MasterChef Favourite Sarah Todd admits she’s feeling the heat ahead of Grand Final week

Popular season six contestant Sarah Todd is facing all of the tough questions in her return to the kitchen - especially from her 11-year-old son.

If 11-year-old Phoenix doesn’t follow in his mum’s very big culinary footsteps, he could very well be a journalist.

Sarah Todd is his mum and the returning MasterChef favourite laughs as she recounts when her very sage son – to borrow from Tom Gleeson – chatted HARD with her.

“Someone asked me if I thought I could win MasterChef and I was like ‘OK, be that strong mum’ you know, so I said ‘I think I can win it’ and Phoenix goes ‘But do you really think you can win it?’,” she says.

“I was like ‘Oh God, thanks mate’.”

Sarah Todd with her son Phoenix at the premiere of Dune last year. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Photography

Phoenix was only two when Todd first competed on Ten’s beloved cooking show. She finished ninth that sixth season and then barely drew breath as she quickly became one of the most renowned names in the Indian food scene. In 2014 she opened her first restaurant in Goa, leading to the six-part series, My Restaurant In India, which aired in more than 150 countries. In 2018, she opened her second restaurant, this time in Mumbai which led to another TV series, My Second Restaurant In India.

Todd’s not exactly sure how Phoenix feels about her being back in the pressure cooker that is the reality show.

“He doesn’t watch it with me,” she says.

“He plays it all down so I don’t know if he thinks it’s cool or whether it’s embarrassing. But it is amazing to see where he is with his mind.

“When MasterChef asked me to come back, I sat him down and asked ‘what do you think? Obviously it would be tough, I won’t see you as much but every weekend we would be together.’

“He was like ‘If I was you, I would do it, but you have to do what makes you happy’.”

Sarah Todd took a long time to decide whether to head back to the MasterChef kitchen for the Fans vs Favourite season. Picture: Channel 10

So back to that question – just how does she rate her chances?

“I just opened the door for that one, right?” Todd says, with another laugh, adding modestly,

“You know what? I think all of us can cook so ultimately anyone of us could do it.

“It comes down to that one cook on that one day. We all have the skills.

“At the end of the day, it’s the mindset. I really notice the difference when my mind starts to implode and I’m not trusting my gut.”

MasterChef top five Julie Goodwin, Daniel Lamble, Billie Mckay, Sarah Todd and Keyma Vasquez Montero before Goodwin was eliminated in a nailbiting challenge Tuesday night. Picture: Supplied

She jokes she does wish she could get one or two of her own sous chefs in, should she make Tuesday’s Grand Final.

While’s Todd’s chuffed she’s in the Top Four along with fellow Favourite Billie McKay and Fans Keyma Vasquez Montero and Daniel Lamble, and a spot in the grand final is very much in her sights, she reveals she took a long time deciding whether to head back into the reality show’s famed kitchen.

“Your mind just replays over and over and all the scenarios that can happen,” she shares.

“I felt like I had done so much in India that If I came back to MasterChef and then didn’t do well … it did feel to me like losing a bit of my credibility.
“And so I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed. To be honest in the beginning I found it hard to enjoy being back. It wasn’t until I set myself small targets ... (and I realised) we don’t have anything to lose, MasterChef is separate to our career and if anything, it’s just a bonus.”

It’s hard to believe when you watch Todd as she hosts Farm To Fork or as she’s whipping up magnificent Indian-French inspired creations, but she – like so many of us – genuinely experiences a crisis of confidence. It’s one of the reasons why she hasn’t yet opened a restaurant in her homeland.

“Obviously Australia is my home and I love it here, but I do feel quite nervous about doing a restaurant here,” Todd explains.

“I did a pop up at the Australian Open last year and another one at Heston Blumenthal’s old restaurant at Crown and seeing that real-time feedback gave me a boost of confidence.

“I don’t know why I’m so worried in case people didn’t like that style of food, but now that’s happening, and MasterChef’s doing so well, now I’ve been getting a bit of reassurance, I’m planning another pop-up in Melbourne.”

Sarah Todd ahead of her Crown pop-up, Evergreen. Picture: David Caird

Sarah Todd and Phoenix at Antares while filming My Restaurant In India. Picture: Supplied/SBS

Like so many in the hospitality sector, Todd struggled through Covid. It was even tougher with her establishments – Antares and The Wine Rack – in an entirely different country. As the borders remained firmly closed, a visit that would usually be a 10-day trip became six weeks to meet all the quarantine regulations. It was nigh on impossible for her to go back and forth.

She’s had to close The Wine Rack as the pandemic took its toll. But Antares has survived and continues to flourish.

“Touch wood, it’s still doing really well,” Todd says.

“It’s very open plan. There’s no walls so people felt a lot safer there rather than in an enclosed smaller restaurant.

“I feel so lucky that it’s doing well. It’s like my second baby – I spent so much time and effort building this place up. It feels like a part of me to be honest.”

Todd’s excited to see what will come from her second stint on MasterChef.

“If you’d asked me after that first series what would I be doing in five years time, there was no way I’d be telling you that I’d be opening restaurants in India,” she says.

“I was really blessed and really worked hard. And then MasterChef opened a lot of doors. I’m excited to see what will happen this time.”

MasterChef, Grand Final week, Sunday-Tuesday, 7.30pm, Ten

Originally published as MasterChef Favourite Sarah Todd admits she’s feeling the heat ahead of Grand Final week