Snezana ‘Snez’ Calic went from a relatively early boot on MasterChef Australia 2024, to cracking the top seven during her 2025 stint. On top of blowing the judges away with her skilful dishes, she gained legions of fans around the nation for her “infectious energy” and positive outlook during her time in the competition.
In a post-elimination interview with Chattr, the mum of two reflected on her impressive journey, revealing how she managed to leap from 15th place to 7th with just one year to sharpen her skills.
“I feel like I just went for it this year, I wasn’t as shy. I enjoyed it more,” she explained.
Snez and her fellow contestants, Darrsh Clarke and Sav Perrera, were the only contestants from the most recent season of MasterChef Australia to compete this year, meaning they’ve had the least amount of time to perfect their craft outside of the show. Regardless, Snez made the biggest improvement in her ranking out of all of the home cooks, and told Chattr that she threw herself into preparation when she was invited to return for MasterChef Australia: Back to Win.
“When I heard I was going back to the show, I actually volunteered at a couple of restaurants, kind of learning basics, making sauces. I also went to the fish markets, and I was like, filleting fish for days.”
“I was like, ‘No, I’m not going up against all these professional cooks with just basic skills, and I feel like that definitely helped a lot.”
“Also, I spent all of my free time reading cookbooks, reading about the vegetables, getting to know the flavours, what works and what doesn’t, so definitely, a lot of learning went into it.”
Snez is shocked by how far she got on MasterChef Australia 2025
By the time the top seven episode of MasterChef Australia rolled around, Snez was the only remaining competitor who didn’t own a restaurant or launch a food-related business.
She told Chattr that she was worried about her fellow competitors’ extensive experience and didn’t feel confident that she could make it far in the competition.
“I was so intimidated when I was just looking at these people. Look at their resumes! People have cooking schools and multiple restaurants, they’ve worked at different restaurants with different chefs for years and years and years. And I was really, really worried,” she explained.
“I was so, so shy and kind of insecure, but then, I think halfway through the competition I kind of found my feet, and I realised I can do it, I can compete with these guys, and I felt a little bit more confident, but the start was really shaky.”
Snez added that at the beginning of the season, she just hoped she wouldn’t be the first contestant eliminated.
“I had a plan to survive the first elimination and then beat my own record, which wasn’t hard; I came 15th last year.
“So after that, I was really proud of myself. I was like, You know what? I’m going to go for top 10 now, so I was so lucky to reach top 10 and go to this trip [to Doha] with these people, it was just amazing.”
What’s next for Snez?
Snezana’s elimination on MasterChef Australia was heartbreaking for fans, with one Reddit user calling her the “people’s champion”, and another admitting that they cried during her elimination.
However, Snez’s fans will be happy to know that she isn’t planning on stepping away from the spotlight.
“I would love the have my own TV show,” she told Chattr. “I would love to have my own show showing the food that I love to eat, and food from the region that’s kind of not so much shown and known in Australia, so opening up a completely new cuisine to the Australian audience.”
Snez added that she’s so grateful for the positive feedback she’s received from fans during her 2025 MasterChef Australia stint.
“I’m actually getting such beautiful feedback and lots of lovely messages through my social media. I’m really, really overwhelmed with support, I actually did not expect any of that,” she said.
While Snez might have been surprised, we weren’t. She brought an unmatched level of positivity to the cooking show, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
MasterChef Australia airs on Sunday at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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