Western Australia, 24, Waitress

Currently working as a waitress, Karmen is very much at home in the high-vis vest and hard-hat attire of the mining industry.

Holding a Bachelor of Science in Mine and Engineering Surveying, Karmen is now getting ready to don some brand new attire: her MasterChef Australia apron.

The eldest of two daughters, Karmen was born in Perth to parents who emigrated from Vietnam in 1982.

While dad has been a chef in a Chinese restaurant for 20 years, Karmen says that she did not learn a great deal in the kitchen from him as he was so often at work.

A self-taught cook, Karmen began indulging her love of baking in her early high school years and has progressed since then, learning from television food shows and by reading cooking books and recipes online. Favourite inspiration comes from Poh Ling Yeow, Maggie Beer, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and David Lebovitz.

Karmen’s education was always very high on her parents’ agenda and although she had applied for MasterChef Australia in previous years, she did not let her mum and dad know as they would have insisted she focus on her studies.

She certainly did this and graduated from Curtin University in mid-2015 after six years of study, a feat which Karmen considers her greatest achievement to date. With her degree now secured, her parents are supportive of her pursuing her passion for food.

With her love of pastry and her razor sharp skills, Karmen’s dream of owning a dessert and whisky bar in Perth with partner Ryan is all the more tangible now that she is a part of 2016’s Top 24.