Eliminated contestant Reynold reveals his favourite moments from the show, and what he would have done differently. Courtesy: Masterchef/Channel Ten

JUST desserts, or the last man on MasterChef burned at the stake?

Whichever side of the Reynold Poernomo story you are on, one of the most controversial chapters in this year’s series has been closed - with the Sydney cook losing out in the last challenge before next week’s two-part grand finale.

Not surprisingly to his haters, the 20-year-old fell at the final hurdle, tripped up by a savoury dish of flame-grilled bonito with pickled cucumber, celtic mustard and shiso. But only just.

In a snapshot of how hotly-contested this year’s competition has been, Poernomo’s fish was within five seconds of being perfectly cooked but instead saw him eliminated.

“Surviving the challenge, set by Australia’s top-ranking international chef Brett Graham of The Ledbury in London, Billie McKay and Jessica Arnott will now join Georgia Barnes in the first phase of this year’s title decider on Sunday night.

Poernomo told NewsCorp he has struggled to keep his exit a secret - with wide-of-the-mark rumours insisting he was a grand finalist.

Despite being one of the show’s early favourites, the Marsfield university student faced a barrage of criticism for this advanced skills and family’s ties to the food industry.

Answering his critics, a defiant Poernomo insisted he deserved his place in the competition and would not be brought down by social media trolls.

*On his previous experience with the family food business, he said: “growing up my dad, my mother and my brother were all chefs and cooks but I was young and basically spent a lot of time at home alone, reading books about cooking. That’s where my food dream came from, not by being trained by my mum. She had no time to be honest. She’s very hard-working and tried to support her family, I understand that now and wouldn’t have it any other way.”

*On his brother’s role on the Indonesian version of MasterChef: “I only see my brother once a year when he visits. He had nothing to do with me being on the show.”

*On accusations he’s a one-trick dessert pony: “I have definitely developed my savoury skills in this competition, not just my desserts. I have done pretty well in (savoury) challenges.”

*On the online attacks against him: “I can’t please everyone and everyone has their group of haters. I just think it’s a waste of energy even worrying about it.”

Since leaving the competition, Poernomo has been given work experience at Grant King’s Gastro Park restaurant in Potts Point; but is on track to see his food dream of opening a dessert cafe to be realised in Rosebery later this year.

holly.byrnes@news.com.au

Twitter: @byrnesh