MasterChef has named Larissa Takchi its 2019 winner.
The chef snatched the prize from finalists Simon Toohey and Tessa Boersma.
Matt Preston thanked Shannon Bennett and all the contestants for ‘making it such a memorable year.’
MASTERCHEF WINNER ACCUSED OF UNDERHANDED TACTICS
Simon didn’t leave empty-handed, scoring $20,000 for his third place finish, while Tessa scored $30K for her troubles.
But as MasterChef Australia came into its final weeks, contestants faced accusations of using underhand tactics to give them an edge over their competitors.
After Wednesday night’s episode, fans were quick to accuse Larissa Takchi of “sabotage” when the green team, of which she was a member, were sent into eliminations.
Larissa was called out by fans on social media because she’s the only one who had an immunity pin in the lead up to finale.
“This challenge was structured wrong, Larissa had zero incentive to do well,” one viewer tweeted after the episode.
The fact that Larissa had an immunity pin kept causing concern.
“Conspiracy: Did Larissa sabotage green team’s cook just so she could use her pin to go straight through to finals?” said another fan.
Larissa had been in the green team with Christina Laker and Simon Toohey, but they failed the challenge when they forgot to make 12 dishes in the cook-off.
“All eyes on you Larissa, you have the immunity pin,” judge Matt Preston told Larissa at the end of the show.
