MasterChef Australia 2022: Meet the Cast

Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong return to judge Season 14 of MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites.

Original champion Julie Goodwin leads the 12 returning cooks who compete alongside 12 newcomers (and no auditions).

Episode 1 kicks off with not one but three Immunity pins up for grabs.

The MasterChef kitchen will once again play host to chefs from Australia and overseas, including Adriano Zumbo, Shannon Bennet, Curtis Stone, Reynold Poernomo, Clare Smyth, Alla Wolf-Tasker, Josh Niland and Maggie Beer.

This season, the winner scores $250,000 in prize money.

Each week begins with a mystery box (Monday), a pressure test (Tuesday), team challenge (Wednesday), chance to cook for immunity (Thursday) and elimination (Sunday).

Masterclasses also return throughout the season with special guests.

Favourites

Aldo Ortado, NSW
Season 10
Sharing food was the key to Aldo Ortado’s warm childhood growing up in the Italian province of Bacoli. Each day his Nonna would make his favourite lunch, and Aldo recalls it always being about fresh ingredients and comfort dining. Raised alongside an older and younger sister, Aldo says he was fortunate to be regularly spoiled by extended family. It’s a family he longs to return and see, as COVID restrictions have kept him in Sydney for the past few years. In 2009 after leaving school, Aldo moved to Rome to study statistics and four years later headed to Australia seeking new adventures.

Alvin Quah, NSW
Season 2
Remembered for his funky glasses and delectable drunken chicken, Season 2 favourite Alvin Quah is returning to the famed MasterChef kitchen, determined to charm and cook his way to Finals Week. Known for his fun and animated approach to cooking, Alvin remains on a mission to increase awareness of Malaysian cuisine. Born in Kuala Lumpur with Chinese Malaysian heritage, he speaks fluent Cantonese and Hokkien, and since a young age has been passionate about his culture’s food. It’s a fascination that today, still fuels his ultimate food dream to make Malaysian cuisine as renowned as Chinese or Thai. In 1994 Alvin moved from Malaysia to Melbourne, and following his 2010 appearance on MasterChef Australia where he came in sixth place, he became involved with Asian food giant Ayam and Australian Pork as ambassadors. He has hosted cooking shows, cooked in Good Food And Wine shows nationally and internationally, and hosted the TV series Malaysia Kitchen in 2016.

Billie McKay, NSW
Season 7
Few MasterChef Australia contestants can boast the incredible beauty of Billie McKay’s childhood on a dairy farm in the peaceful, lush surrounds of New South Wales’ mid-north coast. As one of five siblings, Billie often pitched in with family chores, and making dinner was the norm rather than the exception. Her passion for cooking and experimenting with different flavours and ingredients at home led to a career in the hospitality sector. While working as a restaurant manager, and after a lot of encouragement from her now husband Haydn, Billie sent off an application to appear on Season 7 of MasterChef Australia. After successfully being crowned the winner and taking home the coveted trophy, Billie moved to London to take up an offer to work in Heston Blumenthal’s famed three-Michelin star restaurant, The Fat Duck. On returning home she continued to pursue her love of cheesemaking on the family dairy farm alongside her mother Alison. Billie remains passionate about creating soft-style cheeses with raw, unpasteurised milk, something she believes creates unique and exquisite tasting cheese.

Christina Batista, NSW
Season 5
Christina Batista knows good food, crediting her large Portuguese family with encouraging her creativity in the kitchen. She can fondly recall her Avó cooking milho when she was a child. It was a process which lasted an entire day, and the resultant bowls across the dining table, served with a fried egg or chourico sausage still makes her smile. Passionate about her Portuguese heritage and the rich and delicious food from her culture, Christina’s travels to Portugal have enhanced her skill and changed the way she thinks about cooking in the years since. It’s an obsession which led to Season 5 of MasterChef Australia, where Christina made it to Finals Week before bowing out in fifth place. Immensely proud of her achievement, make no mistake she intends to take it all the way and take home the illustrious trophy this season.

John Carasig, Victoria
Season 7
Led by his intuition and experimental style in the kitchen, John Carasig loves nothing more than having fun and creating delicious food. Strongly influenced by his Filipino heritage and renowned for his precision desserts, since leaving the competition John has also cooked extensively with Italian flavours and techniques. It’s this all-round approach to cuisines, styles and flavours that cement John’s place as one to watch in the competition. Inspired in the kitchen by his mum, John is best known in Season 7 for excelling in mystery box challenges and his white chocolate velouté during a team relay challenge. John can laugh about the mistake now, and is confident he has what it takes to showcase his leadership skills and lead the Favourites to victory. Born in the Philippines, John is passionate about connecting with his culture and adapting it with the best Australian produce. Just six years of age when he started preparing family meals for his parents and two younger sisters, the family moved to Melbourne when he was 10.

Julie Goodwin, NSW
Season 1
It’s been an incredible journey for Julie Goodwin since becoming the first-ever winner of MasterChef Australia in 2009. Back then, more than four million people were glued to their screens as she took home the coveted trophy. The victory catapulted Julie into Australia’s hearts and homes, and as one of the nation’s favourite home cooks, her honesty, sense of humour and humble cooking style have become synonymous with the show. Her first cookbook, Our Family Table, held the number one slot in the book charts for more than 10 weeks, and Julie’s family-focused style of cooking has turned her passion into a hugely successful career. A native Sydneysider, Julie’s first career was as a youth worker. She spent many years presenting workshops in schools across Australia before working at a juvenile detention centre on Sydney’s Central Coast. After her three sons were born, Julie and her husband Michael started their own IT business.

Michael Weldon, Victoria
Season 3
Michael Weldon has a few good mates to thank for the kickstart to his culinary career. Encouraged on adare to enter Season 3 of MasterChef Australia, the former South Australian not only made it to the Top 24 but came in second place. Which means he now has just a single rung on the ladder left to climb to claim the coveted trophy this season. Crediting MasterChef Australia with much of his career, passion and direction, Michael has fully immersed himself in food since last appearing on the show. He worked with a burger restaurant and a catering business, Well Done Food, and worked as the chef for the Little Miss Group at its Adelaide venues, the Crabshack, Little Miss Miami and Little Miss Mexico. Michael now works at Coles as an ambassador and Senior Development Chef developing products. With a penchant for savoury flavours but great enjoyment preparing sweet treats, Michael loves to cook meat and seafood over.

Mindy Woods, NSW
Season 4
Proudly passionate about her food, country and culture, Mindy Woods is back in the MasterChef kitchen to showcase world class ingredients and dishes so often forgotten in family meals. A former physiotherapist, Mindy came in fourth place on Season 4 of MasterChef Australia, and has used the years since to hone, develop and enhance her culinary knowledge and ability. Working as the Head Of Culinary Development for the Lotus Group she moved into the role of CEO before returning to country in 2020 to open her own venue, Karkalla in Byron Bay. In 2021 she was asked by the Australian government to represent Australia as a guest chef at the World Expo in Dubai, an achievement she’s immensely proud of. A proud Bundjalung woman of the Widjabul Wia bul clan, Mindy has a strong desire to connect indigenous and non-indigenous people with Aboriginal culture, art and stories through food, and to increase awareness and encourage the use of the world’s oldest living ingredients.

Minoli De Silva, Northern Territory
Season 13
It’s third time lucky for petite powerhouse Minoli De Silva, taking her place in this season’s Top 24 and this time, intent on making it all the way to Finals Week. The fourth contestant eliminated last season (Season 13), Minoli later won her apron back in the second chance cook, cooking her way to 10th place. But she’s back with a mission, having used her time since her departure to host pop up restaurants and run cooking classes back home in Darwin. With top restaurant experience now under her belt, she’s one to watch for the Favourites. Minoli was six when her family moved to Melbourne from Sri Lanka, but she never lost her zest for the fragrance and flavours of her homeland. Routinely presenting Sri Lankan dishes which wowed the judges last season, fans can expect more of the same from Minoli, as she presents her deeply rich, aromatic and tasty treats.

Sarah Todd, Victoria
Season 6
It’s been a whirlwind journey for Sarah Todd since wowing the judges and audiences in Season 6 of MasterChef Australia. An in-demand international chef, restaurateur, TV host, speaker, and entrepreneur, it’s a long way from the coastal Queensland town of Walkerston where Sarah was raised with two older brothers. Sarah’s first feat in the kitchen was mastering the baked sweets her mum Lorraine excelled at. Signed by a modelling agency at 18, she spent the following decade on the road and on runways, shooting for editorial and advertising campaigns. Welcoming son Phoenix in 2011, Sarah spent several years in London living with her son’s Punjabi grandparents. She immersed herself in cooking, studying French cuisine during the day, and learning the art of cooking traditional Punjabi food at night. She returned to Australia in 2014 to take her place in the MasterChef Australia kitchen. Since finishing in the top 10, Sarah rarely took a breath and quickly became one of the most renowned names in the Indian food scene. In 2014 she opened her first restaurant in Goa, India, which led to a six-part series, My Restaurant In India, which aired in more than 150 countries.

Sashi Cheliah, South Australia
Season 10
Known as the smiling assassin by his fellow contestants in Season 10, Sashi Cheliah’s enviable ability to survive so many elimination cooks should serve as a warning to this year’s top 24, and for Sashi, he has every intention of repeating the feat. One of just three Favourites who know what it’s like to hold aloft the coveted trophy at the Grand Finale, Sashi went on to open his own pop-up restaurant, Gaja by Sashi, in Melbourne following his victory in 2018. In November the following year, he opened Gaja in Adelaide, and a year later cheered loudly as his son Ryan competed in Junior MasterChef Australia. It’s a long journey from Singapore where Sashi was the eldest of seven children. Introduced to food at a young age through his mother’s café, Sashi’s strongest memories are of his aunties and mother cooking meals for the growing family.

Tommy Pham, NSW
Season 13
Fan favourite Tommy Pham is back in the MasterChef kitchen, keen to prove that seventh place last season just isn’t enough for this superstar cook. After amazing the judges with his fresh, vibrant Vietnamese-style flavours week in and week out, Tommy has taken the time to learn new skills and techniques, ready to take it all the way to Finals Week. Following the super success of his Banh Mi danish in a challenge at Lune Croissanterie last season, Tommy went on to sell out during a special delivery-only pop up in Sydney during the 2021 lockdown. Born and raised in Sydney, Tommy graduated from university and went on to work in IT before moving abroad to Japan. A two-year stint living and working in Tokyo steered Tommy towards teaching and his enjoyment with children led to him becoming a kindergarten teacher. Crediting his Mum with teaching him the basics in Vietnamese cooking, Tommy is largely self-taught, and admits food offers an indelible connection to his family and heritage. Citing his favourite ingredients to cook with as chilli, fish sauce and noodles, Tommy admits he’s still in game mode from last season, but knows he needs to work on his dessert repertoire to remain strong in the competition.

Fans

Ali Stoner, Victoria
Artist
A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Ali Stoner says she intends to give nothing less than 150% in the famed MasterChef kitchen, and her attention to detail means she’s one to watch in the feared pressure tests. But the mystery box is where she really hopes to showcase her skills. Each week, Ali has a seasonal box of organic vegetables delivered to her Bayside home which she uses as the basis for many of her family meals, so surprise ingredients are welcome. With more than 200 cookbooks adorning her shelves, she arrives armed with inspiration. Proud mum to Maggie and Evie, Ali is an artist, working in both kiln formed glass and paint. Born and raised in the west of Scotland near Glasgow alongside her brother, Ali enjoyed a creative childhood before moving to London at 18 where she remained for two decades becoming a leading graphic designer in the retail industry. In 2011 she made the big move down under with her husband and girls, and hasn’t looked back from the Aussie sunshine.

Chris Tran, Victoria
Marketing Consultant
Few can boast the culinary ace up their sleeve like Melbourne’s Chris Tran. Growing up in the city’s north alongside his three siblings, Chris’ dad was a trained chef who specialised in European dishes and his Mum prepared hearty and traditional Vietnamese food for the home. It’s this rounded appetite for food he hopes can take him all way to the MasterChef Australia Grand Finale. Following a degree in law, Chris practiced for six months before realising the career path wasn’t for him. After making a bold move to sidestep into media and advertising, he’s since returned to the legal industry in a business development role. Cooking has allowed Chris to reconnect with his Vietnamese heritage, and he now dreams of travelling around Vietnam, learning more about the history and culture of his homeland through food. He enjoys preparing Vietnamese street food with nuoc cham, admitting it’s a constant reminder of family and is fun to eat and enjoy alongside a beer. His signature dish is banh cuon, Vietnamese steamed rice noodles. Chris also enjoys cooking Chinese cuisine including biang biang noodles and dumplings.

Daniel Lamble, Northern Territory
Firefighter
The middle of three boys, Daniel Lamble was raised in a close-knit family and says they, together with his partner of seven years Kassie, remain the most important part of his life. Raised in Katherine, his childhood was spent in the epic bushland of the Northern Territory, regularly camping and fishing. At the age of 13 Daniel and his family moved three hours north to Darwin which he admits felt like a huge city. With Darwin came his rugby community, coastal fishing and epic sunsets, all cementing his love for the Territory. After finishing high school Daniel worked in the mines as a FIFO worker for three years before landing his dream job as a firefighter. Routinely tasked with preparing lunch and dinner for his fellow fireys, Daniel credits his dad with teaching him the basics, and anything more advanced from YouTube videos and television cooking programs.

Dulan Hapuarachchi, Victoria
Financial Entrepreneur
For father of two Dulan Hapuarachchi, nothing is more important than family. Born in Sri Lanka’s busy capital Colombo, Dulan was the youngest of three kids when his family picked up and migrated to Australia at the age of 11, but before the big move he enjoyed a childhood rich with food and family. With his father one of eight children and his mother one of 11, weekends were filled with large family gatherings alongside dozens of cousins, the dining table brimming with mouth-watering authentic Sri Lankan dishes. Dulan can still remember the tears peeling an onion for his grandmother at the age of four and spending his weekends watching his parents and aunts cook their family feasts. With food idols including Gordan Ramsay, Peter Kuruvita and MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo, Dulan dreams of one day cooking on the Sicilian coast of Italy, and admits to a broad palate and love of trying different cuisines.

Harry Tomlinson, Victoria
Coffee Roaster
With dreams of one day becoming a food writer, Harry Tomlinson says food is her greatest comfort, and she’ll stop at little to achieve her goal of taking out the coveted MasterChef Australia trophy. The youngest of three children with two older brothers, Harry grew up with a love and passion for food, ultimately taking over the kitchen and preparing family dinners as a teenager. Harry works with speciality coffee and has worked in the hospitality industry since she was 16. At 19 she moved to London for several years and on returning home to Melbourne, now works at Proud Mary Coffee. Describing herself as driven, creative and intuitive, Harry’s signature dish on a warm Saturday evening might include veal cotoletta with herb oil, burnt cabbage with tarragon cream and parmigiano, and pickled fennel.

Jenn Lee, Queensland
Dentist
Born in Taiwan as the middle of three girls, Jenn Lee and her family moved to Brisbane when she was six. She credits her Mum with providing the encouragement to explore all aspects of life including art, music and cooking. She recalls fond childhood memories with her family preparing ingredients for Zongzi, wrapping each one up in a soaked lotus leaf and tying it to the back of a wooden chair. On birthdays they would make Taiwanese-style sponge cake with fresh cream, and on the weekends prepare dumplings together, her mum focussing on the filling while her dad taught his girls how to beautifully fold them. Each year the family returned to Taiwan for holidays, and Jenn says she loved learning from her grandmothers during those trips, with one making amazing ferments, pickles and sauces, and the other tending to her own veggie patch.

Keyma Vasquez Montero, Victoria
Stay At Home Mum
Hailing from the small Venezuelan town of Ciudad Guayana, Keyma Vasquez Montero recalls every family gathering of her childhood centring around food. On weekends her grandparents, aunts and cousins would gather and prepare big feasts with game meat on offer including turtle and spotted paca. Her grandparents were raised in coastal cities influenced by Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies Caribbean Islands, so Keyma admits Caribbean styles still find their way into her dishes. With dreams of representing the Latin and Spanish community, Keyma says her signature dish would cover several courses, empanadas, golfeados (cheesy rolls), reina pepiada arepas (chicken and avocado cornmeal cakes), chupe (chicken and corn soup) and to finish it off, torta tres leches (three milk cake). With a love of the works created by Heston Blumenthal, Clare Smyth and Gordon Ramsay, Keyma most enjoys cooking with acidic foods like passionfruit, guava and tamarind. She enjoys reinventing dishes and presenting childhood classics in different ways, firmly believing rustic dishes and street food have a place on a fine dining menu.

Matt Landmark, Victoria
Teacher
As a child, Matt Landmark’s family dinners were simple, classic and nutritious. But with a limited budget to explore different cuisines, he says dinners were staples, and admits to only eating or cooking with fresh herbs on a handful of occasions, and rarely touching seafood. Matt’s limited palette was bound to expand, and he can recall the first time he bought fresh coriander to serve with a meal while living in a share house. Blown away by the flavour, it marked the turning point in his cooking journey, and the first time Matt really became interested in being in the kitchen. Born in South Africa, Matt moved to the small town of Palmerston North on New Zealand’s North Island at the age of four. At school he excelled at sport, with a particular passion for cricket and hockey. As he got older a love of music emerged and took over his creative pursuits. Any spare time was spent practicing guitar, and as Matt became more proficient, he entered the world of jazz and played in several competitions. At the age of 17 he was awarded “Best Jazz Guitarist” for his region with a stellar performance of Stairway To Heaven. He also proudly represented New Zealand in the Secondary School Brass Band.

Max Krapivsky, Victoria
Osteopath
Like many over the last few years, Max Krapivsky has battled through the different stages of COVID restrictions. In February 2021 as Melbourne sat on the cusp of yet another lockdown, Max and his fiancée Simmone decided they weren’t prepared to cancel yet another wedding. So, with four hours’ notice, they simply whipped it up, which was no mean feat securing the attendance of more than 80 guests. It might not have been the winery venue they had planned, but Max admits it was perfect. Perhaps this commitment to a plan and can-do nature will serve him well in the MasterChef kitchen, and Max is keen to make every minute count. It’s fourth time lucky for Max in the MasterChef kitchen, after applying on three previous occasions. He came close last season (Season 13) and competed in the second chance cook at Judges Auditions, but narrowly missed out. The year of additional practice has done nothing but cement his place in this year’s Top 24, and he intends to cook all the way to the Grand Finale.

Melanie Persson, Western Australia
PhD Student
Melanie Persson is on a mission to show gluten free food can still pack a punch. Diagnosed with coeliac disease five years ago, she admits there was a learning curve, but one this WA native has overcome, and now she’s here to showcase the variety and skills in cooking without gluten. Following her MasterChef Australia journey, she dreams of publishing cookbooks that show how to prepare beautiful, complex dishes that don’t compromise on flavour. Born in Perth, Melanie was two when her family moved to Nagano Prefecture in Japan for three years before returning to Western Australia. They settled in Dunsborough, a small town in the southwest of the state near Margaret River where Melanie completed school. Following high school she spent a year in the Italian city of Milan before returning home to start university. She’s been cooking ever since she could reach the kitchen bench and her food and tastes have been influenced by her experiences in Japan and Italy. Largely self-taught from television cooking shows and social media, Melanie loves to watch the work of Massimo Bottura, Adam Liaw, Matt Adlard, Marion Grasby and Rick Stein, and says making it to Finals Week would be the icing on this gluten free cake.

Montana Hughes, Queensland
TikTok Influencer
Not to be underestimated in this year’s top 24, this season’s youngest competitor is keen to impress and prove age is no barrier in taking out the coveted trophy. Montana Hughes nearly made it onto MasterChef Australia in 2019, but after cooking for the judges at Judges Auditions, narrowly missed out on a spot in the top 24. But she now admits the years of experience and knowledge she’s gained since then put her in prime condition for a run at Finals Week. The youngest of two girls, Montana was born and raised in Brisbane and spent much of her childhood at the beach. A lover of the outdoors and sunny Queensland lifestyle, she relishes a long run, going to the gym and spending time with friends and family. Fondly recalling making pikelets alongside her grandma and scrambled eggs as a child with her Mum, Montana’s life now revolves around cooking and preparing meals for her family and friends. She was always tasked with baking treats for school sports games, and as a teenager quickly took over the role of making nightly dinners for her family.

Steph Woon, Victoria
Banking Analyst
From a young age Steph Woon held a passion for all things Japanese including anime, music, language and food. After studying the language in high school, she continued her studies at university, graduating with degrees in Japanese and Accounting. During her time at university she participated in a homestay program and lived in the Japanese city of Kanazawa for several months. Over the years since, she’s spent more than a year in the country, with every trip expanding her desire to visit again and explore the local delicacies of each region. It’s that passion for travel that has developed into Steph’s food dream, to one day open a patisserie serving Japanese and southeast Asian inspired cakes and pastries including Pandan and coconut chiffons, Yuzu double fromage cheesecakes and Matcha swiss rolls. The oldest of three daughters, Steph’s parents immigrated from Malaysia, and she says food has always brought them together. Her Dad will take on roast meats, Mum handles authentic Malaysian meals, while Steph and her sisters are tasked with the desserts and sweet treats.

7:30pm Sunday – Thursday from April 18 on 10.