Following his elimination from MasterChef Devon Headland spoke to Woman’s Day about who likes who in the MasterChef house, why he thinks his elimination was unfair and his plans to wed his long-time partner Cat.
You’ve said that your friends and family motivated you to come on the show, as did the chance for a change. Do you think you’ve had that chance?
Yeah for sure. I wouldn’t have gone on the show if I didn’t think I had a chance but at the same time when it comes to change it has given me a chance to realize that maybe I can cook and maybe there is another avenue there for me to make a living from and cooking is definitely a love and a passion rather than just a job. It’s made me realize that.
If you could go back (on the show), would you have done anything differently?
Obviously the decision that was made that was why I was up for elimination and the reason I got eliminated- I’d change that. It was completely out of my hands. But in saying would I change it, I still disagree with why I was put up for elimination. But hey the judges have the final say and it is the nature of the show.
What have you learnt from the competition?
Yeah being around all those cooks everyday you live, breathe, eat, and sleep food and to be around that you’re just continuously learning. Being around the judges and getting a chance to talk to them were invaluable lessons that you learn and when you get a chance you pick their brains and hopefully they give you techniques to be able to make something. I’m a very visual cook so I picture something in my head first and then I figure out how to make it. I do read cooking books and things like that but I tend to create things in my head and then work out a way to make it.
You said that winning Masterchef would give you the opportunity to open your own cafe or restaurant. Is that still your dream? Are you still going to pursue that dream? How?
It would have been great to have won it, $100,000 and all the other bits and pieces that go with it is a definite kick start on how to run your own business. It just means now like anything it might take a little bit longer to get there. It’s definitely still on the agenda.
Your grandmother inspired you to cook, what was the most important thing you’ve learnt from her in the kitchen?
That is my first cooking memory, being at my grandma’s and seeing Nanna in the kitchen. Learning smells and eating until we burst so when it comes to food she was definitely the matriarch she’d say ‘you’re not leaving until you finish everything on your plate.’ She taught us to try everything, we didn’t always try everything- we sort of kicked up a stink about brussel sprouts a few times.
Who do you think is going to win the competition and why?
I have a few people that I think are very strong players. One is Miriam she’s a very technical person, she’s very precise and has a huge knowledge of food. Jonathan is another again he’s a technician and also Del I think she’s a bit of a wild horse. They’re my three picks. I’m going to have to sit on the fence I think!
Does everyone in the house get along?
Yeah I mean everyone’s on the same boat wanting the same end result and at the beginning of top 50 there was a few hiccups and people with differences in opinions and ways of dealing with things but they’ve pulled their heads in a little bit and they came right in the end.
Is there anybody in the house who is particularly hard to live with? Who did you get along best with?
There was a crew of us that we called the down stairs pit. There was about ten of us that lived downstairs and we were all a very tight knit group, there was Peter, Phil, Aaron, Jake and Claire, Courtney and Dom and Dan as well. We all became very close because obviously you’re in one big room and you’re either snoring together or staying awake together. It’s like a big school camp so that became a close knit group downstairs. Also, Sky and Alvin and Adele, a lot of people you make close relationships with and in the months and years to come I’ll definitely be staying in contact with them and trying to catch up as much as I can with them.
Have you organized a new date for your wedding with Catherine?
We’ve started looking into it. We haven’t locked in a date or anything yet. It was going to be in New Zealand but we lost all our deposits and all of that. So that was a bit of a pain and also the place we had booked in New Zealand has a two year waiting list to get in there. We’re sort of taking it as it comes. Obviously when I came out work was very quiet. It took a while to get it back up and running again so it’s only just starting to turn around now. I’ve had a long time off work so trying to work again and organizing our finances and things you can’t make these big decisions until you know that money is coming in.
How understanding has she been about your decision to go on the show and postpone the wedding?
Very. Very understanding.
You’ve mentioned that your decision to be a part of Masterchef has received mixed responses because it meant you had to postpone your wedding. What sort of feedback did you receive and from who?
All my family really supported me, obviously they all first of all spoke with Cat and said “How do you feel about this?” and Cat was the one who said to everyone, “look Devon needs to do this. It’s a once in a lifetime chance”. I’m so privileged for her to have made that decision not only for me but also for us as an entire picture. It is me that leaves the house and goes down to Sydney and has a great time on TV and all of that and she gets left at home. At the end of the day I don’t think we’d change it. There was quite a few weeks gone.
Where to now?
I’m actually working at a local restaurant. The head chef there prior to me actually going on the show, when I found out that I was accepted into the top 50 I was trying to get work experience and he took me under his wing so I work during the days and at nights down at the restaurant and we’re just starting to plan a boutique catering company. We live up on the Gold Coast and there are lots of ladies that would love a master class session and do a bit of an in house catering service.
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