Andy Allen’s mum Maree joined his fellow MasterChef Australia judges Poh Ling Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Sofia Levin to share some of her home cooking.
Reflecting on Maree’s cameo on the episode, Andy said he was shocked when producers asked her to be a part of the show but said his mum relished the role.
“I thought it was a joke when the producer came out and said, we’ve got this crazy idea,” he told Chattr. “And, they said I would really love to get your mum in.”
Andy admitted that he was surprised Maree was invited to the show because the dinners his mum cooked for him as a child were pretty “basic”.
“It was meat and three veg. And it had a repertoire of about five dishes,” he said.
Andy’s mum wanted to come back for the MasterChef Grand Final
Andy said that he understood why she was asked to be on the show, and said that her cameo gave her some extra confidence in the kitchen.
“At that time, the competition is pretty early on and it really is just about home cooking at that point. My childhood wasn’t filled with delicious curries that had so much culture attached to it in terms of handing your recipes from generation to generation,” he said.
“But, it was taking that basic food and reimagining it. So, it was great to have Mum in the kitchen, it’s given her the biggest ego that I didn’t even know that she had,” he laughed.
Andy explained that he filmed the MasterChef episode with his mum late last year, and went to his parent’s place to cook a Christmas meal.
“She smugly looked at me and was like, ‘So when are they getting me back for the finale?’ I was like: ‘What have they created here?!” He joked.
“But it was really special to share that with Mum because she’s been my biggest supporter since day one. And you know, as much as she can’t cook, I wouldn’t be anywhere without her.”
Andy’s mum is a MasterChef superfan
The MasterChef judge revealed that his mum’s been watching MasterChef since season one.
“It is her life,” he said. “She really loves the show. We used to watch it when I was when I was growing up and then for me to take the leap leap of faith and go on there.”
“We have grown up with it, and she’s been she’s just like any other fan out there. I think that that’s why it was so special to have her in the kitchen because since season one she’s been a part of it.”
Watch MasterChef Australia from Sunday – Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
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