MasterChef's Annabel Lloyd praises Laura Sharrad for defending her against 'nasty' trolling

Fresh from her elimination, Annabel Lloyd wants to address the women who came before her, namely MasterChef Australia winner Laura Sharrad.

Both women copped significant backlash during their time on MasterChef, with fans picking on everything from their dishes to their facial expressions and mannerisms. On X, viewers even referred to Annabel as “New Laura” and another comment wrote that “Annabel gives off a Laura vibe.”

Some fans have gone as far as to say that Annabel only made the top five because she was a woman. “If it’s Annabel vs anyone for the bottom two, she’ll go through because there’s no way they’ll let four males in the top four,” a X user posted.

Well… they did. Annabel was eliminated on Wednesday night, leaving Casper, Vinnie, Aaron and Petro to duke it out in the finals.

In an interview with WHO from earlier in the season, Laura showed solidarity with Annabel. “Fans love to pick on the last woman standing, unfortunately… society online still has an issue with confident and successful women,” she said. “I saw this across all of my seasons, and it’s just so sad and says more about the online community commenting these things than anything else.”

In response to Annabel being struck by the same favouritism claims she copped herself, the MasterChef winner wanted to put those allegations to bed. “If she’s a good cook, the judges love that,” Laura said. “It’s not favouritism, it’s celebrating skill and passion!”

In an interview with Chattr, Annabel revealed she had read what Laura said about her. “I actually read the thing that Laura was saying, and it was really nice because I’ve definitely read some [negative] stuff — I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me at times,” Annabel reflected.

“I have always been someone who values the opinion of people that I know and love and care about. You can be the juiciest peach in the box, and there’s going to be people that don’t like peaches. The types of people that don’t like the peaches are the ones that never tried a peach before.”

Annabel admits that going into MasterChef, she didn’t quite fathom how the commentary might skew negative, but emphasised how much she respected Laura as a chef.

“I was a bit naive to it. I definitely knew that… Laura copped it. But she’s a force to be reckoned with,” Annabel told Chattr.

“She is an extremely impressive cook and individual, and like a mum, and she’s doing this awesome career. I’m like, why are people hating her? She’s fantastic.”

Like Laura, Annabel wanted to make it clear there was no favouritism in the MasterChef kitchen.

“Guys, there’s literally no favouritism. I promise you — there is none. They just show such small amount. We film for ages and ages, and there’s such a small amount that makes the cut. So it’s people forming a big opinion off such a small part of it.”

But ultimately, Annabel is focusing on all the positive people around her. “There are people with nasty opinions, but it’s the people around me whose opinions really, really matter to me,” Annabel said. “There has been so much support, and that’s what I’m focusing on. The negativity is such a small amount of it.”

Laura Sharrad’s long-awaited MasterChef Australia victory in 2025 was slightly overshadowed by cruel online commentary. After finishing runner-up in both 2014 and 2020, Laura returned for Back to Win and defeated Callum Hann in the finale, but some viewers continued to accuse her of favouritism and criticised her for *checks notes* cooking too much pasta and Italian food.

The trolling had followed Laura since her 2020 season, when her friendship with the late judge Jock Zonfrillo became a subject of fan speculation.

Laura’s fellow contestant, Jamie Fleming, previously defended her in an interview with Chattr, calling her a “powerhouse”. He said Laura could appear to be “coasting” only because she operated at such a high level. “She understands the competition. She’s a fantastic cook,” he said.

In response to the mean comments she received, Laura told Perth Now that the trolling had affected her. “I thought I was a fun person to watch on TV,” she said. “I feel a little vilified … people who know me know that I have not one bad bone in my body.”

MasterChef Australia airs Sunday to Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10Play.