MasterChef Australia’s Sav Pererra is hanging up her contestant’s apron to join the judging panel on MasterChef Sri Lanka. And, the skilled Sri Lankan chef is proud that by sticking to her guns and cooking food that’s authentic to her roots has landed her in such a coveted position.
During Sav’s time on MasterChef Australia 2024 and 2025, she focused on cooking Sri Lankan-inspired dishes. Unfortunately, she was criticised on social media for not choosing a larger range of cuisines, with some people going as far as to question her cooking skills and calling her a ‘one trick pony’.
However, in the end, Sav got the last laugh because her decision to stay loyal to cooking dishes that represented her Sri Lankan culture ultimately scored her the judge role on MasterChef Sri Lanka.
“It was one thing that I was criticised for a lot, because I chose to fly the Sri Lankan flags so high on season 16,” she explained. “And with that came a lot of love from the Sri Lankan community and a lot of Australians as well, saying, Well, we [now] know that Sri Lankan cuisine is not like Indian food or anything else.”
“But with that, on the downside, it was like absolute cyberbullying that I faced, which is awful, just constantly people not understanding that just one dish is not the same as anything else.”
“But it was the right move for me to be staunchly blunken, and now, look where it’s led to. The production company has faith in me to go, ‘Yep, she knows what she’s doing.’ I always say that because I’ve been a contestant, knowing that I have one-fourth of the power to change someone’s life, the way that my life was changed, is incredible.”
Sav has spoken candidly on Instagram about the online backlash she faced for staying true to Sri Lankan dishes on MasterChef Australia, but told Chattr that there was a satisfaction in proving the naysayers wrong when she landed the MasterChef Sri Lanka judging gig.
“It is a huge full circle moment, and it’s funny, because it’s kind of a nod to the haters going like, ‘Too bad, look at where I am now.'”
Will Sav expect contestants to cook local cuisine on MasterChef Sri Lanka?
While Sav represented Sri Lankan cuisine on MasterChef Australia, she told Chattr that the food that the MasterChef Sri Lanka contestant cooks will come down to personal preference.
“I’m not going into it expecting a lot of people to just be cooking in Sri Lankan food, because we can already see from our contestants that they’re diverse. They’ve got different things they want to showcase to us.”
Joining Sav to judge the contestants’ dishes will be Rohan Fernandopulle, Kapila Jayasinghe and Australian chef Peter Kuruvita. Reflecting on the dynamic between the judges, Sav said that while she initially felt “imposter syndrome” about joining such accomplished chefs, after speaking to MasterChef Australian judge Poh Ling Yeow, she realised she brought something unique to the team.
“I do speak to Poh quite often. I keep in touch with her quite a bit, because she’s also here in Adelaide. I think the most helpful thing that she reminded me time and time again is that when you’ve been a contestant, you never forget that you have been on that side of the bench, and that’s the greatest asset that you have as a judge.”
How to watch Sav on MasterChef Sri Lanka in Australia
Sav has grown a dedicated following from her time on MasterChef Australia, with many of those fans hoping that they’ll be able to watch her in her new role as a judge on MasterChef Sri Lanka.
Sav told Chattr that the show will be available to watch in Australia, and said that she personally pushed to make happen.
“When we go to air, I’m pretty sure we’ll have an overseas platform. It’s something that we’ve insisted on anyway, between Peter and I, because he’s from Sydney and here, yeah, so there should be digital viewing and it it will be in English, because it’s going to be in all three languages in Sri Lanka. So we’ll have it with either subtitles or a dubbed version.”
Stream MasterChef Australia on 10Play.
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