From fighting for Immunity to battling an Elimination Challenge, it’s been a roller coaster of a MasterChef week for Tregan. Facing a cook-off against some of her closest friends only compounded the angst of a day in the kitchen she suspected might be her last.

“That morning was extremely hard for me,” she shares. “I woke up feeling quite defeated from the challenge the day before. My morale was low and I was extremely tired. I tried to put a brave face on but I had strong fears of going home that day.”

Among this season’s most frantic Elimination challenges, Tregan and her fellow hopefuls had to frantically dash for ingredients in an unforgiving case of first come, first served. “The first tussle was totally manic and I didn’t get what I wanted. I had intended on cooking a steamed pudding but the butter and eggs and sugar all went in a flash. I had to think quickly and on my feet and I just grabbed what I thought I could put a good dish together with.”

As had been the case for much of the series, one of Tregan’s biggest obstacles was self-belief. Despite producing a winning dish in the Dude Food Challenge and cooking for a precious Immunity Pin, it wasn’t enough to make her recognise the talent which for everyone else was plain to see.

“The Immunity Challenge was a hard one; because I placed so much pressure on myself to succeed. It didn’t really go according to plan and it was all a bit messy that day. It was a chain of events that led to the way I was feeling on the Elimination day. I think that I struggled with self-belief in the competition lot; and in the end it got me.”

MasterChef has been a journey of culinary and personal growth for Tregan, a catalogue of experiences that have encouraged her to believe that there are no limits to what you can achieve if you want something badly enough. “I have learnt that almost anything is possible as long as you put your heart in it and give it a good shot!” she says. “It’s about continual growth learning and forever striving for your dreams.”

Following her dreams is exactly what Tregan intends to continue doing. Having already started working at Shane Delia’s one hatted Melbourne restaurant Maha Bar & Grill, her ultimate aim is working on projects that allow her to indulge two of her biggest passions simultaneously. 

“I’m loving the experience of working in a commercial kitchen at Maha, and am continuing to expand my food knowledge and skills every day. But my long-term goal is to combine my love and knowledge for social work with my love and knowledge for food. I want to be able to use food in a way that can assist in changing people’s lives.

I have also started a blog called The Food Cure ,which will be an accumulation of many things in the food and social welfare sector. I will also endeavour to involve not for profit organisations, about which the site will provide up to date information on their news and events. It’s all very much in the early stages, however this is something that I hope to get up and running within the next couple of months.”