Reece Hignell is at the top of his game.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
He has just made it into the top seven of MasterChef Australia: Back to Win and has now won back-to-back immunity challenges, meaning he is safe from elimination again this week.
The fan favourite was up against Callum, Tessa and Brendan in Tuesday night's 90-minute immunity challenge: "Decreasing time, Increasing ingredients". The rules were simple - the longer the contestants waited, the more ingredients they had to cook with.
Hignell wanted to make a lemon tart and intended to hold off until lemons were revealed as an ingredient. At the 70-minute mark orchard fruits were revealed and he decided to use quince instead, saying "When life doesn't give you lemons, you make a gin tart". His baked gin tart with quince puree, ginger ice-cream and juniper berry meringue won the judges' vote.
He is the only contestant to win two immunity pins in a row this season, and will watch his fellow cooks battle to stay on the show on Sunday night from the safety of the MasterChef kitchen's gantry.
Filming has now wrapped and Hignell is back home in Mayfield, busy creating works of art for customers through his Cakeboi business ("I've been doing lots of orders. People are driving from Sydney to get my cakes. It's crazy"). We won't find out who wins season 12's all-star crown for another few weeks.
He laughs when mention is made of his ever-growing fan base. Put it this way: compilation videos and memes are being made of his "best of" moments on the show.
"It gives me goosebumps thinking about it," Hignell said. "It's so weird. For instance, on Sunday night I wore some colourful shorts and it blew up online and there were articles about them and I'm like 'What the hell?'."
As for his second immunity challenge win in two weeks, he is thrilled.
"It is, like, the most epic thing ever, I'm so happy about it," he said.
"I was kind of frustrated with the judges about my tart the other night. I was like 'Guys, stop critiquing my style and just try my food'. I don't care about all the glitz and the glamour of a dish. I just care about making the tastiest food I can. I love classic cooking, that's why I make cakes and tarts.
"The judges are starting to get harsher in their critiques, and that's because they really want the best of the best. They don't want middle-ground cooks. And that's the kind of pressure that everyone is under. You can see people who have done really well throughout the competition making silly mistakes."
MasterChef Australia: Back To Win is now on Network 10 three nights a week: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
