The Junior MasterChef Finale Was the Reminder You Didn’t Need That Mums Are the Best

We love mums. We love our mums, we love your mum and, thanks to last night’s Junior MasterChef finale, we now love Kim, Nermeen and Natalie, the respective mums of finalists, Carter, Filo and winner Georgia.

The three mums joined the judges to taste their kids’ fine dining two-course meals, a main and a dessert. There is no more powerful energy than that of three proud mums, encouraging their offspring to be the best cooks they possibly can be.

“[Mum] has helped me so much through this experience,” Carter said when his mum, Kim, arrived. “I wouldn’t be here today without her.”

“[Mum is] my biggest inspiration,” Filo offered. “My mum, she always gives me this energy that makes me want to cook for the rest of my life. My grandpa, he taught my mum so much things, and she’s passed it on to me, and now I’m changing it and making my own things, and she’s tasting and telling me how good I am!”

Georgia had high praise for her mum too. “Without her, there’s no chance I would’ve even been able to chop up a carrot. I owe everything to her.”

Sure, throughout the process, the three mums were backseat cooking from the gantry to the sighs of “Yes, mum,” from their kids. But they were also super supportive (Filo’s mum helping him focus when he forgot his dessert recipe, boasting about their kids during judging (see Carter’s mum defending his choice of a seaweed base over gelatine in his panna cotta, and bore the brunt of a little bit of sass from their kids (Georgia telling her mum her coconut was “not burning, [it’s] toasting”.

And, of course, there was the moment that Georgia’s mum Natalie rushed downstairs during the dessert cook to console her daughter when she was ready to give up. Sure, she served up a “Tropical Mess” instead of a toasted coconut ice cream slice, but the flavours alone secured her the title of Junior MasterChef.

“You can do it, sweetie,” Natalie called over the gantry.

“No, I can’t,” Georgia replied, tearing up, shaking her head and starting to pace.

It’s at that point that Natalie came downstairs to hug her and reassure her that her dessert would be delicious even if it didn’t look exactly as she intended. “I love you so much. I’m so proud of you.”

It was so beautiful! Remember to call your mum today!