MasterChef Wedding: ‘I don’t want a $20,000 wedding dress or any of that stuff’
Four years after getting engaged, MasterChef Australia contestant Courtney Roulston is finally ready for her wedding.
Confidential
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After more than four years of procrastinating on her wedding plans, MasterChef contestant Courtney Roulston says coronavirus isolation is giving her time to finally plan her big day.
Roulston and partner Sophie King got engaged four-and-a-half years ago but busy schedules meant they are yet to lock in a date for their nuptials.
“With COVID, now everyone has time to do stuff you haven’t had time to do for years,” Roulston told The Saturday Telegraph.
“Now that we have time to think about it, we can’t actually plan it either because we don’t know if it is six months of two months before we can travel again.”
Some details though they can plan, like where and what the wedding will look like.
Initially the couple had planned on marrying overseas. Now it is likely they will wed in Australia.
“Honestly if you could find a field with a bathtub that we could fill with ice and champagne, I would be happy with that,” explained Roulston, who initially competed on Series 2 of the reality cooking show and is back for MasterChef Back To Win, alongside a bunch of other familiar faces from previous seasons.
“I do not want an elaborate wedding. I want something that is enjoyable, some really good food and some good friends. A wedding should just be a big party. I don’t want a $20,000 wedding dress or any of that stuff. I am pretty old school.”
When not competing on MasterChef, Roulston is a chef for the Sydney Swans AFL team.
She had hoped to open a wine bar in Sydney this year, although those plans are now on hold due to coronavirus.
“I had images of me sitting at the end of the bar having a glass of wine at the end of the night,” she said.
“I’m having very different thoughts now. I’d be happy to go back to something a little more secure.”
Reynold Poernomo ‘can do more than just dessert’
Reynold Poernomo admits he has a lot to lose returning to MasterChef.
Known for his exquisite desserts, Poernomo placed fourth on the seventh season of the reality cooking show and went on to launch award-winning Koi Dessert Bar with his brothers, Ronald and Arnold.
“I’ve got my businesses’ names to uphold and my family’s name to make sure they are proud of me,” Poernomo told Confidential.
“I have got to make sure that I am on the top of my game all the time. I am not a perfect cook or a perfect chef, there is going to be downfalls here and there but I am ready for whatever comes.”
Poernomo’s businesses also include KOI Dessert Kitchen, Monkey’s Corner and TiNi Artisan Bakehouse.
The current series of MasterChef premiered on Ten on April 13 to stellar ratings, with other familiar NSW faces appearing including Amina Elshafei, Courtney Roulston, Hayden Quinn, Reece Hignell and Sarah Tiong.
There are also new judges this season with Andy Allen, Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong guiding contestants through the competition.
“It is just for me to prove to myself just how far I can go, how much I’ve changed and how much I have transformed and evolved,” Poernomo said of why he signed up for the show a second time round.
“People have always just recognised me as the dessert guy and that is all I can do or cook, so that was something I want to prove, I can do more than just that.”
He added: “I really have come in headstrong and feel very confident about this competition. It would hurt my ego (if I don’t do well).”
Other contestants to return included Ben Milbourne, Ben Ungerman, Brendan Pang, Callum Hann, Chris Badenoch, Dani Venn, Emelia Jackson, Harry Foster, Jess Liemantara, Khanh Ong, Laura Sharrad, Lynton Tapp, Rose Adam, Sarah Clare, Simon Toohey, Tess Boersma and Tracy Collins.
Originally published as MasterChef Wedding: ‘I don’t want a $20,000 wedding dress or any of that stuff’