The ninth series of the Australian cooking game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 1 May 2017 on Network Ten. Judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston from the previous series returned.
This series was won by Diana Chan in the grand finale against Ben Ungermann, on 24 July 2017.
Changes This series introduced the "Power Pin" in the seventh week. The pin granted the wearer an extra 15 minutes of cooking time in any one challenge until the finals.
Contestants
Top 24 The Top 24 contestants were announced on 1–3 May 2017. Chosen contestant Josh Clearihan was a previous auditionee from the eighth series who failed to reach the auditions when he was hospitalized with brain damage after a run-in with a car thief. The series featured other previous auditionees: Pia Gava, Benita Orwell and Eloise Praino.
Contestant Age State Occupation Status Diana Chan 29 VIC AccountantWinner 24 July Ben Ungermann 32 QLD Retail ManagerRunner-up 24 July Karlie Verkerk 26 NSW CopywriterEliminated 23 July Tamara Graffen 28 WA Engineering Officer Eliminated 20 JulyReturned 13 JuneEliminated 12 June Arum Nixon 34 NSW Advertising Strategist Eliminated 18 July Sarah Tiong 26 NSW Risk Consultant Eliminated 17 July Eliza Wilson 30 VIC Theatre Nurse Eliminated 13 July Eloise Praino 32 SA Graduate Law Clerk Eliminated 10 July Callan Smith 18 NSW StudentEliminated 6 July Sam Goodwin 25 VIC Construction CoordinatorEliminated 29 June Nicole Stevenson 24 QLD Medical SecretaryEliminated 26 June Michelle Lukman 19 VIC StudentEliminated 22 June Ray Silva 42 NSW DoctorEliminated 15 June Samuel Whitehead 26 SA Market Stall OwnerEliminated 8 June Pete Morgan 31 WA Crane OperatorEliminated 5 June Jess Butler 29 VIC NurseEliminated 1 June Trent Devincenzo 27 NSW Systems EngineerEliminated 29 May Benjamin Bullock 27 WA LawyerEliminated 25 May Bryan Zhu 23 NSW PhotographerEliminated 22 May Benita Orwell 57 QLD Ex-Ground StaffEliminated 18 May Pia Gava 49 VIC Contracts OfficerEliminated 15 May Josh Clearihan 32 VIC Senior IT AdministratorEliminated 11 May Lee Behan 29 WA Hospitality ManagerEliminated 8 May Rashedul Hasan 35 NSW IT Program DirectorEliminated 4 May
Future appearances Diana Chan appeared in Series 10 at the auditions to support the Top 50. While Ben Ungermann, Karlie Verkerk, Tamara Griffin, Arum Nixon, Sarah Tiong, Eliza Wilson, Eloise Praino, Callan Smith, Sam Goodwin, Michelle Lukman & Bryce Zhu appeared at the Semi Final service challenge as guests. Ben was a guest judge of MasterChef Indonesia (season 5). Ben & Sarah appeared on Series 12. Ben withdrew from the competition on 18 May 2020, finishing 16th and Sarah was eliminated on 9 June 2020, finishing 10th. Diana, Eliza & Sam appeared on Series 16 as guests for the 1st service challenge.
Guest Chefs Week Guest Judge Challenge 1 Maggie Beer Auditions Part 2 Anna Polyviou Auditions Part 3 Elena Duggan Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge 2(Home Cooking Week) Jarrod Di Blasi Immunity Challenge Johnny Di Francesco Team Challenge 3 Ben Shewry Mystery Box Challenge/Invention Test Andy Bowdy Pressure Test Charlie Carrington Immunity Challenge 4(Sweet Week) Kirsten Tibballs Mystery Box Challenge Janice Wong Invention Test Christy Tania Pressure Test Lauren Eldridge Immunity Challenge Angélique Pereto Reynold Poernomo Darren Purchese Team Challenge 5 David Thompson Mystery Box Challenge/Invention Test Josue Lopez Pressure Test Clinton McIver Immunity Challenge 6(Yotam Week) Yotam Ottolenghi All Challenges & MasterClass Blayne Bertoncello Immunity Challenge 7 Curtis Stone Mystery Box Challenge/Invention Test Deniz Karaca Pressure Test Matt Sinclair Team Challenge 8(Heston's Road Trip) Heston Blumenthal All Challenges & MasterClass 9 Peter Gilmore Mystery Box Challenge/Invention Test Paul Carmichael Pressure Test Ben Devlin Immunity Challenge 10(Japan Week) Tsutomu Kodama Service Challenge Takayuki Odaka MasterClass Kagehisa Imada 11 Kylie Millar Pressure Test Federico Zanellato Immunity Challenge Clare Smyth Service Challenge 12 Shaun Quade Pressure Test Peter Gilmore Elimination Challenge Ross Lusted Alla Wolf-Tasker Ashley Palmer-Watts Service Challenge Curtis Stone MasterClass Finals Kirsten Tibballs Grand Finale
Elimination chart No. Week1234567891011Finals MysteryBoxChallengeWinner BryanCallanPiaSam Eloise Ray Pete Karlie Karlie Sam Diana Tamara Diana Arum BenDiana InventionTestWinner None ElizaKarlieSarah EloiseSamSarah CallanDianaSam BenSamuelTamara DianaKarlieTamara Karlie(Power Pin) None ElizaEloiseSarah Ben ArumElizaTamara ArumBenTamara Ben ImmunityChallenge Lose: Sarah Win: Eloise Lose: CallanDianaSam Lose: Tamara Lose: Karlie None Lose: Sarah Win: Sarah Win: Arum NoneNone1 Diana Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN 2 Ben Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN IN 3 Karlie Top 24 IN IN IN IN P.P. IN IN 3rd 4 Tamara Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 5 ArumTop 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan=2 IN colspan="71" 6 Sarah Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 7 Eliza Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 8 Eloise Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN Saved IN colspan="71" 9 Callan Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 10 Sam Top 24 IN IN colspan="2" IN colspan="71" 11 Nicole Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 12 Michelle Top 24 IN IN IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 13 Ray Top 24 IN IN IN colspan=2 colspan="71" 14 Samuel Top 24 IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 15 Pete Top 24 IN IN IN colspan="71" 16 Jess Top 24 IN IN IN IN colspan="71" 17 Trent Top 24 IN IN IN colspan="71" 18 Benjamin Top 24 IN IN IN colspan="71" 19 Bryan Top 24 IN IN colspan="71" 20 Benita Top 24 IN IN colspan="71" 21 Pia Top 24 IN colspan="71" 22 Josh Top 24 IN IN colspan="71" 23 Lee Top 24 colspan="71" 24 Rashedul Top 24 colspan="71" Eliminated Rashedul Lee Josh Pia Benita Bryan Benjamin Trent Jess Pete Samuel Tamara Ray Michelle Nicole Sam Callan Eloise Eliza Sarah Arum Tamara Karlie Ben 89 points Diana 90 points (win)
Episodes and ratings Colour key: – Highest rating during the series – Lowest rating during the series