MasterChef Australia's Katrina Dunnett reveals the secret she was struggling with behind-the-scenes of the cooking competition following her surprise elimination 

MasterChef Australia's Katrina Dunnett was eliminated this week after failing to impress the judges with her 'wet' pudding.

But it turns out that the 25-year-old was struggling with a secret issue behind-the-scenes that may have contributed to her early demise. 

The young cook suffers from coeliac disease, which means she can't taste test any of her own dishes that contain gluten.

'It's pretty ironic for me because I actually have coeliac disease, so I can't eat gluten, which is both pasta in the first challenge, and then bread in the second, so I guess it's pretty classic in a way,' she told Yahoo. 

Katrina is the third person to be eliminated from MasterChef.

On Tuesday, viewers bid farewell to the 25-year-old after she was tasked with cooking a bread dish by Italian chef Massimo Bottura during the show's Superstar Week - but her attempt didn't quite meet the mark. 

Judge Andy Allen delivered the news, telling her: 'The texture of your pudding was wet, and we couldn't taste the bread because of the flavours of orange and raisins.

'I'm sorry you've missed the brief. That's why unfortunately you're going home.'

Speaking after her departure, Katrina said: 'MasterChef has been an incredible journey. It's completely different to cooking at home, and I've just learned so much from these people.

'It's absolutely inspired me to do more with my cooking, and I can't wait to take that on.'

Katrina had been in the bottom four alongside Pete Campbell, Tom Levick and Dan Dumbrell after their mac and cheese dishes were slated by the judges.

Prior to Katrina's departure, Trent Vu was the first contestant to be eliminated on Thursday night, while YoYo Yang was given the boot on Sunday. 

This year's Superstar Week has so far hosted an international bevy of renown chefs, including Yotam Ottolenghi and Nigella Lawson, who have all appeared via video on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year Nigella and Heston Blumenthal were forced to miss out on their scheduled appearances due to coronavirus travel restrictions and border closures.

Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone and pregnant popstar Katy Perry were able to film separate segments before Australia shut its borders in early 2020.

MasterChef continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10