Today Food Network airs an all-new episode of Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking. The competition blends imaginative storytelling with fantastical edible creations. The series is hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley). They are joined by culinary judges Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef. The series, which was produced at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, was filmed against the backdrop of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter, featuring some of the original sets from the films.

In tonight's episode, with special guest Warwick Davis, the remaining teams enter the magical world of Gringotts Wizarding Bank to face off in three different head-to-head competitions where they will be asked to make three-foot showpieces inspired by Gringotts.

Recently, contestant and pastry chef Jordan Pilarski spoke with SciFi Vision about the competition, from designing showpieces with partner Zoe Burmester - including tonight's piece, the chandelier from Gringotts Bank - to his favorite Harry Potter film, and much more.

Read the full transcript below. Harry Potter: The Wizards of Baking airs weekly on Food Network and can also be streamed on Max.

SCIFI VISION: So, when you first were going to do it, I'm not sure exactly how it works. Did you sign up to be a part of it, or were you invited?

JORDAN PILARSKI: No, [they] actually reached out for it. I've had prior competition experience. So, I've actually been on Food Network a couple of times, and I've won a couple of shows. So, I think, because I'm a part of that network, I get some calls every now and again for shows, and I got a call for this one, and it was something that was brand new. So, it's super exciting.

SCIFI VISION: I was going to say, what was it that kind of made you - I mean other than it's fun to be a part of competitions, what was it about this one in particular that made you want to do it? How is it different other than it's Harry Potter for you?

JORDAN PILARSKI: I mean, yeah, exactly. So, Harry Potter, obviously, I grew up with those movies. I pretty much grew up with the characters in that movie. I think that's why it has stuck with me over the years, but also, it's brand new. I kind of knew the gist of it in the beginning. I knew that I would be traveling to London, which is even cooler and crazier, and that's really what inched me to pursue it, because, like I said, I've done a couple of these, and this one just seemed like it was going to be something that was probably bigger than I've ever done before, number one, and number two, the experience to travel and be on those sets, I think, was really the giveaway for me. I really wanted to do it

SCIFI VISION: How hard was it doing a competition with a partner you didn't know?

JORDAN PILARSKI: It's very difficult. I think that was the one thing when I first got asked to do it. They didn't tell me about [that].  They’re like, “You’ll have a partner,” and initially I was like, “Oh great, I'll pick someone. I know someone.” I had some people in mind. They're like “No, we're going to pair you up with a cake artist,” and I didn't know who that person was going to be. So, yeah, I think there's a lot to that, right? You're on edge. You don't know who you're getting paired with. You don't know what the chemistry is going to be like, but, ultimately, through and through, I got paired with Zoe, and we are still friends She was amazing. We had a lot of fun, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner.

SCIFI VISION: Did you guys agree on your designs? Was there any tension in that that part of it?

JORDAN PILARSKI: Yeah, you know, I wouldn't call it tension. She's extremely talented, extremely creative in her own right as a cake artist, and I feel like I'm very artistic in my own way as well. So, when we thought about things, especially for the first episode, we really wanted to showcase her ability as well as mine. So, I wouldn't even say it was tension. It's more of there's just a lot of ideas. So, it was good in a way, because we work so well together. We were able to move forward and find a path that worked for the both of us that was able to showcase equally what we both had to offer, especially for that first episode.

SCIFI VISION: Just out of curiosity when you go to pick what design you're going to make for a competition like this, do you come up with like an idea first and think, “I'll figure out how to do it,” or do you more think, “This is something I can make,” because it sounds like you more go by “this will show what I can do,” as opposed to like just coming up with the idea first.

JORDAN PILARSKI: You know, the first [competition] I did, I was twenty-one years old. I was on Spring Baking Championship on season three, and the mindset then was exactly what you're saying. I would just think of something and be like, “Okay, I'm gonna figure out how I'm going to get to that end goal.” Now I'm a little bit more strategic, right? So, especially in the first episode, you don't want to pick something you’ve never done before. I mean, there were some things that I never did before, but not necessarily when it came to structure, when it came to build, when it came to flavors. You want to be comfortable in that way, because if you're not, I think [if] you try to execute something that maybe you've never done before, it's much more difficult, especially in that six-hour time limit. That six hours goes by like thirty minutes. So, you know, sometimes you can get taken away and go on these tangents and try to figure out something that is crazy and over the top, but I think I brought that realism to it, where it was, you know, “Let's be realistic about it and actually make something that we're proud of and that we can do in six hours,” because, if not, you get yourself into a world of trouble. And I feel like I had that past experience to get me in that mindset.

SCIFI VISION: You talk about the kind of the high-pressure part of the competition of being timed, obviously, you have to sort of maybe leave off things that you wanted to do, because you don't have a week or whatever to complete a full cake.

JORDAN PILARSKI: Teams or individuals, that's how you're successful in these types of competitions is really to think on your feet. You have a vision. Zoe and I, we had a vision, especially in the first episode, and there're things that you have to just make decisions in the moment. You know, if you know you have an hour left, and you’ve got to do something that's going to take an hour, you may have to cut down on whatever you're making. You may have to pivot. I think I used that word a lot during filming. Just being able to pivot is really important, especially in high-pressure [situations]. And I work in a hotel, so things happen all the time. There's a lot to do in a day. There’re also popups. Things happen, you know, a guest wants this, a guest wants that. You have to make decisions, and you have to do it in a timely manner. So, it's not just making a decision and taking long. You have to really work through adversity all the time, and I think a lot of people don't understand that, especially in a competition setting, where it is fun, but also you have to be strategic with your time, especially in a six-hour time limit. So, yeah, I think that the only way to be successful in competition is to be able to pivot and make decisions and be okay with making those decisions. It also is hard too. You're proud, right? You want to do what you want to do, so to let go of something, it's hard. It's not easy, but for the betterment of the team or for the betterment of yourself throughout a competition, it's important especially to be successful.

SCIFI VISION: I'm just curious, for you personally, do you, I guess, think more about the flavors that you've made versus the actual construction of it? Because obviously in a show like this, both are important. You can't do one and not the other.

JORDAN PILARSKI: It's funny, because I would think the expected answer is for me to say, “Yeah, I think flavor is the most important,” but again, it's really putting your mind and thinking directly in the situation you're in. Especially in this competition, right? You have to, number one, build something huge and showcase your talent that way, but also have to showcase that you can bake and make tasty things. So, it's all important…especially in this type of competition, but other competitions it’s different. Sometimes it's all about taste. What I do know is taste is everything. So, you're right, even if you've made something beautiful, and it didn't taste good, that puts you in a bad position, and it kind of gives the judges a little bit of an inclination to either send you home or maybe not keep you just based off of things not tasting well, so it's important the whole time. That's what I'm thinking about the whole time is making sure that things taste good.

SCIFI VISION: I haven't seen the second episode yet, but I know you make a Gringotts chandelier cake in the episode. I mean, I've been in the Gringotts Bank at the Orlando park, so I have an idea what it's probably going to look like, but sort of talk about that design and what made you choose it.

JORDAN PILARSKI: I don't know how much I can talk about the actual specific design, but just in general, because you can see in the previews, you know, us walking in the bank, right into that set. You know, it's funny. I just posted a story about it. Like words and videos, it does not explain it. Like, it's crazy. It's massive, number one. The detail in that specific set is insane. When you think about the movies, and you think about these iconic scenes in Gringotts, that's what you walk into, which is crazy, because you're right like in [Universal], walking into it, you kind of get that feeling, but to be in London, to be in the Warner Brothers Studio Tour, to walk into that set and again, to look at, you know, the biggest focal point is the chandelier in the middle of the room. It's huge. The pillars are huge; everything is to scale and extremely detailed. So, I think really what I'm getting at is walking into that set really just puts a lot of ideas in your head. We came up with a great one, I think, and it's because that set is so iconic in the movies.

SCIFI VISION: Yeah, I'm excited to see it. I mean in Universal in Harry Potter, it's huge, and I'm sure it’s not even as big as it is there.

JORDAN PILARSKI: Yeah, it's insane.

SCIFI VISION: So, from what you said, it sounds like you were a fan of Harry Potter then way before this. Have you read the books too, or just have seen the movies?

JORDAN PILARSKI: I'm a big movie guy. My wife has read all the books, for sure. My brother read all the books when we were little, but me, yeah, not so much a reader. I love the movies. [laughs] So, no, I couldn’t say I read the books. Way back when I maybe read some pages, but I've definitely not read every single book.

SCIFI VISION: What’s your favorite of the movies then?

JORDAN PILARSKI: Yeah, that's a good that's a good question. My favorite is probably The Goblet of Fire. The reason for it is, I grew up an athlete, so I played baseball, ice hockey, you know, really any sport, you name it, but I played baseball in college. So, The Goblet of Fire, to me, is like sports, right? So, there’s the Triwizard Cup. There're so many cool worlds that the movie recreate especially from the books, all these different challenges. I think it's just a very exciting movie. It's an intense movie as well, but it just always keeps me on my toes. I just love watching that movie because of that.

SCIFI VISION: No, I don't know what exactly part they're gonna show us on the on the show, but I'm assuming you got a full tour of the studio lot. So, what part of it was your favorite that you actually got to see why you were there, even if it's not on the show.

JORDAN PILARSKI: It's funny, because that we were talking about Gringotts, and the way they split that set on the tour. So, the one that we walk into is fully, you know, what it is [in the film], and then right actually next to it is when the dragon kind of comes up from the underbelly of the bank, and it's like this destruction. So, all the pillars are broken. It's a very different set, but it's really cool, because they have like a 4D type thing that happens when you do the tour, but because of how big those are, you really feel like it just takes you into that world. I think that's probably my favorite, because even just going into Gringotts, you go through the mine, and you you see the room where all the coins multiply, where they filmed that. So, I think just that area of the tour is really cool.

SCIFI VISION: There's a lot of stuff there. I definitely didn't know that was there.

JORDAN PILARSKI: There's so much, and that's just like an eighth of the tour. I mean It's huge. It's huge. I mean, even Platform 9 ¾, the first episode, walking on to that, it's huge. There's a full train there. I mean, walking there and being there, and it's different, because we were there by ourselves not with 7,000 people or whatever. How many people go through that tour in a day? So, being there, I mean, you're speechless when you're there.

SCIFI VISION: What was it like meeting James and Oliver Phelps?

JORDAN PILARSKI: I mean, they're so iconic. It's weird, right? You see them in the movies with red hair. Now they’re older. Their actual hair color is a lighter brown. They look the same, but it's - You're speechless. I think that we came out of the the fireplace when they first announced us, and I think the first thing I said to them was like, “Wicked!” I didn't even know what to say. I think I said something stupid. It didn't make it to the cut, but it's just you don't know what to do really in that moment, because it's not just a celebrity, it’s someone you've watched In these iconic movies growing up, and now you're seeing them judging a baking competition that you’re in. It's crazy.

SCIFI VISION: Were you worried what they would think of what you guys were making? I mean obviously the judges are important too, but were you also thinking of embarrassing yourself, I guess, somewhat in front of them?

JORDAN PILARSKI: Yeah, it’s intense. I think this show is so different in that way, right? It's not only a one-of-a-kind show, but it's based around such an iconic theme. I mean everybody knows about Harry Potter, so when you're tasked to make desserts and show pieces themed around that, yeah, that's another layer of stress. It's not just, “Oh, let's try to get this done in six hours.” It's like “Oh, let's try to get this done and make sure that people who are gonna watch this connect with it. And that's just another layer of the competition which is crazy. And the twins, I mean, they're walking around looking at what we're doing. They know what we're doing. They know what we're baking. I think they're in awe at how we're doing it. But yeah, that's a lot of added pressure there

SCIFI VISION: You said that you're a Hufflepuff on the show. I assume if you're a fan a long time ago, that's something you chose a long time ago rather than just like using the app to figure out which house?

JORDAN PILARSKI: Well, yeah, you know it's funny, because I thought I was a Gryffindor. I mean, I feel like every like young kid probably wanted to be a Gryffindor, especially when these movies first came out. But I felt like I was that, but as I've gotten older, and not even just recently, but as I've gotten older, I think it's just the way that I work. The empathy I have for people, you know, how hard I work, how loyal I am to not even just my friendships and my relationships, but how I am at work. I definitely align more with Hufflepuff than anything.