Canberra graphic designer Andrew Hinge is taking sudden fame in his stride with the promos for the new season of My Kitchen Rules portraying him as this year’s wacky contestant.
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“We kind of wanted to bring a different element to the show. We wanted to bring energy, excitement, and just sort of be ourselves 110 per cent without compromising anything,” he told us.
“I guess with the promos, they’re painting us as the loveable buffoons, but more on the buffoon than anything else. But that’s not the whole story. Watch the show – there’s probably going to be some eye-opening things in there.”
Andrew and his girlfriend Emelia Vimalasiri are the ACT’s first contestants on the popular cooking show which returns to Prime on Monday, January 27.
Emelia, the business development manager for the Canberra Convention Bureau, and Andrew, who works at the Fresh Creative agency in Queanbeyan, went through an audition process that included showing their cooking skills. Their home restaurant segment was filmed last year at Emelia’s home in Ainslie, with fellow contestants and judges Peter Evans and Manu Feildel sampling their efforts.
“It was really nice to have them in our home. It was really exciting when Pete and Manu rang the doorbell and it was like, ‘Oh my god, they’re here!’,” she said.
Dedicated foodies, their favourite restaurants in Canberra include Camellia in Manuka for Sri Lankan cuisine, Pappa Rich in Bunda Street for Malaysian, and the Burmese Curry Place at the bus interchange in Civic.
“And we love Brodburger [at Kingston],” Emelia said with a smile.
“What we like to do is eat everywhere and keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening. We cook a lot at home as well.”
Both settled in Canberra as children. Emelia attended St Francis Xavier College, Lake Ginninderra College and the University of Canberra. Andrew went to Stromlo High and Canberra College as well as a local tertiary college.
Their ambition by going on the show was to promote Canberra, especially among their fellow contestants.
“We found that some of them were open-minded but some of the older contestants had some really set-in-their-ways views of Canberra but we really, really tried to change their minds,” Andrew said. “In the last five years, Canberra has come so far.”
They hope to start a food blog and do some cooking and food review segments on YouTube.
“Just dipping into Canberra’s culture, especially when it has to do with eating,” he said.
Kids eating vegetables is as easy as ABC
Speaking of My Kitchen Rules (and, hey, who isn’t?), judge and chef Manu Feildel told us a little about getting kids to eat vegetables during a recent chat (see the full interview in Sunday’s Relax magazine).
It seems Feildel’s nine-year-old son Jonti has always been an adventurous eater.
“He eats everything,” Feildel said. “We were shopping the other day and there was a little red chilli and I said to him, ‘I give you 10 bucks if you eat the chilli’. And he didn’t think twice about it, he just put it in his mouth and chewed on it. I was like, ‘Oh my god’ and started freaking out and got out some milk and said, ‘Drink the milk!’ But, no, he’s not shy on eating.
“You’ve got to start from the beginning it’s part of their education. If you’re going to teach your kids how to count or read, you need to teach them how to eat as well. It’s all about opening their tastebuds, and that’s the way it is. If they don’t want to eat, they go to bed and can eat the rest for breakfast.”
Commando takes charge in Canberra
No official word on whether celebrity trainer Michelle Bridges will be accompanying her boyfriend Steve “The Commando” Willis when he visits Canberra next month to lead boot camps and host a dinner.
Willis, a former team commander with the Australian Special Forces, will be in Canberra on February 22 and 23 through a collaboration between Battle Camp Fitness and Defence Force Recruiting. He’ll also host a dinner at Maple+Clove in Barton on the night of February 22.
The Canberra boot camps will be held at Reconciliation Place in Parkes, on the lawns between the National Portrait Gallery and Questacon, and the public is being encouraged to witness the spectacle of participants feeling the pain at the February 22 sessions at 10am and 3pm.
“I’ve heard that Canberra is the most active city in Australia,” Willis said. “Now it’s time for locals to walk the talk, in a 90-minute workout that will push them to their limits. No excuses.”
Both Willis and Bridges return to TV on Sunday when The Biggest Loser tackles the overweight townspeople of Ararat, Victoria.
Follow in Jamie Leigh’s footprint
The family of Canberra beauty therapist Jamie Leigh Lynch, who died in a car accident last March, have launched a foundation in her honour to care for animals, one of the great loves of her life.
Mark and Sheila Lynch hope the Footprints Forever Foundation will ensure their daughter’s legacy will continue in perpetuity, with all funds going to the RSPCA in Canberra.
Donations will be managed by the Public Trustee for the ACT, through its Greater Good fund.
They can be made at footprintsforeverfoundation.org.au
The website for the foundation was designed pro bono by Canberra agency Cre8ive, with managing director James Willson saying staff were humbled and honoured to be involved.
“The Lynch family are nothing short of inspiring and we are proud to be supporters of such a worthy cause,” he said.
The family has also built a memorial garden to their daughter on the Kambah Pool Road where she died.
But her memory will also be honoured in England, where her mother is from and where her grandfather still lives. The family is co-funding a program helping students with learning disabilities to work with animals and a park bench inscribed with Jamie Leigh’s name and the words “her legacy lives on” will be placed at an animal charity in Cambridgeshire, the centre dear to the family’s heart.
Australia Day festivities not walking away
The new head of the National Australia Day Council says there are no moves to shift Australia Day festivities out of Canberra.
The ACT bathes in the national spotlight each year by hosting the Australian of the Year awards and the Australia Celebrates Live concert on Australia Day eve and then the national flag raising and citizenship ceremony on Australia Day, with the Prime Minister front and centre to officially confer the citizenship.
Jeremy Lasek assumed the role of the National Australia Day Council’s new CEO late last year after most recently serving as executive director of the Centenary of Canberra.
He says other states are not actively lobbying to snare the ceremonies or concert for themselves (we’re looking at you NSW aka Sydney).
“Nothing too serious but I think there’s a recognition that Canberra’s a good place for the awards but that doesn’t mean they would always be here. They certainly weren’t here in the past,” he said.
“It’s not a hot topic but at the moment they’re here and we’re pleased that they’re here and right now that’s what we’re celebrating.”
The Australian of the Year awards and concert are on next Saturday on the lawns of Parliament House and the national Australia Day festivities are focused on Lake Burley Griffin next Sunday.
In the meantime, Canberra plays a supporting part in a new two-part documentary showing on the Ten Network and hosted by National Australia Day Council chair and cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, pictured.
This is My Australia screens in two-parts on Southern Cross Ten. The first part was on Friday night but you can catch the second part this Friday, January 24.
It features four prominent people who have been honoured by the Australian of the Year awards – 2013 Australian of the Year, media maven, Ita Buttrose; 2014 Australian of the Year finalists, footballer Adam Goodes and ballet director Li Cunxin, and 2011 Young Australian of the Year, sailor Jessica Watson. All four speak about the prominent people who have inspired them.
Lasek said Gilchrist hosts the program from the Australians of the Year Walk beside Lake Burley Griffin, giving more exposure to the city.
Dendy’s the one that I want
Dendy in Canberra is holding an encore season of its cult classics – this time labelled Cult Comebacks.
Blues Brothers (February 3), Grease [the Sing-a-Long] (February 10), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (February 17) and the Alien/Aliens double feature (February 24) will be shown in 10am and 6pm sessions.
What's On
- The Canberra Environment Centre is running a two-hour introductory workshop on backyard bee keeping on Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. The centre is at the corner of Lennox Crossing and Lawson Crescent, Acton. For more details call 6248 0885 or go to www.ecoaction.com.au
- On your way down to the coast for Australia Day? Drop into Braidwood for more than just a pie. Braidwood’s Monster Book Fair will be held in the National Theatre 9am to 4pm from Friday, January 24 to Sunday, January 26 and then 9am to 2pm on Monday, January 27.