Cape Lodge’s head chef, Tony Howell, believes his appearance on MasterChef will be a significant boost for the local hospitality industry.

“There are a lot of great chefs in this region, as well as some excellent produce and this will help showcase that,” he said.

Although he wasn’t at liberty to reveal the dish that was chosen for the episode, Tony said it was one that showed off some of the best WA ingredients.

“It was one of my dishes – I wanted to pick one that suited the location (jetty).”

Tony said he was very impressed with the MasterChef set up.

“It was amazing. Everything was very professional – it was bigger than Ben Hur.”

Although he said it was quite an intense experience.

“It was a stinking hot day and by the end I felt as if my brain had melted.

“We arrived on set at 5.30am and didn’t finish until 4.30pm – it was very full on.”

The challenge involved Tony and the contestant making the chosen dish, under a time restraint.

“The contestant had a head start and then we both got into it.

“I also tried to help them while I was cooking – I didn’t want the dish to be unachievable.”

Tony said he warmed to the MasterChef judges, George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and Matt Moran.

“They were fantastic – they’re a great bunch of guys.”

So was the staff at Cape Lodge looking forward to watching Tony’s MasterChef debut?

“Absolutely, apart from myself. It’s always funny to see myself on TV – I pick up on my bad points,” he chuckled.

Which begs the question – what other TV shows has Tony appeared in?

“I’ve been on Getaway, Postcards WA, fishing shows, South African Getaway and a few other shows.”

Tony said it’s easy to promote an area like the Margaret River wine region, and Cape Lodge

“You don’t have to lie about where you live – it’s easy to sell a product you believe in,” he said.

The MasterChef episode featuring Tony and the Busselton Jetty is set to air on WIN and Channel 10 on May 31.

The Mail understands MasterChef also filmed an episode in Margaret River.