A quick word: Brett McGregor

PROUD: Brett McGregor had a bumpy Masterchef ride but has come out on top. Photo / Supplied

The intermediate school deputy principal and amateur cook from Christchurch took away the title after gaining a big lead over rival Kelly Young thanks to a killer lamb roast and some tasty pork, sage, cumin and apple sausages, before it nearly came tumbling down with a disastrous dessert. But much like his rocky ride over the course of the competition - he nearly went home three times - he managed to get things back on track

Congratulations. How did you keep it a secret for so long?
It's been four months mate, so it's good to actually get it out there. My son, he's six, he's known as well and he's been asked straight up by heaps of people and he hasn't said a word. I'm proud of him. I think it's because I said, "Look mate, if you don't say anything I'm going to take you to the toy store and you can buy anything you want".

To be honest, with some of your results, you were lucky to be in the final.
Yeah. It's been quite hard for me to watch back. One show in particular was bad for me because I definitely didn't think I deserved to be in the bottom. But twice I deserved it, and both those times, I honestly thought I was going home and I said to Tracey [his wife] I would be seeing her tomorrow morning. So I was lucky, but I always say you've only got to beat one person and I'm just a little bit thankful someone did a little bit worse.

So what was the turning point for you where it all clicked?
Talking to my wife, she just said to me one day, "You could bloody win this." When you get into the bottom two it's quite disturbing and its quite hard to take it on the chin too. A lot of times you are told to be quiet or answer with yes or no. You can't elaborate on your answers and you just want to ask, "Why?" But I think towards the end I started to relax and Tracey's advice was "do what you know, keep it simple". That's what I did.

Why enter?
We'd just got back from living in Hong Kong and I was having some time away from teaching and it had been pretty hectic with travelling. I had watched a few of the Australian episodes and Tracey said I should enter. And I thought, "Well yeah, I could do that". I was just hoping to get to cook at the auditions.

It looked stressful, especially when you couldn't get your Vietnamese soup right for the second time. Why put yourself through it?
I know. I know. And I make soup all the time and it's such an easy thing to do. But to be honest I entered not even thinking about the stress side and what the comments might be. It was only ever about the cooking.

What do you make of Kelly's hippy-dippy style of food?
I thought it was quite a good idea of linking food with mood but I don't really know enough about it to comment because I don't know what each food does for your body. That's what she's into and fair play to her for that but it's not something I've really thought about.

Do you have a future in the kitchen or are you happy as a deputy principal and teacher?
I can't really answer that.

What were the judges like - they seemed helpful, but harsh?
What do you reckon? Do you think they were helpful to everybody?

Well, no I think it'd be bloody awful having them standing there looking over you being a pest.
I think they were coming across being really harsh but, in reality, on the day it wasn't that bad. You just try to respect what they say and try to learn as best you can.

Or are you just happy being an amateur cook?
Yeah, I am happy being an amateur cook, because I love teaching in the classroom. My goal was always to be a principal by the time I reached 40. I haven't been teaching that long, and to get a deputy principal role this year... and in a couple of years time I might move on again, so there's a few goals I'd like to achieve.

Did you feel confident going into the final?
Right through the competition I never rated myself as the winner. I would like to win this for whatever, rather than being overly confident. I've grown from the experience and I would relish the opportunity to continue exploring and loving food.