Viewers have noticed a strange trend in which contestants have been eliminated so far.

MasterChef fans have shared a surprising theory on social media following Sunday night’s episode. Photos: Channel 10

MasterChef fans have called out a bizarre detail in this year’s season of the reality show following Sunday night’s shock elimination. Steph de Sousa, who originally competed in season 11, was sent home after failing to impress the judges with her crispy pork belly and green apple slaw.

Not only were fans surprised to see Steph become the third contestant eliminated this season as she is one of the most popular contestants, boasting 1.3 million followers on Instagram, but she’s also been featured the most in the show’s promos. The ‘Frugal Foodie’ has the largest presence in the season 17 poster, which has been posted on social media, displayed on 10play’s website, and even plastered on billboards.

Also featured in the poster is Savindri ‘Sav’ Perera, who left the competition last week, and fellow competitors Laura Sharrad, Tim Bone, Darrsh Clarke, and Declan Cleary.

Steph de Sousa has the largest presence in the season 17 poster. Photo: Channel 10

‘Curse of the promotional poster’

While viewers initially predicted the poster had potentially spoiled who makes it to the end of the competition, they’ve changed their minds following Steph and Sav’s eliminations.

“So are the ones in the promo poster a prediction of who are going home?” one person speculated on Reddit, while another commented, “Curse of promotional poster. Two biggest faces on it are Sav and Steph”.

“Ngl, I’m surprised that the contestants on the poster are being wiped out this early, and even consecutively so far,” a third shared. “Makes me wonder why they were chosen? And when I’m sure there are also other popular ones, who maybe made it further?”

Meanwhile, others assumed the contestants were selected to feature in the poster simply because they were the most recognisable, with Steph having the largest social media following and Sav finishing third on last year’s season.

Do the posters actually mean anything?

This year’s season of MasterChef is the third time they’ve brought back previous contestants following season 12’s Back to Win in 2020 and season 14’s Fans & Favourites in 2022, so there are some examples to test whether the posters actually spoil the show.

Season 12 was won by Emelia Jackson, however, she wasn’t featured in the main promotional imagery for the series. Instead, the poster starred Callum Hann, Poh Ling Yeow, Hayden Quinn, Reynold Poernomo and Laura Sharrad – who all made it to the top six apart from Hayden.

Meanwhile, season 14 only featured three returning contestants in its main promo photo: Season 7 winner Billie McKay, season 1 winner Julie Goodwin, and season 10 winner Sashi Cheliah.

Billie went on to win the season and become the show’s first two-time champion, however, her placement in the imagery alongside Julie and Sashi may have simply been because they were the most notable contestants that year.

MasterChef has only previously brought back contestants for Back to Win in 2020 and Fans & Favourites in 2022. Photos: Channel 10

Who will win MasterChef 2025?

Fans have since taken to social media to predict that one of the remaining people featured in the poster will win this year’s season of MasterChef.

“I do think just based on the trailers, it seems like Laura and Darrsh are the main characters so far,” one viewer wrote, while another added, “I think Darrsh wins based on the trailer”.

“The only one out of these that could realistically win is Laura, I think,” someone else said, followed by a different user who predicted, “She’s making top 10 for sure. I’m pretty sure she’s making finals week or even the semis”.

“I’m so excited Declan’s there!” another fan said.