He’s the Italian stallion who’s always smiling. But Josh admits his stint on My Kitchen Rules placed huge financial pressure on his loved ones.
The 36-year-old joined the show despite having a baby and running his own business with his brother, Nic.
“When I left, we’d just started up a food truck and I had a five-month-old baby boy, Leon,” Josh explains to TV WEEK. “So to go on MKR was a big call.”
“I knew it’d be a sacrifice, and honestly, I didn’t want to do it. It was too much.”
Josh adds he found the financial aspect to be the most difficult.
“It was very stressful,” he shares.
Josh took a huge risk when he signed up to MKR.
Josh and Nic are the founders of Fritto And Co, a catering company that specialises in Italian street fare.
The business was relatively new when the brothers decided to go on the show.
“We have some good staff on board, and my little brother helped out,” he explains.
“But we had to slow down the business because Nic and I were out of action.”
To make matters worse, his wife wasn’t working because she was looking after the baby.
“It was tough,” he says.
The brothers try to impress judge Colin.
While Josh is reluctant to reveal exactly how much his time on the reality series affected the business, he does concede filming set them back.
“We took a hit, financially,” he reveals. “But there are no regrets for me.”
Meanwhile, the new dad was also worrying about missing his son’s important milestones while on the road with MKR.
“Before filming began, I said to my baby, ‘Please don’t start walking. Please don’t start talking. I need to be there for your first steps, first words,'” Josh recalls.
Fortunately, he held off and didn’t miss any big moments.
“I would never forgive myself [if he did],” he says.
