Age: 31

State: New South Wales

Occupation: Tech Recruiter

Instagram: @jackieyz

Jackie Yu gets her love of food from both her parents, as well as her French stepfather. Growing up eating a blend of Asian and European flavours, Jackie always had a curious palette and a love of trying new flavours. Between her two homes, she was constantly talking about food, eating good food and learning to prepare it, especially thanks to her Dad JJ, who worked as a chef when he first arrived in Australia. Even now as an adult, dinner catch-ups with her Dad form some of her favourite food memories.

Growing up as a second-generation Chinese Australian, Jackie looks back and recognises that she suppressed her Chinese heritage in order to fit in and seem more ‘Aussie’. As an adult, she has learned to embrace this deeply important part of her identity, increasingly through food. For Jackie, food is a conduit to embrace diverse cultures, with her extensive travel having also playing a huge part in expanding her horizons and taste buds alike. From eating countless tacos in Mexico City or being packed into an izakaya in Tokyo, every food moment builds her arsenal of skills.

Now working as a recruiter in the tech space, Jackie was just 16 years old when MasterChef Australia first hit screens. A massive fan of the show, to think that 15 years later she herself is entering the iconic kitchen is something she could never have dreamt of.

Dubbing herself a sweet tooth from birth, Jackie gravitates toward the sweet side of life and, in 2025, started a side hustle creating custom cakes for friends and events, as well as some food styling. She surrounds herself with food-obsessed friends from all walks of life, and with her partner in hospitality too, there is always something varied and delicious on the table every place she goes.

A nature lover outside the kitchen, Jackie spends time hiking, camping, snowboarding and doing yoga, and says she’s terrified yet deeply excited to enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen. With dreams of building a career as a food content creator, Jackie takes her place in the MasterChef kitchen ready to make her dreams come true.