MasterChef Australia

Thousands applied, but only 50 lucky people made it to the first leg of MasterChef. An exciting start with a boat ride to Cockatoo Island and a massive Mystery Box Challenge awaiting them.

After last night's elimination, contestants cook-off for the first 6 spots in the MasterChef Top 24. Contestants are given two hours to cook a trio of desserts set by the guest chef Maggie Beer.

The bottom 10 from yesterday's Maggie Beer Challenge arrive at the Cockatoo Island Passenger Wharf to hear what today's challenge is.

With another 6 spots in the MasterChef Top 24 up for grabs, the final 30 contestants cook with their 5 favourite ingredients to create their ulimate Desert Island Dish.

The first Masterclass of Season 3 sees Danielle, Jay, Cleo and Seamus visiting Maggie Beer in the Barossa Valley to learn the secrets of the perfect pastry and roast chicken.

There are 24 contestants still fighting -- half of them will stay and half will go. Initially, they compete in what appears to be a simple but formidable taste test.

All 24 contestants walk through the door theres no one there. They explore the kitchen, but haven't noticed that the clock is now TICKING DOWN and the challenge has started.

After winning the first challenge at the MasterChef Kitchen, Hayden faces off against apprentice chef Alex Keen, who works for Head Chef Allesandro Pavoni.

Our Top 24 are woken in the night by George to be told they will be baking bread at Sonoma bakery throughout the night for 5 of the top restaurants in Sydney, and delivering it to them.

The winning team head off to their reward lunch at Jonah's in Palm Beach. The losing team head to the MasterChef Kitchen to face the elimination challenge where 1 contestant will be eliminated for good.

The Top 23 have a Master Class, Danielle and Sun have a Private MasterClass with Alessandro Pavoni.

Start of the 2nd week in the MasterChef Kitchen. Our 23 contestants are still pretty fresh faced, and face their first ever Mystery Box in the Masterchef Kitchen.

The Bottom 3 from yesterday's Rabbit mystery box face off in the first pressure test at the MasterChef Kitchen.

Contestant Jay has won the right to compete for Immunity against Four in Hand chef, Colin Fassnidge. After week 1 of the competition, where Hayden won the Immunity Pin, can Jay do the same?

Down to 22 contestants, and their first team challenge in daylight! After last week's baking challenge, and making just a tray of breads, now they have to cook for up to 700 punters.

After the boys lost the Short Order Offsite challenge, all 11 team members face elimination. They cook off in a Rapid Fire elimination challenge involving 3 rounds.

The 23 contestants have a Master Class, with a Private Masterclass with Colin Fassnidge at 'Four In Hand' for Michael and Dani.

There are 21 remaining contestants. All participate in this challenge. Mystery Box and the Invention Test.

There are 21 contestants remaining in the competition. Rachel, Chelsea and Ellie have a cook-off making a Sweet & Sour Fried Rice.

The winning trio from the Lucky Dip Invention Test Peter, Sun and Craig faced off against Melbourne chef from Coda, Adam D'Sylva.

The contestants are in two teams, making gelato and sausages from scratch and sell them on the beach at Cronulla for 500 nippers and their parents.

The losing team from the Cronulla sausage sizzle faced off as individuals in a skills race elimination.

The 19 contestants have Master Class, Craig and Ellie have a private Masterclass with Master French Charcutier, Romeo Baudouin at the stylish Victor Churchill Butchery.

It's the start of week 4 of the competition and its time for a chance of scenery. The contestants are heading to WA for 3 episodes of challenges.

The winners from the mine challenge are flown to Margaret River where they have to cook as individuals in an Invention Test, fighting for the chance of double immunity, without fear of elimination.

The winner of yesterday's invention test, has to cook-off against chef Tony Howell, from Cape Lodge.

The remaining contestants have to cook any dish they like, with as many ingredients from the pantry they like - the catch is, there are only canned and frozen goods in the pantry.

The bottom 2 from the Canned and Frozen challenge has to face off in this year's first 'fix that dish' elimination.

18 contestants have a Master Class, with a Private Masterclass with Frank Shek at Sydneys magnificient China Doll Restaurant for Kumar and Rachel.

The contestants are told they will face a Super Invention Test, they have to cook a dish (or tapas style dishes) in a Spanish theme, using a PAIR of core ingredients.

Ellie, Jay and Dani face a pressure test after putting up the worst three dishes in the Spanish Super Invention Test, their challenge is to recreate an Asian inspired dessert.

Danielle cooks for her first immunity challenge, she had to face off against Nordic chef, Thorsten Schmidt from his restaurant Malling and Schmidt in Denmark.

The contestants split into teams of two: everyone 30 and under in the Gen Y Red Team and everyone over 30 in the Gen X (and baby boomer) Blue Team.

The losing red team from the Nigella Tag Team Challenge decide on their bottom 2 to compete in the elimination.

The final 16 contestants have a Master Class, Rachel and Kate have a private Master Class in a Malaysian kitchen with Rick Stein and Chef Wan.

In pairs the contestants had to cook 8 courses chosen from Neil Perry's first class Qantas menu.

The bottom 4 from the Qantas challenge are shocked and awed by the arrival of Heston Blumenthal, they are given his perfect burger and fries to replicate.

Kate got to compete for the first time in an immunity challenge, after winning the Qantas Challenge with her partner Danielle.

In two teams, the contestants have to create a 6 course sharing menu to feed 50+ guests at the Greenhouse by Joost restaurant Circular Quay, creating as little waste as possible.

Cook by Numbers' means that the judges wanted to see how the contestants would go cooking with a limited number of ingredients.

The final 14 contestants attend MasterClass to learn the fine art of spotted dick with custard. Later, three lucky contestants have a private MasterClass with James Privett.

The remaining contestants compete in a Korean-inspired invention test to be judged by celebrity chef and Korean food aficionado David Chang.

George's mum arrives in the Masterchef Kitchen to put the contestants through their paces. Mary Calombaris is a true Greek master. Her koupes, tzatziki and shamishi will be hard to replicate.

Guest chef, Vincent Gadan, is thrown a curve ball in the Immunity Challenge. A sweet treat whiz, will Vincent cope cooking a roast pork? Or will our MasterChef contestant win that illusive pin?

The contestants head to the newly-developed Westfield shopping centre food court in Sydney city to compete in another epic team challenge.

The entire losing team from the challenge is up for elimination. The pressure is on as they create a series of sweet and savoury dishes in a limited time-frame. Who will be going home?

Mary is back. George's mother returns to the kitchen to serve up a special moussaka masterclass. Christine Mansfield also makes an appearance to demonstrate how to create her satay spice paste.

The remaining 12 contestants have made it past the half way point, and what better way to celebrate than at Matt Moran's family farm in rural NSW.

The axe falls on another contestant but not before they must serve up a '60s classic in the form of duck a l'orange.

The winner of the Matt Moran farm challenge has their chance to win an immunity pin but they must face Merle, a home-style country baker who has won more than 1,000 awards for her baking.

The blue team must serve up a three-course meal for 13 corporate VIP guests while the red team have to cater for 50 people at a 21st birthday cocktail party.

In the elimination challenge, the contestants are dressed in blindfolds for a taste test and then must cook only with the ingredients they guessed correctly.

Top 10 Contestants in attendance with Gary & George hosting with guest chefs

Tonight the contestants are faced with a sweet Mystery Box Challenge followed by a Middle Eastern inspired Invention Test. Guest chef Shane Delia will help the judges decide the best and worst dishes.

Have you ever cooked a Salt Crusted Guinea Fowl? No? Neither have our three contestants battling it out in tonight's Pressure Test Elimination Challenge. Who will impress? And who will be going home?

Alessandra Pavoni is back, and tonight he's cooking for the pride of his restaurant. After his apprentice chef lost to Hayden in a previous Immunity Challenge, Alessandro is determined to win.

Tonight the battle lines are drawn across the English Channel as the two teams whip up an English and French culinary feast.

Every good chef must master the basics, and tonight's Elimination Challenge will surprise our contestants. Rice paper rolls and apple pie should be a piece of cake, right? Think again!

Series 1 and 2 favourites, Alvin, Andre and Jimmy join Gary and George in the kitchen for another stellar MasterClass.

This week the contestants head to the Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps, the culinary heartland that is New York! Don't miss a second as the top eight cook up a storm in the world's most famous city!

The contestants have just three hours to prepare intricate dishes for 300 hundred guests at the United Nations. The dish with the least amount of votes sends its maker into an elimination.

Ellie's Immunity Pin Challenge took place in Central Park against renowned master of Italian cooking Cesare Casella, guest judged by chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich.

Appearing to the contestants on the video boards at Times Square, the judges revealed they would be cooking for the ultimate dinner party.

The Elimination Challenge took place at Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem : soul food. While the contestants had to deal with cooking ribs, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and other soulful delights

Concluding New York week the contestants had a Masterclass at the Marriott Marquis. Guest Daniel Boulud took them through cooking a clay-baked Alaskan salmon

Back from their New York adventure the contestants discovered that would be flying off to Melbourne, the judges revealed they would be preparing a meal for His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Rather than face another Pressure Test Ellie wisely used her Immunity Pin, leaving Kate and Billy to battle it out. Guest Katrina Kanetani was introduced, unveiling an extremely complex autumn dessert

The judges introduced guest judge Philippa Sibley before revealingwho Dani would be competing against: Celebrity MasterChef winner Eamon Sullivan.

The contestants arrived for their final Team Challenge of the year: cooking for travellers in the Qantas First Lounge at Sydney Airport.

Hayden, Michael and Kate faced elimination after losing The Qantas First Lounge Challenge. Each would be given 90 minutes to create a dish of their choice with the entire pantry at their disposal.

Gary welcomed the top 5 to the week’s MasterClass, which began with George cooking a turnip and mushroom ravioli.

The week began with a Mystery Box Challenge –with a twist. Inside each contestant’s box was the name of the fellow hopeful they had to pick the ingredients for.

In need of a pick-me-up, the contestants were overjoyed to discover that for their next Challenge they would be cooking for some very special guests: their loved ones.

Michael arrived for his long awaited Immunity Challenge. His competition Teage Ezard and they would be cooking comprised prawn dumplings, deep fried polenta, stuffed quail egg and roasted pork belly.

Each cook would be given a nightmare core ingredient to work with, which were revealed by guest judges Colin Fassnidge, Donovan Cook and Ashley Hicks.

The theme was 'Fix Your Biggest Mistake', with the contestants needing to prove how far they'd come by revisiting a disastrous Challenge and righting their wrongs

George began the week's Masterclass by showing Kate how to cook a memorable flounder dish, before moving onto the art of plating up and making food look as good as it tastes.

The contestants had to conceive a recipe that would then be cooked and photographed, before being tested by some home cooks and finally judged.

The MasterChef kitchen welcomed Maggie Beer, who unveiled her terrine to the rest of the contestants,. All the hopefuls were immediately aware of the complexity of the dish.

the contestants having three hours to prepare three dishes that represented the stages of their lives: childhood years, formative and now.

Gary and Matt detailed the task: the hopefuls would each pick an envelope featuring a course to cook for a Three-Hatted restaurant.

The Pressure Test had both Kate and Alana's hearts in their mouths, as the judges welcomed Patissier of Pain Adriano Zumbo In his arms was a fully-edible gingerbread house

For the final Masterclass of the year both finalists enjoyed private tutorials with top chefs: Kate with Shaun Pressland and Michael with Martin Benn.

It is the final time and the finalists told the format of finale: it would be fought over three rounds, each scored, with a possible 100 points per finalist up for grabs.

3 mystery boxes at seperate stations with different ingredients (protein/fruit & veg/pantry & deli). They must cook a dish using ingredients from each station finishing the mise en plus from first station before moving onto the next & they cannot go backwards either! And then they have to plate &serve theircooked & assembled dish to the Gary & George.