Who Got Eliminated on MasterChef Australia Tonight? Megs Sent Home in First Elimination

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The catering enthusiast with dreams of opening “Megs Place” became the season’s first casualty — undone by undercooked prawns in the Favourite Home Dish challenge on Monday 27 April 2026.

Season: 18  |  Episode: 5  |  Air date: Monday, 27 April 2026  |  Channel: Channel 10, 7:30 PM AEST

Episode 5 recap — “Favourite Home Dish” challenge

After the excitement of the Jimmy Barnes mystery box on Sunday night, Monday brought with it a far more sobering occasion: the season’s very first elimination. Episode 5, titled “Elimination Challenge: Favourite Home Dish,” saw 23 of the 24 cooks face the most personal brief of the season so far. Casper, having won immunity the night before with his standout dish during the Jimmy Barnes Mystery Box, watched on safely from the sidelines.

The judges asked each cook to prepare a dish they make at home — something that represents who they are, where they come from, and what cooking means to them. It is a deceptively simple concept that often reveals far more about a contestant than any technical pressure test could. As judge Sofia Levin framed it: “Home is where the heart is.”

The emotional stakes were immediately palpable. For many of these home cooks, this was their first real elimination challenge — the moment the competition shifted from excitement and possibility into genuine jeopardy. The brief rewarded authenticity, but it equally demanded execution. A dish that looked beautiful but was not cooked through would carry a cook straight to the bottom.

The bottom two — Megs vs Jackie Yu

After all dishes were tasted, the judges deliberated and landed on two cooks who had fallen short of the mark. Megs and Jackie Yu found themselves standing side by side in the bottom two — both waiting to hear their fate.

The critical error for Megs was execution rather than concept. Her prawn dish — a seafood-forward plate that reflected her catering background — failed at the most fundamental level: the prawns were undercooked. In a challenge designed to test whether contestants can cook their comfort zone flawlessly, leaving protein underdone is an especially costly mistake.

Jackie, who had also drawn concern from the judges, nonetheless delivered a dish that gave the panel enough to work with. The margin between the two was narrow, but it was decisive.

The judges’ verdict

Season 18 of MasterChef Australia features the same judging panel as the two previous series. All four judges expressed genuine sadness at having to send Megs home in the season’s very first elimination.

It was Poh Ling Yeow who delivered the most heartfelt farewell — telling Megs that they had loved having her in the kitchen, and that they couldn’t wait for her restaurant to open. The warmth of the moment underscored just how much the kitchen had already taken to Megs as a personality, even if her dish had let her down at the worst possible moment.

Who is Megs? Profile of the eliminated contestant

Megs had secured her white apron in the opening auditions, competing against 40 hopefuls for one of just 24 coveted spots. Making the top 24 was itself a significant achievement. But the gap between earning an apron and winning the competition is vast, and Episode 5 laid bare just how unforgiving the MasterChef kitchen can be — even when cooking your most familiar food.

“I’m absolutely gutted, but I’ve taken so much. I’ve learned from everyone here — it was everything I hoped and a million times more.”
— Megs, after her elimination

In a post-elimination confessional, Megs was candid about her heartbreak. She described herself as “sad” not to have had more time to showcase her range, but was careful to balance that grief with gratitude — calling MasterChef “a place where dreams are made of” and noting that she had experienced that, at least for a time.

Fan reaction

The response to Megs’ elimination was swift and largely sympathetic. Viewers had warmed to her over the audition episodes and during Sunday’s Jimmy Barnes mystery box challenge, with many expressing disappointment that she had not been given more time to demonstrate her full range.

There was also conversation online about Jackie surviving, with some viewers feeling the margins were razor-thin. The consensus, however, was that the judges made the correct call based on what was on the plate — undercooked protein in an elimination round is a difficult thing to argue around.

Secondary chatter continued about Casper, who sat out tonight’s elimination after winning immunity during Sunday’s Jimmy Barnes mystery box — a decision that felt particularly fortuitous given how tightly contested the bottom turned out to be.

Full elimination tracker — MasterChef Australia 2026

Every contestant eliminated from Season 18 so far, updated after each episode.

This tracker is updated after every episode of MasterChef Australia 2026.

What happens next — upcoming episode guide