Having gotten in to the top 24 of MasterChef Australia, Sydney’s Bryan Zhu is over the moon. Yet he admits his parents had doubts about him doing the Network Ten reality show.
“Dad was a bit, ‘hmm are you sure you want to go down this route?’” Bryan, 23, tells TV WEEK.
“They wanted me to choose something else.”
The son of Chinese immigrants who own a Sydney café, Bryan adds his parents have always prided education.
“My parents really wanted me to go to university,” he says.
Having followed his parent’s advice, Bryan completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and International Business last year.
“In all honesty, I was more just doing it for mum and dad,” he admits.
“They didn’t want me to go down a tough path.”
Since graduating he’s been working as a photographer, but adds his real passion is for food.
“I’ve seen so many young people apply to MasterChef and seeing someone like Reynold [Poernomo] – his success story is really inspirational,” Bryan adds.
“I’d actually love to work with Reynold, because we’re quite similar with making desserts with textures.”
“I’d love to open an Asian inspired dessert bar and use really interesting ingredients from Asia.”
Having such a sweet focus, Bryan admits that his biggest weakness in the competition could be savory dishes.
“Savory dishes and following recipes under pressure,” he says.
“I’m a perfectionist and I can see myself taking way too much time making sure a single step is perfect before moving on. I can also get quite flustered when things don’t go right.”
