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Meet the dessert divas set to compete on Dessert Masters 2023

Whose creations will take the MasterChef cake?

Now this is sweet! Ten of Australia’s most celebrated pastry chefs are putting their reputations on the line to create confections to blow the minds of MasterChef: Dessert Masters judges Melissa Leong and Amaury Guichon. The cherry on top? A $108,000 prize. Here’s who’s in the running…

JESS LIEMANTARA

Now 24, she was the youngest competitor in the 2018 season of MasterChef Australia and the youngest again in MasterChef Australia: Back To Win. Born in Perth, she’s already published her first cookbook, A Zest Of Jess.

REYNOLD POERNOMO

Dubbed the “Dessert King” in 2015’s MasterChef, where he placed fourth, Indonesian-born Reynold returned for season 12 in 2020, coming third. In 2016, he founded Sydney dessert bar Koi with his mum and brothers.

GARETH WHITTON

Gareth has worked in three Michelin-starred restaurants and was head pastry chef at Heston Blumenthal’s Melbourne restaurant. He now runs cake company Tarts Anon and made a guest appearance on MasterChef last year.

MORGAN HIPWORTH

Inspired by watching MasterChef as a seven-year-old, Morgan was supplying sweet treats to a local café by age 13 and opened his first store, Bistro Morgan, at 15. Now 22, he’s about to launch an all-day diner in Melbourne.

ANNA POLYVIOU

An award-winning pastry chef and cookbook author, the pink-haired kitchen queen has worked at Claridge’s in London, made a guest appearance on MasterChef and also starred on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! earlier this year.

ANDY BOWDY

The “assumed pastry alter ego” of cook Andrew Bowden, he grew up obsessed with the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book and has built a cult following for his over-the-top desserts, as seen on MasterChef.

KIRSTEN TIBBALLS

With her own TV series, The Chocolate Queen, as well as a chocolate and patisserie school, there’s no doubt Kirsten is Aussie dessert royalty. She’s worked in Paris and Brussels, and appeared on MasterChef.

RHIANN MEAD

Rhiann planned to be a physiotherapist until she spent her gap year working at Harrods Food Halls in London. She went on to become head pastry chef at the Sydney Opera House’s fine-dining restaurant. This is her TV debut.

KAY-LENE TAN

After a “quarter-life crisis”, Kay-Lene began studying pastry and bakery in Singapore. She then got a job working for famed French chef Joël Robuchon and is now executive pastry chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne.

ADRIANO ZUMBO

The couple welcomed a baby boy in October.

He’s long been heralded as Australia’s king of sweets, conjuring up culture-defining delicacies such as the croquembouche tower and V8 cake on MasterChef. But now Adriano Zumbo is returning to our screens as a contestant – and he’s doing it all for his new baby son.

“I wanted to join the series for a different challenge and see if I could win the prize money to help my new little family,” he tells Woman’s Day of his turn on MasterChef spin-off Dessert Masters.

In October, Adriano, 42, and his wife, MKR Australia contestant Nelly Riggio, 33, announced the arrival of their son Maximus Mario, who was born at just 33 weeks, with the cook posting, “We waited a long time for you. Every day with you is a blessing. Your presence has filled our hearts with boundless love. Thank you for choosing us.”

Adriano tells, “The pregnancy was good, but it had its moments. There are ups and downs, then you’re rewarded with something so beautiful and special at the end that makes nothing else really matter in life. It’s the most valuable prize.”

The culinary superstar, whose show Zumbo’s Just Desserts ran for two seasons, reveals Nelly kept him busy in the kitchen during her pregnancy. “She craved a lot of vinegary things, like olive juice, pickles, salt and vinegar chips, and lots of pasta,” he says, adding that he also whipped up lamingtons, chocolate lava cake and bubble tea. Lucky lady!

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