Things are heating up in the MasterChef Australia kitchen as a new batch of talented home cooks battle it out for the winning title and a life-changing $250,000. Already, many have left. But who will reign supreme?
Across fifteen seasons, the beloved culinary cooking competition has launched the careers of some of Australia’s most celebrated celebrity chefs.
While it isn’t possible for every contestant to return as a judge – like season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow and season four winner Andy Allen – many past winners have gone on to open food venues, release cookbooks, and even star in their own cooking programs.
Who has left MasterChef 2024?
Savindri Perera
Fans were left devastated when 30-year-old Sav was eliminated from the competition just short of the finale.
After being eliminated midway through the competition, the passionate Sri Lankan home cook earned her way back onto MasterChef, making it all the way until the final three where she was tasked with creating a three-course menu for 70 diners.
Unfortunately, the fan favourite bit off more than she could chew and ran out of time to give her dishes as much love as her competitors Nat and Josh did.
“I’m not leaving upset or sad or anything, I’m leaving just intensely proud of myself,” Sav shared after farewelling the show.
“Everything I do, everything I learned is from my mum. Being able to channel that into something positive and just go, ‘I’m grateful I’ve been so blessed to be able to do this’, was a very positive thing, as hard as it was.”
We miss Sav and her zinger dishes already!
Harry Butterfield
In one of the most heartbreaking eliminations of the season so far, resident seafood guru Harry was sent home after falling short with his Flounder Kandinsky.
Created by his culinary idol Josh Niland, the dish contained five different sauces, and a rack of grilled yellow belly flounder that was folded with a scallop mousseline, and a zucchini.
“The cook itself, it was technical, extremely difficult. I was the self-proclaimed fish guy, and I brought that pressure upon myself. I wanted to prove to myself, and to Josh, that I am skilled with seafood…I guess the pressure of cooking for your food hero, and the pressure of it being a fish dish when I’m ‘the seafood guy’, the pressure was intense,” an emotional Harry shared after he was sent home.
“With other pressure tests…I went into it thinking this is it, I just have to try my best and that’s it. In this one, I wasn’t trying to do my best, I was trying to be perfect.”
Mimi Wong
Tasked with plating a dish that featured a ‘beast’ of a flavour, Mimi opted to use a bitter gourd, which she attempted to temper by making a soft-shell crab slider in a brioche bun with apple kimchi slaw and of course the gourd.
The 25-year-old had high hopes of using the sweetness of the brioche to counteract the bitterness of the gourd, but after her buns were ruined, Mimi was forced to pivot into making a soft-shell crab don bowl with the bitter gourd, apple kimchi and yuzu mayo.
Sadly, the flavours didn’t blend together as seamlessly without the neutralising bread of the brioche, and Mimi was sent home just short of the final four.
“It is such a magical experience to be on MasterChef,” she explained shortly after her elimination.
“The competition itself is brutal and stressful because you’re up against some of the best people, cooking Michelin star dishes for very respectable people, and I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to do perfectly.”
Darrsh Clarke
All that stood between Darrsh and his spot in the top five was French culinary legend Guillaume Brahimi.
Tasked with whipping up five identical servings of his royale of peas with a duo of crab, tarragon mayonnaise, caviar, and fried mussel, Darrsh knew time management would be crucial to his success in the challenge.
Despite this, in a desperate race to get each dish plated up, the 31-year-old sacrificed some of the finer details in a “mad rush” to get everything done.
“I was really happy that I got five plates up. The quality of all the elements I did get on [the plate] was not the best bit I was really happy I got everything on my plate,” he shared with 10Play after his elimination aired.
Despite falling short in his presentation of his final dish on the show, Darrsh says he has nothing but “pride” from his time on MasterChef.
“Top six is nothing to be disappointed about, and you get a bit reflective of the whole experience, meeting amazing people and trying not to be too hard on yourself.”
Lachlan Whittle
In a much loved MasterChef classic – the time auction – the bottom four contestants traded time for ingredients in this strategic challenge.
Ultimately, Lachlan ended up with the most time of all, but this sadly worked against him in the end as the judges praised him for the individual elements of his final dish (which consisted of lamb kofta, beetroot dip, and roasted vegetables), but criticised him for a lack of overall cohesion.
Speaking with New Idea the morning after his onscreen elimination aired, the 34-year-old revealed that while he doesn’t believe it was “a disadvantage” to have the most time, having less available may have forced him to focus “on just a few more elements and make them a bit more cohesive.”
Despite this, he is still “super proud” of himself.
As for the biggest takeaways from his time in the cooking competition, the Victorian described MasterChef as one of the “best experiences” of his life.
“I knew I could cook well and mould flavours together from different cuisines across the world, but to have that validation that I am here for a reason and that I can really cook [from the judges] was so special.”
As for what he thinks of his castmates, it’s clear “an incredible bond” has been formed: “Everybody was phenomenal. What a good group of people, we are all friends for life.”
Sumeet Saigal
A surprise elimination challenge threw a spanner in the works for Sumeet who was tasked alongside the top eight with reimagining the iconic breakfast duo of bacon and eggs in an inventive new way.
The 46-year-old opted to create a bacon, egg and blue cheese stuffed naan. But after an accidental faux pas with her eggs, the judges sadly sent her home.
“When you sign up for something like MasterChef, it’s a cooking competition and you need to walk in with your eyes on the prize, but you need to also accept the reality that there is only going to be one winner,” Sumeet explained as she was sent home.
“When they revealed it was my time to go, the most pronounced emotion that I felt was gratefulness. That’s the honest truth.”
Alex Crisp
The odds weren’t in 27-year-old Alex Crisp’s favour when it came to a mystery box that challenged her to create her best dinner dish in under 30 minutes.
After failing to impress the judges with her meal, she progressed to the elimination round where she was tasked with recreating award-winning chef Hugh Allen’s ‘Banksia Pod’ dessert.
With over 100 steps, the recipe isn’t for the faint of heart with elements ranging from a macadamia and wattleseed mousse, espresso gel, and a chocolate and macadamia base.
According to the Western Australian native, her attempt at the dessert was a “tragedy from the get-go.”
“I spent so much time on the damn coffee gel that everything else after that had this roll-on effect of being disastrous, everything took longer than it should have and I was playing it to the wire,” she shared with 10Play after her elimination aired.
Gillian Dinh
After mistakenly identifying a mint macaron with basil, the 31-year-old was forced to compete in an elimination cook-off where she was tasked with cooking a coffee-centric dessert dish.
Sadly, after a series of missteps, Gills’ Vietnamese coffee-inspired creme caramel, coconut cream and sesame tuille wasn’t enough to keep her in the competition.
Despite this, she tells New Idea she has “no regrets” about her time on the show.
“It’s all a learning lesson. Looking back there are so many things that I would do differently but that’s hindsight and also perspective. But at the end of the day, I am so proud of myself.”
Gill went on to describe MasterChef as a “dream” and an “unforgettable” experience that she was “so grateful for.”
“I met 21 like-minded people who have an equal passion for food that I was able to connect with. We’re all best friends for life, we’re family.”
Josh Clarke
It was tough times for this New York-raised, Queensland-based coffee roaster as he was challenged to create a meat-centric dish with only plant-based products.
“Honestly, this was probably my least favourite challenge of all the challenges,” the 27-year-old admitted to 10Play after his elimination aired.
Admitting he could have “one hundred per cent” executed his dish better, Josh says he wasn’t surprised to be sent home just short of the top ten.
“I think I knew in the back of my head because there was such a lack of confidence delivering it. I was turning that into acceptance that this might be my time,” he continued.
Sue Bazely
The 58-year-old called her elimination “traumatising” after falling behind in a cook-along with celebrity chef Curtis Stone.
While initially feeling confident, the cook was far from the fun Sue first imagined.
“It was not an enjoyable cook for me whatsoever. It was great to cook along with Curtis Stone as an experience, but it wasn’t the pleasurable experience I would have dreamt of,” she shared with 10Play.
Sadly her dish wasn’t up to scratch and Sue was sent home.
“It makes me feel very sad because I felt like I could have gone further, you have to just accept it. It’s a competition and I’ve come out better for it than I went in. There’s nothing lost,” she added.
David Tan
After being tasked by certified culinary genius Rick Stein to plate up a dish that featured raw seafood, David opted into creating a dish of tuna with raspberries and an apple puree covered in beetroot.
Unfortunately, the balance of flavours wasn’t quite right and David was sent into the second elimination round of the cook where he made a hot smoked salmon dish with couscous and fennel salads on the side.
Ultimately it wasn’t enough to keep him in the competition and the “neurologically spent” David was sent home.
“I used all my creativity at the start and, by the time I hit that second round, my brain left the room,” the pharmacologist shared with 10Play after his on-screen elimination aired.
“It’s all about celebrating the wins…every chance to cook in the kitchen, the people I met and the opportunity of cooking with them and learning, that for me is a win,” he added.
Stephen Dennis
In an all-or-nothing elimination where the contestants were tasked with cooking a dish that featured egg in “an interesting way,” Stpehen’s dish didn’t come together as he hoped.
“Initially, I had a well-defined dish in mind and I was pretty confident with doing it,” he shared with 10Play after his shock elimination.
“I’ve cooked with eggs a lot, so I was pretty confident that I was going to be fine. Going into the challenge I wasn’t worried at all, but as I went through I started having cracks come apart and I suddenly realised I wasn’t working as well as I normally do. I wasn’t as calm as I normally was,” he added.
Snezana Calic
Pastry queen and MasterChef Dessert Masters alumna Anna Polyviou turned the heat up when she tasked the remaining contestants with recreating her newest creation – a Sunny Side Up dessert – in a pressure test.
0While it looked deceptively simple from the outside and was plated to look like a runny egg yolk over toast, the actual construction of the dish was something else entirely.
Unfortunately for Snezana, after mistakenly leaving out a key ingredient, she was forced to re-make the dish from scratch, putting her 30 minutes behind her fellow chefs.
Ultimately, while she was able to plate a dish that she felt looked complete, the judges criticised her for failing to balance the flavours and the integrity of the pastry construction.
Juan De La Cruze
From the very first episode, Juan cemented himself as a fan-favourite in the competition.
But, sadly, his endless optimism wasn’t enough to save him from an elimination challenge after serving up a lacklustre tuna ceviche.
In an effort to redeem himself to the judges, the Argentinian plated up empanadas that whilst plated up beautifully, failed to impress with their flavour and fillings.
“I was happy with the idea and execution. I think the flavours were there but I never got to try all the elements together,” Juan shared with Ten after he farewelled the MasterChef kitchen.
1“I just loved this journey so much.”
Lourdes Leschen
During a French-themed Mystery Box challenge, Lourdes found herself in a Pressure Test where she was tasked with recreating a Smoked Egg Yolk Raviolo with Truffle and Asparagus.
While starting the cook strong, ultimately it got away from her, the end result being overcooked pasta and egg.
“Even though I failed that challenge, I was ultimately still happy with how I had done so far in the overall competition. I didn’t find much reason to stress about it,” she shared after her time in the MasterChef kitchen came to an end.
Lily Davies
After failing to identify the secret ingredients in a blind taste test challenge, the 30-year-old found herself in the bottom six where she and her fellow competitors were told they could only use ingredients from the first round and had no access to the pantry.
“I just knew, going into that cook, I felt really deflated,” Lily admitted to 10Play after her elimination aired.
2“I was really struggling to think of what to make with the limited pantry. There were so many ideas in my head I couldn’t do because certain [ingredients] weren’t there.”
Ultimately, after plating up undercooked chicken and raw leek, the NSW native was sent home.
Khristian Walker
After landing in the bottom four, Khristian was tasked with recreating judge Jean Christophe-Novelli’s Jack-In-The-Box dessert – an intricate dish that features a whiskey-soaked brownie, dark chocolate vanilla mouse, white chocolate crème, fruit, and roasted hazelnuts.
Oh, and did we forget to mention the fragile sugar work that garnishes it?
In short, plating up this dessert was no easy feat, and sadly Khristian fell behind his fellow contestants who were more experienced when it came to cooking with the sweet stuff than he was.
“Desserts are not my forte, as much as I love eating them and making them,” Khristian shared with 10Play after his elimination.
“[But] it was a privilege to recreate [Jean Christophe-Novelli’s] dish.”
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Jonathan Hooper
In an elimination round, the contestants were tasked with recreating one of Andy Allen’s mum’s favourite family meals, reminiscent of the 1980s, but with a twist.
Ultimately, while his dishes had great potential, a series of mishaps in the MasterChef kitchen sent Jonathan home.
From an inedible cheesecake that was stuck to the pan in round one to a “clumsy” pappardelle pasta in round two, it just wasn’t his day.
Speaking with Ten shortly after his elimination aired, Jonathan reflected upon his final challenge, revealing that he “wasn’t feeling good going into that cook.”
“Instead of trying to create a better dessert, in my mind, I just thought I’d make the same thing but better…I knew it at the start of that cook. I just wasn’t feeling inspired.”
“I don’t think I appreciated how much of a mental game [MasterChef] is,” Jonathan added.
Steph Griffen
Things didn’t go to plan for Step following guest judge Jamie Olivers‘ recipe for ‘Trevor’s Chicken’ – a dish that had featured on the menu of his father’s pub in the UK for more than 15 years.
After making a small mistake during the cook, the 38-year-old fell behind and was forced to improvise, the result being overcooked and dry chicken, and pastry that wasn’t as brown as it needed to be.
“During the cook, I made one wrong move and I knew then I was screwed,” she shared with 10Play following her elimination, adding that she pondered whether it was worth even continuing.
“[In this cook] I was feeling very uneasy and super overwhelmed. I think those nerves got the better of me, I was too much in my head.”
James Holmes
When tasked with plating up his “food dream” to the judges in a free-for-all creative challenge, British expat James Holmes failed to meet the mark with his squid dish which was described as “tough” and “undercooked” by the judges.
Given his calamari with a parsley and tahini sauce was described as “one of the least impressive dishes” of the night by newcomer judge Poh Ling Yeow, it was no surprise that the 38-year-old became the first contestant to be eliminated from MasterChef Australia in 2024.
“It has been a wonderful experience. It has been a privilege to be with these guys and cook in front of their watching eyes. And I would like to thank you for the opportunity, but also for the compassion with which you give us not-so-good news,” the aspiring restauranteur lamented before leaving the kitchen.
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