Ryan Walker (‘MasterChef 13’) elimination interview: That ‘tough’ team challenge, sobriety and plans for his new restaurant [Exclusive Video Interview]
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“I’ve still been eating pork chops. I actually built myself an Argentinian grill here in the backyard just so I could grill ’em just like that day,” says “MasterChef” contestant Ryan Walker. The construction superintendent from Millstone Township, New Jersey was eliminated in 18th place on Wednesday’s episode, following a team challenge that had him manning the grill, cooking 101 pork chops for firemen and emergency personnel. Ultimately, judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez and Joe Bastianich held him responsible for his team’s loss. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“The team challenge thing is tough,” he admits. “It’s kind of like a double-sided coin. You’re going home on a team challenge, you don’t make every decision that’s involved with your dish. You’re relying on team members. And then, besides that, just the elements and the way the challenge was set up and everything. It’s tough to go home like that, but it’s not like I brought a dish up and they said, you’re the worst dish here, you know? It’s a double-edged sword there.”
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Ryan says his strategy going into “MasterChef” was to play it safe and not take on too much responsibility in team challenges, but that plan went sideways. “My number one thing was, don’t take any risks in the team challenges. Don’t put yourself out there to a point where you could be packing your bags for something that you know is not completely on you. But once I saw that grill, nothing against my team, but I’m a competitive person and I wanted to win. I took on the hardest job there in cooking those pork chops. These are four-inch thick, double bone-in, almost frozen solid chops that I’m trying to grill. A hundred of them in an hour! I didn’t come out on top, but when they called us up at the end, I knew. I knew it was me from a mile away.”
Despite leaving the competition early, Ryan had a positive experience on the show. His memorable audition captured the hearts of millions when it aired on May 24. He revealed he had been in a dark place for 10 years, battling addiction and living an unhealthy lifestyle.
“I just reached my breaking point,” he explains. “Losing jobs, burning bridges, some dark thoughts personally. And you know, eventually I just snapped. It’s not like I quit before and relapsed or anything like that. One day I just snapped and made the decision. After I initially got sober, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to keep getting better. So I started losing weight and I did a keto diet to lose weight. I started to fall in love with food as I’m getting sober and now I’m doing keto, so I’m so limited on foods, but hey, if you cook them yourself, then all your options are open. So that’s how I started cooking.”
For now, Ryan is moving forward with his dream to one day open a farm-to-table restaurant. “I’ve been going all out on my social media stuff,” he reveals. “I’m still posting to the Cooking It Keto account. Me and my dad built this huge outdoor kitchen by hand. I wish I could show it to you. I’m sitting at it right now. But we built this thing and I got a Blackstone, Hibachi, I got my propane, my big Argentinian, I got a deep fryer. So I’m gonna be hosting a concept run for my restaurant the rest of the summer. Very small, intimate groups. Just a tasting menu, seven dishes, a bunch of desserts. That’s what I’m gonna be doing the rest of the summer, a concept run for my restaurant.”
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