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‘The Poms’ dish up charm

Steve Flood and Will Stewart.

Ten minutes was all the warning Will Stewart got before learning he would be cooking on national TV to regular audiences of close to 1.5 million people most nights for up to three months.

His best mate, Steve Flood, rang out of the blue to tell him the news.

“Steve rang me and said ‘Channel 7 are going to ring you in 10 minutes to let you know we’ve been chosen for MKR, so just tell them you’ll do it’ and then he hung up,” Stewart said.

Both keen cooks, it was Flood who believed the pair could make the cut for the 2015 season of MKR, and after both had been made redundant from their roles at Deutsche Bank in Sydney, he knew they had the time to devote to a gruelling six-month filming schedule.

“I needed a wingman,” Flood said. “And although Will was pretty new to the food industry, I knew he could cook a bit and would be able to handle it. He’s been my hatchet man on the show and I taught him everything I know, so you can see he comes on a lot as a cook as the series progresses.”

Affectionately known as “the Poms”, their fun-filled antics have resulted in Stewart being nicknamed Austin Powers by his fellow contestants, while dapper Flood has been linked romantically to four other contestants, including Emma Wynne and Nikki Sephar.

But if viewers think teams are picked more on their personalities than their cooking abilities, Stewart is keen to set them straight.

“I would completely disagree with people who think we’re there just because of our charm,” he said. “You’re working with renowned chefs and judges and you’re under a great deal of pressure. The process is quite involved and you have to prove your ability even before you make it on to the show.”

The pair have used their British backgrounds strongly in their cooking, reinventing old favourites and finessing other recipes to include some English influences.