She may have finished as runner-up on MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites, but Sarah Todd already has some exciting new projects on the horizon.
The 34-year-old who has a restaurant in India, has revealed she's got another television show in the works and will be heading overseas later this week to film it.
"I fly out on Friday and I'll [be going] straight to the restaurant," Todd tells Refinery29 Australia. "Then I'm also filming a new TV show, which is a really exciting one in India. I can't say too much about it... I'm excited about that."
After finishing in ninth place on MasterChef's sixth season in 2014, Todd's culinary career has gone from strength to strength. Having spent a lot of time in India with her son's paternal grandparents, she learnt about the local food and opened her own restaurant called Antares Restaurant & Beach Club in India's Goa which specialises in Indian fusion cuisine.
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She also filmed a TV show called called My Restaurant in India, which in part helped cement her celebrity status in the region.
"I think the personalities of everyone there... they're just so warm," Todd reflects on the legion of support she's received from fans in India. "You just see the love.
"Being a young girl opening a business in India, I think it's quite inspiring for a lot of families, women and their daughters. I get so many young girls coming up to me," she says.
"There was this one time I was in my restaurant in Goa and I was having a pretty bad day. I was feeling a bit down on myself for whatever reason with stuff going on, and this young girl came up to me and she tapped me on the shoulder and she was like, 'My friend and I have driven for six hours to come and meet you. Can you come over and meet her?'
"When I walked over to meet her, she was bawling her eyes out because she was just so happy to see me. I just realised in that moment that it's actually not really about me anymore."
Todd says she realised the importance of giving back to the community and inspiring young people in an industry that still often boasts a disappointing "male to female ratio". Whenever she returns to India, she also takes a suitcase full of clothes to donate at a girl's orphanage near her restaurant.
Todd returned to MasterChef this year for its Fans & Favourites season which featured 12 previous contestants (favourites) and 12 amateur home cooks (fans).
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The previously eliminated contestants were Julie Goodwin (Season 1), Alvin Quah (Season 2) Sashi Cheliah (Season 10), Michael Weldon (Season 3), Christina Batista (Season 5), John Carasig (Season 7), Aldo Ortado (Season 10), Mindy Woods (Season 4), Minoli De Silva (Season 13), Tommy Pham (Season 13), Daniel Lamble, Ali Stoner, Jenn Lee, Chris Tran, Keyma Vasquez Montero, Dulan Hapuarachchi, Harry Tomlinson, Matt Landmark, Max Krapivsky, Melanie Persson, Montana Hughes and Steph Woon.
Last night's grand finale saw Todd finish as runner-up while Billie McKay — also a 'favourite' from Season 7 in 2015 — was crowned the winner. As runner-up, Todd was awarded $30,000 in cash which she says has helped her and her brother who've launched their own range of chilli sauces, called Hot Toddy.
With a new condiment brand and a TV show in the works, the world really is Todd's oyster.
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