Vinnie Gibaldi kept his cool through an overcooked duck and an almost impossible Chinese High Tea to take out the MasterChef finale. His secret? Staying calm like a nurse and cooking from the heart like an Italian.
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"I don't even have the words to describe it... it's just been very, very surreal and amazing." Vinnie Gibaldi is over the moon after winning MasterChef Australia 2026.
The finale was an emotional night, with Vinnie initially playing to his strengths, although an overcooked duck threatened to derail his chances in the first round.
The second round involved a very complicated dessert that looked as far from Vinnie's style as possible, and yet he was able to prevail in both challenges against his good friend, Greek Cypriot Petro Papathomas.
Vinnie's win comes after fellow Italians Simone Prest and Viviana Barile won My Kitchen Rules Australia in 2024.
Vinnie still dreams about his own panini shop, but he admits he would "probably do it a little bit more elevated than I was going to do at the beginning".
His Italian heritage remains at the heart of how he cooks.
"Italian heritage has always been very, very close to our hearts, on both sides of my family, my mum’s and my dad’s," says Vinnie, who became known in the MasterChef kitchen for his generous Italian-style servings and food inspired by family and tradition.
Italian food is always full of flavour, but it's also very, very expressive, and being able to share that food with the world is, was really, really important to me.Vinnie Gibaldi, MasterChef Australia 2026 winner
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