The My Kitchen Rules finale was last night and as the whole nation watched to see who would be this year’s cooking champions – villains Carmine and Lauren or sisters Tasia and Gracia – no-one was feeling the suspense more than the sibling winners.
OK! sat down with the aptly dubbed ‘spice sisters’ from Victoria to quiz this season’s winners on how they feel post-celebration, and whether they’re the same at home as they are in front of the cameras.
So, how do you feel?
Gracia: It still hasn’t sunk in.
Tasia: We were in shock.
Gracia: Tasia almost fainted.
And Carmine and Lauren, how did they take it?
Gracia: I think they are fine; they are really supportive of us and the same for us with them.
Tasia: We texted and called them all through the show. It was nice to talk to someone who went through it.
What do you plan to do with the $250,000?
Tasia: Gracia and I are working on our sauces at the moment and we want to launch them as soon as we can. In the upcoming weeks we’ll hopefully have them out there. We also want to invest a lot of money in a restaurant that we want to run one day, but there’s a lot of research that we have to do. It’ll be in Melbourne.
Colin had recommended that you start your own sauce line on the show. Is he helping out with that?
Gracia: No, not yet, but we are happy if he wants to become the ambassador.
And did you hear from the judges last night?
No, not yet.
Were you done with cooking when you got home?
Tasia: Our parents made us cook all the dishes that we cooked on the show, or they tried to. We cooked a couple.
Gracia: We took a couple of days’ break and then we were back into it. On a lazy day we would get takeaway. Pad Thai. I know a really good Pad Thai place.
And who does most of the cooking at home?
Gracia: Mum does most of the cooking at home, she cooks amazing breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Sometimes you just wake up and she has meals for like 20 people and you are like, ‘What? There are only three of us.’ She loves spoiling us.
So do you think your mum will go on the show next time?
Gracia: We suggested that she go on the show with our younger sister, but I don’t think that she’ll be able to deal with the pressure. I think that we’ll just keep her to ourselves.
You both have uni degrees. Are you still going to pursue those careers?
Gracia: I did my Masters in biomedical health, but for now I’m going to put it on hold and see where I can go with food.
Tasia: And I have a psychology degree, but we want to give this a go. We have this opportunity and so why not?
Did you find the finale stressful?
Tasia: One of the hardest challenges we’ve ever faced.
How long did it go for?
Gracia: Those days are always long. It felt like forever.
Was it hard to stay focused?
Tasia: You have to stay focused. The adrenaline rush keeps you going.
Who was holding up who?
Gracia: I probably had a little bit of a panic after the prawn dish with the quail eggs, but Tasia kept me going.
On the show, your relationship went through some ups and downs. Are you still staying true to that and having the sisterly arguments at home?
Tasia: Yes, definitely. If nothing has changed it would be that. We fight about everything.
Gracia: From the way that Tasia drives, to the way she talks… everything! She gets angry when I want to use the phone charger – it’s so weird.
And you’re still happy to work together despite arguments?
Gracia: I think that we fight along the way, and they are only little fights, but we get those out of the way and we are fine.
Tasia: We’ve always been like that, close. I don’t think that we could be closer.
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