MasterChef Australia series 15

MasterChef Australia: Secrets & Surprises
Season 15
Judges	Andy Allen Melissa Leong Jock Zonfrillo
No. of contestants	18
No. of episodes	7
Release
Original network	Network 10
Original release	7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)
Series chronology

The fifteenth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 7 May 2023 on Network 10.

The series was originally announced at Paramount's and Network 10's upfronts in October 2022. Subtitled Secrets & Surprises, the season featured 18 contestants, with 17 new to the show. Andy Allen, Melissa Leong, and Jock Zonfrillo returned to the show as judges from the previous season.

The series was originally intended to premiere on 1 May 2023. Following Zonfrillo's death on 30 April 2023, a day before the season premiere, it was confirmed that the show's premiere would be postponed. The series The Bridge Australia aired in its place. On 3 May 2023, Network 10 confirmed that the season would instead premiere on 7 May 2023; the premiere was preceded by a special edition of The Sunday Project that paid tribute to Zonfrillo. Filming of the season was completed before Zonfrillo's death.

Changes

Compared to previous seasons, series 15 featured 18 contestants instead of the typical 24. Like the previous season, the season omitted the broadcast of the audition stage.

Subtitled Secrets & Surprises, this season sees a secret or surprise revealed to the contestants in every episode. One example is the introduction of a secret "second chance apron", which was won by the winner of the first challenge in the season and allows the contestant to come back from elimination and compete for re-entry at the next elimination.

Contestants

The full cast was announced on 23 April 2023. Former contestant Brent Draper, who withdrew from series 13 citing mental health concerns, returned as a contestant for the season.

Contestant	Age	State/Terr	Occupation	Status
Adi Nevgi	31	VIC	Doctor	Competing
Alice Han	29	NSW	Economic researcher	Competing
Amy Tanner	26	VIC	Medical administrator	Competing
Antonio Cruz Vaamonde	34	NSW	Software developer	Competing
Brent Draper	32	QLD	Digital content creator	Competing
Cath Collins	54	VIC	Administration manager	Competing
Declan Cleary	24	NSW	Carpenter	Competing
Grace Jupp	24	VIC	Olive producer	Competing
Jessica Perri	35	VIC	Optometrist	Competing
Malissa Fedele	28	SA	Nutritionist	Competing
Phil Conway	33	VIC	Fitness studio manager	Competing
Ralph Kahango	32	WA	Auditor	Competing
Rhiannon Anderson	46	QLD	Administration manager	Competing
Robbie Cooper	65	NT	Youth support worker	Competing
Rue Mupedzi	29	WA	Oral health therapist	Competing
Theo Loizou	37	VIC	Electrician	Competing
Larissa Sewell	38	SA	Stay-at-home mum	Eliminated 16 May
Andrea Puglisi	36	WA	Rope access technician	Eliminated 14 May

Guests

Week	Guest	Challenge
1	Jamie Oliver	Series premiere
	Shannon Bennett	Immunity challenge
	Hugh Allen
2	Poh Ling Yeow	Mystery box challenge
	Emelia Jackson	Elimination challenge
	Matt Sinclair	Service challenge
	Sashi Cheliah
	Darren Robertson	Immunity Challenge

• Curtis Stone
• Maggie Beer
• Rick Stein
• Peter Gilmore

Elimination chart

No.	Week	1			2		3		4		5
	Mystery Box Challenge Winner	None			Malissa
	Immunity Challenge	Antonio Cath Jessica Malissa			Adi Declan Jessica Malissa Ralph Robbie Theo
	Elimination Challenge Winner	Brent Phil Rue			Cath
	Adi	IN		Btm 6	IN
	Alice	Top 3		DNP	Btm 3
	Amy	IN		Btm 3	IN
	Antonio	IN		DNP	Btm 7
	Brent	IN		Top 3	DNP
	Cath	IN		DNP	WIN
	Declan	IN		DNP	Btm 7
	Grace	IN		Btm 6	Top 2
	Jessica	IN		DNP	Btm 7
	Malissa	IN		IMM	WIN
	Phil	IN		Top 3	IN
	Ralph	IN		Btm 6	IN
	Rhiannon	IN		DNP	Btm 3
	Robbie	IN		Btm 3	IN
	Rue	Top 3		Top 3	DNP
	Theo	IN		DNP	Btm 7	IMM
17	Larissa	WIN	S.C.A.	DNP	Elim	Eliminated (Ep 7)
18	Andrea	IN		Elim	Eliminated (Ep 5)
	Eliminated	None		Andrea	Larissa 1st Elimination

Episodes and ratings

Colour key:

  – Highest rating during the series

  – Lowest rating during the series

Ep#/Wk-Ep#	Original airdate	Episode Title / Event	Total viewers (five metro cities)	Nightly Ranking
Week 1
1/01-1	Sunday, 7 May 2023	Series Premiere: — The MasterChef kitchen welcomed celebrity chef Jamie Oliver as a guest judge for the next two days. The new contestants were tasked to cook with anything that represented their secret weapon. Larissa's borscht, Rue's tart and Alice's moon-chi emerged as the top 3, with Larissa's dish being considered the dish of the day. As a reward, Larissa received a 'second chance apron'. Should she be eliminated at any point in the competition, this will allow her to cook in the next elimination round for a chance to regain her place in the competition.	761,000	#3
2/01-2	Monday, 8 May 2023	Jamie Oliver Two-Round Challenge — The contestants cooked in a two-round challenge for a chance to compete for immunity. In the first round they had to cook a dish in 15 mnutes; Andrea's spaghetti with clams, Antonio's cachapas, Grace's bruschetta (with greens, poached egg and bagna gauda), Jessica's butterflied prawns with chermoula sauce and Rhiannon's prawn coconut soup were the top 5 dishes. The top 5 then had to keep up with Jamie cooking his mushroom and spinach rotolo, with which Andrea and Rhiannon struggled but Antonio and Jessica were the top 2 and won a chance to compete for immunity.	557,000	#11
3/01-3	Tuesday, 9 May 2023	Flavour Bomb Invention Test — Jamie Oliver left behind four flavour bombs for the contestants to use. The contestants could cook anything with the assigned flavour bomb, however, the flavour bombs would only be revealed to them 15 minutes into the cook. These were harissa, pesto, Dijon mustard and red miso. Most of the dishes were well-received, with rave reviews for Rhiannon's rissoles, and Theo's flatbreads. However, two dishes emerged as the best for the day; Malissa's red miso and pumpkin ravioli, and Cath's thyme ice cream with Dijon caramel. As a result, Malissa and Cath were chosen to join Antonio and Jessica for the first immunity challenge.	497,000	#10
4/01-4	Wednesday, 10 May 2023	Immunity Challenge: Hugh Allen — In the first round, Antonio, Cath, Jessica and Malissa had to create a dish in 45 minutes using ingredients from Shannon Bennett's fridge. Malissa's fig and date cake with ginger caramel impressed the judges and won immunity from Sunday's elimination and the opportunity to win a pin, for which she has to cook against Hugh Allen. In 75 minutes, Malissa chose the potent pantry while Hugh had to cook with the pleasant pantry. Malissa's prawn and mushroom linguine won praise for the cooking of the prawns and bold flavour but criticized for the pasta not being al dente, scoring 22 points. Hugh's strawberry gum parfait with raspberries and roses was praised for being elegant and well-balanced scoring 27 points and winning the round.	436,000	#12
Week 2
5/02-1	Sunday, 14 May 2023	Childhood Memories Elimination — Before the challenge started the judges announced that Alice, Antonio, Cath, Declan, Jessica, Larissa, Rhiannon and Theo had COVID and missed today's elimination. When they return, they will cook in the next elimination challenge. In the first of a two-round elimination challenge, the rest of the contestants except Malissa (who had immunity) had 60 minutes to cook a dish featuring one of the judges' nostalgic ingredients (Vegemite, cumquat or panettone). Brent's Middle Eastern chicken with hummus and cumquat glaze, Phil's pork fillet with parsnip & vanilla puree and Vegemite sauce, and Rue's cumquat Swiss roll received the best praise while Amy, Andrea and Robbie's dishes had issues which landed them in the second round, for which they had 60 minutes to make a dish inspired by their childhood memories. Robbie's fish curry with fried bread was the standout dish while Amy's caramel dumplings with Bailey's cream also received praise but Andrea's Nutella sauce was split and the flavours of his crepes were average, which resulted in his elimination.	478,000	#6
6/02-2	Monday, 15 May 2023	Poh Ling Yeow Mystery Box Challenge — The contestants from yesterday's elimination challenge except Brent and Rue (who had COVID) had 75 minutes to cook a dish using the mystery box created by Poh Ling Yeow which contained the pantry staples and two other ingredients of their choice. Ali's Portuguese tarts were undercooked while Phil's brownie with smoked vanilla ice cream was not balanced. Grace's chive & salmon roe waffles and Robbie's pasta carbonara received impressive feedback, but it was Malissa's citrus cannoli with mascarpone and orange curd that won the challenge, fast tracking her to the immunity challenge.	552,000	#9
7/02-3	Tuesday, 16 May 2023	Emelia Jackson Choux Pastry Elimination Challenge — A two-round elimination challenge tasked the eight contestants who missed out the first elimination challenge to create choux buns in 75 minutes using Emelia Jackson's recipe while choosing either savoury or sweet flavour, with the bottom three having to highlight the other flavour in the second round. Cath's lemon mascarpone choux buns were the stand-out dish, receiving immediate safety from elimination. Declan, Antonio, Jessica and Theo's also received praise but Alice, Larissa and Rhiannon had issues with their choux and were sent to the second round. Both Rhiannon and Alice's savoury buns managed to redeem them while Larissa's sweet choux was unbalanced, which resulted in her elimination. With the second-chance apron she has the opportunity to cook in the next elimination challenge for a chance to rejoin the competition.	492,000	#8
8/02-4	Wednesday, 17 May 2023	Featured Ingredients Service Challenge — The contestants except for Malissa (who won the mystery box challenge and is through to the immunity challenge), and Brent, Rue and Amy (recovering from COVID), were split into two teams. The green team (Alice, Antonio, Cath, Grace, Phil & Rhiannon), led by Matt Sinclair, and the blue team (Adi, Declan, Jessica, Ralph, Robbie & Theo), led by Sashi Cheliah, had to cook a two-course meal for 30 guests. The judges revealed the choices for each course: cucumber, eggplant or pumpkin for entrée and chicken, coral trout or pork belly for main. Both teams delivered on their entrees with the blue team serving prawns with cucumber granita and the green team serving miso-glazed eggplant. While the blue team's main of yellow fish curry with cumin rice was a success, the green team's main of twice-cooked pork with mango salad had nice flavours but the pork was portioned inconsistently. The blue team delivered on both courses and they advance for an opportunity to cook for immunity.	408,000	#13
9/02-5	Thursday, 18 May 2023	Immunity Challenge: Darren Robertson — In the first round, Adi, Declan, Jessica, Malissa, Ralph, Robbie and Theo had to create a dish in 45 minutes by using roast chicken. Theo's chicken lahmacun with tzatsiki impressed the judges and won immunity from Sunday's elimination and the opportunity to win an immunity pin, for which he had to cook against Darren Robertson. Theo chose the 60 minutes with 10 ingredients pantry and gave Darren the 30 minutes with 20 ingredients pantry. Theo's apple tart with lemon custard was praised for its flavours and technique but was criticized for the pastry being too thick, scoring 23 points. Darrenserved a feast in 30 minutes which was a whole barramundi with pickled cabbage, flatbread and mango chili vinegar and was praised for the cooking of the fish as well as complex flavours, scoring 25 points and winning the round.	421,000	#9
Week 3
10/03-1	Sunday, 21 May 2023