MasterChef South Africa: Last week’s winner Ali Sonday eliminated

2026-03-03 - 09:13

Last week’s winner on MasterChef South Africa, Ali Sonday, has been eliminated from the competition. The 30-year-old senior attorney from the Western Cape was sent home during Sunday’s episode. His exit came a week after he won the season’s opening challenge and received a Beko refrigerator. ALSO READ: SABC 1 calls for entries as ‘Wedding Chefs’ returns for second season Second-week challenge In the second episode, contestants were tasked with reimagining the judges’ chosen “last supper” meals within 75 minutes. The dishes were randomly allocated. Chef Katlego Mlambo selected pap, lamb chops and chakalaka, served with beer. Zola Nene chose lamb curry with steamed bread, coleslaw and tomato relish, accompanied by ginger beer. Justine Drake described her meal as “a little bit posh”. It featured roast chicken, artichokes, boiled potatoes, mayonnaise and dark chocolate, served with Chenin Blanc. Sonday was assigned Mlambo’s dish. During cooking, his pan caught fire after clarified butter ignited. Although the flames were extinguished before the lamb was added, the incident affected his preparation time. At judging, Mlambo said Sonday had overworked the tomato chutney, resulting in “a bit of a bitter, unpleasant taste” that rendered it “borderline inedible”. Drake later stated: “There are two unforgivable sins in the MasterChef kitchen: raw food and burnt food.” Sonday’s dish was deemed the weakest, and he was eliminated. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MasterChef SA (@sa_masterchef) Second-week winner Benjie won the challenge with his interpretation of Nene’s meal. There are 17 contestants left in the competition. The programme airs on e.tv on Sundays at 6pm and streams on eVOD. It is produced by Homebrew Films for Primedia Studios. NOW READ: Shock and sorrow as beloved TV host Ian von Memerty’s tragic death details emerge