FROM cooking in a service station to a MasterChef.
It has been a roller coaster ride for local-trained chef Rhys Badcock, who took out the MasterChef: The Professional title on Sunday night.
And no one was more surprised by his win than himself.
He said that one of the other three finalists, Sarah Knights, was easily the best chef in the competition.
But that’s not how it turned out when they went head to head and Rhys, who had been content just to roll along with the flow, showed his potential in the final.
He collected $200,000 and a world trip to check out some of the best restaurants around the globe for winning.
But when he arrived back home in Quindalup yesterday, the furthest thing on his mind was cooking.
“It’s awesome to be back. Good to see Mumsy. I can’t wait for her to cook me dinner,” he said with a cheeky smile.
“I’ve got some baked beans in the cupboard,” mum Jo quipped.
“I did think of his old favourite, mixed chicken noodle. No I’ve lashed out tonight – a roast and a cheesecake.
“But I’ll have to practice my plating,” she joked.
Rhys found his feet as a chef when he was “recruited” by his mum, Jo, to be the ‘dish pig’ at one of the South’s West’s top resorts where she worked.
However he didn’t make it to the dishes in the kitchen.
He was taken in hand by renowned local chef Tony Howell and completed his apprenticeship under his guidance at Cape Lodge.
“Yeah, I’m pretty stoked. I didn’t think I was a chance in the competition,” a candid Rhys, who had to be talked into competing, admitted.“I was just taking each challenge as they came and did the best I could.”
Asked why he was reluctant to go on the show Rhys said: “I didn’t want to go on TV and be yelled at by Marco (Pierre White, one of the judges). But he didn’t do that too much and was very helpful. He’s a champion.”
Asked how he felt about his win Rhys responded: “Pretty good. It’s a relief now it’s finished. It really hasn’t clicked in. It’s all still pretty new. I didn’t give myself much of a chance.
“It was awesome. A good challenge and I liked it a lot.”
Rhys said he wasn’t sure what he would do now.
However, high on the agenda was to head back to see his mother and family in Quindalup.
