Cheers went up and celebrations got underway at a marae in the beachside town of Maketu last night as Karena and Kasey Bird were named winners of the inaugural Masterchef New Zealand duos.

The sisters, aged 25 and 23, defeated Arrowtown best friends Bec Stanley and Jamie Stodler in the two hour episode on TV One last night after being frontrunners throughout the competition.

Contestants Jack Tan and Catherine Chen with winners Karena and Kasey Bird, with Verena Doolabh and Tanisha Kemp celebrate at Maketu marae on Sunday.

The season finale brings to an end months of secrecy for the sisters after filming wrapped on the programme at the end of last year.

'It's such a huge relief to finally be able to share this with everyone. We have kind of been carrying around this huge secret for a few months so everyone knows now,” says Kasey, who spoke to SunLive from Auckland today.

'My phone is just going off. Facebook, messages, emails, texts, everything; it's just been crazy. It has all been incredibly positive, not a bad word.”

The pair win $100,000 worth of prizes including two Skoda Rapid Spaceback cars, $15,000 worth of designer kitchen appliances from Fisher and Paykel, $5000 in kitchenware courtesy of Stevens, $15,000 worth of groceries from Countdown and an exclusive MasterChef cookbook deal.

Maketu photographer Andy Belcher was at Maketu marae last night where crowds of residents huddled in to watch the final of one of the most exciting events Andy has experienced in his 17 years living in Maketu.

'Everyone was wearing pink and watched the final on big screens,” says Andy.

'The atmosphere was electric and Maketu residents were buzzing with excitement.”

Andy says Kasey and Karena are the best ambassadors for Maketu, with the whole place erupting with cheers and laughter, highlighting just how important they are to the community.

Kasey, 23, admits being able to talk about the success with Karena made the wait much easier, despite people giving them a 'hard time” on the streets as their popularity and fame grew during the competition.

The pair, who decided to enter the televised competition after watching the 2013 final, are incredibly proud of what they have achieved.

But plans of jumping straight into New Zealand cuisine are on hold as the sisters plan to take some time to travel and experience different cultures and foods after they release the Masterchef cookbook.

'We definitely want to do this food thing seriously,” says Kasey.

'So first and foremost we want to get our cookbook done and then we really want to travel. We want to try all the cuisines of the world and learn as much as we can.

'Then I think we want to get into a kitchen and pay our dues and earn our stripes.”