How MasterChef missed out on ‘Mossy’

He was arguably the most charismatic character on My Kitchen Rules.

Matthew ‘Mossy’ Moss, the NSW Detective who showed his skill and his heart on the Seven hit series, had applied to appear on MasterChef Australia, but never even got as far as a first audition.

“Never got a word. Never got a look in,” he says. “I put the application in and I wasn’t even sighted off Nobbys.”

Nobbys Beach, in Newcastle, is another of Mossy’s uniquely Australian metaphors. When he was eliminated this week he said that meeting the other contestants on the show was like being “hit in the arse with a rainbow.”

But MasterChef missed out on casting the man and his expressions when it didn’t respond to his audition application.

“I sent it in and there was nothing. I’m still waiting,” he says.

“But what you miss out on the merry-go-round you pick up on the ferris wheel.”

The ferris wheel turned out to be My Kitchen Rules. After his kids saw the auditions ad his wife Gabe put in the application, pretending to be him. They were eventually selected to represent New South Wales, becoming the first to be featured in the series as an instant restaurant.

One of his defining moments was in the second dinner party when as a guest of rival Victorian team Clint and Noah, he stepped into their kitchen to encourage the despairing duo. It set he and Gabe apart from other teams that were being characterised as bitchy.

“When the young blokes in Melbourne had their dinner party and got smashed on the entree and belted on the main I went in just to give them a bit of a leg up to say ‘Don’t drop the ball, everything’s ok.’ It wasn’t a competition for me, it was all about the food. I would have entered this competition for a packet of Minties!” he says.

“It’s like wanting to see your mates do well when you know they can do better, rather than have them with their bottom lip down. So I just went in and said ‘You’re alright boys, continue on and do your best,'” he says.

“It wasn’t put on. I genuinely and sincerely felt sorry for the boys because they got smashed.”

When he was eliminated on Tuesday night with Gabe, Moss’ emotions began to spill. Now he speaks highly about his experience, of both the culinary lessons and the friends he has made. As a Reality TV graduate, it is heartening to hear him champion the experience.

“I was bitterly disappointed that it wasn’t to be, but onwards and upwards. It was a great experience and a tremendous journey. The knowledge that I’ve collected over the last 4 months is unforgettable. It’s not something I could read in a book or watch on DVD.

“And to become good mates with Manu as well has been great.”

Moss, who developed his interest in cooking during the last 12 months of working in the Homicide Squad, says he would love to have his own lifestyle series. He isn’t sure how it would fit with his current job with NSW Police, but concedes it would be a good problem to have.

“I’d really like a cooking show, to teach people how to cook if they don’t have any skills. To show them that it’s not that hard. I think people sometimes make it a bit more complicated than it is and I’d love to crack it for a TV show,” he says.

“Maybe Gabe could do a bit of dessert work as well.”

And as for that line about being ‘hit in the arse with a rainbow?’

“I picked it up many years ago,” he laughs. “But it’s one I pull out of the golf bag when the circumstances are appropriate.”

My Kitchen Rules Grand Final airs 7:30pm Monday on Seven.