Meet MasterChef Australia 2023’s Grace Jupp — An Olive Producer Whose Cooking Is Inspired By Her Family’s Croatian Heritage

As an olive producer, Grace Jupp is already part of the Australian food industry. But competing on MasterChef Australia will introduce her to new skills — and challenge her in the kitchen.

The 24-year-old from Victoria is a wife, stepmum, business owner and, of course, a cooking enthusiast. She's grown up surrounded by delicious food, watching her mum and Baba (grandmother) whip up tasty dishes inspired by her family’s Croatian heritage.

Some of Jupp's favourite dishes to make include her Baba’s ‘pita’, or spanakopita, and she hopes to share Croatian flavours for the MasterChef judges, with her own modern twist.

Married to a former chef, Jupp made food the focus of her honeymoon with her husband in 2022 when they visited Victoria’s iconic Brae and Lakehouse restaurants. The pair currently operates an olive oil company on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, and Jupp's dream is to own land with her husband one day, so they can grow and farm produce on site.

Diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis when she was 19, Jupp has since had multiple surgeries and often managed severe pain. While she still gets flare-ups, she's determined not to let this get in the way of her success on MasterChef.

Jupp is one of 18 new faces on the show's 15th season, which is different to last year's season MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites, which featured 12 returning contestants from previous seasons and 12 amateur home cooks.

The contestants are Adi Nevgi, Alice Han, Amy Tanner, Andrea Puglisi, Antonio Cruz Vaamonde, Brent Draper, Cath Collins, Declan Cleary, Grace Jupp, Jessica Perri, Larissa Sewell, Malissa Fedele, Phil Conway, Ralph Kahango, Rhiannon Anderson, Robbie Cooper, Rue Mupedzi and Theo Loizou.

In addition to MasterChef judges Melissa Leong, Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo (who recently passed away), this year there's a star-studded lineup of guest judges including Jamie Oliver, Curtis Stone, Maggie Beer, Rick Stein and Peter Gilmore.