MasterChef Australia 2026 lost another talented cook when Pat McGarry was sent home during Wednesday night’s episode, after facing off against controversial contestant Luke Harris in a Dual Duel challenge.
The episode consisted of two rounds. In the first round, Aaron, Pat, Vinnie and Luke pulled tokens to determine how they cooked their dish, and who they went up against. Luke and Vinnie drew smoke, meaning they’d use smoke in their dish, while Pat and Aaron drew fire, meaning they’d use flambé. The two losers then faced off in the second round to avoid elimination.
It was Pat and Luke who lost out in the first challenge, and they were allowed to cook whatever they liked in the second round. Pat opted for a dish of grilled octopus with a romesco sauce and pickled kohlrabi while Luke went for a kingfish mosaic.
While the judges pointed out that the fish in Luke’s dish was overpowered by other flavours, they determined that Pat’s was weaker and he was eliminated from the competition. Fans weren’t happy about the decision, with many claiming it was ‘unfair’ on Pat.
“This is absolutely absurd, Pat was one of the best cooks in this show and he has one hard week and bam. So disappointing,” one person wrote on Instagram. Another agreed: “Luke being saved over Pat is sending me.”
“Luke is a cat, surviving with his 9 lives. Pat was a stronger cook, should have made top 6. [F**k]…I’m gutted for him,” a third said.
Does Pat think his MasterChef Australia elimination was fair?
With so much chatter around the fairness of his elimination, we asked the man himself whether he thought he should have been sent home over Luke, and he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic in his answer.
“If they believed my dish wasn’t as good as Luke’s, then absolutely, they made the right decision. I had so many incredible moments and achieved far more than I ever imagined during my time on MasterChef, so I’ll never complain about how my journey ended,” he told Chattr.
Looking back on the challenge, Pat said he wishes he had approached his octopus dish slightly differently.
“I think I probably overthought my final dish. Looking back, I actually had enough time to braise the octopus instead of pressure-cooking it, which would have given me a lot more control over the final result. Hindsight is always a wonderful thing,” he said.
While we may have seen the last of Pat on MasterChef Australia 2026, he told us that fans can still catch him cooking online.
“I really want to keep building on everything I learnt during the competition,” he said. “I’d love to do some work experience in a few professional kitchens when family life allows, just to continue learning and developing my skills. I’ve also started filming cooking content for social media, which has been a lot of fun, and I’m excited to see where that might lead.”
MasterChef Australia’s Pat opens up about his newborn baby
Pat and his partner Emma welcomed his second child in early July, and he told Chattr that being in a newborn bubble post-MasterChef has been “really special”.
“Spending quality time at home with Emma, Frankie and Stevie has been exactly what I needed after the whirlwind that was MasterChef. Thankfully, Stevie loves her sleep, so she’s been an absolute dream so far,” he said.
Pat added that while life has looked very different since leaving the MasterChef kitchen, he’s already looking forward to sharing the experience with his daughters when they’re old enough to understand what it meant to him.
“One of the great things about 10 streaming is that all the previous seasons—and now mine, are there whenever we want to watch them. I think it’ll be really special to sit down with the girls one day when they’re old enough to understand what the experience meant,” he said.
The dad of two said that while being in the newborn trenches can be challenging at times, he still believes that MasterChef was tougher.
“Becoming a dad is honestly the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. It definitely has its challenging moments, but I’d still say MasterChef was harder. I’m naturally quite an introverted person, so the whole experience pushed me well outside my comfort zone in more ways than I ever expected,” he said.
MasterChef Australia airs Sunday – Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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