{"id":761239,"date":"2026-06-26T09:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/761239\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T09:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:12:20","slug":"i-really-want-to-do-gero-proud-geraldton-cook-luke-harris-on-his-masterchef-rollercoaster-into-top-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/761239\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I really want to do Gero proud\u2019: Geraldton cook Luke Harris on his MasterChef rollercoaster into top 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geraldton\u2019s culinary star on the rise Luke Harris has been cooking up a storm on our TV screens for the past couple of months on MasterChef and this week he reached a special milestone \u2014 a coveted spot in the top 10.<\/p>\n

But the 20-year-old has an apology to make for fans of the show and those who have been following his progress in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of I should apologise for the roller-coaster of emotions I\u2019ve put you all through but truth be told, my mantra is to live and die by the sword so I don\u2019t know how much that is going to change,\u201d Harris told the Geraldton Guardian<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI swore to myself coming on MasterChef I would never be accused of playing it safe and I still feel strongly about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 journey on the reality TV juggernaut has been full of extremes: highs and lows, triumphs and silly mistakes, fear and fearlessness, invention and playing it safe and tough love and incredible validation from the judges.<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Harris with guest judge Kirsten Tibballs. Credit: Kelly Gardner<\/p>\n

The former Geraldton Christian College head boy \u2014 who was just 19 when filming started \u2014 said Wednesday night\u2019s episode when he not only survived, but smashed an incredibly hard Kirsten Tibballs\u2019 chocolate dessert pressure test was a \u201cturning point\u201d for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cA small part of me was happy I was in it, because I thought I feel like I haven\u2019t exactly earned my spot in the top 10. I\u2019ve worked really hard but I haven\u2019t always pulled things off, so I was really glad to have the chance to actually prove that I deserve to be in the top 10,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTop 10 is a special milestone because it\u2019s been a dream since I was a little kid. Since I was like eight years old, watching MasterChef, the dream was to get in and to win it, and top 10 is one step closer to it.<\/p>\n

\"Geraldton'sCamera IconGeraldton’s Luke Harris in the MasterChef garden. Credit: Kelly Gardner<\/p>\n

\u201cWeek one if you told me I made top 10, I would be happy but not surprised. But after the competition really kicked off and I saw the standard and the level of everyone around me, I\u2019m pretty ecstatic to make it to the top 10, and honestly a little surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said the show had not only catapulted his cooking skills to the next level, it helped him mature and grow personally by learning how to cope with high-pressure situations and physically gruelling schedules with the right mindset and how to \u201cdust yourself off\u201d after setbacks and failures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kitchen has a funny way of testing you in ways that have nothing to do with cooking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever anything goes badly or I do badly, I enjoy taking it as a chance to prove like a bit of redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Harris said the contestants prepared and researched as much as they could for the mystery challenges \u2014 overthinking, hanging on the judges\u2019 every word, studying previous seasons and coming in with recipe ideas that may or may not suit the challenge.<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Harris (second from right) and other contestants pressure for Kirsten Tibballs’ pressure test. Credit: Kelly Gardner<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually hilarious how superstitious we all were on the show and how much we overthink everything, but in reality most of the time we got it completely wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy theory was to always come into the kitchen with several ideas committed to memory in case of an emergency but otherwise try let the brief guide me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris admits his MasterChef experience has been \u201cso much harder, but so much better\u201d than he ever thought.<\/p>\n

Through the ups and down, Harris said the strategy he learnt \u201cthe hard way\u201d was that \u201cblack apron cooks (elimination days) you play it safe and white apron cooks (non-elimination days) you give it a red hot crack\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Harris gets fired up in the MasterChef kitchen. Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n

Harris was also lucky enough to meet and learn from a smorgasbord of celebrity chefs and guests who visited the MasterChef kitchen.<\/p>\n

He admits his favourites this season were Robert Irwin and Maggie Beer.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobert Irwin , 100 per cent. I was very, very excited, probably too excited for my own good. And of course Maggie, she\u2019s the queen of Australian food and an absolute icon.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Dad has a picture of him and her in our family home and it was a cool full circle moment to get to cook a dish for her as a massive fan of her shows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Harris prepares to be judged on MasterChef. Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n

Harris said while cooking started as a hobby for him, it grew into a passion when he witnessed how much happiness, joy and satisfaction it gave to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really have ever enjoyed cooking for just myself. I\u2019m terrible for getting takeaway. But there\u2019s just something about cooking for other people and seeing the joy that they get out of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said his parents and four older brothers had been incredibly supportive of his food dream, along with friends and teachers.<\/p>\n

His former food technology teacher Derek Goforth said Harris showed a \u201cgenuine passion for food, creativity and learning\u201d from a young age.<\/p>\n

\"LukeCamera IconLuke Harris in the kitchen in 2022. Credit: Derek Goforth\/RegionalHUB<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see there was something special there, but I don\u2019t think anyone could have predicted just how quickly his talent would develop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis success on MasterChef has been a surprise to me, not because I doubted him, but because the level of skill he is displaying at such a young age is extraordinary. What we are seeing is raw talent combined with an incredible work ethic and willingness to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Goforth said Harris had a remarkably bright future ahead of him.<\/p>\n

\u201dGeraldton is incredibly proud of Luke, and rightly so. He is not only an outstanding young cook, but an outstanding young man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Harris said he wanted to let the dust settle on the MasterChef bubble before he figured out his next moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate goal would be a career in food that involves both inspiring others online like I was inspired, but also having an avenue for others to taste my food in person. Not sure how, where or what yet but we can figure that out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Harris said it was special knowing that he had the support of his hometown behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I must admit, it does come with a little bit of pressure. Being the youngest in my family I\u2019ve probably been raised to really care about expectations and not wanting to let people down, and it\u2019s no different with the support I\u2019m getting from back home in Gero \u2014 I really, really, really want to do them proud,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While Harris has to remain tight-lipped about what\u2019s to come and how far he makes it in the competition, fans should stay tuned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just even more keen than ever to show people what I can do, and however it goes it should be good watching, I hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geraldton\u2019s culinary star on the rise Luke Harris has been cooking up a storm on our TV screens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427,45],"class_list":["post-761239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}