The twelfth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia, also known as MasterChef: Back to Win and MasterChef Australia: Back to Win, premiered on 13 April 2020 on Network 10. It is the first series to feature series four winner Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo serving as judges, after the departure of Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston in the previous season. This series involves former high-achieving contestants from the past eleven series of MasterChef Australia, returning for another chance at the title of 'MasterChef' and a prize of A$250,000.
Applications for contestants for the twelfth series of MasterChef Australia opened in May 2019. However, plans were changed when contestants from previous seasons were brought onboard instead of new contestants.
The competition was won by Emelia Jackson in the grand finale against Laura Sharrad, broadcast on 20 July 2020.
Changes Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston departed the show in 2019 and were replaced with new judges Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo.
In this series, the typical MasterChef weekly format was slightly changed from prior series. Mondays now feature a Team Challenge with the losing team facing Tuesday's Pressure Test elimination. Wednesdays feature a Mystery Box with the best cooks competing in the Immunity Challenge on Thursday, in which one contestant will be granted immunity from the upcoming elimination. All the other contestants then head into the All-In Elimination Challenge on Sunday. In addition, only one Immunity Pin was up for grabs this season; it was awarded to Dani Venn in the first episode of the series. A new format schedule was debuted on 14 June, with the show beginning to air only three nights a week. Mondays featured the Mystery Box, Tuesdays featured the Immunity Challenge, and Sundays featured the All-In Elimination Challenge.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, production of the show continued while following government regulations. This includes the observance of social distancing, having individual plates for each judge during tasting, and the use of gloves when handling ingredients. In addition, the number of crew on set has been reduced by half, and outside challenges and guests have been dialled back. The new measures debuted on 25 May 2020.
Unlike previous seasons, there was no mid-way "second chance" return challenge for eliminated contestants; all eliminated contestants had no chance to return to the season.
Contestants The 24 returning contestants were announced on 19 February 2020. Other past contestants such as Derek Lau, Sarah Todd, and Alvin Quah were later confirmed to have been invited to compete in the series, but refused for various reasons.
In March 2020, Ben Ungermann suddenly left the series after being arrested in a matter unrelated to the show. His departure was announced on 17 May 2020. Most charges were dropped when Ungermann pleaded guilty to a single count of common law assault, avoiding a criminal conviction.
Contestant Age State Occupation Original Series PreviousSeasonPlacing Status Emelia Jackson 30 VIC Cake Designer & Chef 3rdWinner 20 July Laura Sharrad 24 SA Chef & Restaurateur Runner-up Reynold Poernomo 26 NSW Chef & Restaurateur 4th Callum Hann 30 SA Restaurateur & Culinary Educator Runner-up Reece Hignell 30 NSW Cake Designer & Chef 6th Poh Ling Yeow 46 SA Chef, Artist, Actress & TV Presenter Runner-up Tessa Boersma 28 QLD Chef & Criminal Statistician Runner-up Brendan Pang 26 WA Restaurateur 9th Khanh Ong 27 VIC Business Owner & Chef 3rd Sarah Tiong 29 NSW Lawyer & Restaurateur 6th Simon Toohey 33 VIC Cook & Restaurateur 3rd Jess Liemantara 22 VIC Chef 4th Tracy Collins 44 SA Restaurateur 5th Sarah Clare 35 TAS Restaurateur 10th Hayden Quinn 33 NSW TV Presenter & Marine Biologist 6th Ben Ungermann 36 QLD Ice Cream Shop Owner & Chef Runner-up Amina Elshafei 35 NSW Paediatric Nurse & Author 11th Chris Badenoch 52 WA Business Owner & Restaurateur 3rd Rose Adam 42 SA Chef & Café Owner 10th Dani Venn 34 VIC Business Owner & Publicist 4th Harry Foster 25 QLD Chef 3rd Ben Milbourne 38 TAS Restaurateur 5th Courtney Roulston 39 NSW Chef 5th Lynton Tapp 32 VIC TV Presenter & Chef Runner-up Notes Future Appearances
Emelia Jackson appeared on the 3rd Junior Series as a guest judge for a Mystery Box Challenge. Emelia appeared on the following season as a guest judge for the first Mystery Box challenge. Reynold Poernomo, Callum Hann and Poh Ling Yeow appeared later on as guest judges for an elimination challenge. Laura Sharrad appeared for the first Masterclass as a guest chef. Reynold also appeared on Series 14 as a guest judge for a pressure test. Poh also appeared on Series 15 as a guest judge for a Mystery Box Challenge. Emelia appeared later on as a guest judge for an elimination challenge. Reynold along with Jess Liemantara had competed on the Dessert Masters spin off series. Jess finished third on November 28, 2023 while Reynold was runner up. In Series 16 Poh will appear as a judge. Emelia, Laura, Callum & Jess along with Reece Hignell, Tessa Boersma, Khanh Ong and Simon Toohey appeared as guests for the 1st service challenge. Emelia and Reece had competed on the second series of Dessert Masters. Reece finished fifth on November 18, 2024 while Emelia was runner up on November 24, 2024. Laura and Callum appeared on Series 17 for their 3rd chance to win. Laura won the competition on 12 August 2025, while Callum was runner up for the 2nd time.
Allegations of favouritism from viewers Despite the largely positive overall reception, the series has been met with some skepticism from viewers, mostly through social media, concerning the judges' apparent favouritism towards certain contestants. The most prominent instance of this has centered around contestant Laura Sharrad, who worked in judge Jock Zonfrillo's restaurant for two years following her Series 6 appearance, thus sparking concerns that Zonfrillo may therefore be biased towards her. Other criticism has focused largely on Laura's supposed tendency to cook pasta dishes repeatedly, despite the fact that less than half her dishes could be classified as such. The judges' decision to award Weekly Immunity to Laura, rather than Poh, in Episode 50, was met with backlash from viewers, who felt that Poh's effort was evidently superior. Laura spoke out about her controversy, citing the numerous non-pasta dishes she has cooked on the show and claiming that having to cook for her former employer has made the competition harder, rather than easier, for her. Emelia Jackson called the online hate "narrow-minded".
Other accusations have attacked the judges' apparent reluctance to eliminate contestants Poh Ling Yeow and Reynold Poernomo, both of whom are considered fan favourites, and, therefore, beneficial to the show's viewership. Notably, contestant Tessa Boersma’s elimination stirred controversy and prompted allegations of bias towards Reynold. On the other hand, fans of Reynold called the finale "rigged" because Reynold was not in it.
Guests Week Guest Chef/Celebrity Challenge1(Gordon Ramsay Week)Gordon Ramsay Series Premiere Team Challenge Challenge Immunity Challenge 2 Louis Tikaram MasterClass 3 Curtis Stone Immunity Challenge 4(Suburban Week) Helly Raichura Pressure Test 5(Twists Week) Darren Purchese Pressure Test Katy Perry Immunity Challenge Jerry Mai MasterClass Michael Weldon 6 Matt Stone Team Challenge Jo Barrett Peter Gunn Pressure Test Shannon Martinez Mystery Box Josh Niland Elimination Challenge 7(Best Dish Week) Kirsten Tibballs Immunity Challenge 8(Heats Week) Coşkun Uysal Challenge 9 Benjamin Cooper Pressure Test Charlie Carrington Elimination Challenge 12 Phil Wood Pressure Test 13 Matt Stone Elimination Challenge Jo Barrett Shannon Martinez Peter Gunn Darren Purchese Kirsten Tibballs 14(Finals Week) Gordon Ramsay Mystery Box Martin Benn Pressure Test
Elimination chart No. Week12345678910111213Finals ImmunityChallenge LyntonSarah C. Ben U.KhanhLauraReynold CallumLauraSarah T. EmeliaTracy ReeceReynoldSarah T.Simon PohReeceSimon BrendanKhanhSimon BrendanJessKhanhPoh KhanhPoh EmeliaLauraPoh BrendanCallumTessa CallumPoh LauraPoh CallumLaura All-InEliminationWinner Ben M.BrendanLauraSimon BrendanReynoldTessa Ben U.ReynoldSarah T.SimonTracy None EmeliaJessKhanhReeceReynoldSimonTracy None KhanhReeceTessa BrendanEmeliaLauraPoh BrendanTessa None CallumEmeliaReece EmeliaLaura EmeliaLaura Reynold 1Emelia IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 2Laura IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 3Reynold IN IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="69" 4Callum IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 5Reece IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 6Poh IN IN IN IN IMM IN 7Tessa IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 8Brendan IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 9Khanh IN IN IN IN IN IN 10Sarah T. IN IN IN IN IN 11Simon IN IN IN IN IN IN 12Jess IN IN IN INWIN 13Tracy IN IN IN IN IN 14Sarah C. IN IN IN IN IN 15Hayden IN IN IN IN 16Ben U. IN IN IN IN 17Amina IN IN IN 18Chris IN IN IN IN 19Rose IN IN IN 20Dani IN IN 21Harry IN IN 22Ben M. IN IN 23Courtney IN 24Lynton IN EliminatedNone Lynton Courtney Ben M. Harry Dani Rose Chris Amina Ben U. Sarah C. Tracy JessSimonSarah T.Khanh Brendan Tessa Poh Reece Callum Reynold Laura Hayden Emelia (win)
Episodes and ratings Colour key: – Highest rating during the series – Lowest rating during the series