BUDERIM baker Ashleigh Bareham avoided elimination on MasterChef last night by cashing in her immunity pin.

The 24-year-old chose not to take her chances in a cook-off against some of the reality cooking show's most competitive cooks.

Bareham also didn't want to jeopardise her dream of one day opening a dessert bar on the Sunshine Coast with her sister Georgia and mum Trudi, who suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

"The finish line is so close now," Bareham said.

"My mum is not well and so for me now getting to the final, if by some miracle I made it there and won, it won't just change my life; It would make a big difference to her well.

"I don't want to risk going home today if I don't have to."

Tasmanian hairdresser Amy Luttrell, who went home in last night's challenge, said she would have done the same.

"The fear of going home with an immunity pin is just too great," Luttrell told APN.

"You can't take that risk; it would be haunting.

"I'm so glad she used it."

Going forward without her safety net, Bareham is now on a more even playing field with the rest of the Top 8 contestants as the reality cooking show enters its final weeks.

 MasterChef continues on Sunday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.