A Michelin-starred Pressure Test saw Khristian Walker eliminated from MasterChef Australia 2024, and the home cook opened up about just how real the competition is.

After failing to impress the judges in the Mystery Box Challenge, Khristian was sent to the Pressure Test alongside Mimi, Sumeet and Snezana. There, the contestants were faced with recreating judge Jean-Christophe Novelli Michelin starred Jack In The Box dessert in three hours.

While the dessert may seem like an impossible task to viewers, during an interview with Chattr, Khristian revealed just how real the cook was – and explained that the pressure can be overwhelming.

“People don’t realize this is real, the clocks real, the cooks are real. We’re in it, we’re making it happen. There’s no special editing to make us have extra time or anything. This is legit,” he said.

While judges Jean Christophe,  Poh Ling Yeow, Andy Allen and Sofia Levin, were impressed with Khristian’s final product, they were disappointed that he forgot to include the hazelnuts.

“Honestly, it can come down to something as simple as that,” he said. “Of having a small mistake or running out of time or having something right in front of your face that you forget to put on. Who hasn’t done that at home when they failed to put something on something they were making?”

Khristian compared the Pressure Test to a Squid Game Challenge

Part of the Jack In The Box cook required the contestants to cut squares out of isomalt – which is a sugar substitute.

Of course, the scene was eerily reminiscent of a deadly challenge in Netflix’s Squid Game which saw contestants use a needle to carve a shape out of a piece of dalgona without cracking the honeycomb.

The similarities weren’t lost on Khristian, who said he felt like he was in the popular Netflix show.

“I was in there, scraping away trying to cut my sugar squares thinking I was on Squid Game,” he laughed. “It was actually quite funny, to be honest.”

While Khristian said that he doesn’t believe it was the hardest Pressure Test ever, he was surprised that something so complex was set so early in the competition.

“This is the kind of dessert I would expect him to pull out at top 10, not week two or three,” he said. “It was it was a big sobering moment of realizing oh yeah, we’re in the MasterChef kitchen.”

“It was very intricate and delicate dessert, especially with that sugar work. Jean’s you know, made that dessert and won a Michelin star so it was absolutely phenomenal.”

Watch MasterChef Australia from Sunday – Thursday on Channel 10 and 10 Play.

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