Annabel on MasterChef's first ever all-male final four as fans left divided over 'sexism' claims

The top five became the final four on Wednesday night’s intense black apron elimination on MasterChef Australia — and the episode made history for the long-running series.

With Vinnie safe in the gantry, Aaron, Annabel, Casper and Petro had to compete for their place in the top four in a pressure test set by judge Poh Ling Yeow. They had to replicate three Malaysian dishes passed down through generations of Poh’s family: rainbow coloured Kuih Laipis, crimped Curry Puffs made with spiral dough and Kuih Koci, glutinous rice and coconut balls wrapped up in banana leaves.

Despite Annabel nailing her last pressure test, she made obvious mistakes when she only got her Kuih Koci in the steamer with five minutes to go. The judges are impressed with her curry puffs, but the dough on her Kuih Koci is very undercooked while her Kuih Lapis layers are also underdone — which ended her journey on MasterChef.

Annabel’s departure marks a history-making moment for the cooking show: this is series’ first-ever all-male top four.

The lack of women heading into the finals did not go unnoticed on X. “Annabel was the last woman left in the competition, meaning the Season 18 winner will be a male,” wrote one viewer on X.

In a tweet posted earlier in the month, one fan even claimed that men were being given preferential treatment this season.

Over on Reddit, fans have also commented on the all-male line-up of cooks. “Is this the first all-male final 4 ever? It must be?” wrote one viewer.

“They want a boy to win,” wrote one commenter on Facebook.

The all-male finale comes as Annabel has had to endure sexist comments all season from people attacking everything from her cooking skills compared to the men to her quirky facial expressions. “She’s not as good as the boys, BUT I bet she makes it to the final,” read one nasty comment online.

Laura Sharrad is familiar with being trolled online for simply being herself, telling WHO that women are often targeted over men by MasterChef fans.

“Fans love to pick on the last woman standing, unfortunately,” Sharrad said. “It’s always been the case, for no reason other than society online still has an issue with confident and successful women over a male.” Amen!

In an interview with Chattr, Annabel reflected on the moment she realised she was the last woman still in the MasterChef kitchen. “I was like looking around, being like, ‘Wait, what?’ But I was very, very proud to represent all the really talented chicks in the comp,” she said.

“I probably felt a little bit more pressure. I was like, ‘Oh God, I’m not just doing it for me anymore.’ I want to stay as long as possible and I’m gonna fly the girl flag.”

Annabel wanted to shout out all the amazing women who made it to the MasterChef kitchen this season. “The girls in this [year] were fiercely good cooks and awesome chicks. I was actually genuinely so surprised [they left].”

With the added ‘pressure’ Annabel was feeling, she was sad to be eliminated as the last woman standing. “I’ve had such an outpouring of support from people being like, ‘We were rooting for you, doing it for the girls,’ and I absolutely love that, but God damn it, I hate that I didn’t do it. That’s probably been the hardest pill to swallow, but I’m also really proud.”

That said, the remaining fellas have Annabel’s full support. “I would be happy if any [won between] Aaron, Petro, Caspar or Vinny. I’m like guys, you’re all legends and you’re all awesome cooks.”