MasterChef Australia is back, returning for its 13th season on Monday, April 19th at 7:30pm on 10.
Contestants will be challenged to create delicious meals both inside the famed MasterChef kitchen and at locations across Victoria – getting out for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown meant that the show was unable to film outside of its kitchen set.
Judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen, and Melissa Leong entered the kitchen last season, making their mark on challenges and tastings alike. Ready to encourage and push contestants to extend their repertoire, the trio are back to mentor the next batch of hopefuls.
See More: MasterChef season 13: Everything you need to know about the judges
See More: MasterChef judges on the format going back to its roots for season 13
This season, the winner stands to walk away with both the title of Australia’s MasterChef 2021 and $250,000 in prize money.
In 2020 MasterChef Australia took home the AACTA Award for Best Reality Program – its fourth win in the category. Most recently it won the Most In-Demand Reality Series at the Global TV Demand Awards.
How It Works
Each week will kick off with a team challenge on a Monday. The bottom team will battle it out during Tuesday’s pressure test, before the mystery box challenge on Wednesday.
Top contestants fight for immunity on Thursday before everyone else takes to the stage on a Sunday evening for the elimination where another cook is farewelled.
Masterclasses remain, peppered throughout the season with special guests including season 12 runner-up Laura Sharrad, as the contestants take note of tips and tricks from Jock and Andy.
Challenge Weeks
Returning to the kitchen, Nigella Lawson will open Superstars Week – beamed in live from London as she sets a biscuit challenge. Nigella will be joined across the week via Zoom by chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi, Massimo Bottura, Clare Smyth, and Heston Blumenthal.
Capping off the week with an elimination episode, MasterChef Australia Back To Win favourites Poh Ling Yeow, Reynold Poernomo, and Callum Hann return to strut their culinary stuff.
Beat The Brigade Week will bring a series of challenges, as contestants battle it out for immunity against chefs from four of Melbourne’s top restaurants – Tonka, Movida, Lucy Liu, and Stokehouse.
Contestants will also face a week of challenges across the state of Victoria, cooking seaside in Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road and at Dairy Flat Farm with Alla Wolf-Tasker in Daylesford. They will venture through Melbourne’s CBD for inspiration, before a layered Lune Croissanterie challenge puts them through their paces. The week wraps up with an all-in elimination back at the MasterChef kitchen.
Guest Chefs
Every year MasterChef Australia brings in a catalogue of guest chefs to grace the kitchen, and this year is no different. Fan-favourite Kirsten Tibballs is back, alongside Scott Pickett and Curtis Stone. The kitchen also welcomes Tipo 00’s Andreas Papadakis, Michelin-starred Chef Yomo, Khanh Nguyen from Sunda Dining, Amaru’s Clinton McIver, pastry chef Anthony Hart, author of The Whole Fish Cookbook Josh Niland, and MasterChef Australia Back To Win champion Emelia Jackson.
More guests will be announced as the show airs.