"My wife originally wanted to apply for MasterChef...it would be interesting to see how far she would have come."

Age:  38
State: Victoria
Occupation: Wine shop owner
Favourite cuisine: Italian and Asian
Favourite place to travel: Italy and Asia
Favourite dish to cook: Pasta (large penne), broccoli and anchovies
Favourite dessert to eat: Ice cream
Sweet or Savoury: Savoury
Chilli or garlic: Chilli

Wine shop owner Nic's ultimate dream is to expand his business into a restaurant serving fine wines.

"Myself and my wife Tamara have owned our own business now for five years and although stressful, it's become really successful. My goal from MasterChef is to try and open up a food and wine bar to join the wine store – the sort of food I'd like to make is Italian and Asian food which is my real strength at the moment."

Married for fifteen years, Tamara and Nic are rarely apart and although this is Nic's dream, MasterChef was also the dream of his wife.

"My wife was my real inspiration to start cooking. We actually do a lot of cooking together, like making pasta for example. She actually started doing the application form for MasterChef but she didn't finish it. She wishes she had gone ahead but she probably wouldn't enjoy being in front of the cameras. It would have been interesting to see how far she would have come!"

Passionate about wine, Nic's love of cooking has developed fairly recently over the last few years. "I matured more as a person and visited more restaurants and got ideas for food and started to cook more. It makes your brain overwork so you always see signs for food everywhere."

"I would describe myself as an inventive cook and I love to try different flavours. I don't actually like doing desserts; I think they can be quite boring. Entrée's can be boring as well. The main meal is much more exciting."

Nic is no stranger to hard graft, and with a successful independent business under his belt, knows that he will have to use the same skills to succeed in MasterChef. "You make your own luck in life, and everything involves a lot of hard work. Initially we started our wine business from scratch. We didn't have experience in retail but our personalities helped in the business and that’s what's going to help me in this competition."

"It's hard to say if I can win at the moment, everyone has a chance. I like to take it day by day but it's going to be tough."

However, while he's not sure about winning, his ambitions are still high.

"I like to cook for my family but I really would love to cook for Kevin Rudd one day…"