MasterChef Australia: Who Has Been Eliminated So Far?

The MasterChef Australia kitchen is filled with talented home cooks dreaming of the prize and the coveted title. But sadly, only one contestant can make it through all the mystery boxes and pressure cooks to be crowned the MasterChef winner for 2026.

Along with watching the contestant’s culinary journeys, this season is set to be a good one. Judges Poh Ling Yeow, Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli have returned to bring us their signature flavours of expertise, humour and compassion.

Plus, this season features an incredible list of celebrity guests, including Meghan Markle, Jimmy Barnes and Maggie Beer — just to name a few — and promises to lift the standard of excellence in the kitchen to higher levels than we’ve ever seen before.

Exciting, don’t you think?

Without further ado, here’s everyone who has been eliminated from MasterChef Australia so far.

Who has been eliminated from MasterChef Australia so far?

Episode 55 – Wednesday, July 22

The episode starts with some heartwarming news. Andy Allen won’t be judging this elimination cook as he’s at the hospital with his wife, welcoming their first child. 

The bad news falls to the four cooks left in the kitchen – Annabel, Casper, Aaron and Petro – who must recreate Poh Ling Yeow’s Malaysian Snacks, one of the most intricate and beautiful trays of treats you could ever lay eyes on.  

The contestants must make three snacks close to Poh’s heart, recipes passed down through generations of her family. Having no children of her own, sharing these treasured recipes with the contestants is incredibly important to her. They have three hours and 15 minutes to make all three treats concurrently. 

The first is kuih lapis, a brightly coloured vanilla, ube and pandan layered jelly cake that looks more like an elaborate arts-and-crafts project than a dessert, shaped into a beautiful star. The second is kue kochi, a pointed banana leaf parcel filled with glutinous rice, coconut and palm sugar – like unwrapping a delicious little present. The final challenge is Poh’s intricate spiral curry puff. 

Aaron does fantastically. Drawing on his Malaysian heritage, the cook is an emotional and nostalgic one, and he knows he’d be doing both his family and Poh a disservice if he doesn’t deliver. Thankfully, he does so in spades. 

Petro manages to get two of the three snacks to an impressive standard, despite the enormous task at hand. Casper finishes just behind him, with cracks in his curry puff pastry allowing oil to seep in, affecting the final result. His kue kochi is also slightly undercooked. 

Unfortunately, it’s Annabel who is sent home in a heart-wrenching farewell that leaves not only the young chef in tears, but Poh as well. Annabel admits she had a lump in her throat at the end of the cook, with an intuition that today simply wasn’t her day. Her kue kochi is undercooked, the layers of her kuih lapis melt into one another and fail the all-important “peel test”, and while her curry puff pastry is absolutely perfect, it isn’t enough to save her. 

That makes Annabel the 20th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia competition, cementing the Top 4 as Aaron, Vinnie (who watched safely from the gantry after winning immunity), Casper and Petro. 

Episode 54 – Tuesday, July 21

The Top 5 are challenged to keep up with the one and only Andy Allen in a lightning-fast cook, where they must recreate a dish from his brand-new Three Blue Ducks menu in Burradoo, sight unseen and untasted: BBQ lamb with burnt eggplant cream and braised borlotti beans.

Annabel, Petro, Vinnie, Aaron and Casper must listen carefully and follow Andy’s every move. From the moment he finishes plating, they have just 15 extra seconds to complete their own dishes.

With two hibachis blazing and a daunting number of pots and pans spread across their benches, the contestants know keeping up with the internationally renowned chef won’t be easy. And they’re right. The hibachis prove temperamental, Andy demonstrates techniques some of them have never attempted before, and his frighteningly fast knife skills are almost impossible to match.

Despite the pressure, every contestant plates up a dish remarkably similar to Andy’s, with only a few bitter eggplant creams and slightly undercooked pieces of lamb separating them.

But one dish stands out from the rest.

Vinnie not only secures immunity and a place in the Top 4, but also earns himself an apprenticeship at Three Blue Ducks, courtesy of co-owner Andy Allen after a cheeky Vinnie flat out asks him. The answer – a resounding yes.

Episode 53 – Monday, July 20

As Sprint to the Finals Week continues, judge and multi-Michelin-star, classically trained chef and expert saucier Jean-Christophe runs a masterclass, showing the remaining six contestants how to make two of the five French mother sauces: velouté and espagnole. 

Armed with that knowledge, the contestants have 75 minutes and access to the pantry and garden to create a dish that perfectly pairs with one of the sauces. They’re encouraged to put their own spin on the classics, but the least impressive dish will send its maker home. 

Annabel gets creative and, with a clear vision, cooks with ease. She serves her take on fish and chips with pan-seared blue-eye cod, hash brown chips and a tartare-inspired velouté with a tang of mustard. The judges go crazy for it. The fish is perfectly flaky, the hash brown chips are “better than a chip”, according to Sofia – which is hard to do – and, of course, the sauce is a standout. 

Aaron and Casper both struggle with their dishes. Casper serves hibachi-cooked blue-eye cod with fennel, zucchini salad and a Japanese-style velouté. His sauce? Delicious. Does it go with the dish? Unfortunately not. Aaron’s Asian-inspired velouté, served with a trio of seafood, is unbalanced and his scallops are undercooked. Uh oh! 

While Petro and Annabel earn high praise for their dishes – with Petro’s espagnole described as expert level – Luke is finally on the chopping block after surviving multiple elimination scares. 

His spiced lamb rack with roasted figs, radicchio and orange espagnole has a large, unrendered fat cap that the judges find undesirable, while his sauce is too sweet. Having left himself only 20 minutes to make the sauce in a sauce challenge, his risky approach finally catches up with him. Luke becomes the 19th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia competition. 

Episode 52 – Sunday, July 19

It’s Sprint to the Finals Week on MasterChef Australia, and each challenge this week is designed by one of the judges to prepare the contestants for the business end of the competition.

First up is Sofia, who has hidden four mystery ingredients beneath cloches. The contestants must each choose just one ingredient – onion, yuzu, beetroot or almonds – and, alongside a handful of under-bench staples, create a dish that extracts as much flavour as possible using different techniques. The aim? To show just how far they’ve come in the competition and all the new skills they’ve learned.

With 75 minutes on the clock, the cook with the best dish will win immunity and secure the first spot in the Top 5.

The challenge leaves everyone asking the same question: how do you create a MasterChef-worthy dish using just one hero ingredient?

Annabel and Casper both decide on crullers, while Vinnie and Aaron, who both choose onion, each make stuffed pasta.

Aaron’s onion tortellini with charred onion broth, lightly pickled and charred onion petals, finished with an onion water tuile, looks Michelin-star worthy. The judges praise his clever techniques and say he’s thinking like a chef.

Vinnie’s caramelised onion agnolotti with charred onion brodo might not be as polished visually, but the flavour is outstanding.

Elsewhere, Petro’s lack of clarity with his beetroot dish proves costly, while Casper’s salted yuzu cruller with yuzu jam and white pepper anglaise is delicious but unfortunately raw.

Luke is left in tears after serving a sloshy yuzu curd crêpe cake topped with a collapsed meringue. Disappointed in himself, Andy offers some tough love, urging him to reset before the elimination cook or risk it being his last.

In the end, it comes down to a battle of the pastas. Vinnie proudly takes out dish of the day, becoming the first contestant to earn a place in the Top 5.

Episode 51 – Wednesday, July 15

It’s the final day of Heat Week and four contestants – Aaron, Pat, Vinnie and Luke – are battling it out for a place in the Top 6. 

The challenge begins with a lucky dip. Each contestant selects a token, with matching tokens determining the duels. Luke and Vinnie draw smoke, while Pat and Aaron draw fire. 

With 45 minutes on the clock, the contestants can cook whatever they like, but their dishes will be judged side by side. The loser of each duel will then face off in a final elimination cook. 

Luke, who has never used a smoke gun before, does what Luke does best and attempts something completely new. His take on a s’more features chocolate crèmeux and a smoked meringue, but while the concept impresses, the crèmeux hasn’t set and the meringue is watery. 

Vinnie fares much better with his scotch fillet, smoked radicchio salad and green sauce. The judges love the balance of the dish and are particularly impressed by the smoky salad, earning him the win. 

In the fire duel, Pat serves pan-seared barramundi with prawn bisque, leeks, potatoes and fennel. The dish is beautifully cooked, but the judges question whether a bisque was the right sauce to tackle in just 45 minutes. 

Aaron’s drunken prawns with egg floss, meanwhile, are packed with flavour and personal significance. The dish celebrates his heritage and secures him a place in the Top 6. 

That leaves Pat and Luke to battle it out in a 60-minute elimination cook. 

Luke serves a kingfish mosaic with miso beurre blanc and salmon roe. The dish is elegant and visually stunning, though the fish is cooked inconsistently. 

Pat stays true to his style with charred octopus and romesco sauce. While the flavours are there, inconsistencies in the cook of the octopus and a lack of depth in the sauce prove costly. 

It’s not enough to get him over the line, and Pat becomes the 18th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen. 

Episode 50 – Tuesday, July 14

As Aaron, Pat, Petro, Vinnie and Luke enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen, they’re greeted by hibachis on every bench and told the fiery cooking device will be their only source of heat in a challenge that offers the last guaranteed spot in the Top 6.

With 75 minutes on the clock, stovetops removed and ovens and microwaves unplugged, the contestants can cook either sweet or savoury using only the hibachi, with full access to the pantry and garden.

Luke serves up an “Australian satay kambing” featuring lamb, satay sauce and rice cakes. The judges worry his version may not live up to the original, but they’re blown away by the ambitious dish. It looks impressive and tastes even better.

Vinnie faces hurdle after hurdle while creating his John Dory with smoked butter, tomato sauce and flatbread. He burns the bread twice, spills his sauce on the floor and even has his dish literally go up in flames when his hibachi starts misbehaving. In the end, his fish is just 30 seconds under. Had he nailed the cook, the judges agree it could have been the perfect dish.

But once again, Petro emerges as the frontrunner with an inventive charred corn ice cream featuring pickled pineapple and dark rum caramel. The dessert eats like a fine-dining charred corn sundae, with the judges praising the thoughtful balance of rum, chilli and salt throughout.

The result? Dish of the day, immunity and a fast-tracked spot in the Top 6.

The remaining contestants will battle it out in the next challenge to secure their place in the competition, with one cook set to be eliminated.

Episode 49 – Monday, July 13

The MasterChef Australia garden is home to the hero ingredient in this Heat Week immunity challenge – the glorious chilli.

From bird’s eye chillies to jalapeños and red and green cayennes, each variety brings its own unique flavour profile. The challenge for the remaining six contestants? Create a dish that celebrates at least one chilli in a 60-minute cook. Casper watches on from the gantry after securing immunity the day before.

Aaron leans into bold flavours with a Malaysian-style chilli crab served with toasted baguette to soak up the delicious – and very messy – sauce. The judges love the immersive experience, declaring it a fun dish bursting with flavour and perfectly suited to the challenge.

Petro takes the biggest risk of the day, becoming the only contestant to make a dessert. His chilli ice cream with chilli and lime granita and coconut tapioca pudding impresses the judges, with Andy calling it the best granita he’s ever eaten. However, a last-minute addition of pear – after he accidentally burnt his pineapple – doesn’t quite sit right on the plate and slightly detracts from an otherwise clever dish.

In the end, though, it’s Annabel who steals the show.

After a difficult cook the day before, she returns to what she does best with a beautifully executed dish of butterflied King George whiting, Thai red curry sauce and pipis. Using a unilateral cooking technique on the fish, she impresses the judges with both her skill and restraint.

Annabel brings the heat – and the flavour! (Credit: Instagram)

The pipis are plump, the fish is perfectly cooked and the chilli enhances rather than overwhelms the delicate sweetness of the seafood.

While Aaron comes a very close second, Annabel’s dish earns her immunity and a coveted place in the Top 6.

After a shaky start to Heat Week, it proves that cooking from the heart – and creating something she genuinely loves to eat – is exactly what she needed to get back on track.

Episode 48 – Sunday, July 12

Heat Week has arrived in the MasterChef Australia kitchen, and former fan favourite Marion Grasby is back to spice things up. Literally.

Since her time on the show, Marion has built an impressive career as a food entrepreneur, television presenter and cookbook author. Now she’s returning to share her love of spice with the remaining seven contestants.

In a masterclass, Marion demonstrates how to incorporate spice into both savoury and sweet dishes before unveiling a Mystery Box packed with bold flavours. Inside are pork belly, silken tofu, pumpkin, kangkong, Thai basil, shiitake mushrooms, lime, ginger, green Szechuan peppercorns, Thai chilli powder, soy sauce, gochujang and, of course, Marion’s famous crispy chilli oil.

With 75 minutes on the clock, the contestants can cook either sweet or savoury, but their dish must feature a spicy kick and use at least one Mystery Box ingredient. The reward? Immunity and an automatic fast-track into the Top 6.

Mystery Boxes are usually Annabel’s thing, but today she’s completely lost. Her soy and Szechuan-glazed mushroom skewers with gochujang tofu leave her in tears, admitting it’s not a cook she’s proud of. While the judges reassure her she’s done better than she thinks, the spice overwhelms the dish and it lacks balance.

Vinnie takes the brief in the opposite direction – perhaps a little too enthusiastically. His pumpkin gnocchi with Szechuan pork sauce leaves all four judges coughing and spluttering.

“Are you trying to kill us?” Jean-Christophe hilariously asks.

Casper, however, nails the balancing act. His chilli and lime pork belly with pickled shiitake mushrooms and pumpkin purée delivers exactly what the judges are looking for. The sweet, sour and spicy elements work in harmony, while the pork is beautifully cooked.

The result? Dish of the day and a fast-tracked spot in the Top 6.

Episode 47 – Wednesday, July 8

Acclaimed chef Sam Aisbett is in the MasterChef Australia kitchen to set a pressure test worthy of his reputation.

Having trained under Peter Gilmore at Quay before returning as head chef, and later turning two international restaurants into Michelin-starred destinations within their first year, Sam knows a thing or two about precision.

Standing between Annabel, Luke, Alyona and Casper and a place in the Top 7 is his deceptively named “crab salad”.

Simple? Not even close.

The dish is made up of multiple intricate layers, beginning with a fennel jam mixed with crème fraîche and topped with perfectly cooked mud crab and a delicate crab dressing. There are apple dashi pearls resembling caviar, pickled palm heart, finely shaved macadamia, Buddha’s hand citrus and a towering centrepiece featuring fennel milk jelly – similar to a panna cotta – topped with seaweed vinegar jelly.

The contestants have three hours to recreate the Michelin-starred masterpiece, with the cook whose dish least resembles Sam’s facing elimination.

Mistakes are made across the board – except by Annabel.

Her dish is exceptional, with Andy struggling to contain his excitement as he compares it to Sam’s original. Her methodical approach and immaculate bench – skills honed during her career as an ED nurse – pay off in a big way, earning her dish of the day.

Luke’s version eats beautifully but falls short in a few areas, particularly his palm heart, which is too fibrous after using the wrong part of the ingredient.

Casper delivers the most visually impressive plate of the day. His macadamia curls are flawless and Jean-Christophe believes his dish is the closest to Sam’s original. However, disaster strikes when Sofia and Poh both find pieces of crab shell in their servings.

For Alyona, it is a difficult cook from the outset.

Struggling to find her rhythm, she misreads parts of the recipe, removes her crab at the wrong time and spends the rest of the challenge trying to catch up. By the end, her crab is over-seasoned and key elements, including the crab dressing, are missing from the plate altogether.

The judges are left weighing up a difficult decision: what is worse – a dish containing crab shell or a dish missing crucial elements?

In the end, they decide the greater issue is a dish that doesn’t fully resemble Sam’s original creation.

Alyona is eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen.

Episode 46 – Tuesday, July 7

The Top 8 are playing for immunity, and the challenge begins with a sweet surprise.

Meeting judge Sofia in the MasterChef garden, the contestants are greeted by an ice cream bike stocked with a range of Connoisseur flavours. Through a lucky dip, each contestant selects an ice cream, which must then become the hero flavours of a dessert designed to impress the judges.

The top four dishes will earn immunity from tomorrow’s pressure test, while the bottom four will be forced to fight for their place in the competition.

The flavour draw sees Casper land mint and cookies, Petro salted caramel and macadamia, Aaron vanilla caramel brownie, Luke pistachio gelato, Alyona rocky road, Pat mango and coconut, Annabel honeycomb and Australian honey, while Vinnie manifests almond biscotti.

With 75 minutes on the clock, the kitchen quickly descends into chaos.

Petro and Alyona both decide to hero their flavours in éclairs, creating an unexpected battle of the éclairs. Vinnie attempts a complex layered tart but begins to panic when his tart shell looks far too blonde. Meanwhile, Annabel channels her inner mad scientist, using liquid nitrogen to create an ice cream bombe.

Unfortunately, Annabel’s burnt honey ice cream, vanilla and fig jam bombe with rosemary sponge doesn’t hold its shape, arriving at the judges as a melted puddle. While they praise her creativity, they agree the dessert needed more refinement.

Petro emerges victorious in the éclair showdown. His salted caramel and macadamia éclair earns a table smack from Jean-Christophe and plenty of praise from the judges.

Vinnie’s Connoisseur inspired creation! (Credit: Instagram)

Vinnie’s almond biscotti tart with chocolate-orange ganache, almond praline, vanilla crème diplomate, toasted almonds and orange syrup is another standout. The judges love the way it sings the flavours of Sicily, with Andy joking that the nonna’s will be firmly back on Vinnie’s side after his pasta mishap nearly sent him home the day before.

In the end, Aaron, Pat, Petro and Vinnie secure the top four dishes and immunity from the pressure test.

That leaves Annabel, Luke, Casper and Alyona facing tomorrow’s elimination cook.

Episoe 45 – Monday, July 6

It’s an internationally themed elimination cook, and the contestants are faced with five unique ingredients from around the world. On offer are bottarga from Italy, sansho pepper from Japan, banana blossom from Vietnam, alheira sausage from Portugal and juniper berries from Sweden.

For all of the contestants, it’s their first time cooking with any of these ingredients, meaning they’re heading into the challenge blind.

With 75 minutes on the clock, each cook must create a dish that heroes one of the ingredients. The contestant with the worst dish will be sent home, while the maker of the best dish will score a $10,000 Trafalgar Tours travel voucher.

Vinnie and Annabel both choose bottarga – a cured and salted mullet roe prized for its rich umami flavour. While powerful in theory, the ingredient can easily get lost if not used correctly, something Vinnie discovers when tasting his prawn and bottarga ravioli after incorporating the roe into the pasta dough and realising he can barely taste it.

Convinced he has blown the challenge, Vinnie becomes emotional during judging and admits he thinks he is heading home. While the judges agree it isn’t his strongest cook, they assure him that the bottarga remains front and centre, meaning he has at least nailed the brief.

Emily faces the opposite problem.

Pat’s standout “Juniper Roo” dish that scores him $10,000 in prizes. (Credit: Instagram)

Her fresh Filipino spring rolls stuffed with pork, prawns and banana blossom are packed with flavour and beautifully executed. Unfortunately, the judges struggle to detect the banana blossom, leaving the hero ingredient lost on the plate.

In the end, it’s Emily who is sent home, becoming the latest contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen.

At the other end of the leaderboard, Pat delivers a standout performance.

His “Juniper Roo” – featuring kangaroo, pomme purée, juniper sauce and charred asparagus – earns him the $10,000 travel voucher. The judges are blown away by his glossy, rich and beautifully balanced sauce, with even sauce master Jean-Christophe left in disbelief. Combined with a perfect cook on the kangaroo that the judges could cut through like butter, it proves to be the dish of the day. Well done Pat!

Episode 44 – Sunday, July 5

One of the world’s most celebrated chefs, Sanjeev Kapoor, is in the MasterChef Australia kitchen. With more than 20 million followers and over 150 cookbooks to his name, the culinary icon is setting a challenge worthy of his reputation.

Inside his Mystery Box are key Indian ingredients including tomatoes, sweet potato, guava, coconut, onion, lamb rack, mussels, palm jaggery, turmeric, garam masala and mango pickle.

Pat’s iconic “Choux Bhaji”. (Credit: Instagram)

The Top 9 contestants have access to a special under-bench pantry stocked with Indian staples, but there’s a catch – the garden and pantry are off limits.

With 75 minutes on the clock, the cooks must create a dish that celebrates one or more of the Mystery Box ingredients and impresses Sanjeev. The reward is huge: immunity from the next elimination and the chance to have a masterclass broadcast to Sanjeev’s massive global audience.

The kitchen is buzzing as contestants get creative. Annabel combines Indian flavours with modern Australian techniques in a lamb tartare with sweet potato crisps. Casper bravely tackles mussels, despite the ingredient nearly sending him home less than a week ago. Pat invents a “choux bhaji”, which Poh describes as India’s answer to a cheeseburger. Meanwhile, Emily serves up a sweet moong dal dosa with lassi ice cream and guava chutney – a dish Sanjeev admits he’s never seen anything like.

But it’s Casper who steals the show.

His sweet potato and spinach curry with pickled mussels, pickled guava and finger millet roti leaves the judges in awe. Sofia is physically spinning with excitement, Poh breaks into a dance, Sanjeev smacks the table in approval and Jean-Christophe celebrates with a kiss for the delighted contestant.

The beautifully balanced dish is declared Casper’s best cook yet, earning him Top Dish, immunity and a fast-track straight into the Top 8.

Special mentions also go to Luke, Vinnie, Pat and Emily, who all impress with standout cooks of their own.

Episode 43 – Wednesday, July 1

Knockout Week’s elimination cook has arrived, and seven contestants walk into the MasterChef Australia kitchen to find three ominous black cloches waiting for them. 

Underneath? Nothing. 

That’s because the ingredients they’ll be cooking with must be handpicked by the three contestants safe on the gantry – Annabel, Aaron and Vinnie. 

The trio head to a local Coles to choose one ingredient each before returning to reveal their selections. The remaining contestants must then choose one of those ingredients to hero in a dish. 

Vinnie opts for mussels, describing them as quick to cook and packed with flavour. Annabel chooses her trusty leek, declaring, “No one is going home on my ingredient.” Aaron rounds things out with the versatile beef short rib. 

With 75 minutes on the clock and full access to the pantry and garden, the contestants make their choices and get cooking. 

Alyona selects mussels, but after a visit from Sofia and Jean-Christophe, she realises her original concept is trying to fuse too many cuisines, and the hero ingredient is getting lost. She pivots and serves mussels in a Japanese dashi broth with Russian buns. 

The judges agree the dish is beautifully balanced, with Sofia declaring she wouldn’t change a thing. 

Petro chooses leeks after plenty of tense deliberation and admits he’s not feeling particularly confident. He serves a delicate dish of leeks and scallops with tofu and miso cream, charred leeks and miso-glazed scallops. 

The subtle flavours and thoughtful execution impress the judges, with Andy going as far as saying Petro is one of the contestants to beat this season. 

Hannah didn’t even like the taste of mussels until a recent trip to Italy changed her mind! (Credit: 10)

Unfortunately, things don’t go as smoothly for Hannah. 

Her spaghetti with mussels, pangrattato and chilli oil shows off strong pasta-making skills, but the dish is let down by undercooked mussels and grit left behind from not cleaning them thoroughly enough. 

While the flavours are there, the mistakes prove too significant to overlook. 

At the end of the cook, Petro and Alyona are rewarded with dishes of the day, while Hannah becomes the latest contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen, becoming the 15th contestant sent home this season. 

Episode 42 – Tuesday, June 30

An intense team service challenge determines which contestants will face MasterChef Australia‘s Knockout Week elimination – and which three cooks will earn immunity.

Tasked with serving a fine dining two-course menu to 16 Coles farmers and producers, alongside judges Poh and Sofia, the contestants are split into two teams by drawing either a yellow or orange apron from a bag.

Team Orange – Pat, Alyona and Petro – must hero oranges across both a main and dessert. To help them tackle the challenge, they have Jean-Christophe overseeing the pass.

Meanwhile, Team Yellow – Annabel, Aaron and Vinnie – are challenged to showcase pineapple, with Andy guiding them through service.

Team yellow have Andy Allen’s expert advice for this team service challenge. (Credit: Instagram)

With just two hours to plan, cook and plate two courses, the pressure quickly ramps up.

Petro takes a huge risk by attempting éclairs for the very first time, while Annabel is forced to abandon a sweet roti component from her dessert as time gets away from them.

Team Yellow serves pork chop with pineapple sambal and charred radicchio for their main, followed by a pineapple and coconut dessert featuring charred pineapple and roasted coconut ice cream.

The judges are immediately impressed. The pork cuts like butter, the caramelisation is spot on and the pineapple sambal is praised as a “gorgeous” addition. As for the dessert, the missing roti isn’t missed at all, with the judges agreeing the dish feels more refined without it. Poh is giddy tasting the dessert, unable to hide her excitement.

Team Orange serves duck breast with orange sauce, parsnip purée and endive, followed by a chocolate orange éclair.

The duck is beautifully cooked and juicy, while the parsnip purée is silky smooth. However, the judges feel the orange flavour gets lost in the sauce. Their dessert, on the other hand, is a runaway success.

In fact, Sofia declares it the best éclair she’s ever eaten in the MasterChef kitchen, praising the fragrant orange flavour and perfectly executed choux pastry.

With both teams delivering exceptional food, the judges struggle to separate them.

In the end, the result comes down to the smallest of margins.

Team Orange falls short because the orange flavour in their main course isn’t prominent enough, meaning the hero ingredient isn’t fully celebrated.

That sends Annabel, Aaron and Vinnie to safety – and the gantry – while Pat, Petro and Alyona are left to fight for their place in the competition in the following elimination cook.

Episode 41 – Monday, June 29

The contestants walk into the MasterChef Australia kitchen to find four fridges – and a judge standing proudly in front of each one.

The eight contestants cooking today must choose a fridge without looking inside, relying solely on what they know about the judge in front of it. Whatever ingredients are waiting inside will need to be transformed into a dish worthy of keeping them in the running for immunity and far away from Knockout Week’s elimination cook.

Annabel, Alyona, Vinnie and Pat opt for Andy’s fridge, which is packed with fresh seasonal produce, Bay lobster, quail, pickles, ferments and, naturally, a few cans of his Travla beer.

Petro and Aaron choose Poh’s fridge, filled with Asian flavours and baking staples. Think pork belly, tofu, Chinese celery and strawberries.

No one initially wants Sofia’s fridge, but at the last minute Luke takes the plunge. Inside he finds ingredients including lamb backstrap, Turkish sausage, dill, beetroot, capers and oysters.

Meanwhile, Hannah is the only contestant brave enough to choose Jean-Christophe’s fridge. Expecting sweet treats, she’s instead greeted by pigs’ feet, escargot, flank steak and crème fraîche – a very Jean-Christophe selection.

Adding to the pressure, the contestant who serves the best dish of the day will take home a $5,000 LG voucher to put towards their dream kitchen.

Petro immediately experiences a little buyer’s remorse after choosing Poh’s fridge, realising he’s unfamiliar with many of the ingredients. Rather than panic, he decides to lean into what he knows best – pulling from his heritage he creates a Greek dessert infused with Asian flavours.

It’s a huge gamble.

The judges admit they’ve never eaten a “Grasian” dessert before, but Petro completely wins them over with his filo cigars filled with coconut and pandan crème pâtissière. Despite hitting several hurdles throughout the cook, his creative and delicious dish earns him both dish of the day and the $5,000 voucher.

Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as smoothly for Luke and Hannah.

Luke attempts Portuguese tarts in an air fryer, but they burn, overflow and ultimately fall apart. His fig ice cream earns plenty of praise, but it’s not enough to save the dish.

Hannah serves chicken breast with confit baby leek, carrot purée and champagne beurre blanc. However, her beurre blanc lacks finesse, the chicken is overly salty and the purée under-seasoned.

By the end of the cook, Luke and Hannah find themselves at the bottom of the leader board and are heading into the Knockout Week elimination challenge.

Episode 40 – Sunday, June 28

It’s the beginning of Knockout Week, and the Top 10 are thrown straight into a tricky Twins Challenge – the first of three cooks where they must avoid serving the worst dish of the day. Any contestant who lands at the bottom of the leaderboard throughout the week will automatically be sent into the elimination cook at the end of Knockout Week.

Overseeing the challenge is former MasterChef Australia contestant Sarah Todd, who is the perfect person for the job. Returning to the kitchen alongside partner and fellow contestant Declan Cleary – where the pair first met – Sarah reflects on life with their identical twin daughters, Charlotte and Claudia. The tiny MasterChef aprons gifted to the girls at the end of the cook? Yes, we were crying!

Declan and Sarah bring their daughters to the place they first met! (Credit: Instagram)

For the challenge, the contestants must cook in pairs and create two identical dishes while separated by a wall. Communication is key – and chaos quickly ensues.

Inside Sarah’s Mystery Box are ingredients including chateaubriand, King George whiting, crab, bhut jolokia ghost chilli, beetroot, black garlic, dashi, cashews, green apples, parsnips, mustard greens, bronze fennel and thyme.

With 60 minutes on the clock, the pairs are determined by drawing coloured aprons from a bag. As soon as the cook begins, contestants are shouting instructions over the wall, only to have their voices drowned out by everyone else doing exactly the same thing.

The standout performers of the day are the yellow team, Petro and Pat – otherwise known as P1 and P2, or “Patro” for the duration of the challenge.

They serve a chateaubriand with black garlic and ghost chilli glaze, parsnip purée and kohlrabi slaw. Their steaks are almost identical, differing by only a degree or two in doneness, and deliver what the judges describe as a “bloody delicious” medium-rare cook.

Everything on the plate is balanced, refined and, most importantly, remarkably similar. The pair are declared the winners of the challenge and take out dish of the day.

Unfortunately, it’s the orange team – Casper and Emily – who find themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard and facing elimination after a difficult cook filled with miscommunications.

Their chateaubriand with black garlic and parsnip purée, alongside a kohlrabi, green apple and fennel salad, falls short for a number of reasons. Emily accidentally leaves the ring mould on the salad, making it inedible, while the steaks are cooked differently, the seasoning is inconsistent and the purées taste noticeably different.

Episode 39 – Wednesday, June 24

This isn’t just any pressure test. This is Bombe Alaska-level trauma. 

World-renowned pastry chef and chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs is in the MasterChef Australia kitchen with one of her most intricate creations yet – a stunning chocolate iris entremet. And by the end of the cook, the Top 10 will officially be revealed. 

Safe to say, the stakes are sky-high. 

The chocolate iris is made up of seven beautifully crafted layers featuring roasted pecan, caramel, lemon and chocolate flavours, all topped with a delicate iris-shaped chocolate sculpture. As Luke points out, it looks like it belongs in an art gallery rather than a kitchen. 

With three hours and 45 minutes on the clock and more than 100 steps in the recipe, time is not on the side of Grace, Luke, Emily and Aaron. 

In a pressure test this detailed, even the smallest mistake can have major consequences – and unfortunately, everyone slips up at some point. 

Emily accidentally combines two ingredients that weren’t meant to be mixed together. Grace leaves half the sugar out of her sponge cake and later realises she has put her crémeux in the wrong freezer, meaning it doesn’t have enough time to properly set. 

Aaron’s determination to be precise sees him fall behind the pack, while Luke faces disaster after accidentally leaving plastic on his chocolate leaves. He only notices during assembly and is forced to carefully dismantle and rebuild his iris. 

Aaron is visibly defeated by the end of the cook and disappointed with what he presents to the judges. Ironically, his dessert has the best layers of the day. It’s the not so delicate chocolate iris on top that lets him down. 

Emily’s dessert is praised for its strong flavours and layers that come impressively close to Kirsten’s original. 

Luke also manages to recover from his plastic mishap, with the judges impressed by his textures and attention to detail. 

The intricate entremet was the downfall of Grace. (Credit: Instagram)

But for Grace, the mistakes prove too difficult to overcome. 

While her dessert looks beautiful from the outside, the inside reveals a number of issues, and her version bears the least resemblance to Kirsten’s chocolate iris. 

In the end, Grace becomes the 14th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen. 

That means the official Top 10 is locked in: Emily, Aaron, Luke, Annabel, Vinnie, Petro, Casper, Hannah, Alyona and Pat. 

Episode 38 – Tuesday, June 23

A master of hummus has entered the MasterChef Australia kitchen for Masters Week! 

Tom Sarafian, chef and owner of hatted restaurant Zareh, has spent years perfecting his famous hummus topped with spanner crab and king prawns. Now, he’s challenging the contestants to take inspiration from his signature dish and create their own irresistible combination of dip, topper and mopper. 

With 60 minutes on the clock and access to the pantry and garden, the cooks must deliver a hero dip, a complementary topping and something delicious to scoop it up with. The four least impressive dishes will be sent straight into the next elimination pressure test. 

Many of the contestants draw inspiration from their cultural heritage and childhood memories, but it isn’t all smooth sailing. 

Aaron hits disaster when he drops his roti and is forced to start again with just 12 minutes remaining. Grace burns her beetroot in the pizza oven and has to pivot to canned beetroot for her dip, while Luke burns his hand during the cook and ends up under-seasoning his dish. 

Aaron’s laksa-inspired dip with seafood and roti sounds like a winner on paper, but the judges find the macadamias have given the dip a gritty texture. Unfortunately, his replacement roti is also undercooked following his earlier mishap. 

Alyona takes the judges on a trip down memory lane with her take on “herring under a fur coat”, a traditional Russian New Year’s dish. Reimagined as a beetroot and sour cream dip with cured kingfish and lavosh crisps, the dish is praised for its elegance and restraint. 

Jean-Christophe is particularly impressed. 

“When you cook like this, you’re dangerous,” he tells her. 

But once again, it’s Petro who steals the show. 

Drawing on his Greek heritage, he serves a taramasalata dip topped with prawns and scallops, prawn head and Aleppo butter, alongside warm flatbreads. 

Tom is stunned, admitting it took him three years to perfect his own dip while Petro managed to create something equally impressive in just one hour. 

Poh is also blown away, declaring it one of the best dishes she’s eaten in the MasterChef kitchen. 

The dish earns Petro dish of the day. 

At the other end of the leaderboard, Luke, Emily, Aaron and Grace find themselves in the bottom four and are heading into the next black apron cook. 

Episode 37 – Monday, June 22

Masters Week continues in the MasterChef Australia kitchen with Michelin-starred chef Curtis Stone returning to showcase his world-class butchery skills – and the beauty of one of his favourite cuts, the flat iron steak. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher in this 60-minute elimination cook. The contestants must create a dish with flat iron steak front and centre, with the pantry and garden open to help bring their ideas to life. 

Curtis explains that cooking the perfect steak is all about precision. The meat needs to come to room temperature before it hits the pan, be seasoned properly, achieve a beautiful caramelised crust and remain perfectly cooked in the centre before being rested and served. 

Sounds simple enough. 

Grace hits an early hurdle when she puts her steak in the fridge before cooking it, resulting in an uneven cook throughout the meat. 

Alyona, usually one of the calmest contestants in the competition, finds herself rattled after a drive-by comment from Curtis and Andy leaves her questioning whether her dish is complete. Having never cooked with flat iron steak before, she struggles to regain her confidence. 

She serves a pan-seared flat iron steak with mushrooms, cauliflower purée and green sauce. The steak is overcooked and the overall concept is deemed too simple. 

Vinnie decides to take a huge risk by serving flat iron steak two ways – a steak tartare with crostini alongside grilled steak with salsa verde, fennel and orange salad. 

With two dishes to execute, plenty could have gone wrong. Instead, both preparations are packed with flavour and the judges love his ambitious approach. 

Pat also impresses with his barbecue flat iron steak served with cheesy polenta, tomato and bread salad, and chimichurri. The dish is hearty, balanced and celebrates the hero ingredient beautifully. 

A savoury dish was ultimately the dessert queen’s undoing. (Credit: Instagram)

Both are considered the top two dishes of the day. 

Ultimately, however, it is Bella who falls short. 

Struggling to settle on a clear concept from the outset, she serves Thai beef noodles with a chilled broth. While the dish looks stunning on the plate, the judges feel the choice of noodle doesn’t work, and the steak is undercooked. 

The mistakes prove costly, and Bella becomes the latest contestant sent home from the MasterChef Australia kitchen – for the second time this season. 

Episode 36 – Sunday, June 21

It’s Masters Week in the MasterChef Australia kitchen and to kick things off, none other than fish guru Josh Niland is back to put the contestants’ knife skills to the test.

The three-hatted chef and owner of Saint Peter begins by demonstrating his three favourite ways to butcher a flathead – butterfly, reverse butterfly and filleting with the head and tail left on.

The challenge is simple in theory but far trickier in practice. The contestants must use one of Josh’s techniques in a 75-minute cook. With the pantry and garden open, the cooks who best showcase their knife skills, avoid leaving any bones behind and cook the fish perfectly will earn a spot in the top three and safety from the next elimination.

As expected, many of the contestants are starstruck by Josh’s presence, but perhaps none more so than Casper, who reveals his first date with his partner was at Josh Niland’s Fish Butchery, while an anniversary was celebrated at Saint Peter.

Luckily for Casper, cooking for one of his culinary heroes pays off.

His flathead two ways – featuring head-and-tail-on fillets with crispy sambal and a sweet and sour soup – seriously impresses the judges, earning him one of the top dishes of the day.

Annabel also finds herself in the top three after successfully tackling one of the challenge’s most difficult techniques. Her reverse butterflied stuffed flathead with fish jus is so impressive that Josh rewards her with a high-five and a hug.

But it’s Petro who truly steals the show.

Petro’s flathead earned praise from all the judges, particularly Josh. (Credit: Instagram)

The last time he cooked fish in the MasterChef kitchen – on a hibachi no less – his dish quite literally went up in flames. This time, however, he conquers his fears in spectacular fashion.

His reverse butterflied charcoal flathead with herb dressing, boiled Kipfler potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes and toasted flaked almonds in ghee has Josh declaring it dish of the day on the spot.

The judges praise the perfectly cooked fish and thoughtful accompaniments, with every element working to hero the star ingredient.

By the end of the cook, Petro, Annabel and Casper secure the top three dishes and safety from elimination, while the remaining contestants are left to battle for their place in the competition.

Episode 35 – Wednesday, June 17

To celebrate the final instalment of Sweet Week, former contestant and pâtissier Jess Liemantara – more famously known as Jess Lemon – returns to the MasterChef Australia kitchen for a Beat the Chef Immunity Challenge, where Hannah, Pat, Alyona and Bella must attempt to outcook the dessert queen herself.

Poh is visibly emotional seeing her former competitor back in the kitchen and can’t help but gush over how far Jess has come since her own MasterChef journey. The sweet reunion is short-lived though, because there’s an immunity pin on the line.

The challenge begins with each contestant selecting one of Jess’ signature macarons and cracking it open to reveal a number. In that order, they must choose from a selection of flavours to hero in a dessert. Once a flavour is chosen, it’s off limits for everyone else. Jess doesn’t get a choice at all – she’s left with whatever flavour remains.

Had Jess not been in the mix, we think Hannah’s dessert could have been the winner of the coveted immunity pin. (Credit: Instagram)

The contestants are fighting for an immunity pin that would almost guarantee them a place in the Top 10. But there’s a catch: if Jess outcooks them all, nobody gets the pin.

The available flavours are raspberry, lemon, hazelnut, ginger and fennel. Bella, who draws number one, makes the controversial decision to choose fennel. Alyona selects lemon, Pat goes with raspberry and Hannah chooses hazelnut, leaving ginger for Jess.

To level the playing field against the experienced pastry chef, the contestants are given 75 minutes to cook, while Jess has just 60.

Hannah creates a hazelnut and orange tart with hazelnut cream, orange mousse and chocolate ganache. Despite nearly losing the sides of her tart shells during the cook, she plates up a dessert that looks like it belongs in the window of a high-end pâtisserie. It earns a double slap on the table from Jean-Christophe, with the judges agreeing it’s her best dish yet.

Meanwhile, it’s Alyona’s birthday in the MasterChef kitchen, so naturally she decides to make a cake. Her lemon and thyme olive oil cake with lemon curd, blackberry coulis and Italian meringue is bright, balanced and packed with citrus flavour.

Pat serves up a raspberry and rhubarb tart loaded with technical elements. Unfortunately, he runs out of time, leaving several layers without enough time to properly set. The judges agree that with another 20 or 30 minutes, the dish could have been a serious contender.

Bella earns praise for her bravery in choosing fennel. She turns the divisive ingredient into a fennel and yuzu parfait with fennel sorbet and fennel oil. The judges love the clever flavour combinations and admire how confidently she leans into the unusual ingredient.

Then there’s Jess.

Despite entering the cook 15 minutes later than everyone else, she proves exactly why she’s one of Australia’s most exciting pastry chefs. Her dessert, “Ginger Threads”, features a delicate manuka honey wafer, ginger ice cream and yoghurt foam, all presented as a stunning sculptural masterpiece.

By showcasing ginger in such an elegant and refined way, Jess completely wins over the judges and takes out dish of the day.

Unfortunately for the contestants, that means nobody walks away with the immunity pin. Sweet Week belongs to Jess.

Episode 34 – Tuesday, June 16

As Sweet Week continues, the contestants are challenged to put their creativity to the test in a high-stakes Invention Test.

This time, the humble air fryer is the star of the show, with each cook tasked with creating a dessert featuring at least one element cooked in the popular kitchen appliance. The top four dishes will earn their makers a shot at immunity, while the cook behind the best dessert of the day will walk away with a $5,000 Harvey Norman voucher.

There’s just one catch: nobody is allowed to use an oven.

Pat’s gamble paid off! (Credit: Instagram)

With 75 minutes on the clock and access to the pantry and garden, the contestants quickly get to work.

Pat takes a huge risk by serving an apple tarte tatin with wattleseed and malt ice cream to none other than tarte tatin devotee Jean-Christophe Novelli. As JC cuts into the dessert, the room collectively holds its breath.

Thankfully for Pat, the gamble pays off.

The judges are blown away by the crisp caramelised edges and beautifully balanced flavours, with Sofia declaring it the best thing she has ever eaten from an air fryer.

Hannah also impresses with her “After Dark Donuts” featuring whiskey and chocolate crème pâtissière, dark chocolate glaze and Italian meringue. The indulgent dessert leaves the judges delighted and slightly tipsy, with Sofia even joking it’s alcohol forward flavour profile is “X-rated”.

They are particularly impressed that Hannah manages to get the donuts to rise in the air fryer – something several of them openly admit they doubted was possible.

Not everyone has a smooth cook.

Luke’s frangipane tart with spiced vanilla ice cream is plagued by fears it may be undercooked after he accidentally leaves a tablespoon of flour out of the mixture.

Those fears become reality when the judges cut into the tart and discover the centre is still raw.

The mistake proves costly, with Andy noting that the dessert otherwise had “boss flavours” and could have been a contender for dish of the day.

In the end, Hannah, Pat, Bella and Alyona secure the top four spots and progress to the immunity cook.

But it is Pat who rises above the pack, taking out the top dish of the day and walking away with both bragging rights and a $5,000 Harvey Norman voucher.

Episode 33 – Monday, June 15

Sweet Week gets even sweeter with an Ice Cream Taste Tet where contestants are challenged to identify a range of ice cream flavours, from classic favourites to some seriously kooky combinations. The first four contestants to guess incorrectly will be sent into the second-round elimination cook, where the least impressive dessert will be sent home.

Casper is the first to land in hot water after mistaking jackfruit for saffron. Annabel follows when she confuses orange for mango, Aaron mistakes cauliflower for parsnip, and Jackie incorrectly guesses rockmelon as watermelon.

With their fate now hanging in the balance, the four contestants are given 75 minutes to create a standout dessert using only the 48 ingredients featured in the ice creams from round one, plus a specialised under-bench pantry stocked with sweet essentials.

Annabel plays to her strengths, taking a strategic approach and focusing on flawless execution. Her miso and brown butter ice cream with chocolate mousse, passionfruit and chilli granita, and brown butter crumb is a huge success.

The dessert is so good that Jean-Christophe declares he wants to hire her.

Jackie, however, fails to impress with her figs, brown butter financier, orange and cinnamon ice cream, and mint and lime granita. The judges criticise the raw financier, label the fig a “poor decision” and question why the granita is even on the plate.

Casper controversially decides to reclaim the saffron flavour that landed him in elimination in the first place. His saffron and carrot ice cream with orange meringue, macaron kisses and vanilla bean and orange oil divides the judges.

While Andy, Poh and Sofia feel the bold saffron and orange flavours are too subtle, Jean-Christophe disagrees, praising the dish for its delicate and gentle balance.

Aaron, who openly admits desserts aren’t his strength, leans into his savoury expertise. Inspired by a tomato salad, he serves basil ice cream, tomato granita, olive oil and hazelnut crumb, finished with basil oil.

The judges are blown away, describing the elegant and sophisticated dessert as Aaron’s best dish of the competition so far.

Jackie’s plum dish in the first cook of Sweet Week was her proudest moment yet. (Credit: 10)

In the end, Aaron and Annabel take out the top dishes of the day.

Sadly for Jackie, her dessert falls short, making her the 12th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen.

Episode 32 – Sunday, June 14

As the contestants enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen, they’re greeted by striped cloches perched atop bright pink plinths, looking like something straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s a fitting welcome, because Sweet Week has officially arrived.

And who better to oversee the first challenge than dessert king Adriano Zumbo?

In this immunity cook, each contestant must choose a cloche and peek underneath. Whatever ingredient they find must be heroed in a dessert. If they don’t like what they see, they can swap for a second cloche – but there’s a catch. Whatever is hiding under the second cloche, they are stuck with.

With ingredients including tonka bean, fish sauce and kombu in the mix, the desserts are shaping up to be inventive, risky and more than a little unusual. Annabel, Petro and Bella have never even tasted their ingredients before, let alone cooked with them.

With 75 minutes on the clock, the pantry and garden open, and immunity on the line, only the top three dishes will be safe from elimination.

Alyona draws fish sauce with her first cloche and, shockingly, decides to stick with it. Turning the salty pantry staple into a vanilla, black pepper and fish sauce ice cream with fish sauce caramel, orange sauce and hazelnut crumb, she originally has the judges concerned she may have overused the ingredient. But then, she completely wins them over.

The judges are stunned by her ability to turn “yuck into yum”, with the dish praised for its balance and creativity. Not only does Alyona earn rave reviews, she also secures immunity and a place in the top three.

Joining her are Petro and Pat.

Petro in particular impresses with a tonka bean tart featuring tonka bean crème diplomate and tonka bean caramel. The flavours, textures and balance are so spot-on that Andy can’t believe he has never cooked with the ingredient before.

The feedback is far less sweet for Bella, who draws what Adriano declares is the toughest ingredient of the day – kombu.

Her dessert, aptly named “Kombu Chaos”, features kombu ice cream, kombu caramel and black sesame sponge. Unfortunately, her lack of familiarity with the ingredient proves costly.

The judges struggle to taste the kombu throughout the dish, leaving Bella disappointed.

With this being her first full cook since battling her way back into the competition, has time away from the kitchen left Bella on the back foot during what should be one of her strongest weeks?

Episode 31 – Wednesday, June 10

The contestants walk into the MasterChef Australia kitchen to find it transformed into a showcase of native Australian ingredients, all brought in by one of the country’s biggest wildlife warriors, Robert Irwin.

A passionate advocate for conservation and sustainability, Robert has the kitchen buzzing with his infectious energy – even leaving usually chatty Luke momentarily lost for words. But the excitement doesn’t last long. The smiles quickly fade when the contestants remember Robert is here to oversee an elimination cook.

The challenge centres around five native ingredients Robert is passionate about highlighting: lilly pilly, lemon myrtle, ooray plum, wattleseed and river mint. With 75 minutes on the clock and full access to the pantry and garden, the contestants must create a dish heroing one of the ingredients. The least impressive dish will send its maker home.

The key is balance. These uniquely Australian flavours are bold and distinctive, and while they can elevate a dish, they can just as easily overwhelm it.

Some contestants strike the perfect balance. Annabel impresses with her cured coral trout featuring ooray plum ponzu and macadamia cream, a dish the judges describe as delivering a “controlled pow”.

Others aren’t quite as successful.

Dot’s river mint doughnuts with raspberry ooray plum jam, river mint and white chocolate cream patissiere, and river mint sugar is a concept Robert is particularly excited to try. Unfortunately, the flavours are out of balance, proving costly for the usually consistent cook.

In a shock result, Dot is sent home, becoming the 11th contestant eliminated from the competition.

There are plenty of standout dishes elsewhere in the cook. Aaron impresses with his wattleseed ice cream, macadamia crumb, soy caramel and ooray plum turn, while Vinnie’s crown-roasted duck with macadamia and black garlic purée and an ooray plum glaze has Robert raving.

In fact, the wildlife conservationist declares it the best duck he has ever eaten.

Episode 30 – Tuesday, June 9

It’s officially the halfway point of the competition, and what better way to celebrate Aussie Classics Week than with a good old-fashioned comeback story? 

Former contestants Lucy, Lydia, Megs, Alita, Miin, Jack and Belinda return to the MasterChef Australia kitchen for one last shot at glory, all hoping to win back an apron and rejoin the competition. 

Bella is determined to secure an apron. (Credit: Instagram)

The brief is simple: cook the dish you’ve always wanted to make in the competition but never got the chance to. 

With 75 minutes on the clock and full access to the pantry and garden, the returning cooks have the opportunity to showcase just how much they’ve grown since leaving the kitchen. With a place in the competition on the line, the standards are sky-high – and they deliver. 

Out of the seven returning contestants, four dishes rise to the top. 

Lucy impresses with her “sublime” corn noodle soup with scallops and chilli oil. The judges declare it the best bowl of noodles she has produced in the competition, praising both the flavour and execution of every element on the plate. 

Lydia showcases her growth as a chef with a dessert inspired by both her Greek heritage and the humble Greek salad. Her feta and honey panna cotta features a tomato veil, mint and cucumber granita, olive crumb and olive caramel drizzle. The bold and unexpected combination leaves the judges thoroughly impressed. 

Miin draws on his Malaysian roots with a barramundi masak lemak featuring kaffir lime oil. By combining a beurre blanc base with a traditional Malaysian gravy, he creates a traditional dish with a modern Australian twist that is refined, technically impressive and deeply personal. 

But it is Bella who ultimately steals the show. 

Nonna’s Garden. (Credit: Instagram)

Her dessert, Nonna’s Garden – a capsicum sorbet with chocolate verjuice crémeux, chocolate soil, fennel jelly and parsley powder – is unlike anything the judges have seen before. Packed with originality, technical skill and beautifully balanced flavours, the dish earns an enthusiastic table slap from Jean-Christophe, who declares it “unbelievable”. 

The reward? Bella secures her place back in the competition and completes an incredible comeback story. Speaking to TV WEEK, Bella spilled on her return to the competition. You can read about it HERE.

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Episode 29 – Monday, June 8

Culinary legend Curtis Stone is back in the MasterChef Australia kitchen for this Aussie Classics Week elimination, and the challenge he sets is enough to make the contestants squeal.

The brief is simple: celebrate pork. The contestants can cook whatever they like, as long as pork is the hero of the dish. The cook with the weakest dish will be sent home.

As the contestants get crackling, things take a painful turn for Alyona when she badly burns her hand during the cook. With precious time lost tending to her injury, she is forced to abandon her apple sauce, leaving her worried she may have cooked her last dish in the competition.

Annabel also hits a hurdle. Originally planning to play it safe on the dreaded black apron day, she begins to second-guess her approach after Poh questions her technique for emulsifying the pork. Thinking on her feet, she switches to the chop-chop method she recently learnt from Dim Sim Lim.

The judges are impressed by the deep flavour and seasoning in her pork and fennel cavatelli with pork crackling pangrattato, although a few gristly pieces of pork stop it from being a top dish.

The top dish goes to Dot, whose pork and peaches dish – a prosciutto-wrapped pork with parsnip purée and peach ketchup – has the judges grinning from ear to ear. Andy is particularly impressed, declaring he would happily put the dish on the menu at any of his restaurants.

For Alyona, however, her injury proves costly. Without the apple sauce, the judges feel the dish lacks balance and that the elements aren’t successfully tied together, leaving the ratios out of whack, and she is sent to the bottom two alongside Jack.

Jack struggles to impress with his air fryer pork belly, pickled salad and roasted apple purée. While the pork is inconsistently cooked, the judges also feel the dish lacks a clear direction, with the Asian-inspired pork and French-style salad failing to come together.

Ultimately, it isn’t enough to keep him in the competition, and Jack becomes the 11th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen.

Episode 28 – Sunday, June 7

It’s Aussie Classics Week, and Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur Curtis Stone is in the MasterChef Australia kitchen overseeing a Mystery Box challenge inspired by some of the nation’s favourite treats.

Waiting under the cloches are two familiar classics: pies and Neapolitan ice cream.

Half the contestants must create a family-sized pie complete with a side or condiment, featuring a perfectly flaky crust and delicious filling. The other half are tasked with creating a unique ice cream as part of a complete dessert, showcasing silky texture and balanced flavours.

The stakes are high. Not only will the top pie and top ice cream earn safety from elimination, but their creations will also be rolled out in Coles stores nationwide for a limited time.

The pie cooks arguably have the tougher task. In just 90 minutes, they need to prepare their pastry, cook a filling and allow it to cool before assembling and baking the final product.

Annabel impresses with her lamington-inspired toasted coconut ice cream, sour cherries and chocolate mousse, leaving Jean-Christophe visibly emotional.

“It’s beautiful,” he declares while choking back tears.

Dot also receives glowing feedback for her butter chicken pie, inspired by her time attending band camp in New Zealand.

Not everyone has a smooth cook.

Luke accidentally leaves his ice cream mixture in the freezer too long before churning, forcing him to spend valuable time rescuing it and ultimately abandoning the sponge cake element of his dessert altogether.

Aaron is also racing the clock. His spicy miso eggplant and coconut pie remains in the oven until the very last minute after a series of timing issues throughout the cook.

When it comes to the pies, Hannah takes the win with her beautifully executed cheeseburger pie, putting huge smiles on the judges’ faces.

Over on the dessert side, Pat cheekily serves an apple pie alongside his salted caramel ice cream and golden biscuit crumb. While he didn’t need to make a pie, the extra effort pays off. His ice cream is praised for its gentle, rich and velvety texture, while his shortcrust pastry is declared the best of the day.

As an added bonus, both Hannah and Pat’s winning creations are available in Coles stores across the country from today.

Episode 27 – Wednesday, June 3

Vinnie, Alyona, Lydia, Hannah and Annabel walk into a dreaded black apron cook only to be confronted by a classic MasterChef dilemma: what matters more – time or ingredients?

In a 75-minute cook, four pantries will be revealed every 15 minutes. The contestants can cook using their under-bench staples, but each new pantry offers increasingly desirable ingredients. The catch? The longer they wait, the less time they have to cook.

Vinnie, who holds an immunity pin, must decide whether he wants to play at all. After weighing up the challenge, he opts out, dramatically increasing the odds of going home for the remaining four contestants.

The first pantry contains herbs, spices and alliums. Lydia, valuing time over choice, spots onions and immediately commits, giving herself the full 75 minutes to cook. The others decide to hold their nerve.

The second pantry reveals fruit and vegetables. Hannah jumps at the opportunity, giving herself 60 minutes with access to two pantries. After a tense few minutes of deliberation, Annabel follows suit, leaving only Alyona waiting for the final reveals.

The third pantry contains “flavour bombs” – think anchovies, nduja, vinegars and truffle. Alyona still isn’t convinced.

Then comes the final pantry: seafood.

Alyona is thrilled. Trusting her instincts pays off as she finally commits, securing access to all four pantries and protein – which she desperately wanted. The downside? She now has just 30 minutes to create a dish worthy of staying in the competition.

Her gamble pays off. Alyona serves scallops with cauliflower miso purée and a herb and anchovy sauce, impressing the judges with her bold flavours and unwavering confidence.

Lydia’s MasterChef dreams fall apart at the last second – literally. (Credit: Instagram)

Annabel, however, struggles to make her dish connect. Her ricotta and leek filling with gnocco fritto is technically well executed, but lacks a clear concept. After Andy calls the dish “odd” and Annabel can’t shake the feeling she’s missed the brief, serving the judges essentially a fancy “chips and dip”. The criticism leaves the usually strategic cook in tears.

Hannah has more success with her syrup cake, strawberry ice cream and basil oil. Originally planning an overly complicated dessert, she wisely pares things back. Jean-Christophe praises the final dish, noting that four elements in 60 minutes was an impressive and smart decision.

Lydia’s onion tart with spiced butter and herb salad, however, falls apart at the final hurdle. The pastry crumbles during plating, with Poh comparing the texture to sand.

“I’m afraid to say this is not a tart,” Jean-Christophe adds.

It is a flaw the judges can’t overlook, and sadly Lydia is sent home making her the 10th contestant eliminated from the competition.

Episode 26 – Tuesday, June 2

After a dramatic elimination, the Top 15 enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen to find benches set for two – of course – as Perfect Pairs Week continues. 

Waiting under the cloches are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, with the judges noting the iconic combination of smooth milk chocolate and salty peanut butter is one of the world’s ultimate flavour pairings. 

Using the sweet treat as inspiration, the contestants must work in pairs to create a dessert heroing chocolate and peanuts. With 75 minutes on the clock and four identical servings required for the judges, consistency is just as important as creativity. The bottom two teams will face the next elimination challenge. 

The pairs are Lydia and Alyona, Dot and Pat, Luke and Grace (teaming up for a third time), Annabel and Hannah, Jackie and Emily, Jack and Aaron, and Casper and Petro. 

Vinnie, who was unwell during the previous cook, watches from the gantry and automatically advances to the next elimination. 

One of the standout teams is “Pot” – Pat and Dot – who serve a chocolate and peanut banoffee pie. Thankfully, the banana doesn’t overpower the hero flavours, while their whiskey peanut butter caramel is labelled “killer” by the judges. 

Not everyone has such a smooth cook. 

Casper and Petro’s miso salted caramel tart with peanut cremeux and tempered chocolate shard struggles with presentation after Casper drops a bowl and cuts his finger midway through the challenge. 

Lydia and Alyona are forced into a last-minute pivot when their vanilla and peanut butter ice cream refuses to set. They swap it for a peanut mascarpone, but Andy feels the cheesiness overwhelms the dish. 

Annabel and Hannah face an even bigger setback. Their peanut and chocolate tart with passionfruit salted caramel and peanut ice cream is the dish the judges are most excited about, but when the wheels come off late in the cook, they can only plate two of the required four tarts. The flavours are there, but the missing dishes prove costly. 

In the end, Annabel and Hannah join Lydia and Alyona in the next elimination challenge. 

Dish of the day, however, belongs to Pat and Dot, whose winning combination proves they’re the perfect pair. 

Episode 25 – Monday, June 1

Perfect pairings week is heating up, MasterChef fans! On Monday night’s spicy elimination, the contestants had to choose one of five perfect pairings to work with during a 60-second cook.

They could pick between chilli and lime, pineapple and coconut, maple and bacon, soy and honey and orange and fennel.

Which one would you pick? I’d go chilli and lime!! (Image: 10)

Interestingly, there’s a big mix in ingredients but orange and fennel is the favourite with Casper, Luke, Hannah, Dot and Grace picking that combo. Emily, Jack and Petro go with chilli and lime, while Olaolu picks coconut and pineapple. Meanwhile, Lydia lands on maple and bacon and Jackie chose soy and honey.

For the judges, Casper’s orange and fennel dessert and Lydia’s stuffed savoury Loukoumades seem like the stand outs during the cook. However, they’re nervous about Luke’s papillote (a cooking method where fish is cooked in paper, although Luke does it in foil), which he’s never made before, and Olaolu’s trifle, which seems lacking in texture.

While Lydia, Aaron, Hannah and Casper were stand outs, sadly, someone has to go home.

Despite Luke’s fish being over done, it was Olaolu who was sent home for lacking to make the coconut and pineapple flavours sing in the trifle and serving up an “incredibly basic” dish for this far into the competition.

Episode 24 – Sunday, May 31

Welcome to Perfect Pairings week! For the next seven days, the contestants have to think about all the great culinary pairings. You know, salt and pepper, knife and fork, a MasterChef contestant and a hibachi grill, all the classics.

During Sunday night’s challenge, the contestants had to choose between two mystery boxes: one is silver and labelled “home” and the other is gold and labelled “restaurant”. Inside the home mystery box were ingredients home cooks love, while the restaurant one skewed towards items that would “excite your inner chef”, according to Sofia.

Originally 10 contestants chose the home mystery box, while six chose the restaurant. However, when the judges revealed that there would be two top dishes — one from each box — Hannah decided to jump ship to the restaurant side to better her odds.

The ingredients were revealed to be the brainchild of chef MasterChef alum Matt Sinclair and and Daniel “Dobbers” Dobra from Peli’s on the Sunshine Coast.

The home box ingredients.

The restaurant box ingredients.

The general consensus was that the restaurant box was the winner with more interesting and impactful ingredients.

While it wasn’t an elimination cook, the two top dishes would receive immunity from Monday night’s elimination. In the end, it was Pat who came out on top for the home box with his stuffed chicken Maryland. Meanwhile for the restaurant box, Annabel won dish of the day with her incredible duck.

Good hustle, team!

Episode 23 – Wednesday, May 27

During episode 23, it wasn’t about elimination for the contestants — it was about winning immunity. After Tuesday night’s relay challenge, the winning team were playing for a coveted immunity pin which they could use to bow out of any challenge and make it to the next stage of the competition.

In this cook, the contestants were joined by season one star Justine Schofield who challenged them with cooking French cuisine — a challenge that Jean-Christophe was particularly excited for. But as always, there’s a twist!

This time around, the judges are leaving the kitchen and will only be seeing the dishes when they get wheeled in for tasting at the very end and will have no idea who cooked what.

This bunch will be twiddling their thumbs off camera, I reckon. Image: 10)

As the cook begins, Jack admits that he’s really feeling the pressure knowing that Frenchman Jean-Cristopher will be critiquing his food. He decides to make a traditional lobster bisque, but is worried that he won’t have enough time to develop the flavours.

Meanwhile, Hannah admits that while she feels stronger cooking desserts, she wants to take a risk with a savoury dish. Hannah decides to cook duck a la ronde, a traditional French dish. Casper decides to do a roast chicken with baked potatoes and braised leek. Vinnie is cooking pate en croute, which is a French terrine that Justine refers to as “one of the most complicated dishes” he could have chosen to make.

While all chefs plated up wonderful dishes, the judges were absolutely “flabbergasted” by Vinnie’s terrine.

“This is a lot of work in such a restricted time,” Jean-Cristophe said in disbelief.

He won the immunity challenge, and rightfully so! Good work Vinnie!

Episode 22 – Tuesday, May 26

It’s time for one of the most dynamic and notorious challenges on the MasterChef menu — the team relay! In this episode, the contestants were divided into teams to compete for a chance to cook for immunity in Wednesday night’s episode.

How it works is that each contestant gets 20 minutes to cook one element of their team’s dish, with the first person getting to lead the direction of the dish before having 60 seconds to hand over to the next contestant. Plus, each dish must feature Greek yoghurt as the key ingredient.

It’s Alyona, Petro, Dot and Jack starting off today’s relay for their teams. (Image: 10)

For team purple, Jack decides to lean into the theme of Nostalgia Week with a basil-crusted rack of lamb, Hasselback potatoes, carrots and a yoghurt drizzle.

In team green, Dot decides to go for a dessert to play to her team’s strengths. She decides to make a panned galette with yoghurt, orange and thyme ice cream.

Team blue’s Alyona is making a roasted, marinated Greek chicken dish with potatoes, Greek salad and a tzatziki dressing. Her technique is to set up different bowls for different sections so the rest of the team can jump in right away.

While team red’s starter Petro is taking inspiration for his Greek and Cyprian heritage by making a pork skewers with a tzatziki sauce.

As the episode and the challenge progressed, the tension got higher and higher with each new contestant jumping in to develop their team’s recipe.

When they tasted the dishes, the judges felt that the dark blue’s team’s dish was a bit mismatched. They loved the red team’s pork skewer combo, but felt that the green team’s upside down pear tart was delicious, but undercooked.

In the end, it was the purple team that made it through to the immunity cook with their basil-crusted lamb. Nice one!

Episode 21 – Monday, May 25

Another new week, another elimination cook! But this week’s challenge is one of the most emotional yet.

As the contestants walked in, they could see this giant tree with fairy lights and photos hanging down from the branches. The tree represented a family tree, and as they went through the photos, many of the budding chefs were brought to tears a they reflected on their roots, their family and the way food connects them to their culture. It was truly beautiful.

When they got into the cook, they were challenged to create a dish inspired by their family tree. And, as an added bonus, the judges revealed that the winner would receive a $10,000 prize. Not too shabby!

While Dot and Aaron were able to sit out of the challenge after winning immunity, the rest of the contestants got to work.

One of the contestants most excited for the challenge was Olaolu, who admits that he feels best when he taps into his Nigerian heritage. He’s making a stewed vegetable dish called Efo Riro with silverbeet and semolina, which is a soup native of the Yoruba people of South West NIgeria and other parts of Yorubaland.

“This is inspired by my family,” he explained. “My dad really enjoyed meals like this so it feels good to cook it in this kitchen today.”

Olaolu’s family photo. (Image: MasterChef)

Miin was also excited to be showcasing his Malaysian heritage. He tells Andy that he’s making a dish which was his mum’s family recipe, called Kiam Chye Ark, which is a salted vegetable duck soup. As the dish usually takes two hours, he opted to use a pressure cooker to speed up the process and planned on serving it with noodles.

While Miin had great intentions, he struggled throughout the cook — especially when it came to the noodles which kept falling apart.

When the judges tasted the final dishes, they were most impressed by Olaolu, Petro and Anabel. Petro had made Cypriot raviolis with tomato and whey butter, while Anabel made a corn agnolotti with tomato and strawberry consommé with a basil oil.

Meanwhile it was Luke — whose creative paella became an over-cooked risotto — and Miin who the judges critiqued the most.

In the end, the judges gave the win to Olaolus with his brilliantly executed dish, while Miin was sent packing.

Although Miin was disappointed, he knew it was coming.

“When I was trying to make my noodles for the fourth time, and it still didn’t work, I was quite certain I was going to be eliminated,” Miin admits to TV WEEK.

You can read what Miin thinks about the challenge in our chat with him HERE.

Episode 20 – Sunday, May 24

It may not have been an elimination cook during Episode 20, but it doesn’t mean the stakes weren’t high!

To kick off Nostalgia week, social media superstar Vincent Yeow Lim — aka Dim Sim Lim — visited the MasterChef kitchen. First up, he gave the talented bunch of budding chefs a masterclass on making traditional pork and prawn dim sim. But then, the real challenge started.

With just 60 minutes on the clock, the contestants were tasked with creating any dishes they wanted, using the full pantry and garden in the MasterChef kitchen. The catch? It had to have one steamed element using the steamer basket.

The top 10 most delicious sounded dishes would be tasted and judged by the judges, with the top two dishes receiving immunity from Monday night’s elimination cook.

In the end, it was Aaron and Dot who blew the judges away. Aaron made a fish roulade with a prawn farce (a French mousse), but with an Asian flavour profile, while Dot created delicious chicken momos.

Episode 19 – Wednesday, May 20

In tonight’s black apron cook, Miin, Vinnie, Jackie and Lucy are confronted with one of the most intricate and high-stakes Pressure Tests in MasterChef Australia history.

The contestants fighting to stay in the competition must recreate guest judge, chef and writer Rosheen Kaul’s mind-blowing chou farci. A what, you ask? Good question – we had no idea either.

The lush, multi-layered cabbage dish features caramelised zucchini purée, topped with a morel and shiitake duxelle, lily bulb and vegetable stock rice, spinach and tofu mousseline and a perfectly runny boiled egg at its centre. The delicate layers are separated by steamed cabbage leaves, wrapped in savoy cabbage, then finished with a garlic chive and parsley beurre monté and fragrant chilli oil.

The elaborate dish takes a staggering three hours to cook and assemble – all at an incredibly fast pace.

Thankfully for Jackie, she holds an immunity pin – and after seeing the challenge, she wisely decides to play it. That leaves Vinnie, Lucy and Miin each facing a one-in-three chance of elimination.

The seven-page recipe immediately overwhelms the contestants. Lucy initially appears calm and confident thanks to her methodical approach to cooking, but her attention to detail soon slows her down and causes her to fall behind. While she manages to get every element on the plate and delivers stunning presentation, her flavours are unbalanced, with both her mousseline and cabbage are undercooked.

Vinnie, meanwhile, keeps a level head throughout the cook. However, he makes a risky mistake by removing the ring mould from his chou farci while steaming it during the final stage, potentially compromising the layers. Although his technical execution is strong, the judges ultimately feel he has been too heavy-handed with seasoning.

Miin struggles early while navigating the lengthy recipe, accidentally using all of his shiitake mushrooms in one element and forcing himself to rebalance flavours elsewhere. Then, disaster strikes during plating when he struggles to remove the cling wrap and splits his chou farci in the process. The usually calm cook looks devastated.

But despite the setbacks, Miin’s dish surprises the judges with its bold flavours and impressive balance. Much to his relief, he is named the top dish of the cook.

Sadly, it is Lucy who is sent home, becoming the sixth contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen this season.

Episode 18 – Tuesday, May 19

Around the World Week continues with an invention test, as a display of postcards featuring countries from across the globe is unveiled at the front of the MasterChef Australia kitchen. The contestants must choose not one, but two countries, then fuse the cuisines together into one cohesive and delicious dish.

The stakes are high, with the bottom four dishes heading into the next pressure test, where one contestant will be eliminated.

After being criticised in the previous invention test for not pushing his creativity far enough, Luke steps up in a big way. Choosing to combine Australian and Spanish flavours, he creates a seemingly bizarre strawberry gazpacho with kingfish, native Australian ingredients and basil oil – but the risk completely pays off.

“It’s really refreshing, really modern,” Poh says. “It’s a very accomplished dish for someone who’s flying by the seat of his pants.”

Meanwhile, Casper is firmly in his element, embracing the challenge by creating “something whacky” – Japanese dolmades inspired by both Greek and Japanese cuisine. The judges are blown away, revealing they have a “long list” of things they admire about the dish.

Casper, Alyona and Dot are ultimately named the top three dishes of the day.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, however, things unravel for Jackie and Lucy.

Jackie initially chooses South Korea and China for her fusion, but after a visit from Poh and Sofia to her bench, realises the flavours are too similar to create enough contrast. She pivots to Italy instead, but her steamed fish with tomato broth fails to capture Italian flavours, while the fish itself ends up overcooked.

Lucy also runs into disaster when the coffee crumb for her Vietnamese iced coffee cruller with condensed milk glaze and coffee crème burns midway through the cook. Without the strong coffee flavour, the Vietnamese inspiration is lost in the final dish.

Joining Jackie and Lucy in the next elimination cook-off are Miin and Vinnie.

Episode 17 – Monday, May 18

In this dramatic black apron cook during Around the World Week, contestants are greeted by the flags of five countries – Vietnam, Mexico, Lebanon, Japan and Italy – each paired with a mystery cloche. Hidden underneath each cloche is a secret ingredient the cooks must hero in a 75-minute challenge, but there’s a catch: they won’t discover the ingredient until after choosing their country.

Vietnam’s ingredient is lemongrass, Mexico’s is corn, Lebanon’s is eggplant, Japan’s is miso and Italy’s is tomatoes.

Jackie decides not to play her immunity pin – a choice later questioned by Jean-Christophe, who tells her, “I think you should have played your pin,” believing her miso and pumpkin cake was overly sweet and failed to translate well to the judges.

Italian contestant Vinnie, naturally, chooses Italy and feels right at home cooking with tomatoes, creating a cherry tomato pasta sauce that the judges absolutely love. Annabel also impresses after selecting Mexico, serving seared scallops with corn butter and salsa macha inspired by dishes she recently ate while travelling through the country.

Her only downfall? Serving three scallops to four judges.

“I wish I had a full one,” Sofia jokes.

“A full seven,” Andy quickly fires back.

Meanwhile, Lydia struggles with timing while making her stuffed eggplant with lamb, tahini yoghurt sauce and pine nuts, worried the rice won’t cook in time. Thankfully, the final dish is deemed “magnificent” by the judges.

The standout dishes of the day come from Emily, Annabel, Lydia and Pat, with the judges declaring they would happily travel for meals like theirs.

The bottom dishes belong to Olaolu, Jackie and Kanika.

Sadly, Kanika’s prawn taco with corn two ways missed the mark after she failed to deliver the tortilla – the key vessel of the dish. Paired with a bland sauce and too many unnecessary elements on the plate, the dish ultimately led to her elimination from the competition.

Kanika is the fifth contestant eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen.

Episode 16 – Sunday, May 17

Grab your passports – it’s Around the World Week on MasterChef Australia, and the contestants are challenged to create a dish inspired by anywhere in the world in just 75 minutes.

But there’s a twist. The cooks must hero at least one ingredient from guest judge Rick Stein’s mystery box, packed with snapper, lamb, crab, zucchini, new potatoes, English spinach, stilton cheese, chickpeas, passionfruit and mango.

And while the pantry and garden are officially closed for business, the contestants are given access to a towering spice rack featuring more than 120 spices from across the globe to help elevate their dishes – with at least one spice required to be used. Only the 12 most visually appealing dishes will be tasted, and the top four cooks will earn immunity from the next elimination.

While some contestants, like curry king Miin, confidently throw eight or more spices into their dishes, others – including Alyona – feel overwhelmed by the endless flavour combinations.

As the cook unfolds, several dishes leave the judges stunned.

Casper’s mango and chilli ice-cream with passionfruit granita and tamarind caramel is described by Rick Stein as a “cornucopia of delights”, even earning him a rare handshake from Andy Allen.

“You win this competition with plates like that,” Andy declares.

Meanwhile, Grace worries she may have undercooked her crumbed snapper with spinach purée and zucchini flowers, but the judges are blown away by the final result.

In the end, Grace joins Casper, Miin and Alyona as the top four dishes of the day, securing safety from elimination.

Episode 15 – Wednesday, May 13

As Viral Wonders Week comes to an end, MasterChef alum and social media sensation Khanh Ong enters the kitchen bringing his signature bubbly energy and chic style. But his return isn’t just fun and games – he’s setting a challenge to create an epic sandwich with a “banging” cross section and huge flavour in just 60 minutes, all in the hope of winning the coveted immunity pin.

This year, however, the immunity pin comes with a twist. Whoever holds it must decide whether to play it after hearing the challenge – but before the cook begins, unlike previous years where it could be played mid cook.

While self-proclaimed panini king Vinnie is devastated to miss out on the sandwich-themed immunity cook, the six competing contestants – Annabel, Aaron, Hannah, Lydia, Jackie and Miin – get straight to work.

Some inspired creations immediately impress the judges, including Lydia’s moussaka sandwich with lamb, eggplant, capsicum and saganaki cheese. Hannah’s nduja chicken sandwich with miso mayo, pickled red onion and crispy chicken skin also wows thanks to its impressive cross section, while Miin’s roti john with chicken curry and pickled daikon, wrapped in an omelette, earns praise for its creativity.

But it is Jackie’s bulgogi Philly cheesesteak with kimchi mayo and apple that completely blows the judges away. Poh can barely contain her excitement before blurting out: “I can’t wait – it’s bloody amazing.”

Andy is beyond impressed, declaring the sandwich “absolute dynamite” before adding: “That is legit tasty, proper viral food.”

Safe to say, Jackie absolutely nailed the brief.

Episode 14 – Tuesday, May 12

In the season’s first epic service challenge, the contestants are split into teams of three and tasked with creating a viral-worthy dish to serve to hundreds of hungry diners from a pop-up food stand. Joining the judges is social media food critic Lily Huynh, who boasts more than nine million followers online.

With just two hours to design, prep and cook their dishes, the teams quickly run into issues – from leadership clashes and conceptual disagreements to textural disasters. And then there’s Luke, who boldly volunteers to make tortillas for his team’s tacos from scratch… despite never having made them before.

“Don’t tell Grace [his team captain], I’ve only ever watched someone do this,” he admits.

Team Orange – Miin, Annabel and Jackie – are first up with their pork rendang tostadas. The judges and Lily are impressed by the rich flavours of the rendang and the crunch of the dumpling-skin tostada.

Team Red – Grace, Pat and Luke – serve a crying tiger beef taco. Luke’s tortilla gamble pays off, with Andy declaring them “insane”, but the dish is criticised for lacking sauce.

Team Blue – Lydia, Hannah and Aaron – struggle early, with the judges warning their original concept is too complicated. The team pivots to a crispy pork belly roti taco, and the decision proves worthwhile. Jean-Christophe, who famously eats most dishes with a knife and fork, even gets dirty for this one and uses his hands!

Team Purple – Emily, Vinnie and Petro – deliver Asian fish tacos. While the flavours impress, Andy’s taco is severely overcooked and dry unlike the other judges which are cooked perfectly, exposing inconsistencies in the cook.

Meanwhile, Team Green – Dot, Kanika and Olalou – hope their cheese ball vada pav – an Indian burger if you will – will go viral thanks to its dramatic cheese pull within the patty. While tasty, the judges find the dish too rich and in need of balance.

The only dessert comes from Team Yellow – Casper, Jack and Lucy – who serve a mango pandan mochi crepe. While the judges love the idea, the texture misses the mark, lacking the chewiness expected from mochi and making it difficult to eat as street food.

In the end, Team Orange and Team Blue come out on top and will now battle it out for immunity.

Episode 13 – Monday, May 11

Viral Sensations Week continues in the MasterChef Australia kitchen with the arrival of social media royalty Victoria Minell – better known online as @recipesbyvictoria – whose most viral video has amassed more than 200 million views.

Standing before five cloches, Victoria reveals her top five viral ingredients: cucumber, burrata, pistachio, rice paper and gochujang. With 75 minutes on the clock, contestants must hero one ingredient in a way never seen before, all with the hope of creating the next viral food sensation.

The stakes are high. The top dish will be fast-tracked straight to the immunity challenge at the end of the week, while the weakest cook will be sent home.

As the contestants get cooking, some dishes immediately show huge viral potential. Dot impresses with her smashed prawn san choy bow with tamarind sauce using rice paper, with the judges loving her balance of spice, citrus and herbs.

“You are speaking my language with this dish,” Victoria tells her.

Victoria is also impressed by Dot’s creativity in flavouring the rice paper itself by smashing the prawn mixture between the layers.

Not every experiment is as successful, however. Alita’s dumpling lasagne – inspired by a current TikTok trend – struggles to come together. Combining Chinese and Italian flavours with a burrata on top, the cheese melts into the layers and creates what the judges describe as a wet texture.

Meanwhile, Alyona takes a huge risk with a sour cream and avocado ice-cream with pistachio crumb – but the gamble pays off, earning her Top Dish of the Day and a fast track to the immunity challenge.

Sadly, it is Alita who is eliminated from the competition, making her the fifth contestant cut from the season.

“You mixed two cuisines that don’t really mesh in a ramekin,” guest judge Victoria says.

Episode 12 – Sunday, May 10

It’s Viral Wonders Week in the MasterChef Australia kitchen, and 19-year-old dessert sensation Catherine Zhang – who boasts over two million social media followers – is kicking things off.

Known for her viral fruit creations, Catherine joins the judges to challenge contestants to create a dessert that celebrates fruit. With just 75 minutes on the clock and only the 10 most visually appealing dishes being tasted, presentation is everything – with the ultimate goal of going viral. The top dish will also earn immunity from the next elimination.

During the cook, Casper begins to worry his dish is too simple after a stern visit from Poh and Catherine, while Pat faces the opposite problem – doing too much, including a controversial fish sauce and honey caramel.

Thankfully for Casper, his fruit sando choux buns with strawberry matcha cream impress the judges with their lightness, fluffiness and clean cross section. Pat’s ambitious take on ice-cream and jelly may not be a standout, but it is praised for its creativity – including his funky fish sauce.

The top dishes of the day come from Jack and Grace, with Grace ultimately taking out the win – and immunity – thanks to her inventive all-lemon dessert featuring lemon granita, lemon leaf ice-cream and lemon zest biscotti.

It’s a bold celebration of lemon with clear viral potential, with Poh declaring the dish has put Grace “on the map”.

“I flippin love this dish so much,” she adds.

The remaining contestants will now face a black apron cook-off to secure their place in the competition.

Episode 11 – Wednesday, May 6

After a tense first team challenge, the six contestants from the two weakest teams – Bella, Hannah, Alyona, Pat, Lydia and Olalou – returned to the kitchen to battle individually for their place in the competition.

As they entered, they were greeted by childhood photos of the judges displayed across the walls – a nostalgic nod to the family memories that shaped their love of food.

The challenge? Create a MasterChef-worthy dish that represented both themselves and their family. They had 75 minutes, with the least impressive cook facing elimination.

Bella took on an ambitious apple and cinnamon entremet, but with so many intricate elements, time quickly became her enemy. In the final moments of the cook, the dessert still hadn’t properly set, forcing her to cut it from the mould just to get it on the plate.

Hannah also found herself under pressure when Jean-Christophe questioned whether she had remembered a crucial ingredient in her sticky date pudding – salt. Unsure, she scrambled to make another batch.

Meanwhile, homemaker Lydia wowed the judges with her Avgolemono soup featuring chicken meatballs and a silky egg-and-lemon broth, leaving the judges speechless as they happily slurped every last mouthful.

In the end, the bottom two dishes belonged to Hannah and Bella. Hannah’s butterscotch sauce was labelled “unpleasant”, while Bella’s ambitious dessert suffered due to time constraints.

Ultimately, it was a heartbreaking farewell for 20-year-old Bella. Even Poh became teary as she praised the young dessert specialist for the heart and determination she brought to the table, and begged her not to let this moment stop her from chasing her dreams.

Bella is the fourth contestant eliminated from MasterChef Australia 2026.

Episode 10 – Tuesday, May 5

The contestants entered the MasterChef Australia kitchen to find coloured aprons waiting under their cloches – signalling the first team challenge of the season.

Split into teams of three, the home cooks were tasked with creating a MasterChef-worthy family feast, including at least two mains, three sides and a dessert – all in just 75 minutes.

With cuisines ranging from Middle Eastern to modern Australian and Indian, the pressure was on from the start. It quickly became clear that teams without a strong leader struggled, with clashing palates and portion issues causing chaos in some kitchens.

The standout team of the day was the turquoise team – Dot, Alita and Miin – who impressed with a Middle Eastern-inspired feast. Their menu featured spiced ribeye, lemon and garlic chicken skewers, cauliflower salad, baba ganoush, yoghurt and tahini, Middle Eastern pilaf and a Dubai chocolate pavlova for dessert. Dot’s mum’s cauliflower salad was a particular hit with the judges.

The purple team – Emily, Lucy and Aaron – also earned praise for their strong teamwork and cohesive Chinese menu, which included ABC soup, cucumber salad, Cantonese steamed snapper, lobster noodles, fragrant rice and mango coconut sago.

Unfortunately, not all teams found their rhythm. The pink team – Pat, Lydia and Olalou – struggled with flavour and consistency, while the navy team – Alyona, Hannah and Bella – overpowered their modern Australian dishes with heavy sauces.

Both teams now face off in the next elimination challenge.

Episode 9 – Monday, May 4

Another day in the MasterChef Australia kitchen brought another emotional goodbye, as one hopeful cook saw their dream come to an end.

As part of Family Favourites Week, the judges kicked things off by celebrating simple, comforting dinners, each showcasing their go-to “quick carb” for an easy midweek meal. Jean-Christophe prepared oven-baked pilaf rice, Andy demonstrated a two-ingredient flatbread, Sofia cooked a potato latke, and Poh served up noodles.

The challenge? Create a standout weeknight dish using one of the judges’ quick carbs – all in just 36 minutes.

Some cooks rose to the occasion. Annabel impressed with her pan-seared barramundi with Sri Lankan sambol and pilaf rice, even converting Jean-Christophe into a barramundi fan. Lucy’s “fakeaway” noodles with crispy beef and Petro’s prawn moilee with flatbread also earned praise.

But for others, the time pressure proved too much. Vinnie’s lamb cutlets and flatbread were undercooked, while Olalou’s lamb koftas were dry after using lean mince.

Belinda’s last-minute pivot from a chicken and rice dish to a smash burger using flatbread ultimately sealed her fate. The burger lacked caramelisation and flavour, sending her home and marking another tough elimination.

Episode 8 – Sunday, May 3

Family Favourites Week kicked off with a surprise visit from viral cooking sensation Andy Hearnden – better known as Andy Cooks – leaving the remaining 23 home cooks stunned.

Known for his signature catchphrase, “Hey babe, what’s for dinner?”, Andy boasts more than 16 million followers across social media and has become one of Australia’s biggest online food stars.

After demonstrating eggs three ways – a French omelette, tornado eggs and Japanese omurice – it was clear the challenge would centre around breakfast. Contestants were tasked with creating the ultimate morning dish, but Andy would taste only the 12 most appealing plates.

The dishes selected came from Alita, Aaron, Emily, Casper, Jackie, Jack, Hannah, Bella, Vinnie, Annabel, Dot and Kanika.

Aaron took a major gamble with fish congee topped with poached snapper, enoki mushroom tuile and chilli oil, using risotto rice instead of the traditional variety. The bold move paid off, with judges naming it Dish of the Day.

Kanika also packed a punch with her uttapam – a South Indian pancake served with coconut chutney, tomato chutney and sambar – inspired by the breakfasts her aunt made every Sunday.

“I’m hallucinating, but I love it,” Andy joked of the spice. “It is rich, sour and sweet… it is alive. It wakes you up in the morning.”

Not everyone had a dream start. Annabel, who admitted she was star-struck cooking for her TikTok idol, forgot to add garlic and ginger to her prawn and scallop toast with yuzu and gochujang hollandaise.

“I think I let the pressure of the kitchen get to me today,” she said. “Cooking for Andy Cooks, I think I was distracted.”

At the end of the challenge, Aaron, Kanika, Dot and Alita were named the top four cooks of the day and won immunity from Monday’s elimination.

Episode 7 – Wednesday, April 29

The pressure was on in the season’s very first Pressure Test, with national treasure Maggie Beer setting a challenge for Jackie, Jeff, Pat, Luke and Vinnie. Their task? Master her iconic sour cream pastry.

The twist was that contestants had free rein to create their own filling, sauce and side dish – allowing each cook to leave a personal stamp on the challenge while still nailing Maggie’s famously flaky pastry.

But with elimination looming, one mistake would send someone home.

As the cook began, Maggie’s warning about adding too much liquid too quickly proved costly for Luke, whose pastry became overly wet.

Vinnie also hit trouble when his gremolata accompaniment for a ragù and béchamel pie came under scrutiny. Was it a sauce or a side? Forced to rethink on the run, he pivoted by serving the béchamel as the sauce instead of inside the pie.

When tasting time arrived, two dishes stood out. Luke impressed with a rich Boeuf Bourguignon pie served with mash and horseradish sauce, while Pat delivered a chicken curry pie with mango chutney, apple, cucumber and coconut salad – inspired by the quarterly spice market cooks at his workplace.

“There must be some hardcore people at that spice club,” Andy joked.

Luke was ultimately the star of the day, with judges admitting they had underestimated the 19-year-old and praising the level he was already cooking at so early in life.

Sadly, Jeff’s Hong Kong chicken pie with garlic chilli oil and Chinese broccoli missed the mark. His pastry was undercooked and the filling lacked balance, making him the latest contestant eliminated from the competition.

Episode 6 – Tuesday, April 28

Walking into the MasterChef Australia kitchen, the remaining 23 home cooks were greeted by a giant display of cereals in every shape, flavour and colour imaginable.

For the first Invention Test of the season, contestants had to transform the humble pantry staple into something magical – and, hopefully, delicious.

With high stakes from the outset, the five least impressive dishes would be sent straight into the next night’s elimination challenge.

Some cooks, like ever-enthusiastic Dot, were thrilled by the creative brief. Others, including Lydia, were feeling the pressure, admitting it had been a long time since she’d even seen an Invention Test on the series.

The challenge proved the perfect way to measure imagination in the kitchen – and many rose to the occasion.

Twelve contestants chose to go savoury, including Dot, who wowed the judges with her “Trio of Corn Flakes”. She cleverly used the cereal in meatballs, creamy polenta-style grits and a crunchy pangrattato topping.

“The creativity of this dish, the invention of this dish, is epic,” Andy told a delighted Dot. “The celebration of corn flakes in a meatball dish said no one ever – but I love it.”

“I’d order this again and again,” Sofia added.

Others took the sweeter route, including Vinnie, who created a Coco Pops shell cannoli with Nutri-Grain ricotta filling.

“It’s not one for the traditionalists,” Vinnie joked, with Nonna no doubt watching nervously at home. Unfortunately, the judges felt the filling was too grainy.

“We want you to do well, but I can’t say that I like it,” Jean-Christophe told him.

The most inventive dish of the day, however, belonged to Casper. He recreated an actual bowl of Froot Loops using fried blue spirulina ravioli filled with fruit, served in a Froot Loops-flavoured panna cotta “milk”, alongside a clarified milk punch.

“I like that you used the blue spirulina to replicate the candy fake colour of so many cereals,” Sofia said. “I think this is probably the most inventive dish in the kitchen today.”

“I love that you cook with such intention,” Poh added.

At this early stage of the competition, the judges were impressed by the overall standard – but most of all by Dot, Aaron and Petro, who were named the top three performers of the day.

“You thought outside the box and used what was in the box to make something very special – well done,” Jean-Christophe declared.

Unfortunately, the five contestants missing the mark were Pat, Jackie, Jeff, Luke and Vinnie. They now face a Maggie Beer pie Pressure Test, where one home cook will become the next to hang up their apron.

Episode 5 – Monday, April 27

The very first elimination of the season kicked off with a sweet, heartfelt theme. The teams walked into the kitchen to find screens showing glimpses into the judges own home kitchens. They were then asked to create a dish which would treat the judges to a taste of their own kitchens and homelife.

After winning immunity, Casper was safe from the cook, but the rest of the 23 home cooks had to battle it out.

Sadly, it was Jackie and Megs in the bottom two.

Jackie cooked a shallot pancake. She’s initially attempted to make duck to go alongside it, but after accidentally cutting her finger, she wasn’t able to plate it up.

While the judges loved the chili crisp and the texture of the pancake, leaving out the duck would severely impact her chances.

“I can only imagine what it would be like if that perfectly cooked duck breast was sitting rosy and crispy off to the side,” said Andy

Meanwhile, Megs plated up prawns with herb butter, crispy potatoes and crostini.

“Megs, your prawns are uncooked,” Sofia said. Poh said that while Megs plated up five prawns, she should’ve used one of those prawns for a test before serving.

Meet your top 24! (Image: 10)

In the end, Megs’ uncooked prawns and lacklustre crostini saw her pack her bags.

In the opening week of the beloved cooking competition, we saw the Top 40 contestants be sliced and diced down to the Top 24.

Now, with the contestants wearing their crisp white aprons, the competition is well and truly heating up as they compete for the $250,000 AUD prize.

While more eliminations will be taking place this week, it’s worth noting that Casper has become the first contestant to receive a shiny immunity pin to place on his apron so far.

You can tune into MasterChef Australia on 10 or 10Play.

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Lucy Croke

Lucy completed a Bachelor of Journalism majoring in Content Marketing from the University of Canberra in 2019. Having been bit with the travel bug from an early age, Lucy took any opportunity for an overseas exchange even studying brand marketing in Mexico City and jetting off to Florence, Italy to immerse herself in a fashion and events management course.

Since then, Lucy has worked on lifestyle, music, and entertainment magazines, chatting to everyone from music icons like Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre to hanging on the set of Lego Masters with funnyman Hamish Blake and knows just where to find Sydney’s best aperitivo hour.

Being TV WEEK‘s go to reality and streaming writer, Lucy is an encyclopedia of Married at First Sight and Real Housewives knowledge, and if you want to know the best crime documentaries on Netflix, she’s your girl. With a keen interest in reading and learning new social media skills, Lucy is constantly in the know of all things trending in the entertainment and real-life world for print and digital platforms.