The judges were joined by world-renowned chef Vaughan Mabee, the executive chef at Queenstown's Amisfield, who brought in an array of his one-bite wonders to wow the chefs.

In order to join Depinder in the final four, Ben, Laura, Callum, and Jamie had to create their own take on a one-bite wonder, packed with as much flavour and technique as Vaughan's.

Inspired by another Kiwi chef in the building, Ben created a bite full of flavour and technique, stuffing chicken wings with whitebait mousse, chicken liver parfait, chive oil emulsion, seaweed and parmesan tuilles and topped with caviar.

But the balance of flavours was uneven, and the judges found the elements competing for the spotlight, and sadly, it was the least impressive bite of the day, ending Ben's time in the competition.

"I knew at the end of that cook, once I saw the other guys' dishes, I was pretty sure I was going to go home," Ben told 10. "Having [the judges] confirm it, I was disappointed because I do believe I was good enough to make it all the way to the end, but it didn't work out that way.

"However, when you look at all the things I got to do in this competition, making it to the top five is an amazing feat of its own! All of those challenges, pressure tests, cook-alongs, Doha, cooking at Vue de monde... just such amazing experiences and with such an amazing group of people. I wouldn't change anything."

First appearing in Season 6, the dad of two returned after over a decade to the MasterChef kitchen, admitting that he had lost his shine for creative cooking since his original stint in the competition.

"I think even when you're working in restaurants, you're churning out a lot of similar food, and cooking for children is somewhat unforgiving at times," he added with a laugh.

"I found the more that I was in there, the more I could be creative," Ben continued. "At the same time, the quality of the other contestants pushed you to do more. A dish that would have got you in the top in Season 6 could well be in the bottom in a Back To Win season, the standard is that much higher.

"You had to keep pushing yourself, coming up with new ideas, trying things out and taking risks, and at the end of the day, it can't work every time. It only takes one bad day in the kitchen, and yesterday was my bad day."

Earning himself the nickname of 'the Eliminator', Ben won the only immunity pin of the season during the first cook-along challenge with Gordon Ramsay. And while he had his get-out-of-jail card pinned to his apron, Ben found himself in a series of back-to-back pressure tests, alternating between competing for immunity and fighting for his spot in the competition.

"Everyone says to me how calm and collected I looked, and I'm always a little bit surprised when I watch it back myself because I definitely felt more stressed than I look," he laughed.

"I also find that pressure makes you come up with great ideas or things you never would have thought of because you can't stand there and cook nothing... you've got to come up with something and try not to crash and burn.

"The first part of the competition was crazy. I think I did four pressure tests in a row. It was exhausting to be honest with you," Ben continued.

Looking back at the competition, Ben said there wasn't anything he regretted about his time in the kitchen. "I just said to myself, if I'm going to do this, then I'm going to cook the best thing I can for every brief every time I go into that kitchen. If you don't, you go home with regrets.

"If you do your best and you manage to get all the way, then I think you can be proud of that, and I wouldn't change anything. You can't do any better than your best, and it got me a hell of a long way!"

Being able to watch the season with his two daughters, Ben said, while they love seeing their dad in the competition, he's now dealing with an unforeseen consequence of his pressure test performances.

"They have a long list of requests for things I need to cook for them," he laughed. "Puppy dog cakes, a meteor, a caviar tin... I'm probably going to have to relive quite a few of these pressure tests at this stage!"

MasterChef Australia: Back to Win. Watch + Stream Free On 10. Sundays at 7pm and Monday - Tuesday at 7.30pm.