MasterChef SA winner Roxi in the pink and off the train

Dessert queen Roxi Wardman ditched her job as a train driver's assistant immediately after filming MasterChef South Africa. And it paid off when it was announced this week that she was the third winner of the reality cooking show.

Fan favourite and runner-up Siphokazi Mdlankomo, 39, had long since returned to the home in Newlands, Cape Town, where she cooks for the Andreasen family .

Mdlankomo has worked for the family for nine years. She will remain with them until she decides "what I want to do".

"The truth is, I don't have a place of my own, so I'm not rushing to do anything just yet. I am very grateful. There are some offers that are coming in which I can't talk about just yet, but they will make my dreams come true. I know somebody out there is going to give me the biggest opportunity," she said.

The family's teenage son, Cole, said he had had to "survive on cereal" while Mdlankomo was competing. She has been back at the Andreasen home since filming ended in July.

"I always make Cole a good breakfast. He eats junk food and cereal if I am not around. So we are back to Monday-night roast and the other favourites," Mdlankomo said.

She credited her employer, Liz Andreasen, for inspiring her to expand her cooking horizons. "We didn't have fancy food at home [in the Eastern Cape] and I still love a simple stew. But Liz would buy recipe books and magazines. She taught me how to use fresh herbs and introduced me to garlic. The first dish I learnt was perfect roast chicken and potatoes, which I love."

Andreasen told the UK's Guardian newspaper that her husband woke up at 5am to take Mdlankomo to her MasterChef audition.

"She showed incredible talent from the day she started working for us. No matter what happens now, we will support her," said Andreasen.

Mdlankomo installed satellite television at her family's home in Tsolo so that they could follow the show.

"My mom, she's just broken, crying all the time about how proud she is of me." She said the R100000 second prize would help change their lives.

The show is also life-changing for Wardman, a former waitress from the Bluff in Durban. She said her R500000 first prize would help her to start a patisserie and cafe in Durban.

"I am going to look for premises and staff immediately. I don't want anyone who's skilled, but people who are passionate. It will have a vintage but trendy vibe," the tattooed 26-year-old said.

She will remain in her hometown with her family and sales rep boyfriend, Byron, who "forced" her to enter. "I nearly didn't get to the audition," Wardman said.

"We want to stay in Durban and bring something that is missing from the foodie scene."