MasterChef Australia series 17

MasterChef Australia
Season 17
Judges	Andy Allen Sofia Levin Jean-Christophe Novelli Poh Ling Yeow
No. of contestants	24
No. of episodes	3
Release
Original network	Network 10
Original release	28 April 2025 (2025-04-28) – present
Series chronology

The seventeenth series of the Australian television cooking show MasterChef Australia was announced on 16 September 2024. The series features the same four judges as series 16, namely series 4 winner Andy Allen, food writer Sofia Levin, French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and series 1 runner-up Poh Ling Yeow.

Similar to series 12, the 2025 series features a Back to Win concept, with 24 contestants from previous seasons returning for a chance to win the title.

The series premiered on 28 April 2025.

Contestants

The 24 returning contestants were announced on 16 March 2025.

Contestant	Age	State	Occupation	Original Series	Previous Season(s) Placing(s)	Status
Alana Lowes	44	QLD	Journalist and TV presenter	Series 3	3rd	Competing
Andre Ursini	44	SA	Restaurateur and business owner	Series 1	7th	Competing
Audra Morrice	54	NSW	TV host and judge	Series 4	3rd	Competing
Beau Cook	40	VIC	Firefighter and cookbook author	Series 4	8th	Competing
Ben Macdonald	47	NZ	Catering chef	Series 6	6th	Competing
Callum Hann	35	SA	Restaurateur and culinary educator	Series 2, Series 12	2nd, 4th	Competing
Cath Collins	56	VIC	Food business owner	Series 15	5th	Competing
Darrsh Clarke	33	VIC	Chef and management consultant	Series 16	6th	Competing
Declan Cleary	27	NSW	Carpenter	Series 15	3rd	Competing
Depinder Chhibber	33	NSW	Pharmacist and supper club owner	Series 13	8th	Competing
Jamie Fleming	36	QLD	Bar owner	Series 6	4th	Competing
Jimmy Wong	58	NSW	Food photographer and content creator	Series 8	19th	Competing
Laura Sharrad	29	SA	Chef and restaurateur	Series 6, Series 12	2nd, 2nd	Competing
Matt Hopcraft	53	VIC	Dentist and associate professor	Series 7	6th	Competing
Rhiannon Anderson	48	QLD	Business owner	Series 15	2nd	Competing
Rue Mupedzi	31	WA	Catering chef	Series 15	7th	Competing
Samira El Khafir	39	VIC	Businesswoman and cafe owner	Series 5	3rd	Competing
Sarah Todd	37	VIC	Chef and restaurateur	Series 6, Series 14	9th, 2nd	Competing
Sav Perera	31	SA	Private chef and caterer	Series 16	3rd	Competing
Snezana Calic	42	VIC	Chef	Series 16	15th	Competing
Steph De Sousa	52	NSW	Content creator and caterer	Series 11	12th	Competing
Theo Loizou	39	VIC	Electrician	Series 15	4th	Competing
Tim Bone	39	VIC	Sandwich business owner	Series 11	4th	Competing
Pete Campbell	40	NSW	Chef	Series 13	2nd	Withdrew 30 April

Guest chefs

Week	Guest	Challenge
1 (Gordon Ramsay Week)	Gordon Ramsay	Team service challenge
		Keeping Up with Gordon challenge

Elimination chart

No.	Week	1			2			3			4			5			6
	Mystery Box Challenge Winner	None
	Immunity Challenge	Ben (Immunity Pin)		Audra Darrsh Depinder Laura Sav
	Elimination Challenge Winner
	Alana	Team 2nd
	Andre	Team Lose
	Audra	Team Win		IMM
	Beau	Team Lose
	Ben	Team Win	I.P.
	Callum	Team Win
	Cath	Team Win
	Darrsh	Team Win
	Declan	Team Lose
	Depinder	Team 2nd
	Jamie	Team 2nd
	Jimmy	Team 2nd
	Laura	Team Lose
	Matt	Team Win
	Rhiannon	Team Win
	Rue	Team Win
	Samira	Team 2nd
	Sarah	Team 2nd
	Sav	Team Lose
	Snezana	Team 2nd
	Steph	Team Lose
	Theo	Team 2nd
	Tim	Team Lose
24	Pete	Team Lose		Left	Left (Ep 3)
	Eliminated	None		Pete

Episodes and ratings

Ep#/Wk-Ep#	Original airdate	Episode title / event	Viewers (national reach & total)	Nightly ranking
Week 1 (Gordon Ramsay Week)
1/01-1	Monday, 28 April 2025	Series Premiere: Gordon Ramsay's Team Service Challenge — The Top 24 were split into three teams of eight, with the three contestants who previously competed on MasterChef twice being named team captains: Callum (green team), Sarah (blue) and Laura (burgundy). Each team had to cook a two-course meal for 30 guests in a two-hour service challenge set by this week's guest chef Gordon Ramsay. Gordon revealed two focus ingredients: carrots and corn. Each team needed to feature one of these in a main course and the other in a dessert. The green team produced a beef rump cap with carrot prepared three ways. The burgundy team prepared a porchetta dish with maple-roasted carrots on a carrot puree. The blue team made a kingfish and sweet corn chowder, struggling with the cooking of the fish. For dessert, the burgundy team’s dish was disjointed, though their corn ice cream was a success. The green team made a pavlova with corn ice cream and passionfruit curd that the judges admired. The blue team prepared a carrot halwa parfait that the judges also enjoyed. The green team won the challenge, earning the chance to compete for an advantage in the competition.	1,392,000/ 676,000	#8
2/01-2	Tuesday, 29 April 2025	Keep Up with Gordon Challenge — The eight members of the green team needed to keep up with Gordon in a two-dish challenge, with the prize being the season’s only immunity pin. The main course was caramelized duck breast with parsnip puree, endive and a port wine sauce, and the dessert was sticky toffee pudding. Gordon disqualified Rue and Cath: the former injured herself twice, while the latter had fallen too far behind. The two contestants who came closest to matching Gordon's dishes were Ben and Callum, who both cooked their duck perfectly and had very successful desserts. The judges gave the win, and the immunity pin, to Ben.	1,174,000/ 602,000	#12
3/01-3	Wednesday, 30 April 2025	Late Night Snack Immunity Challenge — The judges announced that Pete had left the competition for personal reasons. The contestants competed for the first time this season as individuals with their own choice of dish. They had 75 minutes to prepare an elevated version of their favourite late-night snack using Gordon's favourite snack, beans on toast, as inspiration. The winner would be safe from the upcoming elimination and also have their dish appear on one of Ramsay’s restaurant menus. The judges complimented several dishes, including Darrsh’s s'mores with native Australian flavours, Audra’s “secret to a happy marriage” Japanese/Indian cross between takoyaki and vada, Depinder’s Aslam butter chicken, Sav’s smashed Sri Lankan pork-filled pastries and Laura’s Vegemite on toast dessert. The judges awarded immunity to Audra.	1,139,000/ 633,000	#11
Week 2
4/02-1	Sunday, 4 May 2025
5/02-2	Monday, 5 May 2025
6/02-3	Tuesday, 6 May 2025
7/02-4	Wednesday, 7 May 2025