Luke Harris never shied away from pushing the boundaries with creative dishes on MasterChef Australia 2026. But while his risk-taking clearly paid off in the competition and kept him around until the top six, it also turned him into one of the season’s most talked-about contestants.
As Luke continued to survive high-pressure eliminations, some viewers began accusing the judges of ‘favouring’ him and giving him more chances than his fellow contestants.
However, Luke told Chattr in a post-elimination interview that this certainly wasn’t the case, adding that this narrative overshadows the hard work he put into the competition.
“The judges are fair every time,” he said. “It is a little bit frustrating [to be accused of being favoured]. That’s probably partly why I’ve felt like I had to prove myself a little bit. You’re giving so much, and for people who don’t actually know what’s going on to make sweeping comments, it’s quite funny.”
“But I can’t really talk because if I was watching the show, I probably would be saying the same thing. I think it’s been really funny to actually live the experience and to see how much you don’t see online.”
Luke admitted he was surprised by the intense reaction to his time on the show, revealing he’s avoided reading online comments to protect his mental health.
“When I was there in person — as in during the competition — I wasn’t thinking I’m going to be very polarising online. But I guess that’s to do with my strategy; some people will love the idea of that, to give it 100%, while others won’t like [contestants] who give it their all, which is a bit strange.”
MasterChef’s Luke admits he questioned whether he belonged in the competition
Luke added that once he reached the top ten, he began to doubt himself, saying that the constant criticism from the judges began to wear him down.
“I think the last couple of episodes have shown my mindset… I felt like these guys think I don’t belong there, and constantly, every episode I was trying to tell myself that that’s not true, but you come through with what I do, and definitely that was probably the biggest mental battle I had, I was trying to get myself in the right mindset where I was just cooking for myself, not to prove others of certain things.”
The 20-year-old cook added that he really leaned on his friends and family when he started to feel like the pressure was getting too much.
“Honestly, my support network back home is pretty awesome. When things went wrong or didn’t go to plan, pretty much every night I’d call home. Whenever I was ever in the mindset of ‘Can I do this?’ I’m really thankful that my family and my friends are always pretty quick to shut that down.”
Luke admitted that he stopped watching MasterChef Australia at the beginning of the season because he doesn’t enjoy watching himself back — especially when he makes mistakes.
“It sucks listening to yourself on camera, and you say and do certain things in the moment, and then you look back on it and you’re like ‘I’m an idiot.'”
Regardless of the unfair criticism he’s faced online, it’s become abundantly clear that Luke is an incredibly talented young cook, and we can’t wait to see what he does next.
MasterChef Australia 2026 airs Sunday — Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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