Get your aprons on and your ovens on preheat, because MasterChef Australia 2024 is well underway! As the new panel of judges search for Australia’s next hottest chef, contestants are on the chopping block every other day. So here’s every contestant who has been eliminated from MasterChef 2024 so far.
Unless you are also shouting “GONE” at the television every time an eliminated contestant is on screen during the iconic MasterChef intro — whoever chose Katy Perry‘s “Hot N Cold” as the theme song is the true master chef — it can be hard to keep track of which of the 22 cast members has been eliminated across a season.
Because practically nobody can watch every episode of a show four nights a week (in this economy?), this means you’re bound to occasionally miss an elimination challenge, and suddenly your favourite chef might have left without you knowing.
So rather than force you to try and piece together who might have been booted out of the show’s 16th season, here’s a list of everyone eliminated from MasterChef Australia 2024.
Juan – Episode 17
Dish: Orange and soybean chicken empanadas.
Date: Sunday, May 19.
Episode 17 of MasterChef Australia Season 16 saw the return of two fan favourites: celebrity chef Luke Nguyen, and the Ingredient Gamble elimination challenge! Unfortunately for 39-year-old board game designer Juan, the episode also saw the end of his MasterChef run.
The Ingredient Gamble challenge saw contestants forced to “gamble” on which ingredient they used in a dish — one they were randomly assigned and could see before the cooking time, or one underneath a cloche they could reveal once the 75 minutes began.
The five contestants whose dishes were least impressive would then go to the second elimination round forced to cook with the previously unused ingredient.
Juan’s visible ingredient was soybeans, which he hadn’t cooked with before, so he took a cheeky gamble. Fortunately for Juan, his cloched ingredient was limes, so he decided to cook Vietnamese tacos.
Nailing the presentation of the dish, Juan’s luck ran out when it was revealed that his tacos were too dry and thick, with the lime’s flavours not being prevalent enough. My boy limed too close to the sun, RIP.
He then moved to the second elimination round, this time forced to work the with soybeans he avoided earlier. He chose to cook chicken empanadas to keep himself in the MasterChef kitchen,
Juan admitted to the judges that he had never worked with sated soybeans before, and so attempted to reduce the flavour so it wasn’t overpowering in the dish.
Though he was given “full points for presentation” again, unfortunately in his efforts to undercut the soybean’s flavour he miscalculated and the actual empanadas were criticised as “surprisingly sweet” and “one-dimensional” by the judges.
Juan’s positivity and radiant smile will be missed by his fellow contestants, with many others tearing up at his elimination.
“This show was a dream, and when a dream is something beautiful you don’t wanna wake up,” Juan said in his final statement on the show — a master chef with words and flavours!
Lourdes – Episode 15
Dish: Smoked egg yolk raviolo, truffle and asparagus purée.
Date: Tuesday, May 14.
The elimination challenge that saw 22-year old Lourdes sent home was a brutal pressure test that gave contestants four hours to recreate a smoked egg yolk raviolo while outside in a truffle orchard – because cooking in a kitchen would have just been easy, apparently?
Throughout the early part multi-hour cook Lourdes looked confident and on track, however as it progressed her bench became messy as the pressure and heat began to get to her.
Despite this, she still managed to plate every element of the dish — a feat not managed by every contestant of the challenge!
When it came to the taste test Lourdes shared to the judges that she felt “worried” about her raviolo being overcooked. A concern she was correct to have, as when it was cut into the egg yolk did not ooze or have the “smokey flavours”. Bloody devo.
Though her pasta and asparagus purée were both brilliant, there were too many flaws on the plate for the judges to deem it satisfactory. The fact her sauce had been overdone, along with the egg yolk being overcooked and rubbery chicken skin, resulted in Lourdes’ elimination.
Lily – Episode 13
Dish: Chicken Maryland, mushroom sauce and charred leak.
Date: Sunday, May 12.
Former nurse, Lily, was sent home on the Sunday episode after MasterChef Australia brought back one of its most classic elimination challenges: the One-Inch Cube Taste Test.
For the uninitiated, the One-Inch Cube challenge sees contestants faced with a table of different ingredients that are all cut into one-inch sized cubes. They then take turns tasting and smelling individual ingredients, and have to identify what they just ate. The first six people to incorrectly guess their cube then went to the next elimination round.
After Lily incorrectly guessed eggplant — which famously has NO TASTE??? — she and five other contestants were given 75 minutes to cook a dish using only the ingredients from the previous challenge that were correctly identified.
Using the elements of mushroom, leak, and chicken, Lily chose to cook a chicken Maryland in her effort to impress the judges. However, even going in to present her dish Lily stated she felt “sick”, due to her lack of elements and uncertainty of how cooked her chicken was.
Unfortunately for Lily, both her chicken and her leak were undercooked, which resulted in her being the fifth contestant eliminated from this season of MasterChef Australia.
“Lily, today was not your best cooking,” began Jean-Christophe Novelli, before continuing: “Because actually, you are a good cook. And you need to believe it.”
In her final remarks on the show, Lily told the judges and fellow contestants what her plans are once she leaves the MasterChef kitchen.
“I feel really grateful. I’ve spent my life looking after everyone else. I’m gonna do me for a bit,” Lily shared.
YOU DO YOU LILY!!! SLAY!!!
Khristian – Episode 11
Dish: Jean-Christophe Novelli 1992 ‘Jack in the Box’ dessert.
Date: Tuesday, May 7.
The fourth contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 26-year-old insurance services provider, Khristian, after the show’s first Pressure Test cookoff in which the bottom four chef’s had to recreate the intricate dish Jean-Christophe Novelli credits as awarding him his very first Michelin star, the ‘Jack in the Box’.
Unfortunately for Khristian, nothing really went his way with this complicated dessert.
His sugar squares were far darker than they had to be, his sugar wall fell over after he assembled the dish, the vanilla and roasted hazelnuts were missing and the chocolate mousse was “overmixed”.
Mix all of that together and you have just cause for an elimination. This year’s MasterChef challenges did not come to play.
Jonathan – Episode 9
Dish: Maree Allen‘s Fruit Salad Slice.
Date: Sunday, May 5.
The third contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 29-year-old carpenter, Jonathan, after an intense challenge in which the chef’s had to reinvent the favourite dishes of a very special guest — Andy Allen‘s own mother Maree.
Contestants had three dishes to choose from, which were highlighted as being instrumental to Andy Allen’s childhood. Way to add the pressure, guys!
The options were The Pine Burger, Maree’s Lamb Chops, and Maree’s Fruit Salad Slice, and Jonathan, despite not being too confident with desserts, opted to reinvent the Fruit Salad Slice.
One cheesecake which stuck to the tin later and bam, Jonathan was kicked from the competition.
“I probably wasn’t in the best headspace for that [challenge]… I was really, really homesick,” he told 10 Play after his elimination.
“I wanted to be home and I think it came across in my food.
“I was unsure of myself and I wasn’t feeling good going into that cook,” he continued. “I wasn’t as switched on or as motivated as I normally would be.”
Steph — Episode 7
Dish: Stuffed chicken breast, baked in puff pastry. Side of mash, steamed vegetables, and mustard-cream sauce.
Date: Tuesday, April 30.
The second contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 28-year-old events manager, Steph, after an intense elimination challenge against four other chefs, and guest celebrity chef/your mum’s hall pass, Jamie Oliver.
In the “Keeping Up With Jamie” elimination challenge, Steph and her competitors were tasked with maintaining the pace of the world famous British chef as he prepared a dish from his dad’s pub’s menu: Trevor’s Chicken.
The “chicken wellington” was a mushroom duxelles-stuffed piece of chicken breast, wrapped in puff pastry, with a side of steamed veggies, mash potatoes, and a mustard-cream sauce.
During her second elimination challenge, Steph had difficulty keeping up with Jamie, and at one point removed her chicken breast earlier than instructed. But in the end she still served up “Trevor’s Chicken” with everyone else.
“That was a ride,” Steph told the judges after serving them her dish. “My heart’s still beating.”
After digging in, Jamie noted that Steph’s attempt at the meal had “a different look” to other contestants, with other judges agreeing that her chicken breast was overcooked, and the stuffing was “all over the place”.
“I noticed at the beginning she was not listening to you,” Novelli on how Steph followed Jamie’s instructions during the challenge.
After Steph was told she was eliminated, fellow contestant Lily gave her a big hug.
“This has been really hard, but I think it’s shown how driven that I am, and I’m ready for the next thing,” Steph reflected through tears, before being applauded out of the kitchen by the cast and judges.
Jamie — Episode 5
Dish: Squid stuffed with feta, green peppers, and parsley. Side of wattle-seed pita bread and tahini.
Date: Sunday, April 28.
Somebody has to be the first person to get eliminated from a season, and unfortunately for 38-year-old primary school teacher James, his MasterChef Australia career ended after the first elimination challenge.
The challenge itself gave all competing chefs 75 minutes to prepare a dish inspired by their personal “food dreams”.
For James, this meant delivering something that paid tribute to his dream of serving food from around the world. He chose to cook a stuffed squid, served with tahini and pita.
James was feeling “really happy” and “really confident” about his dish before being the last of the 22 contestants to serve his dish to judges.
However, upon making the first cut into James’ meal, Andy Allen noticed a big problem… *cue cymbal clash and cut to an ad break*
“The top’s raw,” Andy said, to James’ shock.
“That’s devastating,” the young chef responded.
The judges agreed that though the presentation was good, the dish had a variety of issues — such as other flavours from the side overpowered the squid, the repetition of textures, and the mix of dairy and protein.
“It’s been a wonderful experience. It’s been a privilege to be with these guys, and to be cooking in front of your watchful eyes,” James thanked the judges.
Andy then welcomed him in for a hug, because this show is actually nice and treats people with dignity in the face of defeat, unlike some other cooking shows.
MasterChef Australia 2024 airs on Channel 10 from 7:30pm on Monday to Thursday night. All episodes can also be streamed online at 10 Play.
[Image: MasterChef Australia/10 Play]
