Snezana Calic is in a unique position on MasterChef Australia: Back To Win in 2025. This season, which is an all-stars season, is pre-filmed but just started airing on TV a few weeks ago. Returning to the show just one year after her original appearance, the 42-year-old says coming back to the cooking show so soon has had its pros and cons.
On the one hand, she’s understandably nervous about being up against some very experienced cast members, especially those from the earlier MasterChef seasons. However, there’s a sure “advantage” up her sleeve – her familiarity with the program’s fresh format and judging panel.
“I think that was my only advantage, because I had zero experience like the other contestants,” she laughs as she speaks to Missing Perspectives.
Snezana is one of three Season 16 stars who’ve returned in 2025 – the others are Darrsh Clarke, and Sav Perera who’s already been eliminated.
“Our advantage was definitely we knew everything in a pantry. We knew where everything is, we knew the equipment room,” she explains. “So when we’d run, we knew exactly where we’re going.”
Last year, Poh Ling Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Sofia Levin joined Andy Allen as the new judges. It means that only Season 16 contestants have cooked for all four of these judges at the same time.
Snezana says it was helpful “getting to know judges and the judging style” in 2024, and that the judges are “really different but they all always agree on one thing” when they taste the dishes.
“Poh for example, loves dessert, Andy loves kind of a little bit of a crazy fusion and little bit of more modern style. But at the end of the day, they all agree when something is super tasty and super delicious. That’s where you know they’re all gonna agree.
“So, I did get to know what each judge kind of prefers and what they’ll love,” she continues. “And I love that they encourage cooking of traditional food as well.”
Speaking of traditional cooking, Snezana hopes she can showcase more cuisine that draws on her Balkan roots.
“When I finished last year, I kind of felt like I didn’t do many of those dishes, and every time I did it, I really got beautiful feedback from the judges,” she reflects.
Having received immense “support from my community”, Snezna says: “I was really wrapped that I cooked some of those dishes that not many people here in Australia will be familiar with. That’s why this season – and even if you can see in these past episodes [this year] – some of the traditional dishes [I make], I try to do them more elevated and more my style.”
Besides different judges, Snezana also shares how big of a role social media plays in the journeys of MasterChef contestants these days, as opposed to the very early seasons after MasterChef Australia premiered in 2009.
Giggling as she shares she wasn’t the most familiar with social media before going on the show, Snezana says platforms like Instagram and TikTok help contestants engage with fans, connect with brands, and general media publicity.
“People look for recipes on social media. People want quick answers,” she says. “Nobody has time to watch long videos on YouTube. So everybody wants something quick, easy and accessible. And I feel like social media is definitely the way to kind of promote yourself.”
Snezana says the concept of posting regularly on social media is “still new” to her, but she’s embracing it more every day. It’s a vast contrast to the experiences of contestants back in the day.
“When I talk to some of the contestants from past seasons, they’re all like, ‘Oh, we only had magazines and some interviews. Nobody had social media at the time.”
Determined to give it all she’s got, Snezana says her best advice to other women is to take the plunge and explore their passion for food – whether that’s in the kitchen, on social media or on a reality cooking show.
“I think for every young woman, if there’s something you really love and you want to give it a go, just go for it. There’s nothing to lose, you can just gain,” she says. “The worst case scenario is you go back to what you were doing before. But I just think, just go for it. And it’s definitely going to pay off.”
This year’s season of MasterChef has 24 cast members: Alana Lowes (Season 3), Andre Ursini (Season 1), Audra Morrice (Season 4), Beau Cook (Season 4), Ben Macdonald (Season 6), Callum Hann (Season 2, Season 12), Cath Collins (Season 15), Darrsh Clarke (Season 16), Declan Cleary (Season 15), Depinder Chhibber (Season 13), Jamie Fleming (Season 6), Jimmy Wong (Season 8), Laura Sharrad (Season 6, Season 12), Matt Hopcraft (Season 7), Pete Campbell (Season 13), Rhiannon Anderson (Season 15), Rue Mupedzi (Season 15), Samira El Khafir (Season 5), Sarah Todd (Season 6, Season 14), Sav Perera (Season 16), Snezana Calic (Season 16), Steph de Sousa (Season 11), Theo Loizou (Season 15) and Tim Bone (Season 11).
MasterChef Australia: Back To Win airs on Sunday at 7pm, and Monday to Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
Top photo source: Supplied/Channel 10
