Perths' Rue Mupedzi explains why she returned to MasterChef
WA's Rue Mupedzi is back competing on MasterChef again after placing seventh in 2023's season — and she's off to a flying start.
Not only has she sailed through last week's Gordon Ramsay challenges, she also wowed guest judge Peter Gilmore with her incredible black forest dessert in last night's episode of the new Back To Win series, which gives 24 former contestants another crack at the MasterChef Australia title.
But though the 32-year-old might look self-assured on screen, Mupedzi, who runs cooking courses and caters privately for clients while juggling work as a dental hygienist, admits she still suffers from a bad case of nerves.
'Being back in the MasterChef Kitchen is amazing, but I'm not going to lie: there are always nerves around me,' says the Zimbabwean-born aspiring chef, who moved to Western Australia in 2009 aged 15.
'I have to say though, because I was in the winning team in the first cook, and I had a pretty decent dish in last night's episode, I feel like that is really reaffirming,' she explains.
'(It tells me) I am in the right place and I am just as deserving as these great people to be here.' Mupedzi was on the winning team during Gordon Ramsay's first challenge. Credit: Kelly Gardner
Mupedzi is best known for winning a challenge on her season of the show that saw her homemade barbecue sauce — or BarbeRue Sauce, as it was comically called — stocked in Coles supermarkets around the country.
'Do you know, I still get Instagram messages to this day saying 'When is your sauce coming back?',' she says proudly.
'I have to remind people: you can make it — (the recipe) is on 10Play!'
She says the experience of selling her sauce, plus her time on the series in 2023, was formative in deciding what course her life would take in the years since first appearing on the show.
'The (experience with the) sauce alone was phenomenal, but then I got to work in a pastry shop in Perth, called Whisked The Right Wei,' she explains.
'And I did quite a lot of private cheffing. I have now been all around Perth.
'(The show) also gave me confidence; the confidence to solo travel for five weeks in Vietnam and Thailand, where I did cooking classes — that was just before I went back to MasterChef.'
Before that phone call came, Mupedzi was back working in the dental surgery, raising funds to embark on an extended trip to France, where she planned to further her culinary skills with a course.
She's now reassessing what comes next.
'If I am to take the title of MasterChef Australia, this will really frustrate my trip to France,' she says. 'Because initially I wanted to do a culinary course — I'd already inquired and everything — and the thing was, the judges really reaffirmed to me that I don't really need to do a course because I already have the skills.
'If anything, I'm better off getting some work experience.' Masterchef Australia: Back To Win sees some of the show's biggest names return for another tilt at the crown. Credit: Supplied
And that's what she intends to do. But fans shouldn't be too worried — though Mupedzi plans to capitalise on her MasterChef opportunities, and still has plans to visit France, Perth will remain home.
'I will definitely stay in Perth, for sure, but (if I win) I will use that money to open a little dessert bar,' she says.
'I've always wanted to do a champagne and dessert bar, or a macaroon bar.
'I would definitely stay in Perth, but bring back that experience in France and establish something really unique here.'
Watch this space.
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