MasterChef serves up win

Photo: Contributed - CTV

Jennifer Innis hugs judge Alvin Leung

Jennifer Innis is not letting the past, or anyone else, hold her back.

The MasterChef Canada contestant, who has been underestimated since the get-go, had a bird’s eye view of her competitors from the balcony, Sunday, after her group won the team challenge.

Despite being being picked last, the self-proclaimed 'socially awkward' Innis, who hails from Vernon, came out on top. The challenge was to come up with a unique poutine recipe.

“It was a fun episode to film,” she says, despite the fact she had been pointed out as an annoying chatterbox by her teammates.

However, it was Innis’s ability to talk that gave her team the advantage, selling the most tickets to students at the University of Guelph.

“Everyone who saw our team was probably laughing their way through to the finish line,” she jokes. "It reminded me of the tortoise and the hare. We were the team that was underestimated.”

Her team managed to complete seven more orders more of its butter chicken poutine than the competitor’s version.

“Everybody is under pressure in these challenges. Everybody is stressed out, everybody wants to win, and you’re only as good as your last cook. So you have all of that weighing down on you,” explains Innis.

At first, Innis wasn’t a fan of the butter chicken-poutine combo, but with the addition of a light coleslaw, it was a hit with the students.

Innis says she cheers on every one of her rivals despite what happens in the episode. The mother of three says the reason she connected with others on the show was because they were all dealing with real life issues as well as filming, and no one could understand the situation better than the competitor beside you.

“We aren’t allowed to have our devices on us during the competition except for the once a week brief call home to get your affairs in order,” she laughs.

There are no production secrets when it comes to the mystery box or team challenges, she says. Competitors find out who they are cooking for or what they’re cooking only at the moment the judges reveal it.

“In the Cirque du Soleil challenge, we didn’t know it was Cirque du Soleil until we got there and we saw the tents ... Same with the challenges,. When the judge lifts up the box, that is when we know what we are cooking."

When asked about the show's massive pantry, Innis says it’s like a Costco, with all kinds of items.

“You know it has good stuff in it, but if you don’t take advantage of an ingredient, it might not be in there the next time you try to use it. The pantry is big, and with everyone in there, it’s a lot of push and shove. It’s hard to find things.”

The next episode airs this Sunday.