How I won MasterChef Australia: Singapore-born Sashi Cheliah's story

According to Sashi, the atmosphere on MasterChef Australia was always tense as contestants never knew what to expect and they had to perform under pressure. Pictured here is MasterChef Australia judge Gary Mehigan.

In Australia, reality cooking competition MasterChef Australia is something of an unstoppable juggernaut. The show has consistently produced a series of stars in the ilk of season one champ Julie Goodwin, who has gone on to write multiple cookbooks and even has her own cooking school. Then there is second season winner Adam Liaw, who is now considered a food expert (he was on the panel of Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Eatlist guide) and has a cooking show called Destination Flavour.

Even people who didn’t win the show have achieved considerable success, like season seven’s dessert king Reynold Poernomo who went on to open the acclaimed Koi Dessert Bar in Sydney.