After more than a decade of near misses, Laura Sharrad has finally claimed the MasterChef Australia title, defeating fellow South Australian and long-time peer Callum Hann in a finale that was as much about friendship as it was competition.
Both chefs have grown up in the eyes of the Australian public, starting their journeys on the show as teenagers.
Sharrad first appeared at 18, placing second in season 6 and again in season 12, while Hann was just 19 when he finished runner-up in season 2.
Each returned to the kitchen multiple times, building careers in food and hospitality along the way, and meeting again in the Back To Win finale.
The final cook was decided over two rounds. In the first, they were challenged to hero potato and rosemary, each earning 38 points.
In the second, they faced a four-and-a-half-hour pressure test recreating Botanical Garden, an intricate petits fours dessert by pastry chef Miko Aspiras. Sharrad’s near-perfect execution earned her 42 points, bringing her total to 80, seven ahead of Hann.
While the cook settled the title, both say it’s the culture of the MasterChef kitchen, and the people in it, that has shaped them most.
Laura Sharrad lifts the MasterChef Australia trophy
Growing up in the public eye
Hann describes feeling “so grateful to the whole process and the whole competition” because he had “grown up in that kitchen essentially in many ways”.
His first season, spent living with other contestants in a shared house, was where he learned how the world worked and, he says, “did a lot of growing up.”
For Sharrad, the journey has been just as formative. She admits it’s “very cliché to say, oh, you become this one family,” but says it’s true, the longer you stay, the closer you become to those around you.
Having cooked alongside Hann twice before, she says sharing the process “until the end” meant “you’re literally living in each other’s pockets.”
Why the bonds last
Hann believes the connections are strengthened by the format itself.
“Every single season people are nice to each other,” he says, because they start with a shared passion and find themselves “away from your friends and family” in a “pretty full-on” environment.
There’s always something to talk about, unlike with friends or family who might tire of the topic, fellow contestants “are happy to just chat about food all day long.”
Sharrad recalls apartment block dinners most nights, morning coffees made for each other on set, and constant conversation on the bus to and from filming.
“You’re always together,” she says. “It’s really wholesome and actually so, so lovely, the friendships you make… if there are dickheads that somehow make it onto the show, they go very quickly.”
Hann also notes that despite the stakes, it doesn’t feel like you’re actively competing. “If you’re playing a game of tennis, you’ve got the person hitting the ball back at you, whereas in MasterChef, you’re not affecting the other person’s dish and they’re not affecting yours. You’re only cooking your own thing.”
Ratings and reach
The MasterChef Australia: Back To Win Grand Finale reached 1.4 million Australians, delivering the show’s biggest total audience of the season, up 26% compared to its season average, and ranking #1 in its timeslot.
Across season 17:
• The series reached 10.9 million total national viewers.
• It was 10’s #1 show on BVOD during its run.
• It recorded 444 million minutes viewed on demand, up 12% year-on-year.
• The 7-day total viewing audience for Tuesday, 5 August reached 1.2 million total national viewers.
Closing a shared chapter
Sharrad admits she “didn’t really believe” she’d won until she saw the episode go to air. “It was nice to be like, oh, it’s out in the universe. Everyone now knows. I don’t have to keep the secret any longer,” she says.
For Hann, it’s the friendships that will stay with him. “People become friends quite quickly,” he says. “You’re with people that are happy to just chat about food all day long.”
The finale marked not just the end of a season, but the conclusion of one of MasterChef Australia’s most enduring storylines, two chefs whose careers have run in parallel, and whose bond reflects the collaborative spirit at the heart of the show.