MasterChef Australia (series 8)

MasterChef Australia (series 8)
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	24 (as of 1 June 2016)
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Original release	1 May 2016 (2016-05-01) –  () present

The eighth series of MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 1 May 2016 on Network Ten. All three judges from the previous series returned.

Contestants

Top 24

The first 19 contestants were announced on 1 May 2016. Cecilia Vuong was chosen having previously been selected in series six, but withdrew that year before the competition started because of complications of a brain injury. A further 11 applicants were required to cook again the next day for the next four positions. Then the remaining 7 cooks competed for the final place. The competition includes two siblings for the first time: Jimmy Wong and Theresa Visintin.

Contestant	Age	State	Occupation	Status
Anastasia Zolotarev	26	NSW	Marketing co-ordinator	Competing
Brett Carter	43	WA	Airline captain	Competing
Cecilia Vuong	31	VIC	Teacher	Competing
Charlie Sartori	24	VIC	Professional golfer	Competing
Chloe Bowles	24	QLD	Nanny	Competing
Elena Duggan	32	NSW	Teacher	Competing
Elise Franciskovic	28	QLD	Pharmacy technician	Competing
Harry Foster	21	QLD	Cocktail bartender	Competing
Heather Day	32	SA	Sales manager	Competing
Karmen Lu	24	WA	Waitress	Competing
Matt Sinclair	27	QLD	Coffee roaster	Competing
Miles Pritchett	46	QLD	Park ranger	Competing
Mimi Baines	26	VIC	Product manager	Competing
Nicolette Stathopoulos	19	VIC	Student	Competing
Trent Harvey	29	NSW	Electrician	Competing
Zoe Konikkos	31	VIC	Sales manager	Competing
Theresa Visintin	44	NSW	Mum	Eliminated 30 May
Con Vailas	31	VIC	Restaurant supervisor	Eliminated 26 May
Jimmy Wong	49	NSW	Sustainability specialist	Eliminated 23 May
Nidhi Mahajan	30	SA	Call centre worker	Eliminated 19 May
Olivia Robinson	26	NSW	Restaurant manager	Eliminated 16 May
Adam Mizzi	30	SA	Adventure company owner	Eliminated 12 May
Nathaniel Milevskiy	29	QLD	Paramedic student	Eliminated 9 May
Ashley McConnell	29	WA	Software sales	Eliminated 5 May

Guest Chefs

Week	Guest Chef	Challenge
1	Billie McKay	Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge
2 (Marco Week)	Marco Pierre White	All Challenges & MasterClass
	Jake Kellie	Immunity Challenge
3	Reynold Poernomo	Pressure Test
	Braden White	Immunity Challenge
4 (Nigella Week)	Nigella Lawson	All Challenges & MasterClass
	Lachlan Colwill	Immunity Challenge
5	Jason Atherton	Pressure Test
	Thomas Woods	Immunity Challenge
	Hayden McFarland

Elimination chart

	Week 1		Week 2		Week 3		Week 4		Week 5		Week 6
Mystery Box Challenge Winner	Jimmy Mimi Nidhi		Charlie		Anastasia		Heather		Chloe
Invention Test Winner	None		Nidhi Olivia Zoe		Anastasia Con Nicolette		Harry Karmen Mimi		Chloe Karmen Matt Mimi
Immunity Challenge	None		Lose: Zoe		Win: Nicolette		Lose: Harry		Win: Chloe & Matt
Anastasia	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Lose	Top 3	Team Win	IN	Team 2nd	IN	Team Lose
Brett	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose	Btm 3	Team Win
Cecilia	Top 24	IN	Btm 3	Btm 4	IN	Team Win	IN	Team 2nd	IN	Team Lose
Charlie	Top 24	Btm 3	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose	IN	Btm 3	Btm 3	Team Lose
Chloe	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	Btm 3	Team Lose	Btm 3	Team Win	WIN	Team Win
Elena	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win
Elise	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose	IN	Team Lose	IN	Team Lose
Harry	Top 24	IN	IN	Btm 4	IN	Team Win	Top 3	Team 2nd	IN	Team Win
Heather	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose
Karmen	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Win	Btm 3	Team Lose	Top 3	Team Win	Top 3	Team Win
Matt	Top 24	IN	Top 4	Btm 4	IN	Team Win	IN	Btm 3	Top 3	Team Lose/Imm.
Miles	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Lose	IN	Btm 3	Btm 3	Team 2nd	IN	Team Win
Mimi	Top 24	Top 3	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win	Top 3	Team Lose	Top 3	Team Lose
Nicolette	Top 24	IN	IN	Team Lose	Top 3	Team Win	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win
Trent	Top 24	Top 4	IN	Team Lose	IN	Team Win	IN	Team 2nd	IN	Team Win
Zoe	Top 24	IN	Top 3	Team Lose	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose
Theresa	Top 24	Btm 3	IN	Team Win	IN	Btm 3	IN	Team 2nd	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 22)
Con	Top 24	IN	Btm 3	Team Lose	Top 3	Team Lose	IN	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 20)
Jimmy	Top 24	Top 3	IN	Team Win	IN	Team Lose	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 17)
Nidhi	Top 24	Top 3	Top 3	Team Win	IN	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 15)
Olivia	Top 24	IN	Top 3	Team Lose	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 12)
Adam	Top 24	IN	IN	Btm 4	Eliminated (Ep 10)
Nathaniel	Top 24	IN	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 7)
Ashley	Top 24	Btm 3	Eliminated (Ep 5)
Eliminated	None	Ashley	Nathaniel	Adam	Olivia	Nidhi	Jimmy	Con	Theresa

Episodes and ratings

Colour key:

     – Highest rating during the series

     – Lowest rating during the series

Ep#/Wk-Ep#	Original airdate	Episode Title / Event	Total viewers (five metro cities)	Nightly Ranking
Week 1
1/01-1	Sunday, 1 May 2016	Series Premiere: Auditions Part 1 - Contestants started Series 8 with a challenge to cook their signature dish in one hour, vying for automatic entry into the Top 24. Gary, Matt and George judged the competitors with either "yes" or "no", with their votes deciding whether the contestant should stay in the competition. Nineteen contestants received three yes votes and won their way through to the main competition. Eleven other contestants, who received either one or two yes votes, were given a second chance and cooked again in the next episode.	1,012,000	#4
2/01-2	Monday, 2 May 2016	Auditions Part 2 - Eleven contestants, who were given a second chance to secure the five remaining spots in the Top 24, competed in the first challenge round to cook a dish with one of ten ingredients from their individual basket in 90 minutes. Mimi was praised for her snapper dish and immediately received an apron and joined the Top 24. The other three contestants receiving an apron were Harry, Elise and Adam.	949,000	#7
3/01-3	Tuesday, 3 May 2016	Auditions Part 3 - The remaining seven contestants faced the pressure test in the second round to recreate Shannon Bennett's layered chocolate orange mousse to secure the last apron to the Top 24. Between three contestants (Melissa, Miles and Sarah) who delivered the best dishes, Miles won the last apron after earning high praise from the judges with his dish.	947,000	#7
4/01-4	Wednesday, 4 May 2016	Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge - In their first challenge, the top 24 contestants have 75 minutes to faced their choice of ingredients from the Mystery Box, chosen by season 7 winner Billie McKay. The three standout dishes were Nidhi's tea parfait with cornflake crumble, Mimi's tea-smoked duck dish and Jimmy's pan seared duck with stuffed mushrooms. Special mention goes to Trent's pan-fried duck with home-made ricotta. Afterwards, the three contestants at risk of elimination were Ashley, Charlie and Theresa.	1,058,000	#2
5/01-5	Thursday, 5 May 2016	Elimination Challenge - The bottom three contestants faced their first elimination challenge. Each had to pick one of the twelve cloches that contain twelve mystery ingredients on display and create a dish based on the chosen cloche in 75 minutes. They have the option to choose again if they didn't like their first pick but would be stuck in the second selection. Ashley's choice were mushrooms, Charlie's pick was ginger and Theresa had chosen prawns. The judges were impressed with Theresa's prawn salad and Charlie's chocolate ginger cremeux despite the lack of ginger in his dish. As a result, both were declared safe. It was Ashley whom he tried to recreate his pasta dish and after being criticized for his overcooked egg and frying the ravioli, was the first contestant to be eliminated from the competition.	1,006,000	#4
Week 2 - Marco Week
6/02-1	Sunday, 8 May 2016	Marco's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test - The contestants were tasked to cook a dish with one of the ingredients (cinnamon, chicken, extra virgin olive oil, ham, honey, lemon, parsley and potatoes) from the box chosen by guest chef Marco Pierre White in 75 minutes. Five standout dishes were cooked by Cecilia, Charlie, Matt, Mimi and Nidhi. Charlie, who won the challenge with his Honey Semifreddo, had to pick a choice of meat and three vegetables for their first Invention test. He chose lamb for protein and parsnips, onions & carrots for three vegetables. They have 90 minutes to cook a dish with these ingredients. Nidhi, Olivia and Zoe receive praises from the judges with their dishes where they will compete for the first Immunity Challenge. Matt receives special mention with his dish of lamb koftas. Con, Nathaniel and Cecilia receive negative feedback from the judges on their dishes. They will be competing in the first Pressure test for elimination.	905,000	#5
7/02-2	Monday, 9 May 2016	Pressure Test: Dory a la Nicoise - Nathaniel, Con and Cecilia must recreate Marco's dish with no required time limit. All of their instructions will come from Marco and they have 10 seconds to prepare the dish after Marco has finished cooking. Cecilia manage to follow Marco's instructions carefully and takes the lead in the challenge. Meanwhile, Nathaniel and Con fell behind after the latter accidentally cuts himself while skinning his fish. Afterwards, all three manage to complete the dish. Cecilia thrived with her approach similar to Marco's and was saved. Between Con and Nathaniel whom both have issues on presentation of their dishes. In the end due to his overcooked fish, Nathaniel was sent home.	850,000	#9
8/02-3	Tuesday, 10 May 2016	Immunity Challenge: Jake Kellie - The top three contestants; Nidhi, Olivia and Zoe, have 60 minutes to make a classic pasta dish. After Olivia and Nidhi fell behind with their dishes, Zoe won the first round of the challenge with her roast pumpkin and goat cheese ravioli and advances to the second round to compete against guest chef Jake Kellie for the immunity. She chose to cook Italian cuisine with her marsala and cinnamon creme brûlée in 75 minutes. Jake have 60 minutes to cook his veal carpaccio. He praised the judges with it's flavor but was criticized for the presentation of his dish. Zoe presented her dish but it didn't set perfectly after her brûlée top cracked, despite the judges appreciated her flavors. Therefore, her dished scored 24 points to Jake's dish of 25.	1,029,000	#5
9/02-4	Wednesday, 11 May 2016	Plough Hotel Team Challenge - The 22 contestants travel to Footscrat at the Plough Hotel for their first team challenge. The team captains, Brett (Red Team) and Nicolette (Blue Team), each gets to pick a card from three jars representing a three-course meal that would describe the traits of each meal. The teams have three hours of prep time to cook enough food for 70 people, before service begins.	965,000	#6
10/02-5	Thursday, 12 May 2016	Pressure Test - After a dreadful team challenge blue team was at the pressure test. The challenge was to name an ingredient correctly according to the first letter of the ingredient and Cecilia, Adam, Matt and Harry made mistakes and were in the second round of the pressure test where they had to cook a dish using the ingredients named correctly in the first round by contestants. But Adam failed to do so and was out of the competition.	967,000	#5
		Masterclass	706,000	#9
Week 3
11/03-1	Sunday, 15 May 2016	Mystery Box Challenge: Viewers & Invention Test -	837,000	#5
12/03-2	Monday, 16 May 2016	Pressure Test: Reynold Poernomo's "Moss" - Chloe, Olivia and Karmen were tasked to recreate season 7 alumnus Reynold Poernomo's dessert "Moss". Chloe received praise for creating a very similar dish to Reynold's, making her the first contestant to pass the pressure test. Several of Karmen's elements were liked but the lack of the crémeux was criticized. Olivia's dish had all twelve elements but there were notable errors in several elements. Those flaws were too much to keep her safe over Karmen, and consequently Olivia was eliminated from the competition.	893,000	#7
13/03-3	Tuesday, 17 May 2016	Immunity Challenge: Braden White	1,033,000	#4
14/03-4	Wednesday, 18 May 2016	Service Challenge: Huxtable + Pei Modern -	965,000	#4
15/03-5	Thursday, 19 May 2016	Elimination Challenge: No Cooking -	908,000	#5
Week 4 - Nigella Week
16/04-1	Sunday, 22 May 2016	Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test -	956,000	#5
17/04-2	Monday, 23 May 2016	Pressure Test - The bottom three performers from the Invention Test faced a pressure test featuring three dishes from Nigella: crab avocado salad, lamb with radishes and peas, and coffee panna cotta with chocolate coffee sauce. The contestants received only 60 minutes to plate up all three dishes. Chloe received praise from the judges for her dishes while Miles' panna cotta was grainy, and Jimmy had undercooked his lamb. Thus, the lamb was inedible, sealing Jimmy's fate and eliminating him from the competition.	919,000	#7
18/04-3	Tuesday, 24 May 2016	Immunity Challenge: Lachlan Colwill - Having landed in the top 3 of the invention test, Harry, Karmen and Mimi were surprised in the middle of the night by Nigella and Matt as the preliminary round for the immunity challenge was creating a midnight snack, something she is famous for, for Nigella. Harry's brookies, a combination of brownies and cookies, were deemed the best dish and he won the right to challenge chef Lachlan Colwill for immunity. Harry chose "Christmas sweet" (over "Christmas savoury") as the pantry but eventually, his Christmas Pavlova wasn't enough to beat Colwill's Australian summer Christmas pudding as the professional won the challenge with a score of 27 over Harry's 26.	1,106,000	#4
19/04-4	Wednesday, 25 May 2016	Service Challenge	948,000	#5
20/04-5	Thursday, 26 May 2016	Elimination Challenge - After losing the team challenge, the Blue Team faced a cake-themed elimination. On round 1, their task was to take turns tasting and naming different cakes. Charlie, Matt and Con were the first three to misname a cake and were sent into round 2. To keep themselves from getting eliminated, they had to bake a cake. Matt's Carrot Cake received very positive feedback overall. Meanwhile, Charlie's chocolate and raspberry hazelnut cake split the judges' opinions for being dry and Con's thyme pound cake was described as unevenly cooked and heavy. In the end, Con's "rubbery" cake could not save him and he was eliminated.	1,111,000	#1
		MasterClass	854,000	#7
Week 5
21/05-1	Sunday, 29 May 2016	Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test - In the Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants found themselves cooking with a mix of ingredients including barramundi, vanilla beans and miso as well as instructions to keep every discarded piece of food stored with a "waste not, want not" principle in mind. Chloe won the challenge and her advantage was a pass straight through to the week's immunity challenge. The remaining cooks were tasked to create an inventive dish with no pantry or garden available, just what was left of the mystery box items including the scraps. Matt, Karmen and Mimi impressed the judges and they joined Chloe in the immunity challenge while Theresa, Charlie and Brett missed the mark and ended up in the pressure test.	808,000	#5
22/05-2	Monday, 30 May 2016	Pressure Test -	918,000	#7
23/05-3	Tuesday, 31 May 2016	Woodland House Immunity Challenge: Thomas Woods & Hayden McFarland -	1,105,000	#2