From Julie Goodwin to Laura Sharrad…
MasterChef Australia is about to return to our screens in 2026.
The latest season, dubbed “Back to Win”, brought back previous fan-favourite contestants, giving them another shot at the MasterChef title. And the winner was none other than Laura Sharrad!
Who is the most successful MasterChef Australia contestant?
Many MasterChef Australia contestants have found great success.
Julie Goodwin, Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Adam Liaw, Justine Schofield, Billie McKay, Reynold Poernomo and Callum Hann are the most notable MasterChef alums.
Has anyone from MasterChef won a Michelin star?
So far, no one who has competed on MasterChef Australia has won a Michelin star.
What are the MasterChef Australia winners doing now?
Julie Goodwin, Season 1
Following her MasterChef win in 2009, Julie Goodwin went on to release several cookbooks, hosted her own cooking show, Home Cooked, and wrote for us here at The Weekly. Julia also released a memoir in April 2024 and competed on Dancing With The Stars. She returned to The Weekly in 2025 with her Family Favourites series!
“Being part of The Weekly was something I always treasured,” Julie says. “It just feels like coming home.”
Each month, Julie will share a Family Favourites recipe. You can follow along on The Australian Women’s Weekly Food website and socials. To celebrate her return to The Weekly family, Julie was the cover star of the Christmas Issue of the magazine in December. Read our cover story here.
Julie and her husband, Mick, were also guests on our inaugural podcast, The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories. You can watch a snippet here or check out the full episode here.
Adam Liaw, Season 2
Since winning the second season of MasterChef Australia, Adam Liaw has released several cookbooks, hosted his own cooking show, Destination Flavour, released a podcast, How Taste Changed the World, and joined the panel show Tomorrow Tonight.
Today, Adam hosts The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and also writes a regular column for Good Food Australia and Sunday Life Australia.
Kate Bracks, Season 3
A year after winning, Kate Bracks released a cookbook called The Sweet Life: Desserts from Australia’s MasterChef in 2012. However, since then, she has returned to teaching in Orange, New South Wales.
Andy Allen, Season 4
In the 13 years since winning MasterChef, Andy Allen has had a very successful career.
For starters, he wrote a cookbook, The Next Element, in 2012. He also became the co-owner of Three Blue Ducks, a restaurant that has five locations around Australia.
Then in 2019, Andy – along with Melissa Leong and the late Jock Zonfrillo – replaced MasterChef judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston. Andy still judges the show in 2025, but now with Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli.
Furthermore, in 2021, Andy co-hosted the cooking show, also called Three Blue Ducks. He’s also shared that in 2026, he will become a father!
Emma Dean, Season 5
From 2013 to 2019, Emma Dean co-hosted a daily cooking show called My Market Kitchen. Now, Emma is a regular contributor to Eat Well Magazine.
Brent Owens, Season 6
After becoming the sixth winner of MasterChef, Brent Owens released a cookbook, Dig In!. However, since then, Brent has gone on to pursue a career in biotechnology. He is currently the Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Vitrafy, a biotech company that is “leading the way in innovative new patient-oriented outcomes”.
Billie McKay, Season 7 (and Season 14)
Following her win, guest judge Heston Blumenthal offered Billie McKay a job at his Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck. Billie happily accepted.
Then in 2022, Billie returned for MasterChef Australia’s ‘Fans vs Favourites’ season and won the MasterChef title for a second time.
Elena Duggan, Season 8
Despite winning MasterChef, Elena Duggan decided to continue with special education teaching.
She does still enjoy cooking, though, and regularly shows off her culinary skills on Instagram.
Diana Chan, Season 9
Diana Chan used her MasterChef prize money to open up a pop-up restaurant in Melbourne.
Then, in 2018, Diana hosted the series Asia Unplated with Diana Chan and in 2022, hosted the podcast Turning Point.
Today, Diana owns Golden Wok – a pre-made dumplings and dim-sims brand – and is one of the chefs on Ready, Steady, Cook.
Sashi Cheliah, Season 10
After winning MasterChef, Sashi Cheliah opened a series of pop-up restaurants called GAJA by Sashi. Ultimately, though, he opened a full-time restaurant in Adelaide, also called GAJA by Sashi.
In 2022, Sashi also opened a fine dining restaurant in India called The Pandan Club. He returned to the MasterChef kitchen in season 14, but didn’t go on to win the title again.
Larissa Takchi, Season 11
Larissa Takchi was only 22 years old when she won MasterChef Australia – the youngest in the show’s history.
Following her win, she continued to work at her family’s cafe, Wildpear, in Sydney. And today, Larissa shows off her cooking skills on Instagram and TikTok.
Emelia Jackson, Season 12
Emila Jackson went on to release the cookbook, First, Cream the Butter and Sugar, and work at Good Food Australia as a columnist after winning MasterChef (the all-stars ‘Back to Win’ season) in 2020.
Justin Narayan, Season 13
Since winning, Justin Narayan has grown his presence online and shares his recipes on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Justin also occasionally does pop-up events at various restaurants; for instance, in April 2024, he held ‘Juzzy’s Taco pop-up’ at Stitch Bar in Sydney.
Brent Draper, Season 15
The 2023 MasterChef winner, Brent Draper, is currently planning to release a cookbook and co-hosts the podcast, Behind the Drapes, with his wife.
Nat Thaipun, Season 16
Since winning last year’s MasterChef Australia, Nat Thaipun completed the residency at ALUMNI restaurant that was a part of her prize, and is now working on a cookbook titled Thai: Anywhere and Everywhere.
Laura Sharrad, season 17
The most recent winner of MasterChef Australia was Laura Sharrad. The Adelaide chef returned for her third go-around in the MasterChef kitchen for the Back to Win season. She came close to winning in both seasons 6 and 12, but the third time really was the charm.
It was an emotional return for the chef. In her first season, she impressed then-judge Jock Zonfrillo so much that he hired her as his pastry chef at his acclaimed three-hatted restaurant Orana. She worked alongside him there for three years. Following that stint, she worked with fellow MasterChef alum Andre Ursini at his restaurant Andre’s Cucina & Polenta Bar. In 2019, Laura became co-owner of pasta bar Nido, and followed it with a second venue in 2021, Fugazzi Bar & Dining. She also hosts My Market Kitchen.
Before returning to the MasterChef kitchen, she became a mum to Florence, who was her inspiration during her winning season. She received a lot of backlash from online trolls about being a working mum, but she persevered. In 2026, Laura won the South Australian Advertiser Woman of the Year Hospitality Hero award for the second time.
“I had an opportunity to inspire new mums out there that your identity is not lost, your dreams do not have to die, your flame still burns stronger than ever,” she wrote in a post. “Max sent me a video of Florence saying “woohooo go mummy” tonight, that’s when I realised; that being Florence’s Mum is having it all.”