“Aapke Haathon me jadoo hain” is what Master Chef judges might have felt while declaring Sashi Cheliah as the champion of the popular cooking show.
Cooking his way into the first position at Master Chef Australia, this 39-year-old has proved Indians are best chefs on the international front as well. But what makes his journey intriguing is that he was an ex-prison guard who knew how to cook delectable food.
For 12 years he was a police officer in Singapore and then he shifted to Adelaide 6 years back where he was working in women’s prison as a prison guard. He hails from Madurai and took interest in cooking after he shifted.
Not just that, another interesting thing about him is that, in the history of Master Chef, he is the only contestant who has got immunity pin twice. This makes his story more awesome!
In the Season finale of the show, Cheliah scored 93 points on 100, beating his competitor Ben Borsht by 16 points. Apart from taking home the 2018 title, he also won a cash prize of 2,50,000 Australian dollars.
He wishes to open a restaurant which will serve Indian and South-east Asian cuisine and will have ex-convicts as employees.
After this incredible win, he used Twitter to express his gratitude to people who supported him throughout. He said, “My motivation, my strength, and my support, love my family! #MasterChefAU” and shared the pictures from the finale.
My motivation, my strength and my support, love my family!!!! #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/lgUBaJBnnV
— sashi_cheliah (@sashi_cheliah) July 31, 2018
While pointing to interesting new ventures, in another tweet, he wrote –
Hi everyone… thank you very much for the huge support and love from all over world. I am so blessed and honoured. Love you so much…Some exciting new ventures are coming soon so stay… https://t.co/orkhV2DmF4
— sashi_cheliah (@sashi_cheliah) August 1, 2018
Way to go Mr. Cheliah!