Sometimes in life, you just know certain things were meant to be. That is the story about to unfold. It’s a story of friendships that I believe were written in the stars…or someplace important. We came together in unlikely, unusual and interesting ways. Driven by our love for cooking, competition and an ambition for all things adventure, it’s funny where true friendships will bloom. Gear-up, because this is going to be a two-parter. I’ll begin this story in Los Angeles and will end eventually in South Carolina.

MasterChef is a food competition show of the highest-order that airs on Fox.  Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliott and Joe Bastianich act as tough judges, mentors and hosts, making the show one intense and drama-driven piece. As for my experience, “whirlwind” is the word that comes to mind. Between the casting process and the trip heading out to Los Angeles, that one word definitely sums it all up!

I made some high-scoring food and managed to impress Graham Elliot in Chicago at the initial audition. I then proceeded to fill-out forms, and did great on the on-camera audition. I went home and practiced a few dishes while I hung out for a month, not sure what would come next.  I was very new to the whole food competition world and even greener when it came to reality TV stuff.  I was very anxious in wanting to experience this whole MasterChef, Gordon Ramsay-competition- in-LA-thing. I crossed my fingers and low & behold! The call came in with an invite to be one of the top 50 people to be part of the audition segment of the show.

The whirlwind part really began once the call came in. I needed to be in California within 5 days, with instructions to be prepared to stay for up to six weeks. This was tricky with three kids and a whole life to wrap-up! Plus, I wasn’t given much information other than my flight data and the hotel to go to. I was told I would have a roommate and be sequestered with my new unknown pal for at least two weeks to start.  As with much of the MasterChef experience, my roomie information was kept purposely secret until the very moment I walked into the small, funky hotel room in Culver City, California. This was nerve- racking because I hadn’t had an anonymous roommate since college. And if I remember correctly, that had not gone well (a story for another time).

My hopes were not high for this impending situation.  The thing is, I am used to running things…being the mom and generally born a little bossy. So, to have a roommate that was very different from my day-to-day lifestyle could prove to being tough for a sequestered situation.

I got the house and family organized with lots of help from my girlies back home and a supportive hubby, all in record time.  I packed up my recipes, pictures of the kiddos, my kitchen crocs, some “TV” cute clothes and made my way to Los Angeles.  Before I got on my flight, I recognized a guy in line waiting to board as someone whom I had met and talked with at the auditions.  As we stood waiting to get on the plane, we chatted excitedly about the fact that we both had made it to L.A. We wanted to keep the conversation going and decided to switch our seats on the plane to get to know each other. This is when Mr. Lou Bank, a.k.a. my “TV husband” entered my life. It was like we had known each other forever!  The four-hour flight passed in what seemed like minutes as we poured over the details of each of our lives.  Our friendship was solidified in those moments heading to compete against each other on Masterchef.

Lou turned out to be a hero amongst all of us competitors as he stood-up for some of the people that were badly treated by the hosts (a scene they left out of the final edit).  Not only is Lou a really good guy, he is a true artisan when it comes to food and an expert when it comes to Mexican food. And… as it turns out, he is one of my favorite people in the world!  Meeting Lou was a great way to start out the unknown adventure trip into reality food competition TV.

I walked off the plane with Lou’s extra sombrero on my head (yes, he had two hats as part of his carry-on) and we cabbed it together to our new hotel home.  Upon arriving, we were quickly separated and sent to our hotel rooms with strict orders to not talk to anyone other than the crew.  They wanted us to especially avoid any conversation or getting to know the other casted foodie people. Ut oh… rule one, broken. I slid my newly acquired sombrero off my head in hopes the surly production assistant team didn’t notice Lou with the same one as me.

One of the nicer production kids escorted me to my room, handed me my key and filled me in on scheduling.  She let me know that I would need to call to leave my room, they would come get us for food runs and we could get out of the room for a little bit every day.  Just as she finished with the rules and regulations, we arrived at my hotel door. She told me that my roomie had been waiting for me to arrive for several hours and that she was so excited to meet me. The pit in my stomach dissipated a bit but still nerves over meeting my roomie continued even as the door swung open.

As I dragged my “optimistic 3 months’ worth of bags through the door.   I saw a pretty, dark haired woman with a welcoming smile. She greeted me with warm southern accent, “Hi Beth, I am Ally Phillips. Welcome to our new abode!” I hadn’t realized it yet, but I had just won the roommate lottery!

Ally had already started decorating our drab room. I remember she had a great yellow dress with funky-cool cowboy boots on. Well, just like I did with Lou, Ally and I talked and talked and the hours passed like seconds. Before we knew it, we were giggling and telling stories like old friends. And that is the way it has been ever since we met.

Ally and I have an incredible friendship…we share a lot of the same passions.  We both have a big sense of adventure and as it turns out, we had the exact same kitchen crocs… like same color and style!  We knew then, with our matching shoes, that we would be good buds.  Ally’s drive and ambition out-weighs mine, but she is always guiding and showing me the way. Really, she’s so giving and encouraging.  It truly feels as if we have known each other forever. It is one of those life-long friendships.  We pick up were we left off without ever skipping a beat.  And to think, all of this started because our love for food and everything food competition brought us together.

Join me in South Carolina for my next post as I tell you about my adventures with Ally.  She and I toured all over coastal South Carolina.  I experienced my first Piggly Wiggly (I got a cute t-shirt to prove it), fed the homeless, got to see some spooky history, did some yoga, fished off a dock on the bay, ate cookies and made a whole mess of food.  We did all of this as Ally used me as her Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe tester. Wait ‘til you see the pictures for this one…gorgeous!  See you in South Carolina for my next post!

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