Andy Allen was only one exam away from becoming a fully qualified Electrician, before entering as a contestant on MasterChef 2012.

Realising that being a sparky wasn’t his true calling, he took a dare from his mates to try out for the competition. Once he was on the show, Andy openly admitted to being the most inexperienced amongst the bunch at the time, and committed to reading, researching, watching and listening as much as possible – seeing every opportunity as a learning opportunity. Following an 8 month commitment, locked away from his friends on some sort of ‘rapid culinary apprenticeship on steroids’, Andy emerged the youngest winner of MasterChef, with a thirst to continue learning as much as possible about food. Andy also left the competition with two new mates in Mark LaBrooy and Darren Robertson, who were guest chefs on the show, kick starting his next adventure.

With learning being Andy’s main priority, he reached out to the boys at The Ducks and took a role down at Three Blue Ducks pop-up at Falls Creek in 2013. Then, in 2016 he officially became part of the group, becoming a co-owner and in-house chef at their venues in Rosebery, Bronte, The Farm at Byron Bay and the soon to be opened Melbourne location at UrbnSurf.

Andy continued to grow and explore his on-screen talents, co-creating and hosting the hit series ‘Eat Australia’ on SBS Food and YouTube with his fellow Masterchef Australia mate Ben Milbourne, where they fostered a new approach to making culinary shows. He’s appeared regularly on weekday afternoons across the nation on TEN’s Farm to Fork, sharing his own recipes inspired by his travels and restauranteur experience.