Some viewers believe the show’s poster has accidentally spoiled who wins the competition.

MasterChef fans have questioned whether the poster for this year’s season has accidentally spoiled the winner. Photo: Channel 10

MasterChef Australia is set to return next week with 24 fan favourite contestants from previous seasons getting another chance to win the title. The new season features a ‘Back to Win’ concept, similar to season 12 in 2020, and will once again be hosted by Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin, and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Ahead of the highly anticipated premiere on Monday, fans have begun speculating if recent promos for the reality show have already spoiled this year’s winner. One viewer took to Reddit this week to point out that the main poster for the season only features six contestants presented in various sizes.

These competitors are Laura Sharrad (season 6, season 12), Savindri Perera (season 16), Tim Bone, (season 11), Darrsh Clarke (season 16), Declan Cleary (season 15), and Steph De Sousa (season 11), whose photo is the biggest amongst her co-stars.

“Promo pic for Back To Win featuring 6 contestants. Do you think the winner is pictured?” the fan asked. “Considering that Laura is the only pictured contestant from before season 11. Do you think she wins, or do you think that the winner is not pictured?”

These six contestants are also predominantly featured in the official trailer for the new season, which opens with Laura’s emotional elimination in season 12.

Do the posters actually spoil the winner?

This year’s season of MasterChef is the third time they’ve brought back previous contestants following season 12’s Back to Win in 2020 and season 14’s Fans & Favourites in 2022, so there are some examples to test this theory.

Season 12 was won by Emelia Jackson, however, she wasn’t featured in the main promotional imagery for the series. Instead, the poster starred Callum Hann, Poh Ling Yeow, Hayden Quinn, Reynold Poernomo and Laura Sharrad.

These five may have been showcased because Laura, Reynold and Callum made it to the top four of the competition alongside Emelia, or simply because they were the most recognisable contestants on the show.

MasterChef has only previously brought back contestants for Back to Win in 2020 and Fans & Favourites in 2022. Photos: Channel 10

The time Channel 10 accidentally revealed the winner

Meanwhile, season 14 only featured three returning contestants in its main promo photo: Season 7 winner Billie McKay, season 1 winner Julie Goodwin, and season 10 winner Sashi Cheliah.

Billie went on to win the season and become the show’s first two-time champion, however, her placement in the imagery alongside Julie and Sashi may have simply been because they were the most notable contestants that year.

Outside of MasterChef, Australian Survivor’s All Star season in 2020 featured a similar promotional poster with six returning contestants. David Genat’s photo was the biggest amongst the cast, and when he ended up winning the season, many fans complained that the poster was a ‘spoiler’.

It’s important to note that the All Star season of Australian Survivor aired right before season 12 of MasterChef, which may have been why Channel 10 avoided using Emelia Jackson in the poster.

The 2020 poster for Australian Survivor accidentally spoiled the winner. Photo: Channel 10

Who will win MasterChef 2025?

MasterChef fans have since replied to the Reddit post to share their theories on who will win the show and express excitement about the return of so many familiar faces.

“As for the photo, I do think majority of them probably went far or did pretty well, while maybe at least one maybe goes out relatively early?” one person wrote. “It’s interesting that those are the ones chosen for it. I do think just based on the trailers, it seems like Laura and Darrsh are the main characters so far.”

“The only one out of these that could realistically win is Laura, I think,” another added, while a third predicted, “She’s making top 10 for sure. I’m pretty sure she’s making finals week or even the semis”.

“I’m so excited Declan’s there!” someone else replied, followed by a different user who shared, “I think Sav has a very strong chance!”.

“I think Darrsh wins based on the trailer,” one fan commented.