reality tv

Everything we know about the MasterChef 2021 contestants and where to follow them on Instagram.

To catch up on all our MasterChef Australia 2021 coverage and behind-the-scenes gossip, visit our MasterChef Australia hub page. For a daily dose of our reality TV and celebrity news, subscribe to The Spill newsletter.

Dust off your aprons and get ready to question everything you know about cooking, because MasterChef Australia is back.

And after a bunch of fake weddings and secret girlfriend drama, this is exactly the wholesome content we need in our lives right now. 

The new season, which kicked off on Monday night, sees 24 contestants battle it out for the MasterChef title (and the sweet $250,000 prize money). 

We'll also get to see favourites Poh Ling Yeow, Callum Hann and Reynold Poernomo return for a little cameo. 

Watch a sneak peek for the new season of MasterChef Australia. Post continues below. 


Video via Channel 10.

Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen will also be back on the judging panel. And they'll be joined by a bunch of guest judges including Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi and Heston Blumenthal.

Here's everything we know about the MasterChef Australia 2021 contestants and (more importantly) where to follow them on Instagram. 

Leave a comment
Listen Now
00:00

The Spill
ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Therese, Instagram @therese.lum

Therese is part Taiwanese, part Burmese and part Chinese, and already seems like one to watch. 

Despite only cooking for one year, she's already impressing the judges in the first episode with her mystical mushroom dessert.

"It makes me so happy when I cook," she explained. 

"It just transports me to Willy Wonka’s Wonderland. When it comes to desserts, I am self-taught. I do weird and whacky desserts, that’s something that I love to do."

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Brent, Instagram @brentdraper_

31-year-old Brent is a tradie with a passion for cooking.

"My cooking style - it’s rough. It’s a bit like my face - really rustic and not refined at all," he explained on the show. 

"I’ve already cried, like, six times. The fellas on the work site, if they see this – pfft gone."

When asked who he cooks for, Brent said, "For my wife... she's the love of my life and my son." 

Yep, we love him already.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Minoli, Instagram @minoli.desilva

In the first episode, Minoli shared that she had breast cancer and lost her sense of taste for over a year.

"It really put a lot of things in perspective, gaining that sense of taste back... I realised I want to spend all the effort that I put into my career, into food."

She also seems like she's in it to win it. 

"When I cook, I don’t want to be anywhere else. I just want to spend all the effort that I put into my career, into food. I want this so, so badly."

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Conor, Instagram @creamy_confusion

In the first episode, 27-year-old Conor introduced himself as "a young, Greek, gay boy with a mullet". 

And never has there been a better introduction. 

"My cooking is very Greek, with heaps of South East Asian ingredients which some people like to call fusion. I like to call it confusion, because I, myself don’t really know what’s going up on the plate half the time."

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Kishwar, Instagram @kishwar_chowdhury

Mum of two Kishwar signed up for MasterChef with a dream of creating a Bangladeshi cookbook.

"I come from a big family of cooks, the Bengali cuisine that I carry with me has been passed down from generation to generation. If I don’t do that, it’s going to end with me and I really want to pass that down," she said as she teared up in the first episode. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Aaron, Instagram @sanders25

Aaron was born and raised in Adelaide and loves fishing, which is no-doubt a big help when he cooks seafood. 

The 34-year-old has a dream of opening up a dinner party restaurant featuring a backyard garden cafe and teaching others.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Amir, Instagram @amirmanoly

Amir started falling in love with cooking when he was just four years old. Now 30, he hopes to one day open a cooking school for men that brings together his passion for food with a focus on mental health. 

He'll also be one to watch in mystery box challenges. During lockdown, Amir and his mates took part in mystery box cook-offs over Zoom. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Depinder, Instagram @depinder_

Depinder was born in New Delhi and moved to New South Wales when she was 11 years old. 

She loves cooking pastry and desserts, and hopes to write a cookbook one day on fusion cuisine.

MasterChef's Dan, Instagram @dandumbrell

Dan's mum has a Guangzhou background, which comes in handy when he's cooking Chinese-inspired dishes.

Outside of the kitchen, the 31-year-old earnt his PhD in 2018 before tying the knot with his husband two years later. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Elise, Instagram @elise_foodperson

Elise has Italian and Sri Lankan heritage and hopes to open a farm-to-table restaurant one day. 

She also said she could "die happy" if she ever met food writer and cook Nigella Lawson. And considering she's going to be one of the guests on the show, Elise is in for a real shock. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Eric, Instagram @e_mao_

21-year-old medical student Eric is another contestant who made it into the top 24 this year. But it wasn't his first time auditioning for the show.

He first auditioned for Junior MasterChef when he was just 10 years old. 

And fun fact, the day he auditioned for the judges this season, was also the day of his final clinical exam. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Jess, Instagram @_made_by_jess

Jess has a background as a landscape architect and urban designer and describes her cooking as "explorative, creative and generous". 

She hopes to travel around Australia with her wife and twins learning about native food one day and also own a property where she can grow her own food and run a cafe or restaurant. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Justin, Instagram @justinnarayan

27-year-old Justin is a youth pastor and hopes to one day open a restaurant or food truck where proceeds can support children living in the slums of India. 

His cooking idols are Gordon Ramsay, Gaggan Anand and his mum. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Katrina, Instagram @aunty_trina

Katrina is 25-years-old and was born and raised on a berry farm. 

She brings a range cooking skills to the table, which she learnt from both her Indonesian and Australian grandmas.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Linda, Instagram @eating_with_chenwah

Linda has been cooking since before she was five-years-old. 

She's inspired by the heritage of her Laotian mum and Chinese-Cambodian dad when she cooks and she dreams to open up a food truck one day which offers bento boxes. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Maja, Instagram @majaveit

Maja grew up on a hobby farm in Tasmania with German parents. 

Before MasterChef, she used to own a pop-up market stall that specialised in boutique seafood sausages.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Pete, Instagram @my.mate.pete

Pete is a tattoo artist and self-taught cook who hopes to open up a wine bar Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

MasterChef's Sabina, Instagram @sabinanewton

21-year-old Sabina has is a long-time MasterChef fan and watched Julie Goodwin win the show when she was just eight years old. 

She loves cooking all things meat and seafood and wants to own her own restaurant in Tasmania one day.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Scott, Instagram @ssbagnell

According to his bio, Scott is a "self-confessed food nerd", who owns 350 cookbooks and 100 food magazines. 

He hopes to eventually open a cooking school and patisserie. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Tom, Instagram @tomlevick_

Tom has been cooking since he was six-years-old. 

The 24-year-old has an interest in Indian cuisine thanks to his grandmother, who came to Australia from India. His cooking is also inspired by his travels around the world. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Tommy, Instagram @tommyphameats

Tommy (not to be confused with Tom) made us all emotional when he started talking about his family and cooking in the first episode. 

His cooking dream involves combining his love of food and travel and documenting different food cultures around the world. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Trent, Instagram @trent_vu

23-year-old Trent hopes to write a column for a food magazine one day. 

He enjoys baking his signature tarts and cakes.

ADVERTISEMENT

MasterChef's Wynona, Instagram @adashofwyn

Wynona first applied for MasterChef two years ago but she didn't make it through. 

However, she's now made it into the top 24 and hopes to show off her skills. 

MasterChef's YoYo, Instagram @yo_yo_tato

At 19 years old, Yonina - aka YoYo - is the youngest contestant competing for the MasterChef title this year. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Outside of cooking, she's a second-year medical student and can play six different instruments.

This article was originally published on April 19, 2021, and was updated on April 21, 2021.

MasterChef Australia 2021 airs Sunday-Thursday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.

Feature Image: Channel 10/Mamamia. 

Tags:
Resources
News
Entertainment
Lifestyle
Family
Work & Money