Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

Bah-bah-bah! (CONTESTANTS GROAN AND LAUGH)

..the week started off with a mixed bag of a mystery box.

This is my kind of mystery box. It's all produce that I love.

This has to be the hardest mystery box in MasterChef history.

JOCK: A very clever way to use every single ingredient in that box.

Then...

ANDY: The legendary Clare Smyth!

..a protein-packed Pressure Test.

CLARE: You're cooking my beef and oyster.

..was the end of the journey for Rue.

RUE: This show has just been life-changing for me.

And... (CRACKER SNAPS)

..it was a cracker of an Immunity Challenge.

ANDY: You've got to make it loud and you've got to make it delicious.

(CANDY POPS)

(CRUNCH!)

Theo brought the crunch factor...

That could be one of the tastiest things we've had all year.

..and won his immunity.

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

Tonight, the remaining cooks are fighting for their spot

in the top 5.

RHIANNON: Now competitive Rhiannon is coming out.

It's, like, game on.

And to impress the diva of desserts.

(ETHEREAL MUSIC)

(BEE BUZZES)

(MALISSA SIGHS ANXIOUSLY)

Top 6, coming into top 5.

So much work has gone into getting to this point.

DECLAN: Nice sunny day.

RHIANNON: Don't really like black-apron day, though.

I've got my pin still on,

so I've always got that safety net,

but I'm nervous.

You know, you're just so close to the end and I want it so bad.

(JUDGES CLAP)

Hey!

THEO: Good luck, guys.

Ooh! See you, mate. You have a good time up there, alright?

MALISSA: That's nice.

Good morning, everybody.

CONTESTANTS: Good morning.

Today isn't just a regular old day in the MasterChef kitchen.

Yes, it's elimination day and someone will be going home,

but at the end of it, we will have our top 5 for MasterChef 2023.

Theo, you've already earned your spot,

looking very casually relaxed up there.

Yeah, top 5. Safe.

Feel like I'm cooking well, so, yeah, I'm confident.

And it's nice to be up here,

but sad to see one of my mates go home today, so...

But you're glad it's not you. Yeah.

Of course I'm glad it's not me, for sure. Yeah, yeah.

Well, a very special day means a very special guest.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

One of Australia's most internationally acclaimed

pastry chefs and chocolatiers

is with us today.

You might own her cookbook,

you might have seen her on TV,

or maybe you've done a cooking class

where she's been teaching the ins and outs of chocolate

for over two decades.

CONTESTANTS: Wow.

Please give it up for the chocolate queen herself,

Kirsten Tibballs!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

MALISSA: Kirsten Tibballs is here!

She is the queen of chocolate, the queen of desserts.

How scary. I know! I'm scared.

What's in that basket?

I learn from her, I listen to her.

She is so knowledgeable.

JOCK: Hello. Hello.

But I'm also scared because I know

that she is a weapon in the kitchen

and today is gonna be tough.

Kirsten, welcome back. Thank you.

How are you? I'm great, thank you.

What have you been up to? I'm working on a new book.

Another one?

Another book, yeah, which comes out this year, which is very exciting.

And what about MasterChef?

I mean, you've somewhere in between tormented and inspired people

for so many years in this place.

What do you love about coming back?

I like seeing what people create and how they're doing

and then I follow all their successes

because once the MasterChef contestants leave here,

they really do go to new heights.

Declan, are you, uh, firstly, a fan of Kirsten?

Yeah, of course. You're like Willy Wonka's wife.

(ALL LAUGH)

I'll take that.

Um, the queen of chocolate.

Um... So, yeah, I'm excited to see what's in store today.

Top 5's on the line and I'm really hungry for it.

Yeah. Malissa...

Oh! Oh, hang on!

I didn't even ask you a question!

(LAUGHS) Talk to me!

Already! (GIGGLES)

Oh, I'm scared about what's under there, but it's gonna be a good day.

You've done some absolute crackers of desserts in this kitchen.

Surely you'd be in a good place today.

I thought, coming into this kitchen, I was more of a savoury cook

and while I've been here, I'm loving making desserts,

so, yeah, we'll see how we go today.

Crazy how the cookie crumbles, isn't it?

Yeah, I know! Righto.

Kirsten, you've walked in with a basket full of surprises

that these guys have not taken their eyes off

and I'm sure they wanna know what's under there.

This is a basket full of...

..my favourite dessert ingredients.

Unsalted butter.

We've got some dark couverture chocolate,

lemon, baking powder.

We've got cream.

We've got praline paste.

We've got caster sugar, plain flour,

whole almonds, milk, vanilla bean,

ginger, eggs and fresh raspberries.

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

Oh, man!

BRENT: Just what I thought. There's no octopus, no squid.

No beating around the bush here.

It's probably not the best challenge for me today.

I'm...I'm pretty nervous.

Some incredible ingredients here.

Everything you need to make a top-5-worthy dessert.

But there's also a catch.

Oh!

Today is a two-round challenge.

This is your pantry

for both rounds.

Oh.

If you fall into round 2,

you'll only have whatever is left in your basket from round 1

to cook with in round 2.

(EXHALES)

But guess what. What?

That's not all.

CONTESTANTS: Oh.

In here, there is one more thing.

This clock.

Oh.

It represents the 90 minutes you'll have to cook today.

But, like the ingredients, you'll have to use it across both rounds.

Yep.

The moment you finish the dish,

you stop the clock and bring it up to the front to be tasted.

The three least impressive dishes in this round will go into round 2

where all you'll have left is the ingredients

and the time that you've left yourselves.

Whoever cooks the least impressive dish in round 2,

unfortunately, they'll be going home.

Ooh.

I'm glad I'm up here, I'm safe, I'm already in the top 5

because this challenge, it's gonna be difficult.

Strategy is key

and there's a few people down there that aren't confident with desserts,

so, yeah, this is gonna be a tough one.

Brent, if you are ever in trouble

in round 1 or round 2 of today's cook,

you can play that pin and save yourself from elimination.

You'll be up there, sitting pretty and in the top 5.

Righto, everyone. Head to your benches.

Let's get this thing underway.

(CONTESTANTS CHATTER AND LAUGH)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Kirsten, would you like to kick 'em off?

Let's make some patisserie magic. Your time starts now.

ANDY: Yeah! THEO: Go, guys!

(JUDGES CLAP)

Let's get this. Let's get one of these.

I've been worried about Kirsten walking through the door,

so it's not pure dread.

It is excitement as well, so... But scary. Scary excitement.

This is a tough one,

but I just need to move faster

than I've ever moved before in this kitchen

so I can get this done.

BRENT: I'm gonna have to see if I can, you know,

whip up something tasty.

I've got, like, some, you know, raspberries there

I could fill with some coulis inside 'em or something.

You know, not much direction, really.

I know I want to do a few things.

No getting around this. I think this is a very, very tough challenge.

MELISSA: Yep. Oh...

Except for you! (LAUGHS) Well...

(LAUGHS) Yeah, come on.

We could give you 30 minutes and you'd still smash it.

30 minutes would be tough,

but the ingredients, there's so many different variations

of what you could actually do.

I think as long as it's delicious

and as long as it's the best possible expression of it,

it doesn't matter if it's simple.

It could still be a winner.

It's the strategy.

Do you put, like, your best dish first

or do you hold back for round 2

where you're up against less competitors...

Yeah.

..and you might have a little bit more time up your sleeve

to really go hard?

That's the question. And, of course, Brent's got a pin.

Now, if he plays his pin in round 1,

then we're actually only looking for the best dish to go to the gantry,

nice and safe,

and the bottom three obviously go into round 2.

That's hard.

Let's just put that in there.

It's really quite risky, like, how you strategically play this one.

Where'd I put those urns?

But you know what?

Lemon and raspberries are something I do cook with often,

so I'm going, "I know this. I can smash something out quickly."

THEO: What are you doing, Rhi?

Like a lemon cake, yeah,

with raspberry-and-lemon syrup,

the vanilla whipped cream

and maybe some blanched almonds that are roasted.

Nice.

I'm gonna save the chocolate and that in round 2.

OK, yep. Yeah.

I can get this done really quite quickly

and if I do go into second round,

I want 60 minutes for my second cook.

I've got this! (LAUGHS)

How you going, Rhi? Yeah, not too bad. You?

Good.

Well, Cath, I don't need to introduce you to Kirsten

because you know exactly who she is.

Hello! Hello!

I'm really interested to know what's your chosen dish.

Oh, look, so, round 1, I'm going to do an oil chocolate mousse.

Nice.

I'm going to do a hazelnut cream

and I'm going to do a vanilla shortbread,

so it's a matter of, you know, maybe dipping it in...

Love it. Bit of texture.

A bit of a texture element. It's a good plan.

It's a solid plan that, if it's executed well,

should be very successful.

See how we go. You got this!

Thank you.

I'm just absolutely in awe of Kirsten.

I've learned so much from her over the years.

(MURMURS) OK.

I'm very grateful to be able to cook for her today.

I've got my chocolate melted with my oil in it.

I'm just whisking my egg yolks with my sugar,

so I'm just putting together the chocolate mousse.

It feels like making a chocolate dessert

is exactly the right thing to do today.

I'm gonna give myself 40 minutes for this cook

so hopefully I can get that mousse on first 'cause that has to set

and hopefully I don't have to go into round 2.

Alright, Cath.

Who's gonna be the first person to stop the clock?

You've only got 75 minutes to go!

THEO: Come on, guys! Gotcha! (LAUGHS)

15 minutes.

With the ingredients, I'm gonna aim to use just half of everything,

but I do think I'm gonna try and use a little bit more time in round 1

because parfait needs time to set.

If I can smash it out really quickly, get it in a blast chiller,

I should be using about 45, 50 minutes.

For round 1, I'm gonna be making a chocolate parfait

with a raspberry sauce and an almond crumb.

I do think these ingredients play to my strengths today.

I've really loved making desserts over the past few weeks,

so I'm feeling OK about today's challenge.

THEO: Go, Malissa.

I know I can make a parfait really well.

I've done it before and I was super happy with that.

I feel that if I play to my strengths in round 1,

then I should be safe from round 2.

Alright, so, I've got that going. I've got my flour.

I've got my eggs.

Give me a fish over chocolate any day of the week.

But I'm gonna go all out with the dessert today.

So, I'm doing a choux bun and I'm hoping to fill it

with maybe, like, a hazelnut praline filling

and some tempered chocolate to serve with it.

This is a huge gamble

because, you know, it's not gonna be an easy or a quick cook,

but I want to give it my all in this round

and leave myself no eggs in the basket by the end of this round 1.

I wanna get in top 5 of MasterChef

and I believe this is the dish that gets me there.

THEO: Come on, guys! Let's go!

It's so stressful today and with good reason -

to get into the top 5 of MasterChef.

It's a massive thing.

(WHISPERS) OK, sweetie.

I think Cath is working well

and I think Malissa's picked a parfait, it looks like,

and she's using, you know, minimal ingredients at this stage,

so I think that's a smart move.

Everyone's playing for their life and the tension is high

and I can feel it up here.

Stay focused. You've got this.

(TENSE MUSIC)

I'm looking at Brent

and he's not comfortable with desserts.

I can tell he's stressing out.

It's possible that he's gonna play his pin.

What are you gonna make, Brent?

I'm gonna start with a hazelnut praline ice cream.

I finally decided to make an ice cream,

but today I'm literally feeling like

a fish flapping around outside of water.

I'm just struggling.

Time is ticking away.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

I'm probably 10 minutes behind the other cooks.

I really want to keep the pin,

but in order for me to win this year,

it's just about making smart moves.

Obviously, I've got the pin, so, um, I deserve to use it.

Maybe I should just throw it in.

I need to make my decision

whether this thing's coming off or staying on.

BRENT: Obviously, I've got the pin, so I deserve to use it.

Maybe I should just throw it in.

Um, I don't know. We'll see how we go.

I need to make my decision

whether this thing's coming off or staying on.

I look at the anglaise and I'm just, like,

"Why are you doing this?" you know,

"Just get up on the gantry, play your pin, be safe, get into the top 5."

Playing the pin. Yep.

JOCK: Plays pin? Yeah, playing the pin.

Are you playing it? Yeah. Might as well.

I'm going nowhere.

Brent's played his pin, ladies and gentlemen.

Brent, up to the gantry, mate.

You are safe. (CHUCKLES)

I worked hard to get that pin

and this time was absolutely perfect for it.

Kirsten Tibballs, two desserts - perfect storm,

but, you know, I avoided the storm.

Welcome to the top 5, brother.

CATH: I look up and he's played his pin.

It's down to the four of us, so the odds are now...

You know, it's a lot higher.

(LAUGHS)

He was so keen to get up there, he didn't even turn his gas off.

You're just like, "I'm playing it." See youse.

Why did you stop? Oh...

'Cause he wanted to come up here with me.

No time.

Alright, need to get these in now.

20 minutes in and now it's only between, you know, me and the ladies.

Since Brent has used his pin,

you know, they're looking for the bottom three dishes today,

so, you know, I've got to be the best dish

out of the four of us left down here.

Originally, I was gonna be cooking a choux bun

with a hazelnut praline filling

and some tempered chocolate.

But now I'm thinking I need to make my choux buns even better.

What's that, Deccy? Craquelin.

Oh, yep.

So, I'm thinking I want to do a raspberry craquelin.

I'm gonna use the liquid nitrogen to freeze-dry these raspberries

and bash 'em up so I can get a bit of a raspberry powder

that I'll be adding to my craquelin mixture.

I want this dish to prove

how much I've grown over the last couple of months

and that I deserve a spot in the top 5 of MasterChef for this year.

I'm using a lot of time in round 1

and I still need to start on my hazelnut praline filling

and tempered chocolate.

Ooh. (CHUCKLES)

But it's gonna be worth it.

(THEO CHUCKLES)

RHIANNON: Alright, 63.

Cakes are in the oven. Good thing.

Gonna try and smash out round 1 quite quickly

and then, so if I'm in round 2,

I've got more time to do something else.

Hi, Rhiannon. Hey. How youse going?

Hi. Well, I'm great.

I knew you would pick raspberries because you always pick something...

Tart. ..sharp, tart and acidic...

100%. ..which is an excellent idea.

There's a caramel on the go. Fill us in. What are you making?

I'm making lemon baby cakes... Cute.

..with a beautiful raspberry sauce.

I'm gonna do caramelised sort of bitter almonds...

Mm-hm. ..and have them for my bitter.

So, that you get a little bit of that French-style caramel.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Be very careful.

It's a very, very narrow line... Yes.

..between a really nice dark caramel to burnt.

You don't want it burnt. No, definitely don't want it burnt.

So, it's about two degrees difference.

OK. Good luck!

Thanks very much.

I've got all the elements on track

and all I have to do is to make sure the bitter almonds are right.

Oh, my God, after today, I could be top 5.

It's so close. I'm like, "Give me that top 5.

"I want the top 5!"

Quite on edge right now. (GIGGLES)

I don't want to stuff it up.

That's good. Yum!

I really want to impress Kirsten with my oil chocolate mousse,

hazelnut cream and vanilla biscuit,

but she is the queen of chocolate,

so everything has to be perfect today.

I've tasted the mousse.

It's really lovely. The flavour's good.

(WHISPERS) Yep. Let's go.

It's taken a lot longer than what I thought

to get that mousse into the fridge

because I had to get it perfect.

Time is definitely slipping away.

Ooh.

Just onto the vanilla biscuit now.

I wanted to allocate 40 minutes to this dish.

Come on.

Now probably working to 50 minutes

because I want to make sure I give that extra time to the mousse to set.

Where's the big knife? There it is.

Come on.

With Brent playing his pin, we are only looking for the top dish

to be safe in this round.

You've got 60 minutes to go.

BRENT: Let's go. Come on.

Let's go, guys. Come on. Top dish.

Almost there. (EXHALES)

I just checked my parfait. It is setting.

So, it's getting there. It just needs a little bit more time.

So, time is not our friend today, but that's OK.

30 minutes in and I should be able to get this done

while still having quite a decent amount of time for round 2.

OK.

Just breathe. You got this.

With the parfait setting and my almond crumb in the oven,

I need to get to work on my raspberry-and-ginger sauce.

This is another big, crucial element to this dish, so it needs to be good.

I need to stick with my strength

and hope that I can get out a really good dessert in round 1.

That way, I can avoid round 2.

They are all under a serious amount of pressure with that time.

Why did you only give them 90 minutes?

90 minutes is good! What were you thinking?

They're all under pressure.

Cath is waiting for that mousse to set.

It may not happen. Declan, he's motoring.

The sweat is dripping off him. Craziness.

Rhiannon looks like she's in the latter stages of her cook.

She's gonna hit that clock any second, I reckon.

I check the oven and the cake is done.

Oh, yeah. It's perfect.

It's nice and fluffy.

No-one else has actually stopped their clock.

I'm gonna be the first, so I'm like, "Quick! Get it done!"

THEO: Go, Rhi! Go, Rhi!

So, I get the lemon cake, raspberry sauce and bitter almonds on the plate

and then I just, like, hit that clock.

Done! Oh, my God.

Nice, Rhi!

Whoo! (LAUGHS)

It's done.

OK, Rhiannon, you're done. Bring on your dish.

(JUDGES CLAP)

Desserts, desserts, desserts.

Hello.

Rhiannon, what did you make us?

I've made a lemon cake with a raspberry sauce...

..and some bitter almonds.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

Rhiannon, the cake was delicious -

light, airy, exactly how you said it,

which, I think, is the most important thing.

Yep.

Had that nice little scent of lemon running through there as well.

I love how you were thinking about the five flavours.

Yeah.

The almonds, though, there's only, like, four on the plate,

so without cutting up an almond...

Yeah.

..you get the bitterness, but you only get it for one bite

and in that bite, it is quite bitter.

OK.

I love that you used the time very well,

so that was very fast and you're the first one out.

The cake has a beautiful light lemon flavour.

For me, the flavour combination overall was great.

Thank you.

I think it's a great dish, but we're yet to taste the others.

Yeah. No worries. Thanks, Rhiannon.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

BRENT: Good job, Rhi. THEO: Good job, Rhi. Good job.

For those of you still cooking, you only have 45 minutes left.

That's half the time, guys.

Push! Go!

Let's go. (CATH HUMS)

Oof!

Declan. Gents, how are you?

How are you, more to the point? I'm very, very nervous, but I...

Like, I like being in these situations. Yep. Yeah.

So, you've got choux buns in the oven.

Choux buns in the oven. Raspberry craquelin on top.

Raspberry craquelin on top. They're due out in 15.

15 minutes? And they've got to cool down before you fill 'em?

Yep.

What have you got to do between now and them coming out of the oven?

A compote, my hazelnut cream filling...

Yep. ..and tempered chocolate.

I know, yeah.

How long are you hoping to have for round 2?

Maybe...maybe 25 minutes. Oh!

Yeah. I know. That's aggressive!

Yeah. 25 minutes in round 2?

Yep.

Do you have a plan for a 25-minute dessert?

Um...

No.

Oh!

Maybe...maybe 25 minutes.

Oh! Yeah.

25 minutes in round 2? Yeah.

Do you have a plan for a 25-minute dessert?

Um...

No.

Oh!

There's still a lot to do

and I've put all my eggs in one basket.

I just need to work fast, keep organised

and make this round 1 dish the best dish of the day.

I'm freakin' out.

Malissa, Declan, Cath, you've only got 40 minutes to go.

Come on.

Mal, how you going? Yep, couple of minutes.

I wanted to use 45 minutes in this cook,

so seeing that that time is now passing

is getting me a little bit nervous

because there's only one top dish today

and the possibility of me being in round 2 is very high.

Oh, the pressure is absolutely on.

I really need to move. I need to start plating up my dish.

Hot tray!

I'm really happy.

The parfait's really beautiful

and it is set.

I'm happy with the crumb

and the sauce as well.

It's got a nice zing to it,

so I'm hoping it works really well with the chocolate.

I'm gonna get this all on the plate

and hopefully it's gonna get me that top dish.

OK, I'm done, I'm done.

I'm done. Malissa just hit the clock.

Good job, Malissa!

Come on, Cath, you've got to get this out now. Come on, come on.

I've got to get this chocolate mousse quick sticks.

I would normally have my mousse setting for longer.

Come on.

But this is precious time for round 2.

I cannot wait to press stop on my clock.

(SIGHS)

OK, done.

Yeah. Good work.

Declan,

Cath and Malissa have both just hit the clock.

You've only got 38 minutes to go.

Come on, mate.

Got time?

Let's go.

Righto, Malissa, come on down.

MALISSA: Yay! THEO: Go, Malissa.

Hello!

There you go. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Malissa, what's the dish?

I've made a chocolate parfait

with a raspberry sauce and an almond crumb.

The parfait was smashing.

It was fantastic and a very smart choice

'cause it's easy to make and easy to set.

Parfaits are often quite dense,

but yours was very easy to break into,

it was really smooth,

very much like a frozen mousse, which is what it is,

so, well done.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Malissa, the crumb really helped the dish,

so I'm glad you put it on there.

I'm glad, yeah.

Um, raspberry sauce. Yep?

Seeds in a raspberry sauce do not belong there

ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

OK.

I'm so with Jock on the raspberry seeds.

It's one of my pet hates.

It could be the raspberry seeds are the difference

between you being up there or being down here in round 2.

Oh, and I have the strainer on my bench and everything.

Oh! I literally ran and grabbed it!

Silly! Silly! (LAUGHS)

Thank you.

Please join Rhiannon.

Oh, my God!

It's really annoying that it was just a silly mistake

that got me into this position.

Damn it! So annoyed!

Come on, Cath, let's go.

THEO: Go, Cath. Good luck. Beautiful plate.

JOCK: So, what have you made us?

CATH: So, I've made a chocolate mousse with a hazelnut cream

and a vanilla biscuit.

Do you know what?

The two girls can have one each

and you guys can share one.

OK. Thanks, Cath. Thank you.

No worries. Cheers.

Lucky we like each other. (LAUGHS)

Cath, I thought the presentation was really cute.

It almost looked like a hot chocolate with some whipped cream on top,

a little biscuit on the side.

I thought that the hazelnut cream had a lovely light, airy texture to it.

Unfortunately, the counterbalance of that, the mousse,

it lacked structure.

OK, thanks.

The mousse was probably a little bit too soft...

Yeah, sure.

..and needed more time in the fridge.

When you're making a chocolate mousse,

if you're using oil in it -

which is smart because it's on your bench

and you can use it -

but it's going to take a lot longer to set.

Yep, sure.

I reckon it needed an extra probably 10 minutes to set.

OK.

And if it did, actually, it would have been absolutely spectacular

because I think the recipe's really good.

Well done. MELISSA: Thank you, Cath.

Thanks, guys. Thank you.

MALISSA: That was fun. That was fun.

Yeah, that was... What a rush.

Yeah.

Cool, calm and collected. Cool, calm and collected.

35 minutes to go and it's just me left.

Come on, Dec.

Look, I'm really pushing it.

I'm really nervous, but, you know,

I just want to go my hardest in this first round.

If I'm going home, I wanna go home on a bang.

I've got my chouxs out of the oven. They're nice and airy.

Beautiful craquelin on top.

I'm just squirting a bit of the hazelnut praline

inside that choux bun.

I get my chocolate out of the fridge.

Some of this.

I've ran the comb through that, rolled it up,

put an elastic band around it

and as I've unmoulded it,

all these beautiful sort of chocolate ribbons are coming off.

I just want to place one of these individually with the choux bun

so it's got that technique element there of what I've done

as well as that nice bitterness that the dark chocolate will give you.

Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.

Alright, I'm done.

MALISSA: Good job, Declan!

CATH: Nice, Dec! Well done!

OK, so, the last person to finish in round 1

with 33 minutes left on the clock,

it's Declan.

I used nearly all my ingredients and so much of my time on this dish,

so if this dish isn't good enough and I'm in round 2,

I've got no idea what I'll be able to cook.

Declan, what did you make us today?

Today, I've made you my choux buns with a raspberry craquelin,

raspberry compote, tempered chocolate

and hazelnut praline filling.

Oh.

Mate, you're right to be nervous.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Such a risky, risky move.

(EMOTIVE MUSIC)

Big risk comes big rewards, mate.

(CONTESTANTS GASP)

(CONTESTANTS TALK OVER EACH OTHER) MALISSA: Go, Deccy!

What I'm loving about this is there was consistency in your choux pastry.

They're all puffy, they're all light, they're all beautifully cooked.

It shows your technique and how far you've come.

And then you've gone to the nous of tempering some chocolate curls

'cause the good lady is here in the house.

Yeah. Mate, how smart are you?

Like, you didn't have to and you wouldn't have done that on day one.

You're only able to do that

because you've been in the MasterChef kitchen for months.

Yep.

Your progress in this competition is immense.

I'm so proud of you, mate, and I can see you're emotional.

I'm getting bloody emotional now. Mate, well done.

Oh, buddy! Hey?

Declan, I could see your choux buns from way back here

and I thought, "Wow, they look amazing."

I could even see the height that you had,

which means that you've got an amazing huge cavity inside

for all that praline cream.

The raspberry in the craquelin was genius.

Those little pops of acidity breaks through the choux pastry.

And not only did you temper chocolate,

but you also combed it and spread it on plastic

and gave it a little bit of movement.

So, for me, I loved every aspect of what you created

and that's what I love coming into the MasterChef kitchen for -

to see things like this.

Amazing. From the lady herself, mate!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

If that's not a gold star on your forehead, I don't know what is,

because that is the glowing review that you want.

It's really just excellent work, so you should be so proud of yourself.

Thank you so much, Mel.

I'm gonna call it.

I don't think there's a better dish out there today.

Get that black apron off, get upstairs.

(ALL CHEER)

You are through to the top 5.

(CONTESTANTS TALK OVER EACH OTHER)

The top 5 of MasterChef. It's bloody amazing.

I'm absolutely just buzzing.

Yeah. Give us a sweaty hug.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Good job, mate. Good job.

RHIANNON: Oh, my God, it's the girls.

We've got Malissa, who's like our adopted daughter.

(SIGHS) Gosh.

Alright, girls. (SIGHS)

Cath and I have been best buddies from the beginning.

The funniest thing, Cath and I were like, "You know what?

"We reckon one of the oldies might get through to the top 5."

And then we were like, "Bugger it!

"Let's fight and have both of us in the top 5."

So, you know, I know Cath's giving everything today.

I'm giving everything. Malissa's giving everything.

All of us want a top 5 position.

Love ya.

Righto, Rhiannon, Malissa and Cath,

in this round, all you'll have left is the ingredients

and the time that you've left yourselves.

Rhiannon, you've got the most time

and your time starts now.

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

I've got 49 minutes and 17 seconds.

I've got, like, 10 minutes on the girls.

Oh, that's a lot of time, isn't it?

I have chocolate. I have hazelnut paste.

I have flour, sugar, milk, half a lemon.

I've got just enough ingredients that I need to make my dessert.

(THEO LAUGHS)

(LAUGHS)

Livin' on the edge! Jesus! That is perfect.

And, you know, the closer you get, the more hungrier you get,

and it's, like, oh, my goodness, now competitive Rhiannon is coming out.

It's, like, game on.

Yeah, nice and organised, Rhi. Good to see it.

When I met Dean, my husband, I was 30 and he waterskied socially,

so I naturally just took it on.

I was pretty bad at it, but I've worked pretty hard to get to here.

Last year, I entered my first nationals with waterskiing

and I got gold,

so I am actually the over-45s national women's slalom champion.

(GIGGLES)

Oh, I'm so stoked!

For me to be able to win nationals,

I have to think, "I'm gonna be number one,"

and so that's what I've got to do.

I've got to keep thinking, "I'm gonna be number one,"

and I've just gotta fight and fight and fight

and make sure that I can get there.

So, I'm doing a chocolate fondant with a lemon crumb

and a hazelnut ice cream.

The fondant needs about 10 minutes in the oven

and I just want it set on the outside and beautiful on the inside.

Round 1, execution was not perfect,

so this time, I'm gonna make sure

that I execute this dessert perfectly.

For the chocolate fondant, we need a gooey centre.

It's risky 'cause you don't know what's going on until they cut it.

So, can I go now or...?

Nah. Nah.

Come on! Ooh!

39:04. 39:04. Yep.

39 minutes really isn't a lot of time at all,

but I was pretty smart in round 1

with how I used my ingredients

so I'm feeling OK with what I've got.

Malissa, your 39 minutes and 4 seconds starts now.

Go! CATH: Go, Malissa!

(MEN CHEER)

Look, she's motoring! Holy dooley!

Wow, she's fast!

JOCK: Actually sprinting.

MELISSA: Have you ever seen her move that fast before?

She's fast. Yeah!

You got one in you, Cath? Oh, absolutely.

I had a run this morning.

Cath, your 38 minutes and 48 seconds starts...

..now!

MALISSA: Go, Cath!

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Nice, Cath. Looking good.

(WHISPERS) OK, OK, let's go, sweetie-pie.

Round 2.

I have 38 minutes, 46 seconds -

the least amount of time out of the three of us.

Come on.

But, surprisingly, I do have an abundance, really,

still of the ingredients left over.

There's a lot of chocolate there,

so I'm thinking I'm gonna give them

a smack of chocolate across the face.

(LAUGHS)

I'm gonna make a flourless chocolate cake.

It's gonna be nice and gooey, chocolatey inside

and that crunch on the outside.

And I'm also going to make a vanilla bean ice cream

with a raspberry coulis.

DECLAN: Nice, Cath. Think about what you need.

Yep.

It is so much to get done in 38 minutes.

Yeah! Come on, Cath! Yeah!

But I do have a clear vision,

so I just have to go, go, go.

Well, I've got my chocolate and butter melting for my cake,

so I'm pumped.

No matter how much time you started with,

you all have 30 minutes to go.

Come on! (JUDGES TALK OVER EACH OTHER)

Who doesn't love a crumb?

(DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC)

Malissa. Malissa.

What are you making?

I'm making a hazelnut ice-cream sandwich.

Ooh! Oh!

Yum.

And when you say 'ice cream', do you mean parfait?

Yeah, I'm doing a parfait, yeah. Yep. Gotcha.

Try and do, like, a fudge-y ganache in the centre.

Yep. And then the biscuit?

So, I'm gonna cook that for about 10-12 minutes.

Whoa, you need every minute, don't you?

I know. I need every minute.

I reckon you've earned your place this year as the eliminator.

Oh! (LAUGHS)

Like, I mean, how many have you been in?

All of them. (LAUGHS) It feels like you have.

You are genuinely the most experienced...

I'm listening.

What were you saying? Yes, keep telling me. (LAUGHS)

I believe you're the most experienced contestant in an elimination.

Yeah.

Everybody around here is looking at you, going,

"If I'm in an elimination with her, I'm probably not coming off on top."

Oh, gosh. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It's nice to have that bit of confidence.

Perfect ice-cream sandwich. Here we go. Thank you.

Man, this is crazy she's doing an ice-cream sandwich,

because I'm looking at the clock

and there's less than 30 minutes to go.

Come on, Malissa.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

with a bit of lemon for a coulis.

Ooh! Hee-hah! (LAUGHS)

Beautiful rich flourless chocolate cake.

Sounds yummy, doesn't it?

I am frantic, but I am giving this everything I've got.

I am not going down without a fight.

Come on, Cath. Get it in the oven.

CATH: You'll be right. There you go. In the oven.

They will need about 20, 25 minutes.

Well done. OK.

It's gonna be right down to the last second.

THEO: Go, Cath. BRENT: Go, Cath. Let's go.

Go, girl. Come on, let's go. Come on, now.

Whoa!

(CLOCK TICKS)

ANDY: Three great ideas? Tick!

CATH: Come on.

But you've only got 20 minutes to execute.

Let's go! Let's go!

RHIANNON: I'm giving it everything.

If I go home, it's not gonna be for lack of trying.

MALISSA: Time is going so quickly, but I feel good.

I've pretty much got my parfait done,

so I'm gonna pop this in the freezer,

in the blast chiller, now to set.

I've chosen a really risky dish to make in 39 minutes.

DECLAN: I'm glad she did six.

BRENT: Yeah. Yeah.

You know?

Just in case five don't work. Yeah.

(LAUGHS)

(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)

Good stuff, Mal.

My parfait is in the blast chiller

and I'm working on my biscuit sandwich.

Biscuit, biscuit.

A good biscuit for an ice-cream sandwich

needs to be really nice and soft for every bite,

so I'm adding in a little bit of baking powder

because I need to make sure that this cookie rises

and that it holds and stays together really nicely.

I'm absolutely gonna be pushed for time with this,

but, you know, I'm gonna risk it for the biscuit and just go for it.

Nice, Mal! THEO: Go, Mal.

Yeah, nice and organised, Rhi. Good to see it.

Thanks, buddy.

The chocolate fondants are in the oven.

Yeah, get it on the tray. There you go. Get it on the tray.

The anglaise is done. Now it's time to move onto my ice cream.

Looks nice and gluey. Lovely jubbly.

Normally, I would put it in an ice-cream machine,

I would churn it.

Today, I'm going for liquid nitrogen.

I'm bloody top 6.

Today's the day to get in and do a science experiment.

Rhiannon. Oh, hey.

How's your ice-cream anglaise looking?

It's looking beautiful. Oh, that looks good.

Yeah, I'm really happy with it.

I'm just gonna use the liquid nitrogen now.

OK. Yeah.

OK, are you... Oh, that's good.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited and/or nervous are you

to be using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream for the first time?

I'm like, "Give it a crack today."

So, I'm like, "Get out of my comfort zone, make it happen."

Good on you!

Regardless, you have 10 minutes left...

Yes.

..so really make every single second count.

I will. Thank you!

DECLAN: Nice, Rhi.

Alright, get the beautiful gear on, hey?

Sexy gloves. Sexy gloves.

Sexy goggles. Love some safety gloves.

Deano wears these bad boys. No, he doesn't.

He'd be proud of you.

I've got to push myself out of my comfort zone.

If I want to win MasterChef,

like, I don't get nationals gold medal for nothing.

(STAND MIXER WHIRRS)

This is wicked! I feel like I'm in science.

This ice cream's just the perfect consistency.

I reckon it's the best ice cream I've ever made.

Come on, Rhi! (CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

I think that's good.

And I'm thinking, "Oh, I've got a bit of lemon there."

I'm like, "Lemon freeze-dried segments

"on top of the chocolate fondant.

"That would be yummy and it will look good."

Like, the judges are gonna love that.

DECLAN: Nice, Rhi. Looking good.

Go, Rhi!

CATH: Let's go.

It's only minutes to go.

That's good. Just that little bit there, sweetie.

I have my chocolate cake in the oven,

so now I've got to make some vanilla bean ice cream

but there's no way I'm going to get ice cream set

in an ice-cream chiller.

(WHISPERS) OK, Cath.

ANDY: Here she comes.

You alright? Yep.

OK.

And obviously Rhi's thinking the same thing.

DECLAN: Come on, girls. Come on, Cath. You've got this.

So, I'm thinking while I'm doing my ice cream

with the liquid nitrogen,

why don't I just make another element,

which I'm thinking, like, a vanilla bean dust?

How's that?!

So, it's all happening.

You can do this. You can do this. Let's go.

I am pouring the liquid nitrogen into my ice cream

and trying to grind down my vanilla bean with the other hand.

Nearly done. Nearly done.

Come on. Come on. Let's go, girls. Come on.

BRENT: Go, girls. Come on. Let's go.

A little bit of liquid nitrogen going on.

Rhi's using it for her ice-cream anglaise. Same with Cath.

Malissa up the front, she's got a parfait and a cookie.

She's working on a ganache.

Three of my best gal pals are down there, fighting it out.

They're all really pushing.

They've all got great ideas,

so, yeah, it's gonna be tough, whoever goes home today.

(DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC)

JOCK: Everyone needs to move quicker.

You've only got five minutes to go.

ANDY: Come on, ladies! WOMEN: Come on!

THEO: How are the cookies looking, Mal?

Good.

I know the judges will love an ice-cream sandwich,

so if I nail this, I will be safe,

but I'm really, really pushed for time here.

I've got five minutes to go,

so I just need to get these biscuits out of the oven.

OK, OK. OK.

I need to shape them and cool them

so I can start putting this dish together.

I'm starting to de-mould my parfait.

THEO: Oh, my Lord. DECLAN: Remember to breathe, Mal.

And...

..they're perfectly set.

Oh, great. Great, Mal.

How much time do I have left? BRENT: Come on. You've got...

We've got four minutes.

My ganache is looking really nice and shiny.

I'm just gonna let it cool down now

before I start adding it into my parfait

and then I can really start putting it all together.

ANDY: Four minutes to go!

RHIANNON: Good? It's horrible.

(LAUGHS)

That hazelnut ice cream is so yummy.

It's creamy.

Nice, Rhi.

But this chocolate fondant needs to have a gooey centre.

That is the priority.

It needs to hold its shape and ooze out.

We're top 6. It's all about the execution now.

Where's the fondant? Right here.

Right here.

So... Have you done a test?

No. Are you gonna get both of them out?

Yeah. Get both of them out. Hurry up.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Ooh, shit! (GROANS)

It bloody collapses!

Maybe the temperature wasn't high enough on the oven.

Oh, my God.

What happened then? The fondant came out.

It just went... (BLOWS RASPBERRY) (GASPS)

Yeah.

(FOREBODING MUSIC)

Shit! (GROANS)

What happened then?

Her fondant came out.

It just went... (BLOWS RASPBERRY) (GASPS)

(CONTESTANTS SPEAK INDISTINCTLY) Yeah.

Oh, my God.

RHIANNON: That only leaves one more fondant.

Rhiannon...

Turn the oven up, get the other one back in.

What are you doing to me?

(GASPS) I'm just giving myself a heart attack, mate.

Oh, my God.

Three minutes to go! CONTESTANT: Come on!

BRENT: Come on, Cath, come on. Come on!

Come on, Cath! Yes!

(TIMER BEEPS) Come on. Come on, Cath.

CATH: Time is dwindling.

I have to get the chocolate cake out of the oven onto the plate.

I cannot leave it any longer.

(PANTS) Oh, my God. Oh, sweetie... Oh, I can't get it out.

THEO: Let's go, Cath.

I'm disappointed with the way that the cake looks.

But I'm feeling proud as punch. I got a lot done.

I'm just hoping the flavour of this cake

with that ice cream and the coulis are gonna keep me safe today.

I'm not ready to let this go yet, definitely not.

How long's to go?

Two minutes, ladies! Come on!

MALISSA: The ice-cream sandwich, it's looking so beautiful.

THEO: Good work, Mal.

Ideally, I would've loved to make a little test plate

and try it all out together,

but I don't have time for that today.

I don't even have enough ingredients for that today,

so I just need to work on getting it all together

and getting it on the plate.

JOCK: One minute to go! (CHEERING AND CLAPPING)

Shit! THEO: Alright.

RHIANNON: "Alright, you're gonna have to get it out.

"You've just gotta get it out,

"and that's all there is to it."

This next one needs to work.

Like, it is a chocolate fondant. It's not a chocolate cake.

If it comes out perfect and I'm safe, I will be beside myself.

JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon. ANDY: Come on, Rhiannon!

Go, Rhi.

Ohh!

KIRSTEN: Did it hold? (JOCK GROANS)

(GROANS)

I'm looking at my plate and I'm, like, going,

"This is nothing like what I wanted."

I am completely gutted. I am completely devastated.

I feel really sick right now.

Bloody hell! JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon!

Push, push! Let's go, girls, come on.

Let's go, girls. Come on. Come on, now.

Sorry, ladies, I've gotta do this!

ALL: 10, 9,

8, 7...

Get it on the plate, Cath! ..6, 5,

4, 3,

2, 1!

That's it! (LAUGHS)

THEO: Oh, my God. DECLAN: Oh, my God.

Ohh! Oh, wow.

CATH: Oh, mate. (LAUGHS)

Oh. (BREATHES HEAVILY) (CONTESTANTS CLAP)

What the heck?

How'd you go, love? Oh, my God.

Come here. Oh.

We did it. You can breathe now. (LAUGHS)

Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

Well done. Are you happy?

(RHIANNON LAUGHS) No, it's collapsed.

It's an instant realisation -

I'm so close to top 5 and I'm going home.

(DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC)

That was an epic cook. What a buzz in the kitchen.

Fighting for the place, literally.

Top 5, massive stakes today.

Think it was play-offs cooking, you know,

just went to another level, didn't it?

There wasn't a lot of time

but, gosh, they did some work in that time, didn't they?

Watching them move that quickly, if it's taken the incentive

of making it into the top 5 to get them to motor like that,

then I say game on, because that was really impressive to watch.

It's all on and all to play for. Shall we get the first dish in?

Mmm-hmm. Let's do it.

Good luck, Cath. OK.

Good luck. Thanks, girls.

I had the least amount of time, and the plating-up looks really ugly.

So I'm hoping that I've nailed the flavour.

JOCK: Hey, Cath. Hi, guys.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Applications for contestants are now open.

Head to the link and apply.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) (CATH SIGHS)

What have you made?

CATH: Flourless chocolate cake

with vanilla bean ice cream

and a raspberry coulis.

How are you feeling?

Super happy with the ice cream and using, you know, the liquid nitrogen.

That was fantastic.

But I had to take the cake out as soon as it came out of the oven,

so, yeah, it was one of those cooks.

But, you know what, I think pressure is really good for me.

You might not think it looks good for me, but it's OK, you know?

Well, I reckon we'll have a taste now, Cath.

Alright. OK. Thank you.

Good luck. Thanks, Kirsten. Thanks a lot.

Thanks, Cath. OK, cheers.

Thank you.

I thought that was a great dessert.

In terms of flavour, it ticked all the boxes for me.

And the cake had that fudge-y, gooey,

ultimate-centre-of-a-brownie texture about it.

And then the ice cream, churned beautifully,

and accompanied that cake perfectly.

I absolutely agree with you.

It had that gooey interior of a brownie and the crunchy exterior.

So when you break into that, it's like, "Ohhh."

And the texture in your mouth was beautiful.

Yeah, I could eat more of that. Yeah.

The holy trinity of chocolate, raspberry and vanilla strikes again.

You know, classics done well are still delicious.

That was a delicious plate of food.

And when you do it in, what, 38 minutes?

Yeah. Like, it's madness.

RHIANNON: Go, Mal. Thank you.

You've got this, love. CATH: Good luck, sweetie.

They looked pretty, didn't they? Yep.

MALISSA: I worked really hard and I moved really fast.

I'm feeling pretty proud walking this dish up to the judges.

(SIGHS)

There we go.

Oh!

Malissa, what have you made?

I've made a hazelnut ice-cream sandwich...

..with a chocolate ganache filling.

Hey, how was that cook for you?

You sprinted off the mark like a champion whippet.

My legs are sore. They're sore. (MELISSA AND KIRSTEN LAUGH)

Like, I'm gonna have to rub magnesium.

(JUDGES LAUGH)

We're on the verge of top 5. Yeah.

And I'm just looking at your ice-cream sandwiches going,

"Wow, I can't wait to eat them."

How is Malissa today compared to Malissa on day 1?

I remember day 1 and, you know,

I was surrounded by all these amazing cooks,

and they were all talking about all the things they knew.

And I was standing there thinking, "Oh, my God, what have I done?

"I'm in so deep here."

And I've just had to push and learn.

So to get this up is a huge achievement for me.

Like, I'm really proud of how far I've come.

We see it. You're a better cook. You think faster.

You're making the right decisions during cooks.

It's amazing to see, it really is. Yeah, I'm loving it.

I'm really loving where I'm at right now.

Amazing. We're loving it too.

We're gonna eat this before it melts.

MELISSA: Thanks, Malissa. Thank you. (LAUGHS)

(SIGHS)

What do you think? Looks good, huh? Does look good.

Andy, you love frozen creamy things.

Do I get a full one? Thought I was no chance.

(MELISSA LAUGHS)

(MELISSA LAUGHS AND SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Mmm, that's a shame.

When you're making an ice-cream sandwich,

the shortbread, she is correct to have baking powder in there

because it means that you can cut into it so it's a softer cut.

But there's a little bit too much baking powder,

so it's the predominant flavour.

But the flavour of the centre was perfect -

that dark chocolate, the richness of the ganache was really, really good.

And even the ice-cream flavour with that praline paste in there,

balanced so well with the chocolate.

It is literally a shame,

because everything else about it is beautiful.

It's just that the biscuit is so not good.

I know.

I thought the ice cream and the ganache were beautifully balanced -

classic combination of hazelnut and chocolate.

Really, really loved that.

The unfortunate part of it to be revealed

is when you bite into it and you taste everything together,

you're right, that biscuit just doesn't feel quite right.

And then when you really are left with that aftertaste

that's when you can really notice the baking powder in there.

And it's not a pleasant aftertaste, it's not something that you want.

When they came to the table, they looked absolutely mint.

Just such a promising visual.

She could be in trouble. Ouch.

MALISSA: Good luck, Rhi. RHIANNON: Thanks, guys.

The fondant looks like dog's breakfast, let's be honest.

My heart is sinking right now.

I'm so close to top 5.

I've worked really hard.

And I feel like I don't wanna go.

I'm so unbelievably devastated.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Rhiannon, please tell us what you've made.

It's called a deconstructed chocolate fondant

with a hazelnut ice cream and a lemon crumb.

Let's address the elephant in the room.

This is not the intended final dish.

You are serving us, essentially, a busted chocolate fondant.

How confident are you in the flavours?

Yeah, I'm...I'm pretty happy with the flavours.

I'm just not happy with the bloody execution, you know?

It's like me and desserts, they just... Ugh.

Your journey in this competition, it may come to an end today.

May not. What comes next?

Oh, look, I just wanna work in the food industry.

I've been in finance for 18 years and I don't wanna do that.

I wanna do something for me, like, that I love, you know?

We'll taste and, you know,

hopefully you get to see another cook in this kitchen.

I hope so. OK.

I've got everything crossed. Awesome.

Thank you so much. MEN: Thanks, Rhiannon.

(TENSE MUSIC BUILDS)

I'll be honest, when you do eat everything together,

the ice cream, the fondant and the cells in the zest,

the flavour is fantastic.

KIRSTEN: You want more. Yeah.

You know, I'd eat that dessert again, readily.

I do think the choices of highlighting

lemon, chocolate and hazelnut was genius

because those flavours meld together so beautifully.

I think it's brilliant that she used nitrogen for the first time.

And you could see the absolute joy and pleasure on her face

when she was doing that and it all came together.

And the ice cream itself was absolutely stunning.

I loved the little frozen lemon pips as well - the little jewels.

It just refreshed the whole thing.

when do you ever say that with a chocolate fondant dish?

Never. But I really enjoyed it.

The fondant, that's where it's let me down.

You really do miss the fun, you know, and the theatre of a fondant

when you crack into it and it just starts to ooze out.

I think all in all, she did not plate up the dish that she intended,

and especially at this stage in the competition

when you're fighting for your place here,

you want everything to be as you hoped.

Yeah.

Kirsten, how do you think they went?

Under that sort of pressure,

when you're trying to not only put together a recipe

but you're limited in the amount of ingredients and time,

I think you did exceptionally well.

Yeah. Thank you.

Kirsten, as always, our pleasure

every time you walk through those doors.

Please, everybody, give it up for Kirsten Tibballs, everybody.

Whoo-hoo!

(INSPIRING MUSIC)

Alright, let's cut to the chase.

Someone will be going home.

The flaws in all of your dishes were clear-cut,

but at the end of the day, it comes down to flavour.

Two of you brought us flavours we loved

and one did not.

Cath, your dish was fantastically fudge-y

and filled with chocolatey goodness.

But at this stage in the competition,

we do expect more finesse in your presentation.

Yep.

Rhiannon...

..while your fondant failed, the flavours of your dish were on point,

and when we ate everything together, we really, really, really liked it.

Oh, awesome. (LAUGHS)

Malissa, the flavours of your ice cream and ganache

were well balanced.

But the biscuit they were sandwiched between tasted of baking powder.

Oh.

I'm sorry, Malissa,

but you're going home.

Yep, that's OK. Ohh.

OK. That's OK. That's alright. I can't believe it.

Oh. OK.

Oh, darling girl. Oh, sweetheart. It's OK.

Well done, OK. It's alright.

Good job. Well done.

Oh, gosh.

Oh, Malissa the eliminator! (LAUGHS)

You bring the greatest energy into this kitchen.

Oh, thank you.

Honestly, you've had the full MasterChef experience.

Pretty much every elimination, pretty much every Pressure Test,

almost every immunity.

Yep. Even won a pin.

Yep, oh, I've had the full experience.

You are exactly what this competition is all about.

(TEARFULLY) Sorry, I'm...

Yeah, I'm just really grateful. This was really special.

And I'm just happy that I got to be a part of it.

You have become a new person and also a new cook.

And it's been an absolute blessing to watch you grow.

But for now it's time to say goodbye, unfortunately.

OK, I'll come give you a hug. (ALL LAUGH)

Oh, thank you so much. Well done. You did so well.

Congratulations. Thank you, thank you.

Never let anyone dull your shine. Oh, I know. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Jock. Thank you. Thanks for cooking so well.

Oh, thank you so much. Thank you.

Sorry you've gone home on my challenge.

Oh, it's OK.

Here I am, I've made the top 6 of MasterChef Australia.

(ALL LAUGH)

Oh, I love you so much. Love you so much.

You've got a beautiful life to lead, OK?

(CONTESTANTS CLAP) 'Bye! (LAUGHS)

No matter what I wanna do in life, I know I can do it.

Give it up for Malissa! (ALL CHEER)

(CONTESTANT WHISTLES) We love you!

I am determined, I am focused and I am resilient,

and I'm gonna walk away with that

and feel so proud of the person I've become.

NARRATOR: This week on MasterChef Australia,

the finish line is on the horizon...

..and what inspiring horizons they are.

CATH: Top 5. Finals week is just around the corner.

THEO: This is incredible. It's just an epic place to be.

There's just one last chance

to win immunity.

DECLAN: At this stage in the competition,

you go hard or go home.

What have we got here, eh?

Starting with a fresh twist

on a mystery box.

It's time to unleash the secret weapon.

Ooh, yeah.

Captions by Red Bee Media