‘MasterChef Australia 2016’ Season 8 spoilers: Top 24 contestants face first mystery box challenge; 2015 winner Billie McKay returns

After a nationwide search amongst thousands of hopeful home cooks, only 24 managed to impress the judges with their culinary skills and earned a MasterChef apron for season 8.

On Wednesday night, this season’s set of contestants enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen for the first time to face their first challenge. MasterChef Australia 2015 winner Billie McKay returns to reveal the first mystery box for the season, and spoilers hint that the amateur chefs would need all the luck they could get.

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

Season 7 winner Billie appears on the fourth episode of the culinary competition, and the fate of this season’s hopeful lies on her hands. She is tasked to choose eight ingredients inspired by her time on MasterChef and her journey to Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck.

[READ: “'MasterChef Australia' winner Billie McKay gets new job at chef Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck”]

Billie also shares what she thinks of the contestants – and the plates they put out – so far. “A few desserts we tasted, the presentation and the creativity of flavours were so exciting,” she tells Ten. “I didn’t cook anything like that until halfway through the competition, but this was just their first challenge!”

Speaking of firsts, this is the first time in MasterChef Australia that a brother and a sister face off in the same task. Sydney-born Theresa Visintin, 44 and his 49-year-old brother Jimmy Wong battle it out to find out who is the better chef. In the teaser video posted on the show’s Facebook page, Jimmy is seen wishing her sister good luck. Fans wonder which sibling would rise above the challenge, and which one will struggle.

Theresa and Jimmy are just two of the top 24 amateur chefs who hail from different parts of the country, who all took a break from their professional and personal lives to be Australia’s next MasterChef. Each episode, they will cook their hearts out to impress judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston. Renowned culinary icons are set to appear as guest judges this season, including Nigella Lawson, Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Curtis Stone, Maggie Beer, Kylie Kwong and Luke Nguyen.

Here is the list of MasterChef Australia Season 8 Top 24:

Adam Mizzi, 30, South Australia, Adventure Company Owner
Anastasia Zolotarev, 26, New South Wales, Marketing Co-Ordinator
Ashley McConnell, 29, Western Australia, Software Sales
Brett Carter, 43, Western Australia, Airline Captain
Cecilia Vuong, 31, Victoria, Teacher
Charlie Sartori, 24, Victoria, Professional Golfer
Chloe Bowles, 24, Queensland, Nanny
Con Vailas, 31, Victoria, Restaurant Supervisor
Elena Duggan, 32, New South Wales, Teacher
Elise Franciskovic, 28, Queensland, Pharmacy Technician
Harry Foster, 21, Queensland, Cocktail Bartender
Heather Day, 32, South Australia, Sales Manager
Jimmy Wong, 49, New South Wales, Sustainability Specialist
Karmen Lu, 24, Western Australia, Waitress
Matt Sinclair, 27, Queensland, Coffee Roaster
Miles Pritchett, 46, Queensland, Park Ranger
Mimi Baines, 26, Victoria, Product Manager
Nathaniel Milevskiy, 29, Queensland, Paramedic Student
Nicolette Stathopoulos, 19, Victoria, Student
Nidhi Mahajan, 30, South Australia, Call Centre Worker
Olivia Robinson, 26, New South Wales, Restaurant Manager
Theresa Visintin, 44, New South Wales, Mum
Trent Harvey, 29, New South Wales, Electrician
Zoe Konikkos, 31, Victoria, Sales Manager

This year’s winner will get $250,000 and a monthly column in Australian food magazine, Delicious . “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.