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MasterChef's Theo makes shock confession following elimination: 'Never'
EXCLUSIVE: Theo Loizou opens up about how the cooking competition compared to his expectations.
Theo Loizou wowed judges and viewers alike with his culinary skills on this year’s season of MasterChef and managed to make it all the way to the top four.
And while he appeared to be somewhat of an expert on how the cooking competition worked, winning two immunity challenges and several team and individual challenges throughout the season, it turns out Theo had never watched the show before he applied.
Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle following his elimination during Tuesday night’s episode, the 37-year-old electrician reveals he went into the competition having no idea of what was going to happen.
“I honestly had never watched MasterChef before this season, so I didn’t know what to expect at all,” he admits.
“It was kind of good in a way because I didn't have any expectations, so I just took it day by day. Everyone else would say, ‘I reckon this is coming up’, but I was like, I don’t know what to expect because I don’t know what the show entails.”
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Theo explains that it was his friend who encouraged him to apply for MasterChef when he returned to Australia after living in Europe two years ago.
“My plan was to open a bakery straightaway after I got back from France,” he details.
“As soon as I got back I was out with a mate and he was like, ‘So are you going to start the bakery?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be really difficult for the first six months because not many people are going to come straightaway and I’ve got stuff I need to pay for, so it's going to be hard to get the ball rolling money-wise’.
“And he was like, ‘Why don’t you go on MasterChef and get a bit of a following that way, and then once the bakery opens after that, you'll be fine and people will come straightaway’. I was thinking, I'm pretty good at cooking, but I'm not that good. I just thought I'll get through a couple of weeks and then I’ll be fine, and then I applied for it, got on, and here we are.”
'Can't wait'
Despite feeling “super disappointed” and “devastated” that he narrowly missed out on a spot in the top three, Theo says he’s extremely grateful for the experience.
“It's definitely changed the way I think about food and think about what I'm going to do next, which is going to be a bakery,” he shares.
SHOP:
“The way of thinking about elevating your dishes in the MasterChef kitchen lends itself to elevating bread and things like that outside of the kitchen, so that love and attention to detail of food will go really well with a bakery.
“The bakery isn’t ready to go, there’s a lot that needs to happen, but I am in that process - purchasing equipment, starting to test products and everything. So I'm super excited to get back and get that going, I can't wait.”
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