NEED TO KNOW
- Vinnie Gibaldi has been named as the winner of MasterChef Australia 2026.
- The registered nurse ended up beating chartered accountant, Petro Papathomas, by 13 points.
- Along with winning the title, he has also won $250,000.
Vinnie Gibaldi was crowned the winner of MasterChef Australia 2026, telling New Idea that he’s “still processing” everything.
He ended up beating Petro Papathomas by 13 points during the grand finale, which aired on August 9.
While the episode was filmed months ago, he didn’t actually know the outcome until it aired, with two versions filmed in advance, and he was over the moon.
“It’s been a while since I was there, and it was just really, really awesome to just celebrate with everyone that meant so much to me as well,” he exclusively tells New Idea.
“It was really cool, and I’m just so appreciative.”
Along with being named Australia’s 18th MasterChef, he is also $250,000 richer.
However, he isn’t rushing to quit his day job, and has told New Idea what he plans to do with his winnings.
“I always say to my family and stuff like first of all, I want to chat to see if anyone needed anything and if anyone was struggling, family and friends,” he explained.
“After that, I’d really love to get a place with my partner Bridge; obviously I’d really love to start getting into the hospitality industry, whether that’s doing pop-ups or something, because I know me, Casper and Annabel have always been talking that we want to do pop-ups, and I feel like money would definitely get us started.”
“Do fit-outs, and the equipment and things like that, that would really start off the career and then from there, honestly, I’d like to open my own place.”
“Whether that’s with paninis, whether that’s a wine bar, whether it’s that I want to do with Bridge, whether it’s something I want to do with my friends.”
He isn’t planning to rush into things, and he wants to ease himself into his food dream.
“I kind of just want to start off slow and and ease myself and start building a name for myself so that when I do go out in the big world, I’ve got the support of people that have actually had my food and and know that it’s good, as opposed to just throwing myself out there and biting off more than I can chew and,” he says.
This means the registered nurse doesn’t plan to turn his back on his work at the hospital as of yet, but does hope to reduce his hours while he figures things out.
What happened during the MasterChef Australia 2026 finale?
During the first round, Vinnie and Petro were both given a “Superstar Mystery Box” containing ingredients from this year’s guest judges, and they had 75 minutes to use as many of them as they wished in a dish.
The 25-year-old initially set out to use the dry-aged duck breast, chosen by chefs Matt Sinclair and Dan Dobra.
However, with less than 30 minutes left on the clock, the registered nurse discovered that his duck was overdone and knew he couldn’t serve it.
He then pivoted to serving up flathead instead and had to readjust all his elements.
It ended up paying off, because the judges thought it was cooked to perfection and believed it was his best plate of food in the competition to date.
“I still remember that moment,” he tells New Idea about that chaotic round.
“And I still remember being like, ‘What have I done?’ It was pretty crazy, and I feel like I would not have been able to do it early on in the competition, and this proves that you practice and you work hard during the whole competition to become a better cook, and it was just what I feel like I did.”
In the end, he led by five points after he scored 37 out of 40 in the first round. He earned nine out of 10 from Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow and Sofia Levin, and a perfect score from Jean-Christophe Novelli.
While he enjoyed watching the finale and reliving it with his loved ones, he was also torn watching his close mate Petro struggle during both rounds.
“It’s always hard to see if your friend doesn’t do as well as you hope,” he shares. “We are honestly good mates, and I feel like I want the best for him as well.”
“It’s kind of inevitable, you’re gonna make mistakes, and it’s about how you come back from them that’s important, and not to dwell for too long.”
When pastry chef Cherish Finden came in for the Pressure Test, Vinnie says he wanted to maintain his lead, knowing he shouldn’t be complacent.
Throughout the competition, he admitted that desserts weren’t his strength, so when she tasked him and Petro with making her Chinese Afternoon Tea, he was nervous.
The five-hour cook wasn’t smooth sailing for him – he had to remake elements and had to go against the recipe to correct one of the components.
As the second round ended, he said he knew some of his desserts were not perfect, but there was no time to fix anything.
Thankfully, the judges loved his mandarin orange, agreeing it was identical to Cherish’s. The pastry chef even remarked that she would happily offer him a job!
He ended up with an overall score of 80 out of 90, in comparison to Petro’s total score of 67.
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