A chat and a beer with MasterChef’s Christian Collins

I certainly wouldn’t call myself a seasoned veteran of the interview process, but I’ve had my go around through a few. Most of these interviews have been very formal, either one-on-one on the phone with a moderator standing by, through conference calls, or in-person within a roundtable of other people. Through all of those I’ve come to learn that my favorite means of interviewing folks has been in informal situations where everyone’s comfortable. When I contacted Christian Collins, the third-place finisher to last season’s MasterChef, I proposed we meet over beers in his home town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and he was all for it. Being that Massachusetts is all but the size of a pin’s head on a globe, all points east of Worcester were an easy drive, so it was on, and I met with him and his fiance, Lisa (pictured with Christian, above), at Cape Ann Brewing, Co.

So let’s start out with what you’re all likely wondering — because it’s the one question most people are asking me: Is Christian as much a dick in person as he appeared on MasterChef? One thing I’ve come to learn in the years I’ve been writing about television is this: the TV is there to entertain you. Even news programs are aiming to draw your attention in a way that will keep your eyeballs on them and to keep coming back for more; once things get boring and you’re not entertained — whether you know it or not — they’ve lost you. So when I see a guy like Christian on a recorded, edited, unscripted show — and I see that he’s drawing a lot of attention — I assume one of two things: he’s either purposely trying to come off as a notable villain so he’s remarkable, or the editors took so much of what he said out of context that he comes off worse than he really is. In the case of Christian Collins, it’s actually a bit of both.

Think carefully about all of the other top 16 contestants from last season. Out of all of them, I bet most people can recall five or so. And despite Christian coming in third place, you would’ve been sure to remember him, for better or worse. In being the show’s “villain,” he’s ingrained in your head, and that works out just fine for someone trying to make a name for himself. Having that person you love to hate makes for more entertaining television — which FOX loves — and for a more notable character — which Christian’s just fine with.

“I mean … they’re going to pick their villain. They’re going to pick their pretty girl. They’re pretty good at getting every demographic and different personality together to make a show. Do I think I got a raw deal? That’s not me in a nutshell, no. No one is that one-dimensional. Did I want to win? Yes. Did I express that a lot? Yes.”

Is it that some of the others may have said the same sort of things, but they just chose not to film it? “Yeah. I mean, Jenny started to get kinda arrogant at some points. She definitely made her opinions known.”

“I was a douchebag sometimes. I was trying to win! I was a little upset … I read some interview with Jennifer [Behm, the winner], after the fact, and she was kinda throwing me under the bus. I mean, what’re you, mad that you won? There’s no need to throw me under the bus after the show like that. She basically said something to the affect of … ‘Is Christian really that arrogant?’ and she goes, ‘I wish I could say Christian isn’t like that all the time, but he is that and worse.'”

How about Suzy? I thought she came across pretty arrogant as well. Did she get a bum deal with how they made her look, or was she really that bad to deal with? “Nah, Suzy’s a good girl. She’s a neural engineer; she’s an overachiever. So it’s like one of those things where she’d overthink everything. She definitely would talk a good game, and when it came time to put up I don’t think she performed as well as she talked. I think she has a very deep passion for cooking — there’s no denying that. I mean, all in all, that’s why were were there, regardless of personality. We’re there because we love to cook; we’re all really passionate about cooking. At the end of the day you can’t really fault someone for whatever comes out in their personality when it’s a competition on a TV show.”

So, what’s Christian up to now? Since MasterChef ended, he’s had the opportunity to cook in MasterChef judge Graham Elliot’s self-named Chicago restaurant, alongside other MasterChef S2 contestant Giuseppe Morisco for a couple of weeks. “It was a fun experience, but I don’t know if I could do that, being in a restaurant 70 hours a week,” said Collins, referring to the amount of time Elliot spends working there. For now, Collins has a catering/personal chef business called Sustenance, located in Gloucester. However, he does have some other ideas for what’s to come next.

Coming off his fame (infame?) of being on MasterChef — and the connections he was able to establish while on the show — Might Christian try his hand at another cooking show you may have heard of: Hell’s Kitchen?

“If they do MasterChef All-stars, I’m in. Hell’s Kitchen … maybe if production wants to provide me with meditation classes during the show. I dunno if I could bite my tongue!”

He also mentioned maybe trying out at a new restaurant Gordon Ramsay has in Las Vegas. “I’ve been talking to his assistant and might go over there this winter to hang out at his restaurant for a little while.”

Now let’s get down to some of the questions I had about the show in general. Thankfully Christian didn’t have to hold anything back, so I got all the answers I was looking for.

Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Sep 23, 2011 @ 15:49 EST5EDT