Andy Allen has come from behind to win the fourth season of MasterChef Australia.
The 23-year-old apprentice electrician, who said he was "one of the worst cooks, without a doubt, coming into the Top 24", bested runner-up Julia Taylor and second runner-up Audra Morrice to win $100,000, a cookbook deal, and work experience in some of the best kitchens in Australia.
"I'm over the moon. I bet you no one would have picked me at the start to win — let alone two weeks ago," Andy said.
"I'm so happy that I know my life will involve food."
He had two points to make up after the first course, when Julia's seared beef entrée beat his confit of tuna and radish salad. He fought back with his modern take on a fisherman's basket, and clenched the win with a Christine Mansfield-set dessert, a 'Gaytime Goes Nuts'. By the end, Andy had outscored Julia 76 points to 68.
Eliminated cooks Julia and Audra didn't leave empty-handed, with Julia winning $15,000 from American Express and a paid internship offer from Adriano Zumbo and Audra receiving $5,000 from American Express.
The finale also gave Network Ten a reason to smile. MasterChef delivered the network its first nightly ratings win for 2012.
While the main bulk of the finale attracted an average audience of 2.49 million nationally, with a peak of 3.19 million, an average of 2.9 million viewers (peaking at just under 3.5 million) tuned in to see the winner announcement.
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