Returning to screens for the first time in over a decade, Celebrity MasterChef Australia is back with a new crop of famous faces, ready to test their mettle in the MasterChef kitchen when the series premieres on Sunday, 10 October at 7.30pm on 10.
As always, the contestants will be under the watchful eye of judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen.
See More: MasterChef Australia: Everything you need to know about the judges
See More: Celebrity MasterChef Australia: Everything you need to know
Taking to the kitchen for Celebrity MasterChef 2021 are:
Archie Thompson – Football Legend
Australian football royalty Archie Thompson is jumping off the field and into the frying pan as he fights his way to glory in the famed MasterChef kitchen.
The former Socceroo spent the majority of his career with Melbourne Victory Football Club, winning three championships and two prestigious Victory Medals, the highest honour awarded by the club.
Appearing for Australia more than 50 times and scoring 28 goals, Archie played a pivotal role in the 2005 qualification games against Uruguay, which saw Australia break a 35-year drought. He was in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2001 and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cups, the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the successful 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
Archie’s 13-goal haul against American Samoa in 2001 remains a world record.
Since retiring, Archie has done lots of coaching at junior level and believes in giving young children a professional and fun learning environment. He’s also a passionate ambassador for Polished Man, an organisation raising awareness to end violence against children.
Archie Thompson
Chrissie Swan – Nova 100 Radio Host
Having almost clinched victory on reality television not once, but twice in years gone by, Chrissie Swan is hoping she’ll have the edge over the competition to keep her cool in the MasterChef kitchen.
As one part of the ACRA award-winning Nova 100 Melbourne breakfast radio show Chrissie, Sam and Browny, Chrissie has been getting up early since 2016 with co-hosts Sam Pang and Jonathan Brown to make mornings more fun.
Runner-up in the inaugural series of TV phenomenon Big Brother in 2003, Chrissie then turned her hand to radio presenting, going on to host multiple #1 breakfast shows across a long and successful career.
Spending six weeks in the South African jungle in 2015 on the inaugural season of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! was a transformative time for Chrissie, where, as second runner up she won many fans with her candour and can-do attitude.
A published author of Is it just me? (Confessions of an over-sharer), Chrissie is also a very passionate home cook and to set foot inside the hallowed MasterChef kitchen is a dream come true for this down to earth mum of three.
Chrissie Swan
Collette Dinnigan – Fashion Designer
Collette Dinnigan AO, is one of Australia’s most successful, respected and celebrated fashion and interior designers. With a penchant for creating excellence and attention to detail her stock in trade, switching chiffon for chiffonnades should come easily to Collette. Her steely determination and drive to achieve makes her one to watch in the Celebrity MasterChef Australia kitchen.
As the first Australian fashion designer to mount a full-scale ready-to-wear collection in Paris, Collette has shown during the prestigious Paris Fashion Week an impressive 33 times. Her iconic work has been worn by fashion icons worldwide including Princess Mary of Denmark, the Duchess of Cambridge, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Angelina Jolie, Kylie Minogue, Julia Roberts, P!nk, Diana Ross, Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock and Beyoncé.
One of Australia’s most lauded fashion designers, Collette has received the Australian Designer of the Year Award, the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World Award and was twice named as one of Australia’s 50 Most Beautiful Exports. In 2017, she was awarded the Order of Australia for her services to fashion and has featured on a postage stamp.
Over the years, Collette has collaborated successfully with the likes of Marks & Spencer and Target to present more affordable ranges for lovers of fashion everywhere, including a children’s range for Aldi, inspired by her own two children.
During Celebrity MasterChef Australia, Collette will bring her passion for cooking and entertaining to the plate, taking inspiration from a life-long love of food and from memories of time spent in South Africa, New Zealand, her beloved Italy and beyond.
Collette Dinnigan
Dami Im – Singer
Acclaimed entertainer Dami Im is no stranger to pressure. Her performance on the world stage during the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest was seen by 204 million viewers worldwide. Dami has long proven she has the composure to peak at the right time, and it’s a trait she will need as she enters the MasterChef kitchen for a competition with a whole new flavour.
Beginning her musical journey as a virtuoso pianist, Dami is renowned for her emotive and powerful vocals after capturing our hearts as the winner of The X Factor Australia in 2013.
Since then, Dami has released a string of hit albums and singles including Alive, Super Love and Gladiator, and in 2021 released her new single, Lonely Cactus. In 2016, she became “Eurovision royalty” when she earned the highest score ever achieved by an Australian entry with her global smash hit Sound of Silence, finishing second in the competition. The song was a subsequent number one global hit, charting in 38 countries.
In 2019, Dami was awarded the Australian Women in Music Humanitarian Award winner for her ongoing work to alleviate childhood poverty in underdeveloped countries, and she is a proud ambassador for Compassion Australia.
With strong food memories from her childhood spent both in Korea and Australia, Dami is heavily inspired by her mother’s talent in the kitchen and hopes to showcase some of the Korean culture and cuisine close to her heart.
Dami Im
Dilruk Jayasinha – Comedian
Growing up in Sri Lanka, comedian and actor Dilruk Jayasinha moved to Melbourne to attend university, and despite starting a career in accounting, the lure of the open mic was calling and in 2010 he embarked on his stage career.
One of the most in-demand headliners on the Australian comedy scene with a reputation for his positive, upbeat brand of stand-up, Dilruk has appeared at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Festival, and continues to sell out solo shows across the country.
A regular on Network 10’s Have You Been Paying Attention? and Hughesy, We Have A Problem, Dilruk also appeared in the 2020 season of the hit show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in the South African jungle.
Winner of the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent at the 2018 TV Week Logie Awards, Dilruk is an ambassador for Mental Health Day Australia, and hopes to add the coveted Celebrity MasterChef Australia trophy to his mantelpiece at home.
Dilruk Jayasinha
Ian Thorpe – Gold Medal Olympian
Competing under pressure is nothing new for the legendary Ian ‘Thorpey’ Thorpe. But the MasterChef kitchen offers a whole new challenge.
With nine Olympic medals including five gold, 11 World Championship titles, 10 Commonwealth Games medals and nine Pan Pacific Games titles, Thorpey – as he’s best known to Australia – will be a force to be reckoned with in the Celebrity MasterChef Australia kitchen.
Born in Sydney, Thorpey wowed the world with his athletic ability, breaking no less than 22 world records in the pool, and after travelling the globe for his sport, became familiar with a variety of different cuisines.
Named Young Australian of the Year in 2000 and awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia the following year, Thorpey hasn’t taken a break since leaving competitive swimming. In 2012 he received the Human Rights Medal for his work fighting for better services for Indigenous children in remote communities, and he holds Honorary Doctorates from both Western Sydney University and Macquarie University.
An expert sports commentator who most recently commentated for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, outside of the pool and the kitchen, Thorpey is both Patron and board member for frontline youth mental health service, ReachOut, Chair of the AIS Athlete Wellbeing & Engagement Committee and Co-Chair of The Sapphire Project promoting sustainability and ocean conservation.
Ian Thorpe
Matt Le Nevez – Actor
After breaking hearts as Dr. Patrick Reid in Network 10’s award-winning series Offspring, Matt Le Nevez is whisking his way back on screen, with his eyes set on claiming the coveted Celebrity MasterChef Australia trophy.
Matt made his feature film debut in Garage Days, before showcasing his range with film credits including Peaches and Australia Day. In 2004 his role in Marking Time won him an AFI Television Award for Best Support Actor in a Supporting or Guest Role.
In 2006, his role of Mathew Wales in The Society Murders won him a TV Week Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. Television roles in HOWZAT!, Love Child, Brock, and the critically acclaimed and award- winning mystery drama series The Kettering Incident followed, with Matt a mainstay on Australian screens for nearly two decades.
In 2019 he starred opposite Kate Beckinsale in the British drama series The Widow and has featured in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles and Runner.
Matt Le Nevez
Nick Riewoldt – Fox Footy Presenter
Swapping a footy for a fryer, AFL champion Nick Riewoldt is jumping off the field and into the Celebrity MasterChef Australia kitchen as he tackles what may be his greatest challenge yet.
Following a decorated career spanning 17 years with the St Kilda Football Club where he played 336 games and kicked 718 goals, Nick turned his passion for the game into a media role as a presenter with Fox Footy, upon his retirement in 2018. He provides expert commentary and analysis on AFL matches and is a regular member of On the Couch.
Competitive on and off the field, his fellow contestants will need to be wary of his fighting spirit, as Nick will stop at nothing to hold aloft the trophy.
The key forward holds the all-time record for the most marks in VFL/AFL history, he’s a five-time All Australian and St. Kilda’s longest serving captain. But away from the game, Nick is all about family. Married to wife Catherine who hails from Texas, he’s familiar with American style BBQ and loves a weekend cook up for his three young sons, James, William and Teddy.
Chairman and co-founder of Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, the charity was inspired following the devastating passing of Nick’s sister Maddie in 2015.
Nick Riewoldt
Rebecca Gibney – Actor
New Zealand born Rebecca Gibney is one of Australia’s most beloved and respected actors. Known for her famed characters, Rebecca will be 100% herself in the Celebrity MasterChef Australia kitchen, perhaps set to reveal more of herself through her food than ever before.
Her much-loved role as quintessential Aussie mum Julie Rafter in Packed To The Rafters earned her a TV Week Gold Logie Award in 2009 for Most Popular Personality, two Silver Logies for Most Popular Actress, along with a string of further nominations. Rebecca will soon return to screens as Julie Rafter in the highly anticipated series, Back To The Rafters. Also to hit screens in 2021 is new series Under The Vines, in which Rebecca stars and executive-produced.
One of Rebecca’s most critically acclaimed roles was as Dr. Jane Halifax in Halifax F.P, which featured 21 telemovies spanning 1994 to 2002. In 2020 Rebecca reprised her role in Halifax: Retribution, earning an AACTA award nomination for Best Lead Actress.
Other notable credits include three seasons of acclaimed drama Wanted, which she co-created, produced and starred in, as well as co-producing and starring in both TV movie The Killing Field and spin off drama series Winter.
Feature film credits include P.J. Hogan’s Mental opposite Toni Collette and Anthony LaPaglia, Lowdown Dirty Criminals and Jocelyn Moorhouse’s The Dressmaker alongside Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and Liam Hemsworth.
When it comes to food, while Rebecca might let husband Richard play head chef at home, she was spurred on by her son (and big MasterChef Australia fan) Zac to join the Celebrity MasterChef Australia ranks, and now that she’s here, she means business.
See More: Why Rebecca Gibney changed her mind about competing on Celebrity MasterChef
Rebecca Gibney
Tilly Ramsay – British TV Presenter
At just 19 years of age, Matilda ‘Tilly’ Ramsay has crammed a lot into life thus far, and with Celebrity MasterChef Australia now in her sights, she shows no signs of stopping.
Based in London, as the second youngest of five children to father Gordon Ramsay, multi-Michelin starred chef and internationally acclaimed television host, and mother Tana Ramsay, author, TV presenter and business owner, Tilly is a passionate and talented cook in her own right.
Alongside elder sister Megan, twins Jack and Holly, Mum and Dad and now two-year-old brother Oscar, Tilly presents the multiple BAFTA-nominated CBBC family cooking show Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, which began in 2015. Her culinary skills and obvious sense of fun saw her pen her first cookbook, Tilly’s Kitchen Takeover in 2017.
Tilly has made numerous television appearances over the years including, The F Word UK, Hell’s Kitchen US, MasterChef Junior US and The Late Late Show With James Corden. In 2020 she led a group of adventurous teenagers to explore the Costa Rican jungle in Uncharted Junior, a much-anticipated collaboration with her Dad Gordon, spinning off from his Gordon Ramsay’s Uncharted series for National Geographic.
Dad Gordon has often been a tough task master in the MasterChef Australia kitchen, and now Tilly has made the trip Down Under to don an apron and test her skills behind the bench. The youngest of the 10 celebrities competing, Tilly won’t be intimidated, nor let the pressure of her Dad having taught her everything she knows, become too much.
Tilly Ramsay