Who’s In This Year’s Cast Line-Up?

We are just weeks away from Season 16 of MasterChef Australia and you know what that means? A whole new batch of talented contestants ready to blow our minds with their culinary skills.

This season of MasterChef is particularly exciting, with three new judges joining former winner Andy Allen on the panel: beloved two-time contestant Poh Ling Yeow, food critic Sofia Levin and French chef and restauranteur Jean-Christophe Novelli.

So far, the official social media accounts for the show have revealed the identities of six upcoming contestants. Let’s meet them!!!!!!

MasterChef Contestants 2024: Who’s in this year’s line up?

Nat

Okay, I’ll be honest, the information is scarce so far from the teasers that Channel 10 have released. However, I am certainly ~ intrigued ~ and ~excited~ for the first episode so they’ve certainly done their job.

In this clip, we learn that Nat is from Victoria. She’s decided to blend native Australian ingredients like kangaroo mince with a traditional Thai dish called Larb!

While the clip makes it sound like this could go horribly wrong, I completely disagree. In fact, as a giant fan of Larb, I’ve actually made it with kangaroo mince before and it was delish!!!!

Live, life, larb, I say!

Khristian

Khristian is a sweet pea. In his teaser, we learn that he is a HUGE fan of Jamie Oliver and is over the bloody moon that the famed British chef will be trying some of his cooking. Khristian tells Jamie that he learnt to cook from watching his show when he was young and that Jamie is the reason that he is standing in the MasterChef kitchen today.

Wholesome, no?

We also learn that Jamie will take care of anyone who wins the show and will arrange for a meeting in London to set up their culinary dreams. Pretty fkn cool.

Juan De La Cruz

Everybody meet Juan De La Cruz! While some contestants would like to keep their relationship with the audience on a first-name basis, Juan De La Cruz wants everybody to know his full name to make his mum proud — and I fkn love that!

You did the damn thing, Juan De La Cruz!

Another wonderful thing about Juan De La Cruz — aside from the brilliant way his name rolls off the tongue — is how energetic and excited he is to be on MasterChef. He’s enamoured by the judges and wants to do his best. Bless!!!!

Josh

Josh is a country boy and butcher from Tasmania. We quickly learn that he truly is country-country from the clips of him literally carrying calves on a farm. The narrator then tells us that he is the epitome of a “meat and three veg” kind of guy. So naturally, his challenge is showing his more refined culinary style.

Can Josh smash out a moist cake? Will Josh be able to delicately create a croquembouche? Only time will tell, my friends.

Stephen

In Stephen‘s trailer, he’s already spinning a yarn worthy of an entire episode. He tells new judge Jean-Christophe that he was once attacked by a crocodile. According to Stephen, the croc went to grab him but somehow sunk its teeth into a tree instead.

The unlucky croc ended up losing a tooth in the tree trunk, so Stephen decided to grab it and put it on a necklace.

Anyway, in the first episode, we see Stephen attempt to cook a delicate French quail dish — quite the daunting task when a genuine French chef is in the building, hey?

Sav

It may be a bit too early to play favourites but fuck it, I think Savindri AKA Sav might be my favourite contestant so far. She’s coming into this competition hoping the judges will like her food, but also that she’ll get the approval of the Sri Lankan aunties watching on from the comfort of their living rooms.

The best bit about this is that judge Andy Allen is absolutely terrible with spice. I get a tremendous amount of joy watching him cough and splutter every season. You’ve got to hand it to the bloke though, he always gives it a go.

Plus, just from the trailer alone, Sav seems like a bit of an oversharer and we love that. In fact, during the 45-second clip, she tells the judges about her brand new relationship with her boyfriend who is “like a block of white chocolate”.

Well, that’s everyone for now and honestly, they all seem great. I can’t wait to see who else will be announced! Otherwise, we’ll have to be patient until April 22 when the show kicks off.