When high school teacher and MasterChef
contestant, Ben Milbourne, who is shaping up as a real contender on the
show, was let back out in the real world during a break in production
last week he got his first taste of his new celebrity status.
"I
was in a David Jones department store and I sneezed and someone said:
`Bless you Ben', and I thought `how do you know who I am'?" Ben said
during a casual chat at his parents' Devonport home on Friday.
The
good-looking 30-year-old with the boy band hairstyle and tattooed
sleeve, has become of a heartthrob on MasterChef and is still getting
used to the reactions he gets now that more people know who he is.
Back
home in Devonport he was recognised by strangers while at a local
primary school and also in a tattoo shop where he got a new tattoo on
Friday.
People just wanted to wish him well and tell him that he can win MasterChef.
Based
on camera time he has been getting and the fan mail posted on the
MasterChef website Ben is a viewer favourite and not only among his home
town supporters.
Ben made the front page
of national newspapers after revealing on air he'd broken up with
girlfriend Sally, after being holed up as a top 24 contestant in the
MasterChef house with the allowed weekly phone call home limited to 10
minutes.
"Out of the house I'm trying to see how things will go with my ex-partner," Ben said.
Due to contractual obligations, Ben can't speak about aspects of the show which still has another month to run.
He
remains one of the hot contenders and a great chance to go all the way
but he was coy about his chances when he spoke to The Advocate.
"I've
only just got home and I have not seen the show but apparently I have
been getting some air time, which is a surprise to me because every
person on the show are good cooks and everyone are huge personalities,"
he said.
Ben said his culinary skills and
food knowledge had improved dramatically while being on the show, which
his proud family can attest to after he cooked a taco dinner for them on
Thursday.
Ben's father, John Milbourne, said his son was a lot cleaner and organised in the kitchen now.
"Before MasterChef, Ben used to cook and his mother used to clean up," John said laughing.
John and mother Sue Milbourne say it has been a "surreal experience" to see him on television.
"Ben's
Mum and I are so proud of our son. His efforts to date have been
outstanding ... what he offered to do for Emma (who cooked off against
Ben and was eliminated on Thursday) was a generous and gallant thing to
do. Being his parents we can understand his wanting to do this as we
know what a thoughtful caring young man he is and this makes us so proud
and privileged to be his parents," John said.
"People are telling us how proud the family should be of Ben."
Asked
about his closeness to ousted contestant, 19-year-old Emma, why he
offered not to cook against her, and why there are so many tears falling
on a cooking show, Ben says the experience has been heightened by the
contestants being kept in a bubble as the show is being filmed.
"It's
a very emotional show, unbelievably so. Twelve weeks on TV takes six
months to shoot and you are away from family - it is very difficult at
times," he said.
"You are in this bubble and it is designed to be that way so you focus wholly on what you are doing and that's all you do.
"You
build really close relationships with people really quickly that are in
the house with you because they are your support base and no- one else
knows what you are going through ... it's like friendship building on
steroids.
"Emma became like my sister in
the house and I bought into her dream and then it became: now you have
to destroy your little sister's dream.
"What
I said on the show I believe. At 30, I was already set up in life I had
a job I really loved and I was going on this show to really learn and
gain the experience and confidence so that I can pursue a dream in the
future.
"Cooking against Emma was definitely the hardest day on set for me so far."
(Source: The Advocate)
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