Bridget Mangwandi won the fifth season of MasterChef South Africa season five and R1 million, which aired on S3 on Saturday 23 November.
‘MASTERCHEF SA’ SEASON FIVE WINNER ANNOUNCED: BRIDGET MANGWANDI
Bridget Mangwandi won the fifth season of MasterChef South Africa and the R1 million prize money in the finale. She has made history as the youngest winner in the franchise’s history and Mzansi’s first black female MasterChef.
With her near-perfect dishes in the ultimate head-to-head round, Bridget beat another outstanding young chef, Nabila Shamshum (23), a school secretary from Johannesburg, after Durban-born Chanel Brink (34), was named the second runner-up.
Although Nabila, who tasted victory in the quarter and semi-finals, also served the best dish in the round that saw Chanel’s elimination, Bridget soared to the top when receiving moral support from her biggest fan, her mother.
Bridget’s mom and Nabila’s parents joined the season’s previously ousted contestants on the MasterChef South Africa gantry to witness the season’s pivotal cook-off.
During the showdown, in which the Top 2 had to whip up a million-rand-worthy two-course meal showcasing African excellence and expressing their evolution from home cook to chef extraordinaire, Bridget drew inspiration from her mother’s favourite recipe, Apricot chicken. But instead of using chicken, Bridget ambitiously replaced the chicken with kingklip and employed all the learnings and tricks of the trade she accumulated throughout her journey on the show.
BRIDGET: ‘I HOPE THIS INSPIRES THE NEXT GENERATION’
The MasterChef season five winner said that this is not a win just for her, but also every other young black girl.
“This win is a victory not only for me but for every young black girl who dreams of extraordinary feats. I hope this inspires the next generation to believe the world is their oyster, as I always tell myself,” she said in a statement.
The MasterChef magic continues into 2025 on our television screens. The new star-studded six-part spin-off Celebrity MasterChef starts on S3 on Saturday, 30 November, at 20:30, with rebroadcasts on SABC 2 on Sundays at 18:30 and S3 on Wednesdays at 18:00.
In Celebrity MasterChef, twelve beloved Mzansi cuisine-crazy personalities who can all cook up a storm will face the heat in the MasterChef kitchen. While judges Justine Drake, Zola Nene and Chef Katlego Mlambo will again scrutinise all the celebrities’ culinary creations, the spin-off will be served with delicious format twists.
Take a look at our exclusive interview with Bridget here.
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