BEING made redundant from his job in the mines was a blessing in disguise for Pete Morgan.

The Chanel College graduate, who now lives in Perth, is now free to pursue a new career in food.

The 31-year-old has made it into the judges' auditions round on the upcoming ninth season of MasterChef, despite putting his apron in the ring at the last minute.

"I thought about applying for next year because I hadn't had much time to practice at home," he told the Observer.

"But then I got made redundant two days before applications closed so I thought 'Why not apply?' My plan was to see the process and then seriously apply next year.

"I wasn't expecting to get the call back."

Pete describes the off-camera audition process, which includes several rounds of cooking for the show's producers before meeting the judges on camera for the first time, as a whirlwind.

"My first audition was a mystery box and I remember lifting the tea towel to look at the ingredients and thinking 'What am I even doing here? I can't do this'. Somehow I came up with a nice dish. You get through that and then next thing you know you're at judges' auditions."

Sporting his favourite singlet or flannel shirt, belt buckle and jeans, Pete doesn't immediately give the impression of being a foodie. But thanks to a childhood eating a diverse range of foods from stir fries and pasta to "the steak and kidney pies which I used to hate but Mum would make me eat" and a transient job which has taken him across the country, Pete is a versatile cook.

"Mostly in the past five years I started getting more serious about food," he said.

"A lot of it comes from MasterChef and watching it from the beginning. You see what people create on the show and think 'Wow I'd love to be able to do that' and then you start pushing yourself at home.

"Working away in the mines I'd generally get a week at home and that's when I'd cook all the food I'd been dreaming about at work."

MasterChef premieres tonight at 7.30pm on Channel 10.