Luke Harris was undoubtedly one of the most polarising contestants on MasterChef Australia 2026, with fans having a lot of opinions on the creative and ambitious dishes the young cook churned out all season long.
He was eliminated just shy of the top five during a sauce challenge set by judge Jean-Christophe Novelli. But at just 20 years old, Luke has plenty of time to refine his craft, and he’s already told Chattr he’d jump at the chance to return for a future Back to Win season.
“I would love to have a chance to redeem myself. I mean, it’s still pretty raw in terms of Back to Win,” he said. “I’d love to come back and not just come on and have some fun. I’d love to prove that I could do something really special.”
Luke admitted that he thinks his age was a disadvantage on MasterChef Australia 2026, and thinks returning with a little more experience under his belt would make a world of difference.
“It’s funny because when I got there, I was like, man, I am so excited, but pretty quickly, I was like, damn, I wish I’d had like another five or 10 years [experience], because often when a challenge was getting announced, I could only think of one or maybe two dish ideas.
“But I was thinking, if I had another five to ten years of experience, I would just have 10 or 20 dish ideas for each challenge — it would have been awesome.”
What Luke would do differently if he returned for a Back to Win season
There have been two Back to Win seasons in the history of MasterChef Australia, and both featured memorable contestants from the franchise who didn’t win — a category that Luke clearly falls under. He told Chattr that he grew as a cook during his time on the show and said he’d love to bring those lessons into a future season.
“I definitely reckon the biggest thing I would change is the way I handle challenges. On a white apron day, it was only the top dish that was rewarded and my mindset was always, what’s the point of going for any other dish than the top dish? And as great as that was as an idea in theory, in practice it actually meant you began to lose a bit of momentum,” he explained.
“If I had a chance go in the competition again, I would definitely try to be a lot more consistent in that. I wouldn’t always worry about: is this a dish that’s going to be a top dish and are the judges going to love it?” he explained.
“I’m just going to cook dishes that I love and are creative and things that I’m really proud of, and then you know what? Actually, I’m okay with that. I’m happy to go to bed at night, knowing that I was in love with my dish.
“But I wouldn’t try as hard to cook dishes that the judges love, and I hope it’ll creep in. I would probably just kind of spin it a bit more for myself.”
Although the most recent Back to Win season only aired last year, we’re going to need another one ASAP, because Luke deserves another shot at the MasterChef trophy.
MasterChef Australia 2026 airs Sunday — Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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