MasterChef Australia’s very first winner, Julie Goodwin, opened up about her past struggles in an on-air admission that’s touched viewers across Australia.
Goodwin, who won the inaugural series back in 2009, has returned to the show for its Fans Vs Faves season, where she won the first immunity challenge.
Clearly overcome with emotion, Goodwin began crying as the room went silent.
Then, she began speaking: “When the phone call came to do this I didn’t know if I could. It’s been a couple of tough years and I didn’t know if I would be able to come back into this environment.”
She continued: “My experience last time was very much that I fell over again and again and again, but I think I got to the end because every time I fell down, I got back up.”
“So the phone call to come here was a bit like the universe saying, ‘It’s time to get back up’.”
As she finished speaking, the room burst into applause for the cook, author and radio presenter.
Later, she told the camera how her fear of coming back had felt overwhelming at times.
“So to stand in this kitchen and to cook a dish and be deemed worthy, you know, maybe I’m not done, maybe there’s more for me.”
She added, “Everybody walks there own way through depression or anxiety, but if i had a message to give, it would be to just don’t give up.”
In 2020, Goodwin revealed that she had spent a month in a mental health facility where she to received treatment for depression and anxiety.
“I had to do some serious assessment of my mental health and wellbeing … I’d reached a point in my life where I lost my joy. I had to give up my job on the radio—I couldn’t do that anymore—and I actually couldn’t set foot in my kitchen,” she said on the show.
“I think maybe I have done everything that I was here to do, and I have achieved everything that’s possible for me to achieve … so this for me is an opportunity to see if there’s another chapter. If there’s more,” she said.
She’s definitely off to a good start—we’re backing her all the way.
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