Adriano Zumbo was sent home from Dessert Masters 2023 in a shock elimination on November 21 and while we were sad to see him go, he did reveal some MasterChef Australia secrets.
Given he’s been setting challenges on the hit TV series since its inception (how can we forget the Croquembouche), Mediaweek was keen to talk to him about how those challenging Pressure Tests are set.
In an interview post-elimination, Zumbo revealed that he did, in fact, set the challenges he presented to the contestants.
“When you’re setting a challenge, you’ve got months or a couple of weeks to prepare and come up with an idea,” he said, adding, “You come up with what you want to put on there and as long as they like it and agree with it, then you present it on set.”
Adriano Zumbo, Dessert Masters, Ten
According to the renowned Pastry Chef, sometimes the producers “have a vision in their head” for the challenge.
“You then work around that or sometimes they’ll let you come up with it,” he said. “And if they like it, they’ll go with it. Sometimes they just want you to do your signature, whatever that is, so usually you’ll see some chefs come on and they’ll do what they do in their business and maybe make it a little bit more extravagant.
“Once you’ve been on there a few times and they start to mix it up.”
Adding with Dessert Masters it was good to be on the “other side just to experience it and understand what everyone goes through”.
When questioned about how different being a contestant was, Zumbo said it was a whole other ballgame.
“When you’re in there, on the other side, you don’t have that time to create it,” he said. “You’ve got to do it and get it done and make something special in that short timeframe.”
Adriano Zumbo and the cast of Dessert Masters 2023. Ten
How Adriano Zumbo felt after Melissa Leong’s touching speech
After Zumbo’s exit was announced, Melissa Leong made a “touching” speech.
“Ads, you take a look around right now. You are surrounded by people who have been inspired by you to follow their pastry dreams,” she said. “You have shaken up the industry from the moment you walked into it. In a way, you are the original Dessert Master and will always be our Sweet Assassin.”
When asked what this meant to him, Zumbo said: “It’s pretty touching to have that kind of effect over the years. Sort of inspiring people to get in the industry and doing what they do.
“You want people to enjoy the industry and making desserts, and all those kinds of things. I feel very honoured to have that sort of respect or effect on people.”
Dessert Masters continues Sunday – Tuesday at 7.30 pm on 10 and 10Play.