Every MasterChef Australia fan knows about Back To Win‘s Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd’s adorable romance after meeting on the show, but there are some hints that two MasterChef Australia 2026 contestants have followed in their footsteps and struck up a secret romance of their own.
While no romantic relationship from this season has been officially confirmed, all signs point to Annabel Lloyd and Vinnie Gibaldi as the contestants who have quietly struck up a romance during filming.
During the episode that aired on June 29, which featured Declan and Sarah with their newborn twins, Annabel gushed about their relationships, and seemed to imply there was another budding romance on the current season.
“This is wild that they both were on Back to Win and met and fell in love and have twins. Like that is the cutest thing, that’s the most beautiful story I’ve ever heard in my life. Is there anyone in our comp that could be future Sarah and Declan? I’m not allowed to say,” she laughed.
While the potential new couple’s romance is still under wraps, an eagle-eyed fan noticed a huge clue that could reveal who it is.
“Since the beginning I thought Annabel and Vinnie had something going on, especially since they were both wearing a little red chilli pepper on a chain,” one person wrote on Facebook.
Upon closer inspection, the Facebook user is right, and both Annabel and Vinnie can be seen multiple times throughout the season wearing necklaces with a little chilli charm on them.
On top of that, both Annabel and Vinnie’s instagram pages are littered with cute behind-the-scenes photos of them together, adding even more weight to the romance rumours.
How many MasterChef romances have there been?
Not including Annabel and Vinnie — which is still TBC — there have only been two romantic relationships that have been made public knowledge out of the 18 seasons of MasterChef Australia.
Of course, there’s the previously mentioned Sarah and Declan, who met on MasterChef 2025, which was filmed in 2024, and she gave birth to their twins the following Christmas Eve.
But, there’s also Chris Badenoch and Julia Jenkins who met during the first season and began dating after filming wrapped.
Their relationship initially raised eyebrows because of their 18 year age gap, and the fact that Chris had a girlfriend when he filmed his season. However, their relationship has stood the test of time and the couple are still together and got married in August 2013.
Could Annabel and Vinnie be the next Declan and Sarah or Chris and Julia? We hope so!
MasterChef Australia airs Sunday 7pm and Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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