MasterChef Australia has dished up a second edition of Back to Win in 2025, featuring contestants from previous seasons trying once again to take out the top spot in the competition.
Now in its 16th season, this show has a knack of platforming talented cooks who go on to make it big — even if they don’t actually win MasterChef.
From releasing cookbooks and hosting cooking shows, to racking up views on YouTube channels, opening restaurants, appearing on other reality series, releasing recipe mixes and even returning to MasterChef as judges, the MasterChef contestants who have made the biggest bank prove that there isn’t just one recipe for success when it comes to the culinary game.
Let’s look back at the MasterChef Australia contestants who keep on winning…
The most successful MasterChef Australia contestants of all time
Poh Ling Yeow
While Poh Ling Yeow never actually won MasterChef Australia, she’s undeniably one of the most successful former contestants.
Despite finishing runner-up to Julie Goodwin in Season One all the way back in 2009 (and sixth in the MasterChef: Back to Win season in 2020), Poh has released two cookbooks, helmed her own TV shows — Poh’s Kitchen on ABC and Poh & Co on SBS — as well as appearing on loads of others, and is now a judge on MasterChef Australia. Talk about full circle!
Justine Schofield
Another non-winner who has gone on to make MasterChef bank, Justine Schofield placed fourth in Season One of MasterChef but Channel 10 wasn’t ready to let her go that easily. Justine scored her own series, Everyday Gourmet With Justine Schofield, which has been going for a whopping 13 seasons and has had three spin-offs.
Justine’s also published five cookbooks, the most recently being Make Ahead which was published in 2025.
Andy Allen
MasterChef Australia winner Andy Allen has certainly over-achieved since he became the show’s youngest winner (at the time) in 2012, taking out the Season Four crown aged 24.
Not only did he score a $100,000 cash prize and a book deal has part of that, Andy is also the co-owner of successful restaurant Three Blue Ducks, which has five locations in Australia and spawned its own TV series. Andy also co-hosted shows Andy And Ben Eat Australia, Andy And Ben Eat The World and Farm To Fork before becoming a MasterChef Australia judge back in 2019.
Adam Liaw
Another wildly popular MasterChef Australia winner is Adam Liaw, whose victory over Callum Hann in Season Two is still the most-watched non-sporting event in Australian TV history. After taking home the cash prize and landing a cookbook deal, Adam has since published eight more cookbooks and hosted 11 different TV shows and specials, his latest being The Cook Up With Adam Liaw on SBS.
He’s also released a range of dinnerware, been very funny on Twitter, launched a beer collab, become a UNICEF ambassador, started a podcast and has a successful YouTube cooking channel. What can’t the man do!
Marion Grasby
A fan favourite from Season Two, Marion Grasby may not have won MasterChef Australia but she’s been winning ever since. Though she has released two cookbooks, Marion’s actually brought home the bacon thanks to her food range, Marion’s Kitchen.
Consisting of meal kits, stir fry sauces, marinades and dressings, the products have been stocked in supermarkets in Australia for over a decade. In 2015, the Australian Financial Review reported that Marion’s Kitchen products were bringing in around $10 million per year. Makes the MasterChef prize money look like peanuts!
Khanh Ong
Khanh Ong gave MasterChef Australia a couple of cracks, coming in at third in Season 10 in 2018 and ninth in 2020’s Back to Win. Though he didn’t take out that particular crown, Khanh did earn the title of King Khanh on Australian Survivor: Blood V Water in 2022, making it all the way to the jury and winning the hearts of his fellow contestants and viewers along the way.
He then tackled the jungle on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2024 and scored his own series, Khanh Ong’s Wild Food, which aired on SBS in 2023.
Julie Goodwin
The first-ever winner of MasterChef Australia, Julie Goodwin has been busy both in and out of the kitchen ever since taking out the 2009 series.
She’s released three bestselling cookbooks, opened a cooking school, been a radio host, competed on MasterChef two more times (in 2012’s MasterChef Australia All Stars and 2022’s Fans & Favourites), appeared as a guest judge on My Kitchen Rules, tackled the jungle in I’m a Celeb, tangoed her way through Dancing With the Stars, been a contributor for the Australian Women’s Weekly and last year released a memoir called Your Time Starts Now (MasterChef fans, IYKYK).
Callum Hann
Callum earned plenty of fans when he first competed on MasterChef Australia in Season Two. Even though he was allegedly 20, he legit looked about 14 and won us all over with his enthusiasm and surprising talent in the kitchen.
Coming in second, he went on to build himself quite the career in cooking despite losing the final to Adam Liaw. Inspired by his mates’ terrible eating habits and lack of cooking skills, Callum has published three books aimed at helping novice cooks get better. He’s also opened a cooking school and several restaurants in his native South Australia and will return to our screens this year in MasterChef Australia: Back to Win — despite taking out MasterChef: All Stars in 2012.
Reynold Poernomo
Dubbed the “Dessert King” after showing off his insane skills with the sweet stuff on the seventh season MasterChef Australia in 2015, Reynold Poernomo came fourth in his first outing and third in 2020’s Back to Win series.
Despite failing to take home the MasterChef chocolates, Reynold has seen plenty of sweet success outside the show, publishing a cookbook called The Dessert Game and opening the wildly popular KOI Dessert Bar in Sydney. He also cooks up plenty of delicious-looking desserts on his YouTube channel in his series SWEET x SALTY.
Reynold was forced to apologise in 2020 after homophobic comments he made in a bodybuilding forum some years earlier were brought to light, saying: “I am ashamed of these comments and I regret them immensely. At the time these comments were made, I was a very immature, close-minded and insular 20-year-old. I have grown and matured a lot in the last six years. I am not the person I was back then.”
Merle Parrish
While not technically a MasterChef contestant, queen Merle Parrish made quite the impact when the then-78-year-old appeared as a guest representing the Country Women’s Association in an Immunity Challenge in Season Three. Merle, from the country town of Cudal in central western NSW, beat contestant Billy Law in a cookoff, blowing the judges away with her peach blossom cake.
Fans of the show were so obsessed with the old duck that she scored a two-book deal with Penguin Books, with her first cookbook Merle’s Kitchen becoming an instant bestseller. The ultimate win? Merle recently celebrated her 92nd birthday! We’re sure she was in charge of the cake…
To suss the cast and all the info about MasterChef 2025, head HERE.
