Barbara Grubišić (39) is a professional hairdresser from Orebić on Pelješac who, after 16 years of a successful career in her salon, decided to close the door of the hairdressing studio and devote herself to a new life adventure – cooking. At the center of her motivation is the family: she is the mother of a 16-year-old son, and premature motherhood has taught her to rely on herself and her grandmother’s help over the years. Cooking has always fulfilled her, so she decided to develop this passion through participation in a reality show Masterchef Croatia on N1/Nova TV, seeing in it the opportunity to combine his hairdressing talent and love for gastronomy.
quick facts
- Age and Origin: Born in 1986, she grew up in Pelješac (Orebić).
- Profession: Hairdresser with her own salon in Orebić; After 16 years, she closed the salon to cook.
- Family: The mother of a teenager (son of 16 years), who was her biggest incentive. Early motherhood taught her independence with the support of her grandmother.
- MasterChef: Contestant of the eighth season of MasterChef (2025) on Nova TV, representing the ‘colors of the South’.
- Favorite ingredients: He prefers to cook with artichokes and truffles, which he considers special foods, and he admits that her ‘guilty pleasure’ is gummy candies.
Early life and career of hairdresser
Barbara was born and grew up in Orebić on the Pelješac peninsula, in a family that appreciated tradition and work ethics. As a young woman, she studied and worked as a hairdresser, and ran her own hair salon for 16 years ‘Barbar’ in Orebić. This long-term job meant stability and satisfaction, but as the son grew up and became independent, she decided to make her own dreams come true. During her years of practicing hairdressing, Barbara developed a love for the kitchen and local food at the same time. But with the increase in family obligations, cooking was mostly her hobby – until she decided to try her luck at the culinary show.
Mother and motivation
Premature motherhood (in her twenties) shaped Barbara’s life path. ‘I am the mother of a sixteen-year-old who moved to Zagreb for football and school, and he was the biggest incentive and strength for me over the years,’ she said. Growing up as a young mother, Barbara learned to rely on her own abilities and grandmother’s help. That life story explains her determination: Now that the son has grown up, she has the opportunity to grab a dream and show her culinary abilities. Her goal is not only to participate in MasterChef, but also – as she says – to establish a restaurant where she will combine two of her talents: a hair salon and gastronomy.
Audition for MasterChef and Culinary Style
In the first Masterchef audition show (autumn 2025), Barbara came before a jury with a clear idea: to prove that southern cuisine is more than a lulled past. She prepared for her audition assignment Pizza frittata – traditional Italian frittata-pizza – enriched with local herbs. She sat down in front of the jury and explained: ‘I brought at least five or six miracles: asparagus, fennel, herbs, everything is homemade…’. She picked all the herbs in her own garden on Pelješac, and she even grated the truffles on pizza, which she found in the surrounding forests. She first fried the dough in a pan, and then put it in the oven – just such a combination of techniques was delighted by the chef’s jury. With this performance, Barbara showed that she dared to ‘replace scissors with a knife’ and trample on the boundaries of the hairdressing routine.
Greatest successes in Masterchef
Barbara made a significant step forward in the show in a challenge with luxury foods, for which she won the prestigious platinum immunity card. In this task, she dealt with a mysterious box of quail eggs, truffles, goose liver, forest mushrooms, a vapor tail, a salt flower and a French cognac. Barbara created an author’s dish from all this – pasta filled with hlap (shrimp) and quail eggs, served with vegetables, mushrooms and tartar made of flap with truffles. The combination of refined flavors and impressive presentation brought her undivided praise from the jury, among whom were three famous chefs: Goran Kočiš, Stjepan Vukadin and Mario Mihelj. This deservedly became The first competitor of the season which won a platinum immunity card. The words of Stjepan Vukadin – ‘Barbara, well done!’ – They only confirmed that her dish was the highlight of the evening for the jury. This triumph clearly announced a serious race towards the final, which Barbara herself confirmed with the words: ‘I showed myself and others that I can do it’.
The main moments of the competition:
- platinum card: deservedly won the first platinum card in season 8 of MasterChef.
- Recipe with Hlap and truffles: She prepared pasta filled with quail and quail egg, with vegetables, mushrooms and tartar made from grated truffles.
- praise of the jury: The jury emphasized her technical safety and refined approach to food, and Marin Mario Mihelj and Goran Kočiš praised the taste and appearance of the dish.
Favorite dishes and lifestyle
In addition to dishes with top-quality ingredients, Barbara also has cute culinary fetishes. She stated herself that if MasterChef was a dish, it would have been Artichoke with truffles, because she loves exactly these ingredients and could eat them every day. She has enjoyed cooking from a young age – it is a form of creative escape and the greatest pleasure of life. She is open and honest at the same time: admits that her most hidden is sweet weakness gummy bears, who knows how to treat herself after a long day behind the stove or hairdressing chair. This combination of carefully selected local ingredients and few playful ‘sins’ shows Barbara’s balance: serious in the kitchen, but also cheerful in life.
Future plans and conclusion
Barbara Grubišić now sees Masterchef as a springboard towards her own restaurant or conceptual space where she will unite her two passions. As she said: ‘I see MasterChef as a path to a future in which I would like to combine these two worlds – hair salon and gastronomy’. With her persistence and successes so far, she is clear that in the rest of the season she will do her best to establish herself as a serious candidate for the final.
For MasterChef readers and fans, Barbara is an example of how life changes can open up new opportunities. If you follow her culinary adventure on Nova TV, continue to support her – and let us know in the comments which her dishes are your favorite! Follow us for more inspiring stories about the MasterChef candidates and new recipes from Croatian gastronomy.
Sources: Information from official biographies and media articles about Barbara Grubišić.
