It was a night of heartbreak on MasterChef Australia as the season's youngest contestant, Bella Di Conza, aged 20, was sent home after her apple and cinnamon entremet dessert failed to meet expectations. While the flavours were acceptable to some judges, the texture of the gel topping and the gluggy mousse drew criticism. The presentation also suffered after Bella struggled to remove the entremet from its mould, resorting to cutting it from the silicone base with scissors.
Judge Poh Ling Yeow Devastated
Judge Poh Ling Yeow was visibly upset as she farewelled Bella, sobbing and saying, 'Bella, I am so broken-hearted for you right now. You are so young and you have so much talent.' She continued, 'I know you're going to be a superstar, and I want you to promise me that you're not going to let this moment define you. It's what you actually do after this.' Poh then requested a hug from the departing chef.
Judge Jean-Christophe Novelli also offered kind words, comparing Bella to a younger version of iconic chef Mary Berry.
Bella's Gracious Exit
Bella remained gracious in defeat, vowing not to give up her culinary ambitions. 'I've learnt so much from this experience. I am proud of the way I've shown up every day in this competition and pushed myself,' she said. She added, 'Poh made me promise that this is only the beginning and I'm going to stick to that promise. I want to share the food I love with so many people, and I'm going to find a way to do that.'
Previous Elimination
This elimination follows another brutal round on Monday night, when contestant Belinda was sent home after her flatbread and dip failed to impress the judges. Belinda broke down in tears, saying, 'I didn't cook good today so I feel I deserve it. And that's hard because I would really love to have been able to cook a really good dish today that I could go out and be proud of.' She expressed her determination to take her cooking to another level inspired by her time on MasterChef.
