The MasterChef kitchen is taking Sashi Cheliah from a contestant to a judge. The winner of Season 10 of MasterChef Australia is now joining Celebrity MasterChef Tamil, which will be hosted by Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The show will see personalities from the Tamil entertainment industry in the kitchen with Cheliah judging their dishes. For Cheliah, this shift also brings him back to a format that changed his life. "My journey to the MasterChef kitchen was anything but conventional," he said while talking about his role.
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All About Sashi Cheliah's Journey From Police Force To The Kitchens
Sashi Cheliah's journey started far away from the television kitchens. Born in Singapore, he began his career with the Singapore Police Force, including work involving special tactics and rescue operations.
After moving to Australia in 2011, he worked as a prison officer in Adelaide. It was there that cooking became a bigger part of his life.
His food on MasterChef Australia reflected the flavours he knew while growing up in Singapore. Indian, Malaysian and Chinese influences featured in his cooking, and eventually, those flavours became part of the food career he built after the show.
He won the finale of the 2018 MasterChef, where he scored 93 points out of 100. After the win, he opened Gaja by Sashi. It was initially started as a pop-up and then was later opened as a restaurant in Adelaide.
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From Competing Under Pressure To Judging It
Cheliah says his experience as a contestant is something he will carry into his new job. He remembers what it was like to cook while dealing with nerves, pressure and the uncertainty of whether or not a dish would work.
"Coming to Celebrity MasterChef Tamil as a judge feels special," he said, adding that he now gets to see the competition from the other side of the kitchen.
He also said he is looking forward to meeting the celebrity contestants and seeing what they bring to the show. And for him, this also includes not just the food but the stories that come with it.
Cheliah's own story has always been closely tied to food from different places. From Singaporean hawker flavours and Indian influences to his life in Australia, those experiences shaped the way he cooks. Now, he will bring that perspective into the Celebrity MasterChef Tamil kitchen as the person judging the dishes.