MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti has opened up about racism in the world of TV and food.
Speaking in the latest edition of Good Housekeeping, the chef, 45, insists that she will always call out a racist – whether it is ‘straight-up racism’ or ‘ignorance’ – otherwise those guilty of it won’t learn.
Monica, who is Samoan-born and raised mostly in New Zealand, said: ‘I was at a dinner with a group of women once and I was laughing about something with a friend when a woman across the table said, “Oh, that’s what I love about you Asians – you just say it how it is.”
‘I’ve been in a kitchen where someone has said, “I don’t know what that is; ask the black girl over there!”‘ MasterChef judge Monica Galetti has opened up about racism in the world of TV and food
‘And I’ve been in a kitchen where someone has said, “I don’t know what that is; ask the black girl over there.” And I’m like, “Are you talking about me?”
‘When no one says anything it carries on, so when I hear it happening – whether it’s to me or someone else – I call it out. We all have to.
‘I want other women of colour to know that it’s anyone’s for the taking. Yes, it’s going to be tough to stay strong in the beginning, but anyone can do what I’ve done,’ she told the publication.
Speaking up: In the latest edition of Good Housekeeping , the chef, 45, insists that she will always call out a racist – whether it is ‘straight-up racism’ or ‘ignorance’ – otherwise those guilty of it won’t learn
Inspiring: ‘I want other women of colour to know that it’s anyone’s for the taking. Yes, it’s going to be tough to stay strong in the beginning, but anyone can do what I’ve done,’ she told the publication
Monica spoke about finding her feet in TV – and how she was compared to the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Simon Cowell for being ‘mean’.
‘Television is a funny world,’ she mused. ‘At first, I found the feedback quite harsh; having people judge you and say you’re horrible is difficult.
‘I was being called the Simon Cowell of the cookery world and the female Gordon Ramsay. I mean, what? From all I knew, that was simply part of being a chef; it was the way we talked in the kitchen.
‘I’ve learned to be a bit more careful with my words since then, so people don’t actually believe I’m mean!’
Heritage: Monica is Samoan-born and raised mostly in New Zealand
Of her home life, Monica said: ‘That’s been the toughest part. Being a mum and keeping a foot in the top end of the industry has not been easy’
Monica is married to French-born sommelier David Galetti and shares a teenage daughter with him, Anaïs.
Of her home life, Monica said: ‘That’s been the toughest part. Being a mum and keeping a foot in the top end of the industry has not been easy.
‘In the beginning, David and I split the childcare between us when one of us was at work, the other was at home, then we’d swap – but we hardly saw each other. Even then, I suffered from a lot of guilt.
Out now! Read the full interview with Monica Galetti in the November issue of Good Housekeeping
‘Now that Anaïs is 13, she needs me less, but I have this constant fear that I only have a few more years before she’s going to want to go off and do her own thing.’
On what she learned during lockdown and the past six months, Monica mused: ‘The first couple of weeks of lockdown were the toughest. I went from moaning about never having enough time to rest to having nothing to do and I got a bit down about it.
‘I found it really hard to cope and adjust. [But then I learned] that I really needed to slow down. I kept saying that I needed to and I was going to, but I never actually did – and this forced me to.
‘Once everything was taken away from me, all I was left with was my family. And it was a bit of a wakeup call that I need to put more focus on them and not take anything for granted.
‘I’ve really appreciated having that downtime to reassess everything and what’s important.’
Read the full interview with Monica Galetti in the November issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale the 30th of September. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect.