[My kids] don't need to cook to keep me happy. It's my job as dad to create opportunities so that they can find their passion. Forget about money, find what you really want to do with your life.

If you become a chef because you're obsessed by becoming a celebrity, getting my ass kicked and working my nuts off the way I did in France and getting pushed around those kitchens wasn't about becoming famous.

There's a side to reality TV that is part education, as well. I've seen that since doing "MasterChef Junior," in terms of the effect it has on the confidence given these young kids from 8 to 13, a quality life skill. Even if they never pursue cooking as a job or a career, just learning how to cook for yourself sets you up in a good place.

I came up from a difficult background.

The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody's ego, that's it, game over.

If you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. And that's exactly what I did.

What you're experiencing now [on "MasterChef," on "Junior"] is what life's going to be like for the next four, five decades. You're going to go through those bumps. Bringing you back in contention and giving you that kind of confidence, they're huge. But they let it go, there's no fear, they're naughty, they're rude, and they know there's no parents and there's no school teacher so they can have fun, and it shows.