Melbourne chef Khanh Ong says competing against MasterChef pals left him in tears
A stint in MasterChef’s kitchen is easily among reality TV’s most high pressure gigs. But now, latest evictee, Melburnian Khanh Ong, says its most intense moments actually take place off screen.
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Melbourne chef Khanh Ong says competition is real on MasterChef but so are the friendships.
The fan favourite was eliminated in the bottom two against Laura Sharrad and was cooking against his other good friends Emelia Jackson and Reynold Poernomo.
“Just before that challenge the four of us were all crying together saying, ‘oh my god one of us will leave’, and then when it was Laura and I it was heartbreaking for me,’’ Ong said.
“It was really sad to be standing next to her and for either of us it was going to be devastating.
“It gets to that point in the competition where you don’t want to go and no one wants to go and the pressure becomes immense.
“But the friendships were really surprising and I speak to every one of the other three 2-3 times a week.
“It’s been amazing the MasterChef experience but when I went on the show I had a clear understanding of what I wanted to do and where I was going so this year has just been great for me.”
Ong, a chef at The George on Collins, is releasing a book next month and working on his second range of You Are Loved T-shirts for charity.
“I always felt that once I got eliminated it was much bigger than me and I have a national platform as well,’’ he said.
“I’m sad but so many people are having such a worse time.”
When he went back to win, Ong said he was initially scared of new judge Melissa Leong.
“I really loved Melissa, which was surprising because I was really scared of Melissa when I first entered the show,’’ he said.
“I don’t know why but she’s the one I actually connected with the most. She got emotional when I got eliminated. I felt like she was rooting for me and wanted me to do the best I could and I really appreciated that.”
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