Luke Harris may have been the youngest competitor in the MasterChef Australia kitchen, but he was arguably the one who fought the hardest. After surviving 13 elimination cooks, the 19-year-old’s remarkable run finally came to an end when he was sent home during Jean-Christophe Novelli’s sauce challenge.
“Besides a few eliminations early in the competition, I participated in every single elimination,” Luke tells TV WEEK. “This was the cook where I realised the toll they have on you. When the challenge was announced I couldn’t think of anything to cook. I was so creatively fatigued, and pretty early on I realised this dish was not going anywhere, and it snowballed from there.”
Despite Jean-Christophe curating the challenge that ultimately sent him home, Luke says the Michelin-starred chef became his favourite judge throughout the competition.
“He took me under his wing and treated me a little bit like his son at times,” Luke says. “He expected big things from me, but when I delivered, he was always the first to praise and validate me. Jean-Christophe also was quite cheeky and very funny, which might have been why we got along so much. I’ve never really had a role model in the kitchen, so it was really special for him to invest in me and actually believe in me.”
Luke admits another difficult moment came just days before his elimination, when he was forced to cook against close friend Pat McGarry in a duel that ended Pat’s time in the competition.
“The biggest challenge for me was the dual duel elimination cook-off between Aaron, Vinnie, Pat and myself at the end of Heat Week,” he recalls. “I remember reflecting in the middle of it that I was out of steam, and not only that, but Pat was one of my best mates in the competition and to be cooking for my spot in the competition against him was really rough.”
While the competition pushed him to his limits, Luke says the friendships he formed are what he’ll treasure most.
“There was one particular night after a big week of filming when we decided to go out to a brewery which also happened to have a dance floor with some live music,” he recalls. “I won’t say too much but I think if people knew that we were on a TV show they would’ve guessed Dancing With The Stars in a heartbeat, as there were a few of us absolutely tearing it up on the dance floor!”
Now, after some time away from the kitchen Luke is focused on turning his passion for food into his future career.
“By age 25 I’d love to have established a career in food,” he says. “I’d love to be inspiring others to cook for themselves, to have some sort of venue with my name attached to it and would love to be known as more than just the guy who went on MasterChef.”
MasterChef Australia airs Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7pm on Network 10 and 10.
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