MasterChef Australia series 4

Changes

For the first time, the initial Top 50 portion took place in and around Melbourne, Victoria, with challenges at the Royal Exhibition Building and South Melbourne Market, and visits to Red Hill, Lake House, and Montsalvat. Sunday night challenges returned to the Mystery Box/Invention Test combination used in the first two series. Immunity Challenges now typically featured guest chefs with helpers facing the chosen contestant plus two helpers, both teams preparing three courses with a core ingredient; contestants received a time advantage, and Matt Moran mentored the contestant team. There was no Second Chance Cook Off, and the Grand Finale featured three finalists instead of two.

Contestants

The fourth season of MasterChef Australia crowned its winner on 25 July 2012. In the special All Stars series, Andy Allen, Julia Taylor, Ben Milbourne, and Amina Elshafi took part in a seafood challenge, with Julia assisting contestant Kate Bracks to victory. During series 5, Kylie Miller served as a guest judge for an elimination challenge, Ben appeared in a Masterclass, and Andy participated in both a Masterclass and the Grand Final. The following series saw Andy guest-judging a Mystery Box and Invention Test.

In series 7, Kylie set a pressure test as a guest chef, while Andy and Ben captained teams in a team challenge. Audra Morrice later became a main judge on MasterChef Asia. Kylie returned as a guest judge for a pressure test in series 9. For series 10, Andy supported the top 50 at auditions, and Ben joined Alice Zaslavsky and Beau Cook as guests during the Semi Finals round.

Audra currently serves as a main judge on MasterChef Singapore. In series 11, Andy competed as a guest chef against contestant Sandeep Pandit, ultimately losing to Sandeep’s perfect score. Series 12 featured Andy as a judge, along with Ben and Amina as contestants; Ben was eliminated on 26 April 2020, finishing 22nd, and Amina on 12 May 2020, finishing 17th. Mindy Woods returned for another chance in series 14, eliminated on 28 June 2022 in 7th place.

In series 16, Mindy and Beau appeared as guests for the first service challenge. Audra and Beau appeared on series 17, with Beau eliminated on 22 June 2025 in 13th place and Audra on 6 July 2025 in 9th place.

Elimination chart

In Week 1, auditions and Top 50 challenges selected the top twenty-four contestants. In Weeks 2 and 5, there was no Bottom 3 for the Sunday Challenge. In Week 5 (Tasmania Week), Monday's challenge was a 4-Team Challenge; the losing team did not face elimination, and the winning team competed for a spot in the Immunity Challenge. The final round of the Elimination Challenge was a draw, so no 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, and the Elimination Challenge was a double elimination. In Week 10 (Italy Week), Sunday's challenge was a 5-Team Challenge with no losing team; the winning team members competed for a spot in the Immunity Challenge. In Semi-Final Week, Mindy, Kylie, and Alice used immunity pins to avoid the Elimination Challenge; Audra won an individual challenge and did not take part in the Team Challenge, and contestants were paired 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.