The winner of MasterChef 2026 has been revealed after an intense two-part cook-off.
Petro Papathomas and Vinnie Gibaldi went head-to-head on Sunday to see who would take home the $250,000 prize money to use toward their dream of being a cook.
Chartered account Petro was the favourite to win, with 928 Yahoo Lifestyle readers believing he would take home the crown.
Vinnie Gibadli and Petro Papathomas competed in the MasterChef 2026 grand final.
(Channel 10)Yahoo Lifestyle readers judged Vinnie as the underdog, with 634 out of 1,600 thinking his competitor would walk away with the trophy.
The duo had to compete in two challenges, with the first being a Mystery Box challenge where they had just 75 minutes to create a dish in honour of one of the guest judges from the season.
Guest judges included Robert Irwin, Curtis Stone, Meghan Markle, Rick Stein, Adriano Zumbo, Sarah Todd, Victoria Minell and Marion Grasby.
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What happened during the Mystery Box challenge?
The “Superstar Mystery Box” featured ingredients such as fresh sage, lemon, flathead, ooray plum, chocolate, black garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, dry-aged duck breast on the crown, cavolo nero, Sichuan peppercorns and brown onion.
The duo also had access to their under-bench staples, such as flour and eggs. There were 40 points up for grabs in this cook.
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Petro opted to make a dessert, creating a tart with Sichuan caramel and chocolate crème diplomat with lemon zest. He also created fried artichoke crisps.
He opted to serve two tarts, however he realised after plating that one of the shells was more cooked than the other.
“Just in the decisions that you made in terms of what ingredients you chose to use shows how far you’ve come. Your pastry shell is textbook. It’s caramelised so beautifully, it’s crisp,” judge Poh Ling Yeow said after tasting.
However, judge Sofia Levin noted her shell was more cooked, and therefore she got “notes of bitterness”.
Vinnie opted to use the duck, opting for an elevated dish. He planned to pair it with a spicy-sweet glaze, Jerusalem artichoke gratin, and sage oil.
It wasn’t a smooth cook for Vinnie, whose heart “sank” when he realised his duck was overcooked.
“I might have just lost my chance at winning MasterChef,” he said.
The first test was a Mystery Box challenge, featuring ingredients inspired by guest judges.
(Channel 10)
Vinnie was heartbroken to discover his duck was overdone.
(Channel 10)“I can just feel my dad watching over me. And I feel as though I’m letting him down. I don’t know what else to do.”
However, he pivoted to the flathead and moved to cook it on the hibachi, revealing that after the Josh Niland fish challenge, he bought 10 of the sea creatures and filleted them until it became muscle memory.
He needed to ditch the gratin as well, so the dish balanced better with the lean fish, and instead made a Jerusalem artichoke puree with a cavolo nero salsa to pair with it.
Vinnie, this dish is better than what you set out to do at the start of the cook,” judge Andy Allen said after tasting Vinnie’s dish.
“Mate, that is showing the cook you are.”
Overall, Vinnie scored 37 out of a possible 40, and Petro scored 32. It meant that Petro had to fight even harder in the second round.
The dishes the contestants made during the first challenge.
(Channel 10)What happened in the Cherish Finden Pressure Test?
The second challenge was set by pastry chef Cherish Finden, where contestants had five hours to replicate three of her petit gateaux for an extravagant Chinese afternoon tea.
“This is one of the most difficult challenges I have created – especially for both of you,” Cherish said.
She described herself as a “tough” judge.
“I’m very fair, but I am brutal. I will dissect every single layer. I will test every component that you put in front of me,” she said.
Petro and Vinnie had to make the mandarin orange, which featured tiger sponge, followed by orange marmalade and chocolate-orange mousse.
They also had to make a firecracker featuring mango compote, coconut dacquoise, and meringue. The final dish was a black sesame teapot.
There was a total of 50 points up for grabs.
The second challenge was a pressure test.
(Channel 10)Both men made mistakes in the challenge, struggling with the technical difficulty of the dishes. Vinnie’s cheesecake was left in too long, and he put his gelatin in at the wrong time for another dish.
Meanwhile, Petro cut his dacquoise into the wrong shape and skipped a page of the recipe entirely.
He began to spiral as he walked away from the kitchen bench, and Andy needed to give him a pep talk.
“Don’t worry about the last four hours. Take a deep breath and just focus. You are here for a reason, OK? You can do this. You are an absolute legend and a weapon, and you deserve to give this everything that you’ve got,” Andy told him.
Andy comforting Petro.
(Channel 10)Who won MasterChef 2026?
When it came to judging, Vinnie nailed the mandarin orange and the thinness of his chocolate on his firecracker was also complimented.
However, the judges had issues with his sesame teapot.
The judges raved about Petro’s black sesame tea pot, and found the mousse of his mandarin orange “overwhipped” despite the perfect shell.
Vinnie scored 45 out of 50, bringing his total to 80, while Petro scored 35 out of 50, bringing his total to 67 out of 90.
It made Vinnie the winner of MasterChef 2026.
“I don’t really have any words; that’s just insane. I couldn’t have imagined it from the first day, but I am so, so grateful,” he said.
Petro won $40,000 for second place, and Aaron Kher got $10,000 for third place.
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