Masterchef: Leslie Gilliams

On camera he may not seem the the most well-like competitor, but Leslie Gilliams is definitely one of the top contenders in this season of FOX MasterChef.

I sat down to chat with Leslie about his passion for cooking, his background, and his time on the show. Check out what he had to say.

Hey Leslie. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today. So to start things off, what you interested in auditioning for a show like MasterChef?

Well, my wife and I have 7 kids and I cook a lot. We were watching season 4 and she looked at me and said this was me...that I could do this. My initial thought was 'really?'. I'm pretty busy with so many other things between 7 kids, the cars, the house, and everything that comes with being a stay-at-home dad. But I still said I would fill out the application and she sent it in.

Then I figured I'd go to the audition at the Culinary Institute in Hollywood. I would then do the live audition with the signature dish, and thought they would look at me and say 'this guy is old, we don't want him on'. That didn't happen, and next thing you know I'm doing a video recording of myself and they are telling me to be me. I told them they really don't want to see the real me, but one thing lead to another <laughing> and I let myself go and they like it.

I don't think of myself as that good of a cook. I cook for my family, and what I consider a MasterChef is someone like Thomas Keller, Chef Ramsay, and Graham Elliot. For me to put that label behind myself after cooking for a while is hard to digest. I just love to cook, love to eat, and love to feed my children and keep them healthy.

For someone who doesn't necessarily consider yourself a very good cook, you seem to be one of the top contenders on the show.

Yeah. In high school I studied to become an airplane mechanic, believe it or not. They taught me to touch it once and do it right. Now with this people's lives were at stake, but I have that same philosophy in anything I do. If I am going to do it, then I will give it 110 or 150% and hope that I get 90%. I've always had that attitude of wanting to be the best. It doesn't matter if it's for $3/hour or $80/hour for a job. I always want it to be the best so I can move up the ladder and tell the boss that despite whatever I'm making, I want to be the best.

So whenever I attack anything from donuts, pies, cooking dinner, I want the best ingredients that I can find for the money I have. I want to do the best job possible with minimal mistakes and just pay attention to what I'm doing. That is the most important thing in succeeding in anything. You need to pay attention to what you're doing and give it your all.

So how did that mindset help you when it came to these challenges where you had certain ingredients that you had to use and certain types of dishes you had to make?

A lot of it is just experience making mistakes in your own kitchen. I have a lot more experience than any of the other contestants. Most of them are in their 20s and 30s, I made my mistakes already, and the more mistakes you make the more you learn. That is as long as you don't make the same ones over again. There's nothing wrong with making a mistake as long as you don't make the same ones over. If you put something in front of me, you just have to get creative. Thinking what would I do with this if I was on a desert island? Could I make stone soup with just carrots? <laughing>. You just have to be creative.

You can definitely tell that it's a mindset that helped out. One example I can think of is the pressure test where you had to cook the steak. You seemed to be the only one who was actually able to cook it in the allotted time.

Steak to me is Cooking 101. If you really can't cook a steak, it's like cooking a hamburger and making it medium. It's trial and error, the more you cook the better you get. Will I burn a few if I don't pay attention and I'm not over the grill? Most certainly. You have to stand there and watch what you are doing. If you don't watch what you are doing because you are putting something in the sink or stirring a pot, two minutes could go by like that and that steak is over done. So you have to pay attention where ever you are.

Oh wow, so that's definitely something to help people who are interested in following your footsteps and competing on the next season. What would be some advice that you do have for people who are looking to become that next MasterChef or even just to better themselves in their own home kitchen?

Practice. Practice. Practice. Make your mistakes at home. Cook a steak. I read a lot of self-help books, especially try reading how-to books. Yeah that's right I'm not a romance novel kind of guy <laughing>. They help me because in the end I have to support my family, fix things around my house, feed my family and cook food they are going to like. If they don't eat it then it goes in the garbage. That to me is a waste of money and with 7 kids it is very hard to waste money.

Oh well that's good. I can imagine that satisfying all of those different tastes though could be a challenge for many people, not to mention how tight money can be for most people.

Yes it is. Thank God it's not a challenge. They are all happy and healthy. Now 5 of them are out of the house, and I have 2 left. The last two are leaving in September. <laughing> Thank God. Woo Hoo! Free at last. Free at last. <laughing>.

So very soon those home meals might become a little more extravagant?

Yeah extravagant and more intimate. My wife and I will be alone finally and will be able to think. We can breathe without any screaming and yelling. We do still have the dog...my daughter's dog is still here since she goes to college in September. We are looking forward to a little more peace and quiet. Although we do like noise. I'm one of 11 brothers and sisters. My wife has two other brothers, and I'm used to chaos with just 7 kids and then growing up with 11 brothers and sisters. I wouldn't have asked for it any other way.

So growing up in a big family, did you have to do a fair amount of the cooking or was it something you grew to love once you created a family of your own?

Growing up, I was the middle child and had somebody older taking care of me. I really didn't spend a lot of time at home. I was in my actual house until I was 10 and then from 10-19, I went to an orphanage. I was cooking in the kitchen, cleaning pots first, and got my love of food from eating canned meats and powdered milk and lots of cheese.

That's a very cool way to grab a love of food. I can then imagine that being able to cook in the kitchen became a gift for yourself because it then became your own kitchen.

And also the ingredients you have today compared back to the 60s and early 70s. A lot of stuff is fresher then when I lived in New York. It's not like California where I can get an avocado for $1. You're cost is a lot higher and so you have to get a lot more creative with things that are fresh and in season. I like to buy things that have the 'dollar a pound' sign next to it. Then I known there's a lot of it and it's fresh.

One thing that I'm curious about is if you had a favorite challenge while you were on the show?

No I didn't really have a favorite. Every one of them was a challenge because I was not well liked by my peers. I don't know if you happened to catch the wedding episode, for example. That turned out to be a disaster of my leadership skills. Although I always say that you can't lead people who don't want to be lead. You can be the best leader in the world, but if they have already written you off then you won't get any respect because that's the way it is.

I'm portrayed as being a stay-at-home dad who is a kept man who lives in Malibu. What they don't understand is how I got here, why I'm here, and why I continue to be here. Just like anyone else, my wife and I work very hard to maintain our lifestyle and also to live where we choose to live. Anybody can live in Malibu, but do you save your money or spend it on parties and elaborate cars? I don't. I have a 1996 V3, which was the first car I ever bought when I was 17 years old. I have a minivan that's falling apart with duct tape. I have a little Vespa. I don't drive anything fancy. It's just not who I am because I have other responsibilities. I could easily buy a new car by tomorrow, but is it worth it and do I need it? I just need a car to get from point A to point B. It's a lifestyle my wife and I choose to live and we work very hard at doing it.

It definitely sounds like you guys are well-deserving of it. Where can people go to stay updated with you and any future projects when it comes to cooking and everything to stay updated with you and the show?

Right now, I'm taking one day at a time because I still have a lot of responsibilities at home. It's very hard and I see my fellow competitors putting stuff online, cooking donuts, and for example Frances is down in the Dominican Republic with pictures of his wife on the beach frolicking. I would love to do that too, but my wife's in New York right now prepping for a movie. That's what we do, she's a producer.

I'm getting ready to go to New York and in about two weeks, but my daughters are here and I'm just trying to maintain my house and keep things afloat. Anybody who owns a house knows exactly what I'm talking about and how hard it is to even keep it clean. That's what I was doing before you called...cleaning the kitchen after my daughter and 6 of her friends made pasta and left the kitchen a mess.

Sounds like they need some cooking and cleaning lessons from their dad.

More cleaning then cooking. My kids know how to cook. They are very good cooks, because most of the time I try not to baby them and make them try it. Make them make their mistakes and cook the bacon. I'm not going to be here for the rest of their life, and they need to learn to do these things on their own.

Great advice, and thanks so much for chatting with us today, Leslie.

My pleasure. Anytime.

Don't forget you can catch new episodes on MasterChef on FOX every Monday night at 8pm ET/7pm CT. Stay tuned because my MasterChef series isn't over yet. Next time I will be chatting with the youngest cook in the competition, Ahran Cho.

Tonight on MasterChef, the remaining 14 home cooks will split into two teams and take command of the kitchen at Dinah’s, one of the busiest and most iconic diners in Los Angeles. The stakes are high as the contestants will prepare classic American fare for the restaurant’s regular diners. The team that receives the most customer tips will be safe from elimination, while the losing team members will face an intense pressure test, during which they must make an elegant and delicious three-layer red velvet cake.