‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Chloe and Matt miss the brief, but it’s Heather who says goodbye to yellow brick road

This year’s contestants finished on a high at the end of Heston Blumenthal week, but one found herself falling down hard. In episode 45 of “MasterChef Australia” Season 8, which aired on June 30, seven home cooks pushed out of their comfort zones to create phenomenal dishes inspired by the colours of the rainbow.

While some absolutely shined in the eyes of Heston and the judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston, Heather Day failed to convince the judges that she deserves a spot in the competition. The 32-year-old sales manager’s journey at the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen has now ended, right before what could the toughest week in the contest’s history.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Sunday’s episode, focusing on what looks like an ordinary mystery box challenge. At this stage of the competition, however, everything gets harder and harder. The contestants are informed that they’ll have to use not one, but all ingredients in the box.

With just nine contestants left, they’ll need every advantage they can get. This is especially because in the invention test, the competition gets even tougher. The “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls are up against the best of the crop – they’ll have to push harder than ever or face the unthinkable.

In the trailer, Theresa Visintin is seen reduced to tears. She may have made the best dish on the last episode, but fans are wondering whether the upcoming pressure test will be too much for her to handle. [READ: "‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 update: Returning contestant Theresa Visintin gears up for pressure test, feels the love from fans worldwide"]

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

It’s another dreadful day for Heather, Theresa, Brett Carter, Chloe Bowles, Elena Duggan, Matt Sinclair and Trent Harvey as they face what could be their last day in the kitchen. They were baffled when the lights went off and a rainbow appeared in front of them. The contestants were informed that they’d be using the colours of the rainbow to inspire them in creating a dish.

Randomly picking up from a set of knives, the contestants picked the following hues: orange for Elena, red for Theresa, yellow for Heather, blue for Matt, indigo for Chloe and violet for Trent. Theresa was absolutely stoked when she got the colour she was wishing for. Apparently, she already got a dish in mind, and it luckily matches red. Matt, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction: the colour he chose left him blue.

Matt and Chloe – who was stumped too with indigo – decided not to take their colours literally. Matt was advised to put a blue element to connect to the challenge’s theme and tie his whole dish together. He decided to add mussels in his seafood plate. Over on Chloe’s bench, she failed to paint her concept clearly when George and Heston came over to check in on her. They raised questions on how she would convey indigo on her dish. She hoped that she could address that with an indigo-coloured plate, but when she ran to the pantry, she didn’t find any so she was forced to use a white one.

Despite getting the colour that she wanted, Theresa hit a snag when she was trying to set her parfaits using liquid nitrogen. She accidentally got some of the liquid nitrogen directly into her parfait, ruining the batch. She only had one good parfait left, and hoped that it would work for the best.

Another contestant who was happy with her colour was Heather. She immediately thought of making lemon her hero ingredient and the judges expected a lot from her. However, when she explained the elements of her dish to the judges, they got concerned about the combination of the flavours she wants to use. They commented that she’s got a lot going on and her pairings might not work. Despite the judges’ advice, she decided to stick to her guns and proceed as planned. When the time was up, Heather ran into a bigger problem: her lemon delicious collapsed. She was absolutely heartbroken, recognising that she’s in trouble.

Elena was the first contestant to serve her dish, which she called Reef Walk. The judges raved about her prawns, crabs, scallops and broth. Heston paid her the best compliment when he said it’s the best dish he’s had all week. To prove how much he loved the broth, he finished off the remaining liquid. Later, she was informed that Heston thinks her dish belonged on the table of Michelin-starred restaurant.

Brett’s dishes, green ant’s nest kale, scallops and pea puree and Trent’s jerk chicken with an almond and beetroot puree were also deemed enough to send the two men to safety. The best dish for the evening, however, belonged to Theresa. Her dish, called the toadstool, brought a smile to judges’ faces. When Theresa presented the berry parfait, sponge ganache and pistachio praline to the judges, they loved how it looked. They also heaped praises on the taste and textures of the elements, such as the thin sponge. Heston said every single thing on the plate serves a purpose and the level of sweetness in there is bang-on. “She smashed it,” Heston claimed.

The same could not be said to the plates served by Chloe, Matt and Heather. Chloe’s lemon butter cream with frozen lemon curd and fennel did not meet the brief at all. While the taste was okay, the judges said she missed the concept of the challenge. Matt’s seafood with a fennel broth also did not connect to the theme, despite his explanation. The judges also said his dish had way too much salt.

It was Heather, however, who had the biggest problem among everyone. While her lemon sultana delicious matched the colour that she picked, her decision to pair it with white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ganache was a big mistake. The judges liked the lemon delicious, but the other things on the plate derailed its flavour that it actually became a “lemon disastrous.” Since the judges said Chloe, Heather and Matt missed the brief, it came down to how the dishes tasted. With too many mistakes on the texture and the taste of her dish, Heather was eliminated from the competition.

Find out what happens next on “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.