Following her elimination last night, MasterChef Australia fan-favourite Mimi Wong says she felt like she experienced imposter syndrome during the reality TV competition.
Her elimination on July 7 during the Beast Ingredient Challenge came as a shock to many fans, who had pegged her to be in the MasterChef Grand Final. However, she didn’t necessarily feel like a stand-out competitor at the beginning of the season.
“I definitely had a large bout of impostor syndrome and insecurity in the beginning, especially considering how many talented people I was cooking around,” she told Chattr in a post-elimination interview.
Mimi said that as she made it through every week, she began to have more faith in her cooking.
“I think as soon as I’ve found my niche and what I like to do, like being creative and fusing things that never go along together together, I had much more fun,” she told Chattr.
“I had much more confidence knowing that that was what I did well, and what I enjoyed doing. It definitely helped propel me forward to find that confidence and comfortability.”
Mimi’s turning point in the competition
Mimi emerged as a frontrunner midway through the season when she began serving up the judges’ dishes, which were met with unanimous praise.
Looking back, the high school teacher said that she really found her footing during the iconic MasterChef Croquembouche Challenge.
“That was incredibly unforgettable. To this day, it’s my favourite episode for the whole season,” she fondly recalled.
“I had so much fun in that challenge that day, I didn’t even think about winning or competing. I was just like, I just want to get this done for me, because making a croquembouche in two and a half hours is insane and then it just ended up turning out the way that it did.
“I surprised myself and it was a huge confidence boost and a huge kind of moment of looking in the mirror and being like you actually have it in you to go further than you think.”
Mimi is, of course, referring to her Chocolate-Spiced Choux Au Craquelin filled with Miso Pumpkin Crème Patisserie which saw her win the challenge.
Mimi weighs in on Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry’s controversial Beast Ingredient Challenge dish
During Mimi’s elimination episode, she originally planned on making brioche with her soft-shell crab, but after her bread failed to rise, she found herself having to pivot to a different dish not once, but twice.
The change in direction likely played into the reason she was eliminated from the competition.
Meanwhile, Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry served up a steak dish with two store-bought bread croutons sitting on top. Fans on social media were shocked that he didn’t make the bread himself, and believe that it was unfair that Mimi was penalised for trying to make a version of homemade bread. However, Mimi believes her elimination was fair.
“It is tricky to look at it in terms of a bread vs bread situation,” she modestly pointed out. “He also had many different elements to play in that dish. As the competition goes, I did miss the brief with a little bit more insistence there and I feel like it was well deserved that I had to leave.”
“I don’t think it would have been a great idea to make that comparison of my brain because it’ll just cause me pain,” she added.
Watch MasterChef Australia from Sunday – Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
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