“I Know Who Will Win!”: Archie Thompson Talks Celebrity MasterChef and the Grand Final

The competition is getting tougher and tougher on Celebrity MasterChef Australia, and after last night’s service challenge, Australian soccer star Archie Thompson was sent home. Missing out on the semi-finals, Archie made the mistake of not heroing wattleseed in his dish.

His departure has fans devastated, as they began to fall in love with his down-to-earth nature and kind personality. POPSUGAR Australia caught up with the athlete and spoke about the grand final and how he feels to have made it so far in the competition.

PS: What made you want to compete on Celebrity MasterChef?

Archie Thompson: Gosh I’m still trying to answer that question myself! I always wanted to be on reality TV, just because it’s fun and you get to be yourself and people can relate to you because they probably haven’t seen that side of you. I guess I wanted that to be shown, and I wanted to be in a position that made me uncomfortable to see if I can handle it. 

PS: What is something you would do differently if you had another chance to be on the show?

AT: Add more wattleseed? *laughs* to be fair I’ve probably exceeded my expectations as to how far I could have gone in the competition. I just didn’t want to be the first one out, and then when you’re not the second out, the third out, then you start to think, “hang on, I got a real opportunity here”. Unfortunately, then you go to Vue de monde, and there’s that added pressure of the semi-finals, and it’s just chaos. I just felt like that’s probably why I was so emotional because I subconsciously knew that that was as far as I was going to get and that I wouldn’t be able to cook with these amazing people anymore. 

PS: You were SO close to reaching the semi-finals. Is it difficult to think about?

AT: Yeah I think that’s why I was so emotional! There are so many factors behind why I broke down a little bit on TV. The whole competition you’re out of your comfort zone. What I’ve said many times is you can’t run. You can’t run when something gets too extreme, and in my life when things get hard I tend to run. And this situation you couldn’t. After my cook, I thought maybe I just hadn’t done enough and just being in that uncomfortable position, it was almost like a relief. If anyone had told me at the start of the year I would be cooking at Vue de monde for a place in the semi-finals on Celebrity MasterChef, I’d say what are you on and how much does it cost?

PS: MasterChef is such a difficult show to take part in. How do you feel knowing you made it so far?

AT: I’m super proud of myself but I’m so proud of all the contestants. Because I know how I felt throughout the whole experience and we all felt that together. I don’t feel like I would have gone as far as I did without the help of the contestants around me. The judges were incredible, my partner helped me amazingly because she put up with all that nervous energy before I went on the show which was a nightmare! I feel like I’ve grown in so many areas.

PS: Finally, who do you think will win Celebrity MasterChef?

AT: Well not who do I think, I know who will win! I can’t tell you but there’s an elimination tonight which I’ll be watching because I haven’t seen it. But next Monday is incredible. I’m kind of glad I didn’t make the final *laughs* because it’s a real, intense cook but an amazing one. The people who are in it deserve to be there.