MasterChef Australia series 2


The second series of the Australian cookery game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010 on Network Ten, concluding on 25 July 2010 when Adam Liaw was named the winner.
The series finale was predicted to be such a success with ratings that it forced a national election debate between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to a different time slot due to a fear of low ratings.
The "Winner Announced" was watched by an average national audience of 5.29 million, peaking at 5.74 million. The consolidated 5 city metropolitan audience was 4.03 million and the consolidated regional audience was 1.26 million.

Changes

The second series of MasterChef Australia brought some changes to the format of the show. Most notably, Sarah Wilson, host of Series 1, is not present in the second series, with producers opting instead to use the show's three judges as hosts.
Furthermore, Series 2 began with the 'Top 50' component of the show, as opposed to the auditions phase. This allows for the audience to begin identifying and connect with contestants while allowing for more time to be spent in the actual competition phase of the show.
Another change to the show is the reward for winning a Celebrity Chef Challenge. In Series 1, the winner would receive a free pass through to the final week of the competition. This was problematic in that it removed the contestant from the show altogether, meaning they didn't keep themselves in the pressured situations that the others had. Instead, in Series 2, a successful contestant will now receive an 'Immunity Pin', which they could use at any time during the competition to save themselves from elimination except in finals week. Out of all the Celebrity Chef Challenges, only Marion managed to win the immunity pin by defeating a Celebrity Chef.
Also different in Series 2 is the elimination after a team challenge. In Series 1, all the contestants from the losing team had to vote off someone from the competition. This was problematic in that contestants might vote off the best contestants in hopes of improving their chances of winning the show. Instead, in Series 2, the elimination process has changed. A variety of different challenges have been used to determine which member of the losing team is eliminated:
  • Basic Skills Test – contestants perform tasks testing basic skills, such as separating egg yolks and whites, making a pesto sauce or naming herbs. Such challenges may be split into rounds, with a 'best of 3' method used, the judges may choose the worst performer or else a sudden death elimination process is used.
  • "Fix that Dish" – contestants are given a badly prepared dish, and are tasked with fixing it. The judges eliminate the contestant whose dish is the least impressive.
  • "Name that Dish" - contestants are given an array of dishes of the same type, for example, cakes, and asked to name them to gain safety, incorrect naming results in elimination or sending to the next round.
  • Taste Test – contestants take turns naming ingredients in a provided dish. The first contestant to either name an ingredient that is not in the dish or to fail to name an ingredient is eliminated.
  • Mystery Box – in a variation of the regular Mystery Box Challenge, team members are tasked with preparing a dish that also fits a criterion
Furthermore, the selection of members from the losing team to face elimination has varied. In some weeks, the judges select the worst two performers, in other weeks the entire team must compete in the elimination challenge. In one week, the team members had to nominate three members themselves.
From Week 4, Donna Hay replaced Gary Mehigan on the judging panel during the Celebrity Chef Challenges. This was done to allow Mehigan to act as a facilitator in the kitchen during the challenge.
During the filming of Week 7, Mehigan injured his leg, and consequently was unable to film episodes. During the time in which he was injured, Matt Moran acted as a fill-in judge starting from Celebrity Chef Challenge 6 and continuing until Mehigan returned during Week 8.

Euro Week

Airing from 20 June, the remaining eight MasterChef contestants travelled to London for the first stop in "Euro Week". Later in the week they went to Paris, where they competed in what has been called the "ultimate super-challenge". Celebrity Cooks who have appeared include Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Martin Blunos and Brett Graham.
The Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010 caused filming to be delayed.

Contestants

The top 24 contestants were chosen throughout the first week of challenges amongst the top 50. The full group of 24 were revealed on Sunday, 25 April:
ContestantAgeStateOccupationStatus
Adam Liaw31SALawyerWinner 25 July
Callum Hann20SAStudentRunner-up 25 July
Claire Winton Burn31VICLawyerEliminated 22 July
Jimmy Seervai31NSWFood Ingredient ResearcherRe-eliminated 21 July
Returned 28 June
First eliminated 31 May
Courtney Roulston30NSWBar managerRe-eliminated 20 July
Returned 28 June
First eliminated 13 May
Alvin Quah35NSWScientific Affairs ManagerEliminated 19 July
Aaron Harvie37NSWBand managerEliminated 15 July
Jonathan Daddia33NSWIT ConsultantEliminated 12 July
Marion Grasby27SAStudentEliminated 8 July
Peter Kritikides29VICLawyerRe-eliminated 5 July
Returned 28 June
First eliminated 7 June
Joanne Zalm37NSWMotherEliminated 24 June
Matthew Caldicott21NSWAccountantEliminated 17 June
Sharnee Rawson21QLDLaw StudentEliminated 14 June
Skye Craig35QLDGraphic DesignerEliminated 10 June
Jake Bujayer29NSWCement RendererEliminated 3 June
Fiona Inglis24VICTeacherEliminated 27 May
Carrie Johnston34NSWEx-Human Resources ManagerEliminated 24 May
Philip Vakos27TASAuditorEliminated 20 May
Daniel Aulsebrook32VICRecently made redundantEliminated 17 May
Dominic Corrigan46NSWCompany DirectorEliminated 10 May
Adele Fragnito49SAHairdresserEliminated 6 May
Kate Nugara30VICTeacherEliminated 3 May
Devon Headland30QLDBuilderEliminated 29 April
Sarah Carmichael30VICPolice DetectiveQuit 28 April

Future appearances
  • Callum Hann appeared on the 1st Junior Series as a guest judge.
  • In Series 3 Alvin Quah and Jimmy Seervai gave cooking lessons at Masterclass.
  • In Series 4 Adam Liaw appeared as a guest judge for a Mystery Box Challenge.
  • Callum took part in a Special All Star Series for Charity along with Marion Grasby, Jonathan Daddia and Aaron Harvie. Aaron came 11th, Jonathan came 9th, Marion came 8th and Callum became the winner.
  • In Series 5 Adam appeared at the Grand Final.
  • In Series 6 Adam appeared as a guest judge for a Mystery Box Challenge and invention Test.
  • In a Superstar themed week on Series 7 Callum as a guest chef for an Immunity challenge where he managed to win over Series 7 contestant Anna Webster and appeared for a Masterclass.
  • In Series 10 Adam appeared at the auditions to support the Top 50, while Callum appeared during South Australian week for a Masterclass. Later at the Semi Finals round Callum & Alvin appeared along with Courtney Roulston & Philip Vakos as guests.
  • Callum & Courtney appeared on Series 12. Courtney was eliminated on 21 April 2020, finishing 23rd and Callum was eliminated on 14 July 2020, finishing 4th.
  • Callum also appeared in Series 13 as a guest judge for an elimination challenge.
  • In Series 14 Alvin appeared for another chance to win the title. Alvin was eliminated on 3 July 2022, finishing 6th for the second time.
  • In Series 16 Callum & Alvin appeared as guests for the 1st service challenge.
  • Callum appeared in Series 17 for a 3rd chance to win. Callum placed runner up for the 2nd time on 12 August 2025.

    Special guests

  • Donna Hay – Top 50 Pressure Test 1, Celebrity Chef Challenge 3–6, 8, 10 onwards, MasterClass 10
  • Matt Moran – Top 50 Pressure Test 2, MasterClass 1, Celebrity Chef Challenge 6, MasterClass 7, Celebrity Chef Challenge 7, Finale Night
  • Neil Perry – Top 50 Pressure Test 3, Team Challenge 8
  • Luke Nguyen – Celebrity Chef Challenge 1, MasterClass 2
  • Luke Mangan – Team Challenge Reward 1
  • Peter Gilmore – Pressure Test 1, MasterClass 6, Finale Night
  • Philippa Sibley – Celebrity Chef Challenge 2
  • Nathan Darling – Team Challenge Reward 2
  • Shaun Presland – MasterClass 3, Celebrity Chef Challenge 12
  • Justin North – Celebrity Chef Challenge 3, MasterClass 4, MasterClass Reunion
  • Tony Bilson – Team Challenge 3
  • Michel Roux – Team Challenge 3
  • Tetsuya Wakuda – Team Challenge 3
  • Guillaume Brahimi – Team Challenge 3
  • Giovanni Pilu – Team Challenge Reward 3
  • Kumar Mahadevan – MasterClass 4
  • Adam Humphrey – Celebrity Chef Challenge 4
  • Lovaine Allen – Celebrity Chef Challenge 4
  • Aaron Eady – Celebrity Chef Challenge 4
  • Curtis Stone – Team Challenge 4
  • Ty Bellingham – Team Challenge Reward 4
  • Peter Kuruvita – MasterClass 5, MasterClass Reunion
  • Stephanie Alexander – Pressure Test 4
  • Frank Camorra – Celebrity Chef Challenge 5
  • Glenn Thompson – Team Challenge Reward 5
  • Rick Stein – Pressure Test 5
  • Maggie Beer – Celebrity Chef Challenge 6, Finals Week Elimination 3
  • Mark Jensen – Team Challenge Reward 6
  • Fergus Henderson – Masterclass 7
  • Damien Pignolet – Pressure Test 6
  • Ian Curley – Celebrity Chef Challenge 7
  • Kylie Kwong – Celebrity Chef Challenge 7, Masterclass 8, Signature Dish Challenge
  • Brent Savage – Team Challenge 7
  • Ryan Squires – Team Challenge 7
  • David Chang – Team Challenge Reward 7
  • Darren Purchese – Masterclass 8
  • Will Studd – Masterclass 8
  • Julie Goodwin – Invention Test 8, Masterclass 9
  • Josh Emett – Celebrity Chef Challenge 8
  • Warren Turnbull – Team Challenge Reward 8
  • Michael Klausen – Masterclass 9
  • Cherish Finden – Invention Test 9
  • Jamie Oliver – Invention Test Reward 1
  • Heston Blumenthal – Pressure Test 8
  • John Torode – Celebrity Chef Challenge 9
  • Gregg Wallace – Celebrity Chef Challenge 9
  • Martin Blunos – Celebrity Chef Challenge 9
  • Franck Poupard – Super Challenge
  • Shane Osbourne – Super Challenge Reward
  • Brett Graham – Elimination Challenge 9
  • Mitchell Orr – Celebrity Chef Challenge 10
  • Jan ter Heerdt – Masterclass 11
  • Margaret Fulton – Invention Test 10
  • Adriano Zumbo – Pressure Test 9, Finals Week Elimination 1
  • Adam Melonas – Celebrity Chef Challenge 11
  • Sean Moran – Team Challenge Reward 9
  • Lauren Murdoch – Masterclass 12
  • Christine Manfield – Pressure Test 10, Masterclass 13
  • Alla Wolf-Tasker – Signature Dish Challenge
  • Mark Best – Signature Dish Challenge
  • Jacques Reymond – Signature Dish Challenge
  • Hiroyuki Sakai – Invention Test 12
  • Shannon Bennett – Finals Week Elimination 2
Many of the guest chefs returned for the announcement of the winner.