MasterChef Australia Judges Reveal Secrets About New Season and A-List Guest Judges

A New Season of MasterChef Australia Begins

The four judges of MasterChef Australia—Andy Allen, Sofia Levin, Poh Ling Yeow and Jean-Christophe Novelli—seem to have found the perfect recipe, blending their different personality flavours to guide the next generation of home-grown chefs.

“You might be a great recipe-maker, but you can’t force a recipe to be fantastic,” Jean-Christophe, 65, tells TV WEEK. “It has to be the right measure: the training, the experience and the natural way of combining. That is what happened with the four of us, and this is going to be the best season of the show yet.”

In this 18th season, the kitchen icons meet a new wave of home cooks, street-food stars and viral food creators, all ready to take on the pressure of the MasterChef kitchen. But, first, they must battle it out for a spot at the bench.

“We’re doing apron auditions,” says Sofia, 36. “We’re narrowing it down from a larger number of people over the first few episodes to get to our Top 24. We’re doing that all on the spot and it’s completely up to us judges – rather than the producers, who usually bring us our Top 24. It’s an extremely energetic and thrilling way to start the season.”

Alongside the fresh crop of contestants comes an exciting line-up of guest judges, with everyone from MasterChef characters Curtis Stone and Adriano Zumbo to rock singer Jimmy Barnes and wildlife warrior Robert Irwin.

“Jimmy Barnes and Robert Irwin are big celebrities to have in the kitchen,” Sofia declares. “With Robert, there’s a big reference to Australia within the challenge because he is Mr Australia. A lot of people don’t realise what they do with the accommodation and restaurant they have at Australia Zoo, and his connection to food. With these guests, they bring their stories with them too.”

This year’s home cooks aren’t just here to compete: they’re here to grow, being pushed week after week through the show’s toughest, most loved challenges, including Mystery Boxes, Pressure Tests, Team Challenges and the return of the Invention Test.

“As much as last year was amazing and we loved seeing returning contestants do their thing, for me, the real joy of being a judge is seeing people like I was 14 years ago step into the kitchen with a dream and test themselves. They grow as cooks and as people in the MasterChef kitchen,” says Andy, 37. “I’m really stoked that we’re back to amateurs, and we’ve got such a beautiful, diverse, interesting cast, as we always do.”

With big dreams and even bigger pressure, they’re chasing the moments they’ll remember forever – plus the MasterChef title and a $250,000 prize.

MasterChef airs on Channel 10 and the 10 app on Sunday April 19 at 7pm.