New South Wales, 23, Restaurant Manager

The MasterChef Australia kitchen might be a long way from milking cows, but it’s where Billie McKay knows she should be.

Growing up on a dairy farm in the peaceful, lush surrounds of New South Wales’ mid-north coast, Billie knows about hard graft. As one of five siblings, everybody was expected to pitch in with farming chores.

Billie would often cook dinner for the family, as well as preparing her famous chocolate slice, which she had memorised by age eight and taught her younger brother how to make.