The winner ( Fenton KEOGH ) received$25,000 (AUD) and hosted his own cooking show that aired on Lifestyle FOOD and a Grand Turbo 6 BBQ Burner Worth $5,000.
[1] Throughout the contest the Top 21 Finalists were given challenges to test their presenting skills, to see if they have what it takes to host their own show on Lifestyle FOOD.
Celebrity chef, Ben O'Donoghue (of Surfing the Menu), gives the contestants tips on cooking technique, seasoning, time management and presentation.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, the Gold Coast, Darwin and remote locations such as Dubbo, Townsville and Ballarat.
Contestants were asked to cook one sausage and one egg whilst answering a series of questions about themselves and why they wanted to be part of the show.
A second part of the process was a screen test where they had to talk more about what they would do if they had their own show and deliver a tagline or marketing slogan that summarises their personality and character.
Amelita Andrew Barbara & Jayne (team) Bonabent (Bona) David Fenton Gabrielle George Hayley Ivan Jason Katie Laz Lisette Margaret Richard and Kathy (team) Rita Sandy Sophie Tibor William (Bill) The 21 contestants were put through their paces in a series of 7 heats with different themes.
Even though Mags struggled with the screen test and has no formal cooking training, she was declared the winner of heat 2 and Rita was granted a wild card.
Gold Coast chef/teacher Jason struggled with his signature dish round with his Cafe Del Mare (seafood platter For 2) which he served cold after cooking it too early.
Gabs impressed the two male judges with an old favourite, aussie burgers minus the beetroot, and Tibor went over the top with a Jurassic feast of ostrich, barbecued pears with spiced honey, walnuts and blue cheese.
Clearly Jason's food was presented well and his technique was polished thus the judges wanted to see more and gave him the chance to do so as he was put through to the semi-finals.
Restaurateur Fenton shocked the judges with his signature dish, the great Aussie pavlova with boozy summer fruits.
Darwin cook Lisette served up antipasto and Perth IT professional Laz had all the right flavours with his stir fry vegetables and lamb chops.
During the screen test Fenton's explosive nature impressed Mark and Julia while Laz came out on top with his clear delivery and knowledge base.
Laz's cook in the bag technique came under criticism from Ben as he didn't clean the flat plate between courses and mixed his meal with the charred remains of the previous dish.
Fenton's Moreton Bay bugs prepared with Asian flavours, secured the win from the judges and moved him to tears and into the semi-finals.
Heat 6 - Kids Feast This episode saw the Challenge's youngest competitor Sandy, go up against food writer Katie and lovable Ivan the posty.
Mark's screen test round belonged to Ivan whose theatrical training helped put him clearly in front of the competition.
In the final round the kiddies were the judges and Ivan was declared the winner and Katie was given a second chance as a wild card.
The second team to make the top 21, Richard and Kathy decided on some sand whiting fillets with fennel scallops.
Richard and Kathy lost their way in the mystery object challenge, failing to connect with the camera but earned themselves the wild card slot while Sophie took out the heat hands down.
The Semi-finals saw the top 10 contestants (7 winners of the heats and 3 wildcards) go at it one on one, with a set of cooking challenges all centred on different themes.
The contestants (in their teams) then had to cook a 4 course meal and damper on their camp-fires to impress the judges and feed the commandos who led them through the challenges.
Ivan was quite adapt at creating objects out of balloons so he was named the 'balloon man' for the challenge and helped the red team make over 400 sausages and win the round.
At the docks, 4 BBQ's were set up and each contestant was given 60 seconds to look down the barrel of the camera and talk about how they would prepare this fish, as though they were hosting a show.
This showed another side of Ben that the contestants had yet to see, a no nonsense head chef barking orders at them in the kitchen and putting the pressure on to get the meals out as efficiently as possible.
Sophie served up a very fresh and light Mexican chicken with a tasty salad including heart of palm and pistachio.
But then in a final twist, Chef Ben O'Donoghue decided to bring Bill back because he felt that he had let him down with his direction in the kitchen.
The 35-year-old chef won $25,000, his own show on Lifestyle FOOD as well as the Grand Turbo 6 Burner BBQ from Barbecues galore worth over $5000.