MasterChef Australia has crowned Justin Narayan as its 2021 winner.
After another delicious season that served us great entertainment and delicious recipes to try at home Narayan finally took home the title and the $250,000 prize money, beating out Pete Campbell and Kishwar Chowdhury.
Although we say this every year, it’s really been one of the best seasons of MasterChef Australia to date, as our talented chefs plated up some of the most mouth-watering and exquisite dishes we’ve ever seen.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be reality TV without some twists along the way, and with tons of talented international chefs and Second Chance week, we were on the edge of our seats all season long.
This year, we had special appearances from Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi, Massimo Bottura and Heston Blumenthal, along with beloved local heroes Emelia Jackson, Reynold Poernomo, Poh Ling Yeow and Callum Hann.
Second Chance week saw Minoli De Silva win back her apron and re-enter the competition, but sadly, victory was not meant to be hers and De Silva was eliminated once more.
Still, she encourages anyone even thinking about applying for 2022 to just do it.
“Be authentic,” De Silva said to POPSUGAR Australia after her second elimination. “Don’t try to be anyone else, because there’s already someone out there that does that.”
She continued: “The best thing that anyone can do is to listen to that seed of doubt telling them not to go for it, and then challenge it and just do it.
“That’s what I did, and I’ve never been more proud of myself,” she said, adding, “It’s the best experience you probably ever go through.”
Fellow eliminated contestant Scott Bagnell had some great advice, too.
“The biggest thing–which I did not practice before going into the kitchen–is practice cooking things quickly,” he advised. “Cooking is a hobby, and I just spent hours on the weekend playing — but you don’t have that time in the kitchen.”
Of course, applications for the 2022 season are now open, so if you are dreaming of getting into the kitchen and onto our screens you should definitely apply.
