Welcome the 22 budding cooks competing on MasterChef Australia’s 16th season

Alex’s love of cooking started young – on her ninth birthday, her dad told her to choose any present she wanted, and she opted for a Jamie Oliver cookbook.

Darrsh was inspired to get into cooking on all sides of his family, and loves experimenting in the kitchen –
especially when making sweet treats.

David grew up in Singapore and became a foodie young. He jokes that in his home country, eating is “a national hobby”.

With Italian heritage on her mum’s side and Vietnamese on her dad’s, Gill is experienced with both European and Asian styles of cooking.

Harry is most at home on the beach, and has fashioned himself into quite the seafood-cooking guru. He loves using local produce he catches himself.

British-born foodie James has travelled the world, and dreams of opening a cafe in Perth, where he lives with his wife and kids.

Tradie Jonathan is a largely self-taught cook who’s heavily influenced by his nonna Sandra, who helped raise him.

Dad-of-three Josh’s family is supportive of his cheffing dreams. In fact, it was his wife Laura who secretly filled out his MasterChef application!

Bubbly Argentinian-born Juan De La Cruz spent much of his childhood at his mother’s side in the kitchen, and his love of food came from being her official taster.

Small-town bloke Josh loves cooking with local Tasmanian produce and dreams of opening a paddock-to-plate restaurant in his home state.

Lachlan enjoys bringing his love of botany into his cooking. He dreams of opening a restaurant with a kitchen garden.

Khristian has been a keen cook from an early age, and would often make meals for his younger sister when his single mum was working 14-hour days.

British-born Lily got into cooking early thanks to her mum Jo, one of the youngest chefs to be trained at the famed Le Cordon Bleu international cooking school.

This season’s youngest contestant, her Spanish heritage means she loves working with Mediterranean flavours, though she confesses to having a sweet tooth too!

Mimi loves experimenting with Asian fusion, which grew from a childhood in both Australia and her native Hong Kong.

Nat’s parents ran a Thai restaurant when she was a kid, so it’s safe to say cooking is in her blood. She’s inspired by how food connects people around the world.

Sav’s mum was an excellent home cook, and whenever Sav is in the kitchen, she hopes to emulate the incredible Sri Lankan flavours of her mum’s cooking.

Croatian-born Snezana has been cooking since she was seven, and is heavily inspired by the flavours of Serbia, where she grew up.

Steph liaises with chefs daily through her events work, but wants to explore her own passion for cooking by going on MasterChef.

Stephen was cast in MasterChef’s very first season in 2009, but a cyclone stopped him travelling. Will he make up for lost time on season 16?

Sue has been a MasterChef fan for years. When her workplace shut down, she was inspired to take the next step and become a contestant instead of a viewer.

Sumeet’s grandfather is her food hero, as he loved to experiment in the kitchen. He bought Sumeet her first cookbook and encouraged her culinary adventures.