MasterChef‘s brutal ‘twists week’ has been taking no prisoners. And, last night’s elimination was no exception for Amina Elshafei.
The paediatric nurse and mother was sent home when her complex mango passionfruit pavlova failed to match that of its creator, guest judge Darren Purchese.
Contestants were given three hours to replicate the iconic and intricate dish by the chef, but Amina was off to a rocky start from the get-go.
So, when the twist came into play with an hour to go, Amina says it was “all doom and gloom at that point” as the judges revoked the recipe, leaving contestants to cook using only their instincts for the last 60 minutes.
In a heart-warming display of friendship, Jess came to Amina’s rescue helping her through the cook.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, with Amina’s meringue falling apart on the plate, the judges also found fault in too many of her other elements.
Now, we chat to Amina about the ordeal, who she was most intimidated by this season and what exactly happened with that suspicious leak about her eviction.
Amina was struggling, even with the recipe.
(Image: Instagram)What an intense elimination, how are you feeling?
Oh, look it’s bittersweet. I had a wonderful time on the show, but at the same time it’s hard to say goodbye and not be part of it anymore.
You were already struggling, then the challenge twist saw the recipe taken away with an hour to go, what was that like?
I was actually feeling very distraught. I just had a bit of a meltdown. It was just very distressing because obviously there was one hour left. I still had a few things to finish off and desserts are not my forte. I felt like it was all doom and gloom by that point.
Jess jumped in to help you, which was so heart-warming to watch…
It was very, very generous and it was just a wonderful moment. Competition aside, we look after each other but the fact that she went out of the way, I think she saw me in the corner having a meltdown and not knowing what to do, she just came around. We bonded very well over the show, it’s been a phenomenal friendship and it just shows, yeah, it’s a competition, but we can still be kind and look after each other.
Despite help from friend and contestant Jess, Amina was sent home
(Image: Network Ten)What was it like returning for what is essentially an All Stars season?
I’ve really pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I’m really glad I did it. I remember the first time we all got together, we all didn’t know who was going to be in the show the second time around. And then on the first briefing, when we got together, I looked around the room and thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m already panicking’.There were so many, just amazing cooks and chefs now I just thought ‘What are my chances?’
Was there anyone you were particularly intimidated to compete against?
I was just intimidated, full stop, everyone’s, an amazing cook. I walked into that room and I saw Reynold there I was like ‘Okay, great’ and people like Chris who was known for being able to cook up any kind of meat. Everyone has their specialty, so it’s very hard to sort of compare, but it was very intimidating.
Fans were tipped off you were the contestant going home last night when your name appeared on a Wikipedia page as eliminated, did you see the news?
Interestingly I heard, and I saw something about it. It was brought up on Twitter somewhere; one of my friends alerted me to it because I’m not active on Twitter. I was just surprised how that came about, but I’m not sure how it did.
