a disaster after they combined their two different techniques. ‘Within days we both cooked one separately and they were both great,’ Chris says.
So with their mutual love of food, could their relationship lead to a greater commitment?
‘I don’t know, ask us in another 18 months,’ Chris says. And with that, they are back to talking about carrots – specifically heirloom purple ones that they spotted in the market the day before. Enthuses Julia: ‘Wouldn’t they make a great soup?’

By Angela Mollard

•To follow Julia’s blog visit juliajenkins.net.au and for Chris’ blog visit chrisbadenoch.com.