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Elena wins MasterChef 2016

It was a night of drama, talent and camaraderie, but in the end Elena Duggan triumphed.

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As Reality TV finales go, MasterChef Australia was full of drama, talent and camaraderie.

32 year old Elena Duggan has won the title of 2016 champion, pipping finalist Matt Sinclair after a mammoth three course cook-off.

Elena went into the final round 3 points behind the series favourite, but triumphed after a 5.5hr test with a Heston Blumenthal & Ashley Palmer- Watts-created Verjus in Egg.

Final scores were

Elena: 23+30+33 = 86
Matt: 26+30+28 = 84

The former NSW high school teacher from wins a cash prize of $250,000, a cooking mag column and the 2016 trophy.

Despite Matt taking the lead after two courses, he struggled to finish the Blumenthal egg. Watched on by contestants and family Elena even took time to help him with his final dish, in a selfless act for her colleague.

“I’m just so full of gratitude for every experience and opportunity granted to us,” she said later. “The exposure to experts, the learning and education and development we have had – I just can’t compare it to any other experience. I want to thank everyone involved for their support and guidance: the judges, my fellow contestants and my loved ones.

“The MasterChef Australia experience has ignited my passion for food and learning and I’m looking forward to gaining as much work experience in the industry as I can. I want to continue my immersion in food and educate myself in order to be able to inspire and instil that creative empowerment in others.”

Both finalists were full of praise for their rival, in an eloquent display of Reality TV camaraderie.

Runner-Up Matt was awarded a $40,000 cash prize and Second Runner-Up Harry Foster was given $10,000.

Matt said: “I feel like being in this competition has equipped me for a future in the food industry and I can’t wait to get into the market and catering scenes to start producing the food that I’ve grown to love.”

TEN’s series has drawn strong ratings and is already casting for 2017.

29 Responses

  1. I watched the backend of MC this year by ‘accident’, I haven’t watched for years and loved rediscovering it. Maybe I just needed the break but I enjoy that it’s about the cooking, not about bitchiness between contestants and I also picked up some kitchen tips along the way. The finale was terrific; tense competition, interesting cooking and not unnecessarily drawn out. I loved Elena helping Matt at the end, I didn’t catch anyone on the show mentioning this or did I just not hear it? I really like that Matt wants to start a food truck, not a restaurant, as it is a much more realistic and viable option, that $40,000 will be a great help for that. I had thought Matt would win but Elena’s dessert was the clear winner, she didn’t miss a step. I would have cried if I was asked to make that!

  2. As much I liked Matt and wanted him to win I wasn’t to disappointed to see Elena win. Reading some reaction on social media people have to realise it’s the person who cooks the best on finale night, not during the series.

    I knew Matt would lose points when he didn’t temper the chocolate properly and when it cracked at the end I just felt for him. That just gave the result up straight away.

    But I wonder if there were 2 finales filmed and both Matt and Elena had to wait until last night to find out who won or they knew and had to keep it a secret for months.

    Anyway it was a great series.

  3. And so the Anti-Matt-ers, or one of one, roll on and on. Hopefully Matt will “be signed up for some kind of show” like so many other MC finalists.
    “The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.” – Bette Midler.

  4. Elena was always going to win last night, she needed it more than Matt…. The way the show and Ch 10 fawned all over Matt during the entire series he will be signed up for some kind of show and wouldn’t be surprised if Matt is some how involved in next years MC as something like the contestants companion or some other tripe… #TheMattShow will roll on….

  5. For me MC babe of the season 2016 was Heather with Elise (wongtongs) as runner up. Looking forward to Everlasting (The Bachelor) and viewing it totally from the perspective of Unreal, especially comments about the host

  6. Well the anti Matters were wrong….fair final, fair result and engaging warm fuzzy tv…..great job. Question. Did they film 2 endings? If so how, given the split in Matts egg?

    1. I read on The Sydeny Morning Herald Facebook link that two endings were filmed, which I find hard to fathom. Matt (although my favourite) was not deserving and Elena put up the best final dish.

  7. Another terrific season full of rare ‘reality TV’ good spirit without any conniving (I wish Masterchef US would take note) and a truly worthy top 2 who deserved their places. I felt proud when on Facebook, an American friend in New York begged me not to spoil the result on line because he and his wife are big Masterchef Australia fans – even they recognise our version as the superior model. Congratulations, Elena, Matt and Ten!

    1. Masterchef US is disappointing. I caught the last three episodes of Masterchef US and I was thinking the final challange of Masterchef US would be the first challenge in Masterchef Australia. I doubt the contestants of the US version could even qualify for the Australian version.

  8. Watched the grand final with my 67 year old mum and my 8 year old niece and enjoyment was had all round. The editing was tight and there were far less recaps after breaks than in their daily shows. It kept everyone’s attention, and like many are saying on here Elena’s helping hand to Matt at the end last night really showed true sportsmanship and kindness.
    What a feel good way to end a fantastic season!

  9. No comment on who was “the better cook overall” or “the better person”. That’s for the professionals to judge. Congratulations to both, especially to Elena. Won the night, won the contest. The help she gave to Matt could have cost her the win. Now that was classy, risking it all to help another contestant.

  10. First of all, both Elena and Matt were both incredible and both deserved to win – in fact, it really was a tie.
    In rounds 1 and 2, there were 3 judges, but round 3 had 5 judges (2 of whom voted as a bloc) which is inherently unfair because whichever contestant did better in round 3 had a distinct points advantage. If round 3 had 3 judges only – as should have been the case – it would have been a tie because Elena’s 3 points lead in round 3 from Gary, George and Matt equalled Matt’s 3 points lead in round 1.
    It is only the Heston score that gave Elena the win – and she did do much better than Matt in round 3 – but Matt did much better than Elena in round 1, a round for which Heston did not get to judge. Had he done so, it is probable that Matt’s lead in round 1 would have been greater than 2.
    If there is a going to be a judging panel for a grand final, it must be the same panel…

    1. The entrée was marked out of 30, the main also marked out of 30, and the dessert was a pressure test – so was marked out of 40. In previous years, it’s been different scoring, but the way it worked last night was that each judge could give a score out of 10 🙂

    2. I wouldn’t get too caught up on the numbers. Elena was clearly better in the final round which carried more weight than the opening round, so she was the deserved winner on the night. In the last round they were obviously scoring for dramatic effect. Elena’s egg was far better than Matt’s and they kept saying how important the visual impact was, yet the regular judges only gave her one mark better. There should have been daylight between their marks in that last round.

  11. A very good result, Elena just nailed the night, Matt’s emotions got the better of him. I also think Elena should have got extra points for helping Matt, what a champion.

    I would’ve been happy with a draw and then watch an extra time egg and spoon race to decide the winner.

  12. Surely I’m not the only viewer to notice TEN’s promo department gave away the winner two segments before the end of the show?
    A promo calling for contestants for 2017 Masterchef clearly showed a woman holding aloft the trophy plate. You couldn’t see her face but it was a dark haired woman. Sort of narrows it down doesn’t it ?
    Really guys is it that hard to stop this happening ?

    1. I got caught off for a moment too but then I realised It was Billie, and the footage was of last years grand final.. You could see the other contestants swarming around were from last year too.

    1. UK version is far superior ,no staged drama,no hysterics, just cook,get judged without the Gary antics or George’s “coaching” and prompting if they see an issue..it’s a cooking contest..,then if eliminated shake hands and leave with head held high

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