One of the greatest highlights for the MasterChef Australia 2026 season has been the celebrity cameos and guest judges. While the show has spotlighted rockstars (Jimmy and Jane Barnes) and Aussie cooking icons (Maggie Beer) so far, tonight’s episode spotlighted just how much the world cooking and influence has changed with social media.
Special guests Andy Hearnden (aka Andy Cooks) and Katelyn Flood have a mass following online, and it all started in their kitchen at home – much like all the talented chefs competing this year.
Their content revolves around a simple question that partners, families, and friends ask each other every day: “What’s for dinner?”
Speaking to The WHO Group Chat vodcast, judge Andy Allen teased that the popular series was going to be spotlighting more cooks with large social followings, saying, “We’ve now leaned into that, and without giving too much away, there will be guests that are found on social media, and they obviously have a great relationship with food, and that’s their thing.”
He continued, “But there it’s not just your three Michelin star chefs that come in to create a six-hour pressure test…we’ve kind of leaned into like this kind of undeniable thing that is social media, which is where a lot of people view their content, especially food content from these days.”
And we love to see it! By featuring this celebrity cameo, MasterChef Australia isn’t just celebrating a talented cook with an audience, but showing just how diverse the cooking world has become through social media.
Who are Andy Hearnden (“Andy Cooks”) and Katelyn Flood?
Andy Hearnden, known for the social media profile “Andy Cooks”, and his partner Katelyn Flood are a New Zealand-Australian couple with around 13-15 million followers. They’re known for the video series title “Hey babe, what’s for dinner?”, where Andy, a former professional chef, asks Katelyn what she wants to eat, leading to a satisfying edit of the meal being made from fridge to plate.
Andy has worked in restaurants for around 20 years in cities like Auckland, London, and Sydney, and Katelyn manages their business.
The series grew to fame during the COVID-19 pandemic as their high-energy and educational focus had aspiring home cooks believing they could prep and cook like a professional chef too. Now, the couple partner with other chefs with a following, building a community online that celebrates good cooking and togetherness.
With this season of MasterChef Australia being all about home cooks making it big, these influencers’ cameo hit the mark and struck a cord for a lot of the contestants.
Andy Cooks has every home cooks dream career
Speaking to WHO, contestant Dot McHugh revealed what food and cooking means to her, proving how powerful the content that Andy and Katelyn makes really is.
“Food is everything to me,” Dot told WHO. “It’s travelling and experiencing different cultures.”
“Sitting down with someone and sharing a meal I think is a powerful thing.”
And that’s exactly what Andy Cooks is: Andy and Katelyn sitting down and sharing a meal, something that everyone can relate to, and how every contestant on MasterChef Australia started out this season.
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