The Top 24

Aaron Harvie

Aaron dreams of one day opening a restaurant that specialises in pasta and also produce a line of high end pasta sauces.

Aaron - home town, Sydney

Aaron's passion and love for cooking started when he was a teenager growing up in Queensland.

Adam Liaw

In the future Adam hopes to open up his own Japanese Izakaya, which is like a pub with a casual restaurant.

Adam - currently living in Tokyo

Adam's love of cooking started at a young age where he and his family would take turns in the cooking.

Adele Fragnitio

Adele would like to turn her passion into a reality by opening up a little Italian café.

Adele - born in Italy

Adele's love affair with food started a very early age where she would cook with her mother.

Alvin Quah

After being able to express his creativity with food, Alvin can't see himself going back to his old job

Alvin - a MasterChef Australia 2009 fan

Alvin's passion for food started as a young child, he would hang around in the kitchen and watch his mother cook

Callum Hann

Only just recently starting to get into cooking, Callum likes to experiment with food and trying new things.

Callum - this years youngest contestant

Callum would love to have the opportunity to have a career as a chef and thought MasterChef was the perfect place to kick start this dream.

Carrie Johnston

Carrie is hoping that being apart of MasterChef will help her achieve her goal of being a chef.

Carrie - grew up in America

Carrie gained her passion for food when she travelled to France in her twenties and discovered a different food culture.

Claire Winton-Burn

Dreams of the day where she can open up a small gourmet café next to a winery.

Claire - home town, Melbourne

Claire loved helping her grandmother prepare family feasts as a child.

Courtney Roulston

Courtney would like to eventually get into catering for events and parties.

Courtney - grew up on a small farm

As a child Courtney wasn't scared of getting her hands dirty and would pull out the fish guts when fishing with her family.

Daniel Aulsebrook

Daniel is hoping that MasterChef will provide him opportunities to get his foot into the food industry.

Daniel - discovered the kitchen at 21-years-old

After moving out of home Daniel immediately discovered his love for gourmet food.

Devon Headland

Devon hopes that he can win over the judges with his country rustic cooking and to one day open up his own restaurant.

Devon - originally from Auckland, New Zealand

Devon remembers his love of food being inspired by grandmother and thinks back to watching her in the kitchen.

Dominic Corrigan

Dominic has fond memories of hanging around the kitchen and watching his mother cook, he dreams of running a restaurant one day.

Dominic - regularly cooks dinner for his family

Growing up with four older sisters, Dominic was inspired by his parents when it came to cooking.

Fiona Inglis

Her food dream is to be able to combine her passion for working with children and food.

Fiona - home town Melbourne

After years of refusing to eat her vegetables, Fiona has finally discovered her love for food.

Jake Bujayer

Wants to try new things and hopes to get into the food industry after being on MasterChef.

Jake - grew up in New Zealand

Jake has a love for seafood and likes to get out on the water at least once a week and catch his own fish.

Jimmy Seervai

Would like to set up educational classes for kids to both teach them about food and to appreciate it.

Jimmy - born in India

Jimmy spent most of his childhood in his parent's spice shop so it was only natural that he developed a love of spices.

Joanne Zalm

Would like to be able to build on the skills that she already has and since being her own worst critic, would like to find out if she is any good at cooking.

Joanne - grew up on a farm

After learning to make Lebanese dishes throughout her childhood from her mother and aunt, Joanne has been branching out since then.

Jonathan Daddia

Isn't daunted by having his dishes judged the MasterChef Australia judges and dreams of one day working as a fine dining chef.

Jonathan - diehard sweet tooth

Jonathan's love for cooking developed when he was 22 and living in London, he jumped at the chance to experiment with food.

Kate Nugara

Kate travelled through Brazil, Mexico, worked in New York and Canada, and also lived in Italy. She immersed herself in the culture and learnt to live a rustic lifestyle in regard to food.

Kate - needed to follow her dream

Kate learned to cook watching her mum, and over time she became the primary cook in her household.

Marion Grasby

Would like to open up a rustic wine garden restaurant with her boyfriend Tim where they would match the food and the wine.

Marion - "I love French cookery"

Marion's mum was a chef, and so she has grown up with the influence of food and cooking.

Matthew Caldicott

Matthew hopes to learn as much as possible from the MasterChef Australia judges and wants to be able to cook food that tastes as good as it looks.

Matthew - can’t get enough of reading cookbooks

Matthew learned from a young age that dinner time with his family was sacred and a nice, home cooked dinner is the very essence of his family.

Peter Kritikides

Peter recognises that the MasterChef experience has already changed him as a person.

Peter - relishes the time he spends in the kitchen

Peter's cooking is heavily influenced by his Greek family and heritage, his grandparents being his inspiration.

Philip Vakos

He’s hoping that being in MasterChef Australia may be the beginning of a new life as a chef.

Philip - "I’m at peace when I’m in the kitchen"

Philip's grandmother left him with a passion for cooking, growing up he would often pick vegeatables from his grandfather's greenhouses for his grandmother to cook.

Sarah Carmichael

Would like to open her dream café and then be able to turn it into a family business for her children.

Sarah - “I love food, I love cooking"

Sarah’s relentless curiosity of exotic foods as a youngster showed all the hallmarks of a detective in the making.

Sharnee Rawson

Food is an absolute passion for Sharnee and it's her long time dream since she was 12 to open up a café

Sharnee - loves making desserts

When Sharnee’s old school friends used to visit her at her family home, instead of playing on the computer, she would get them all in the kitchen amongst the pots and pans.