MasterChef Australia (series 4)
The fourth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 6 May 2012 at 7.30pm on Network Ten. Judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston returned from the previous series. After the first week in Melbourne, the competition took the contestants to places nationally, such as Kangaroo Island and Tasmania, as well as the international destination, Italy. It also featured a number of guest chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and Buddy Valastro.
The fourth series was won by Andy Allen who defeated Julia Taylor and Audra Morrice in the grand finale on 25 July 2012.
Changes
For the first time, the initial Top 50 portion of the show took place in and around Melbourne, Victoria. Contestants faced challenges at the Royal Exhibition Building and the South Melbourne Market, and visited Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, the Lake House in Daylesford, and Montsalvat in Eltham.Sunday night challenges returned to the more traditional Mystery Box/Invention Test combination used in the first two series.
After featuring a range of challengers in Series 3 such as home cooks and apprentices, Immunity Challenges now typically featured guest chefs facing off against the chosen contestant plus their choice of two contestant helpers. Both the contestant team and challenging team had to prepare three courses using a core ingredient provided, with the contestants gaining a time advantage. Matt Moran acted as a mentor to the contestant team.
There was no Second Chance Cook Off this season, so eliminated contestants had no chance to return.
The Finale featured three finalists instead of two.
Contestants
Top 24
After a series of auditions and challenges, the winner was determined on 25 July 2012.| Contestant | Age | State | Occupation | Status |
| Andy Allen | 24 | NSW | Electrician | Winner 25 July |
| Julia Taylor | 26 | QLD | Legal Secretary | Runner-up 25 July |
| Audra Morrice | 41 | NSW | Account Manager | Third place 25 July |
| Mindy Woods | 30 | QLD | Physiotherapist | Eliminated 24 July |
| Ben Milbourne | 30 | TAS | Secondary School Teacher | Eliminated 23 July |
| Kylie Millar | 24 | NSW | Masters Student | Eliminated 22 July |
| Alice Zaslavsky | 26 | VIC | Secondary School Teacher | Eliminated 19 July |
| Beau Cook | 27 | VIC | Construction Worker | Eliminated 17 July |
| Wade Drummond | 28 | WA | Commercial Labourer | Eliminated 16 July |
| Debra Sederlan | 50 | VIC | Senior Account Manager | Eliminated 12 July |
| Amina Elshafei | 27 | NSW | Paediatric Nurse | Eliminated 5 July |
| Julia "Jules" Pike | 28 | NT | Customer Service Officer | Eliminated 5 July |
| Andrew Strickland | 48 | NSW | Hairdresser | Eliminated 2 July |
| Tregan Borg | 25 | VIC | Social Worker | Eliminated 28 June |
| Sam Davis | 34 | WA | Private Banker | Eliminated 25 June |
| Emma O'Shaughnessy | 19 | SA | Former Student | Eliminated 21 June |
| Filippo Silvestro | 38 | QLD | Financial Planner | Eliminated 18 June |
| Mario Mohorko | 40 | VIC | Automotive Detailer | Eliminated 14 June |
| Dalvinder Dhami | 35 | NSW | Public Servant | Eliminated 11 June |
| Tran Kim "TK" Nguyen | 22 | VIC | Law Student | Eliminated 31 May |
| Kath von Witt | 38 | NSW | Art Gallery Director | Eliminated 28 May |
| Matt Howell | 18 | VIC | Uni Student | Eliminated 24 May |
| Lydia Guerrini | 38 | WA | PhD Student | Eliminated 21 May |
| Kevin Perry | 34 | WA | Musician | Eliminated 17 May |
Future appearances
- In Series 5 Kylie Miller appeared as a guest Judge for an elimination challenge, Ben Milbourne appeared as a guest for Masterclass and Andy Allen also appeared on Masterclass aswell as the Grand Final.
- In Series 6 Andy appeared as a Guest Judge for a Mystery Box and Invention Test Challenge.
- In a superstar themed week in Series 7 Kylie appeared as a guest chef to set a pressure test, while Andy and Ben appeared as team captains for a team challenge.
- Kylie also appeared on Series 9 as guest judge for another pressure test.
- Andy appeared at the Auditions in Series 10 to support the top 50.
- In Series 11 Andy appeared as a Guest Chef to compete against contestant Sandeep Pandit, was ultimately lost to Sandeep's Perfect Score.
- Ben Milbourne and Amina Elshafi appeared on Series 12. Ben was eliminated on April 26 2020, finishing in 22nd and Amina was eliminated on May 12 2020, finishing in 17th.
- Andy Allen became a judge on MasterChef Australia beginning Series 12.
Audra's prior cooking experience
Years after competed in this series, Morrice would later take the role as judge in MasterChef Asia.
Guest Chefs
- Shannon Bennett - Top 50: Part 4, Finals Week Elimination 3
- Jacques Reymond - Top 50: Part 5, Finals Week Elimination 3
- Dan Hong - Immunity Challenge 1
- Phillipa Grogan - MasterClass 2
- Peter Gilmore - Pressure Test 1
- Darren Robertson - Immunity Challenge 2
- Maggie Beer - Pressure Test 2
- Buddy Valastro - Pressure Test 2
- Shaun Presland - Immunity Challenge 3
- Jason Jones - MasterClass 4
- Philippe Leban - Immunity Challenge 4
- Rick Stein - Sunday Challenge 4
- Lorraine Pascale - MasterClass 5
- Jamie Oliver - Immunity Challenge 5
- Julie Goodwin - Sunday Challenge 5
- Adam Liaw - Sunday Challenge 5
- Kate Bracks - Sunday Challenge 5
- Hamish Ingham - Immunity Challenge 6
- Kumar Mahadevan - Offsite Challenge 6
- Christine Manfield - Pressure Test 5, Grand Finale
- Daniel Wilson - Immunity Challenge 7
- Heston Blumenthal - Sunday Challenge 7
- Vincent Gadan - Pressure Test 6, Offsite Challenge 9
- Tomislav Martinovic - Immunity Challenge 8
- Marco Pierre White - Elimination Challenge 8
- Massimo Bottura - Sunday Challenge 8
- Antonio Carluccio - Immunity Challenge 9
- Gualtiero Marchesi - Italy Team Challenge
- Neil Perry - MasterClass 10
- Massimo Spigaroli - MasterClass 10
- Grant King - Pressure Test 7
- Kylie Kwong - Elimination Challenge 10
- Adriano Zumbo - Offsite Challenge 9
- Kirsten Tibbles - Offsite Challenge 9
- Dean Gibson - Offsite Challenge 9
- Darren Purchese - Offsite Challenge 9
- Alistair Wise - Offsite Challenge 9
- Philippa Sibley - Offsite Challenge 9
- Guillaume Brahimi - Finals Week Elimination 1
- John Torode - Finals Week Elimination 2
- Mark Best - Finals Week Elimination 3
- Peter Doyle - Finals Week Elimination 3
Elimination chart
- In Week 1, through a series of auditions and Top 50 challenges the judges selected the top twenty-four contestants.
- In Weeks 2 and 5, there was no Bottom 3 for the Sunday Challenge.
- In Week 5, Monday's challenge was a 4-Team Challenge. The losing team did not face elimination. The winning team competed for a spot in the Immunity Challenge.
- In Week 5, the final round of the Elimination Challenge was a draw, and therefore neither contestant was eliminated.
- In Week 6, contestants were grouped in threes for the Invention Test; the winning team all competed in the Immunity challenge, while the losing team all fell into a Pressure Test.
- In Week 7, there was no Invention Test; the Mystery Box Challenge decided the Top and Bottom contestants.
- In Week 8, Audra and Ben won an individual challenge and did not take part in the Team Challenge. The Team Challenge featured three teams of 4, with the worst two teams facing the Elimination Challenge.
- In Week 9, there was no Mystery Box Challenge.
- In Week 9, the Elimination Challenge was a double elimination.
- In Week 10, Sunday's challenge was a 5-Team Challenge. There was no losing team. The winning team members competed for a spot in the Immunity Challenge.
- In Semi-Final Week, Mindy, Kylie and Alice used their immunity pins to avoid the Elimination Challenge.
- In Semi-Final Week, Audra won an individual challenge and did not take part in the Team Challenge. Contestants were paired up for the Team Challenge with the winning team escaping elimination.
- In Finals Week, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday featured elimination challenges.
- In the Finale, the first round was an elimination round. Audra scored the fewest points and became the Third Place finisher.
Episodes and Ratings