Sleeping Arrangements & Filming Secrets — Your Most-Asked Masterchef Questions Answered

MasterChef Australia is always a fan favourite, but like any reality TV show, there are parts of the cooking program that we don't get to see, leaving us all wondering what happens beyond the pressure tests and mystery box challenges.

The MasterChef Australia 2025 finale is finally here, and some key talent, including contestant Depinder Chhibber and judge Poh Ling Yeow, have answered all of our burning questions. From if the judges have to eat cold food to what happens to all the uneaten dishes, here are all the MasterChef Australia secrets.

It can seem like the judges arrive at the MasterChef cooking stations to grill the contestants at the worst time, but Poh Ling Yeow told Refinery29 Australia they aren't trying to distract anyone from the cook. "A lot of people think we do this deliberately to sort of throw them off, but we're actually usually flagging a problem we're seeing and they're not picking it up," Poh said. "We're not allowed to coach them... often if there's a problem, it is related to the [question] we ask them. But people don't put two and two together. They think we're just there to like, trip them."

Hailing from across the country, MasterChef contestants travel to Melbourne for filming, where they are put up in serviced apartment accommodation. A reliable source close to production tells Refinery29 Australia that usually two contestants share an apartment, but each has their own bedroom within the unit.

Depinder Chhibber told us it makes for quite a social environment, with lots of shared meals. “We are given really awesome accommodation. We have our own space, we have our own kitchens, and we practice and that kind of stuff. Some people also choose to live at home if they’re locals,” she spilled. “I hate eating dinner on my own, so I would always have dinner with someone… we always share [food] and have a great time over drinks and dinner in the evenings. And we spend a lot of time together, especially on the weekends.”

Steph Woon, who starred on the 2022 season, previously opened up about the close friendships cast mates forged with one another, especially with those they shared apartments with.

"Obviously I've got a roommate, so I'm really close to Ali," she told us. "We're actually a really close-knit bunch and it's from day one that we've had this bond."MasterChef's serviced apartment accommodation began in 2020 when the pandemic hit Australia. Prior to this, contestants lived in a six-bedroom, four-bathroom, three-level mansion in Canterbury, in Melbourne's east.

The MasterChef Australia kitchen goes through a lot of food, but the production team have put in effort to make sure there is minimal food wastage. There are charitable organisations that work with MasterChef Australia to take leftover food, and the crew are also encouraged to take food home as well.

“As cooks we try to make sure we don’t overuse things, or we don’t cut through bottles or packets if we don’t need to. A lot of that food, especially like the perishable food or open bottles, [they] get used up within days, it doesn’t even take a week,” Depinder said. “A lot of it is given out to the crew as well. So it’s actually been put to good use.”

You'll often hear the judges – Sofia Levin, Poh Ling Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Andy Allen – tell the contestants to 'study' before an upcoming challenge. That's exactly what they do when they leave the studio at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds and return to their apartments. They study culinary techniques, including how to use different ingredients and even formulate their own new recipes. Depinder confirmed that the cooks to spend their downtime cooking and creating new recipes, but said it can be easy to “overdo certain things”. 

“[We] would be practising certain dishes to get them right, or trying out new dishes that would cross your mind,” she said. The contestants also often cook for each other and gather socially in one another's apartments.

"I think we were on the other side of COVID where the rules have really loosened quite a lot," 2025 contestant Sarah Todd said of her first season in 2022.

"A lot of people aren't really back into full-time work and around people, so for us to have that opportunity to be around people all the time, it was like living life to the fullest," she said. "Obviously you have to be safe and take all the right precautions but we just felt like one big family and it was amazing."

While the episodes we watch span up to an hour-and-a-half max, it actually takes a full day to film a single episode.

Yes, the judges taste every dish. Due to time constraints in terms of episode length, we sometimes don't see the judges tasting every contestant's dish, but rest assured, they take their job of eating other people's food very seriously.

Unfortunately, once the clock stops there is no additional time provided. However, some dishes need to be completed in front of the judges if they contain sauce, broth or salad dressings, and those are finished at the tasting table.

This really depends on the challenge and what the contestants have decided to cook. Our source says that in the instance of last year's toasted jaffle episode, all toasties were eaten by the judges almost immediately (no one wants cold cheese). However, at other times dishes have cooled down as there has been a short break between the cooking and tasting.

Depinder told Refinery29 Australia that even if the judges do end up eating cold food, they are so experienced, it doesn’t make a difference in the judging. “[The judges] know what protein should be cooked like. Doesn’t matter what temperature it’s at. So if there is [a] cook on a steak, even if you eat it cold, they know what it should taste like, how it should be cooked perfectly,” she explained. “[Plus] when we are cooking, they’ll be walking around [and] tasting bits and pieces. So they have a really good idea of your final dish.”

Poh also told us that it's not a big deal, and the judges "get used" to eating cold food. "I'm actually not one of those people that need food piping hot, because I grew up in Malaysia, where a lot of the food is served at room temperature," she said. "We do get to taste everything hot straight off, straight after the cook, so we understand what the texture is right away. Because I think it is unfair sometimes, if there's a really long lag, and it can be hours when there's so many people still on the show."

Unless it's a pressure test where a recipe is provided, contestants are not allowed to read any written notes. Former contestant Poh Ling Yeow recently shared some pages from a notebook she kept while filming the 2020 all-stars season called MasterChef Australia: Back To Win.

"A page from a notebook of ingredient lists I’d committed to memory for MasterChef Back to Win. This is what we did with every spare minute," she wrote alongside the two recipes scrawled across the pages.

Unfortunately on-set styling is a luxury reserved for the judges, with all contestants wearing their own clothing and doing their own hair and make-up.