MasterChef 2026: revealing this year's contestants and the start date of season 12

The new season will take viewers through the world of cooking, where they can learn from the contestants and gain knowledge themselves. MasterChef will present interesting dishes and ingredients, open up space for new culinary trends, and demonstrate various techniques and approaches that can inspire even home chefs.

"This time, the focus will be on what has always been the heart of MasterChef - cuisine," says the familiar and well-coordinated trio of judges Luka Jezeršek, Karim Merdjadi and Mojmir Šiftar. There will be less emphasis on external elements, and more on proven culinary challenges that will require knowledge, precision, creativity and adaptation from the competitors.

As the new season starts at the end of August and will follow viewers through autumn, autumn cuisine will also be an important part of the culinary world of MasterChef. The season will bring more autumn ingredients, flavors and dishes and show how rich and diverse the cuisine of this time of year can be. The 12th season of MasterChef Slovenia will thus be a tribute to cuisine; both traditional and modern, simple and demanding, but above all, the kind that always surprises.

Ajda Osta

A calm, curious and creative architect who loves to explore places, other cultures and cuisine. She is especially strong in baking, precision and creative combination of flavors.

Anna Masieievska

A very young, responsible and curious dessert lover. She loves trying out unusual flavor combinations and taking on new challenges.

Dominik Gajsek

Charismatic, hardworking, smiling and very active. He is interested in the world of smells, ingredients and culinary creativity. He especially enjoys preparing meat, sauces and simple dishes where quality ingredients come to the fore.

Gregor Spudič

Experienced, warm-hearted and very persistent. He sees cooking as an art, a way of expression and a connection between tradition and modernity. He is strongly marked by his respect for food and the idea that simple ingredients can create something extraordinary.

Gulnaz Uliabaeva

Energetic, creative and communicative. She doesn't like boundaries, she likes to experiment and cook by feeling.

Ian Polak Rozac

Energetic, positive, witty and very recognizable for his online content. In the kitchen, he is curious, willing to listen and learn quickly. He is also interested in modern trends, especially matcha.

Jure Brumen

An athlete, traveler, and hospitality and culinary professional at heart. Positive, smiling, and thinking outside the box. He has experience running a restaurant in North Cyprus.

Karin Podborsek

Friendly, responsible, reliable and organized graduate in kinesiology. She loves learning, baking and creating desserts; she is especially attracted to decoration and precision.

Klemen Rutar

A creative, curious and competitive marketing strategist and musician. Very organized, systematic and a lover of preparing ingredients; in the kitchen he seeks harmony between precision, spontaneity and heart.

Miha Blatnik

A sociable gourmet, a merry fellow and a great lover of travel. He is not a man of strict rules and enjoys relaxed creativity. His specialty is a large paella, which he can feed up to 50 people.

Tadej Oblak

A graphic designer and visual artist who sees food as art. Creative, experimental, and very focused on the visual image of the plate or plating.

Tanja Rajar

Friendly, helpful, family-oriented and an amateur creator of sweet treats. A catering technician who loves baking, decorating and big pastry challenges - she even prepared a five-tiered wedding cake.

Tilen Zonta

A curious, well-rounded and inquisitive lawyer, drawn to travel, different cultures, nature and cuisine. Cooking has become an important source of creativity and relaxation for him.

Tjasa Kuster

Positive, smiling and a bit withdrawn, a lover of animals, motorbikes and socialising. Although she attended catering school, she used to not like cooking at all – but today her great passion is baking.

Valentina Pukšić

The youngest contestant, a pastry chef by profession. A simple peasant girl, full of energy, talkative, loves jokes, joy and good humor. She is strongly connected to traditional cuisine and her home environment.

Daniela Perdih

A mother of two and a sales manager, she is determined, stubborn and ambitious. For her, sports and cooking are a way to relax and overcome everyday stress. She learned to cook from her mother and grandmother, and even as a child she loved helping to prepare lunches and desserts.