SHE cooked up a storm and stood proud while cast as the villain in this year’s series of My Kitchen Rules.
But having made it to the grand final with team-mate Kelly Ramsey, would former Mandurah girl Chloe James do it all again?
Probably not.
It’s been a whirlwind six months for the mother of one who told the Mandurah Mail on Wednesday producers would “have to pay me a lot of money” to get her back on the small screen.
“I had an absolute ball,” she said.
“And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
“But I wouldn’t do it again.”
Chloe said the “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, which wrapped up on Tuesday evening with the WA team losing to South Australia’s Bree and Jessica by just two points, was fun.
What took its toll was an almost unprecedented barrage of social media vitriol directed to the local girls who were portrayed as the ‘bad guys’ from early in the series.
“We really weren’t expecting that,” Chloe said.
“It was definitely a shock and it’s been pretty tough.”
Chloe said she had refused to read the worst of the criticism directed at her and Kelly and chose to focus on the positives despite her disappointment in last night’s result.
With two different endings filmed months ago for the grand final, neither team knew who had won until the show aired.
Accompanied by family members and friends, Chloe watched the final along with more than a million viewers.
“We were pretty confident when we were cooking,” she said.
“But the villain never wins.
“It was heartbreaking.”
Still, as the first WA team to make it the grand final of the popular show, Chloe said she was proud of her efforts in the kitchen alongside Kelly.
And despite the show reportedly being responsible for a number of team-mates falling out with each other, the friendship between the local girsl remains as strong as ever.
Kelly and I are getting along famously.
- Chloe James
“Kelly and I are getting along famously,” Chloe said.
“It would take a lot to tear us a part.”
Now with her eyes firmly set on the future, Chloe is looking forward to her wedding in New York City in June and plans to open a café in Perth.
And with no further ambition to star in a television show – “except maybe Real Housewives of Perth” – Chloe is ready for a break from the limelight.
“People will forget about us in a week,” she said.
“I just want to go and cuddle my son.”
