The former pig farmer and grain trader was born and raised in Mombasa, Africa, and loves nothing more than sharing his memories of childhood meals with friends.
Stuart’s first memory of cooking is making crepes when he was 13-years-old and serving them to his older brother’s cool friends.
When Siobhan invites friends over for lunch, she thinks big. The personal assistant recently hosted lunch at her house for 74 people.
She loves to cook Australian and advocates using raw, organic and sustainable foods. She describes herself as a yippee - part yuppie, part hippy.
She loves to make desserts and applied for the show after becoming disillusioned with her law degree.
Sarah is from Mount Albert, Victoria and has put more on hold than most to take part in MasterChef. Mum to two young boys, aged 5 years and 7 months respectively, she says that she is ready for a change in life.
Cattle and sheep farmer Richard recently added butcher to his resume, and dreams of one day owning Australia’s best steakhouse.
With a strong Greek background, Phil's cooking is heavily influenced from his heritage and he counts judge George Calombaris as one of his heroes.
Having always followed the career path ahead of him, MasterChef has given him the chance for a time out of his life, to see if his hobby for food can develop into a career.
There was never any doubt property valuer Nicki would fall in love with cooking. Her mum used to be a chef and Nicki’s cooking extraordinaire grandma lives next door.
This vegetarian works as a drug and alcohol counsellor at a men’s prison, and finds cooking – and eating healthily – the perfect stress reliever.
Matthew wants to discover his creative flair and explore the escapism he feels when he is cooking.
Mark’s Indian heritage has left him with a love of curries. In fact, dishes, including pasta, are bland without curry powder for Mark.
Her dream is to open a food and wine garden in SA.
Doctor Lacey grew up watching cooking shows on TV. Now, she’s convinced it’s her time to shine.
Executive assistant Kim considers herself a dessert queen. Anything sweet and she can cook up a storm.
A cement renderer and keen fisherman, he loves to cook whatever he catches. His girlfriend's mum encouraged him to apply for MasterChef.
With two young sons, Kate knows what it’s like to have her cooking judged. She’s competitive and dreams of owning a French restaurant.
Katie is a registered nurse, but her heart lies in fine food.
29-year-old teacher Kate is from Keiler, Victoria and can't wait to show Australia her cooking style.
On most Sunday nights, this vegetarian hosts a dinner party and she has refined her Japanese dishes.
The entrepreneur businessman has a flair for cooking and dreams of one day running a nutritious fast food cafe.
Joanne loves to cook for her family and is passionate about feeding her children good, wholesome, healthy food.
His love of food developed when he was living in London as a 22-year-old.
This self-confessed workaholic lawyer, who is currently studying a Masters degree in public policy, always takes time out of her busy day to cook and hopes her love of shopping in food markets for fresh produce gives her the edge.
The painter and decorator is hoping to create a masterpiece for the judges. He has dreamt of being a chef since school and now wants to follow his heart.
This game boat fisherman, who holds an Australian fishing record, hopes to hook viewers with his love of seafood cooking.
Jimmy's parents are from India and it's this that has influenced his cooking.
French food fan Jackie has always wanted to run a bed and breakfast. Along with her husband, the timing couldn’t be better for the empty nesters to make a life change.
She may be the oldest competitor on the show, but Austrian-raised mum-of-five Irmgard has the fire in her belly when it comes to cooking.
The Hong Kong-born doctor has a passion for cooking and has learnt a lot about Chinese cooking from his mum.
With his own food blog, a dream to write for a food magazine, and an obsession to teach himself to cook, Greg is determined to shine.
Graeme can’t get enough of cooking and food, with the busy doctor spending every spare moment immersing himself in the culinary world.
She dreams of becoming the next Stephanie Alexander.
Father of four Dom loves to cook for his family and they are his harshest critics.
29-year-old builder from Hope Island, QLD, he originally grew up in New Zealand and has postponed his wedding to take part in MasterChef.
He was recently made redundant from an admin job and took that as the incentive to apply for MasterChef.
29-year-old Courtney is from Coogee and she's a health nut when it comes to cooking.
Armed with Italian heritage and childhood memories of receiving cooking lessons from his Nonna, food runs through the veins of Claudio.
31-year-old South Yarra lawyer Claire has a hugely busy and stressful job but would love to open a gourmet cafe attached to a winery.
A huge MasterChef fan, he describes himself as an unmoulded block of clay in the competition.
American Carrie now lives in Paddington, NSW with her husband. This 34-year-old ex HR consultant dreams of becoming a top chef.
She has such a sweet tooth that she dreams of opening her own dessert bar in Sydney with her cousin.
Working alongside her husband in their advertising agency, she devotes all her spare time to cooking for her family.
This teacher bought her first cookbook at 17-years-old and has been a culinary wiz ever since.
While dreaming of opening a wine bar, Ant loves inventing new and intriguing recipes rather than follow a cookbook.
Alvin grew up in Malaysia & moved to Melbourne to go to uni. He says his culture instilled in him you needed to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer or you were a nobody! He jokes that after spending his life in education, he's finally doing some for him.
She lives for her two sons Matthew, 27, and Michael, 24, and has dreams of opening a café.
He loves Italian and Asian foods and was inspired to follow his dream after his stepfather suffered a heart attack last year.
Originally from Adelaide, media lawyer Adam currently lives in Tokyo but has flown over to compete in MasterChef.