WHY I’LL NEVER FORGIVE MY GRANDFATHER
MASTERCHEF FINALIST BEN
H e’s one of the heroes from this year’s series of
Masterchef Australia but behind Ben Ungermann’s warm smile lies a devastating family heartbreak.
Just before Ben finished high school, his grandfather John left the family to return to Holland, saying he was homesick and wanted to see his mother.
Three weeks later, Ben’s grandmother Elizabeth, who he calls Oma, got a letter from her husband explaining that after 40 years of marriage, he’d fallen in love with a woman he’d met online.
“Ben had a very hard time when his grandfather left. He looked up to him and they were very close,” says Elizabeth.
Ben, father to Ella, 13, Phoenix, nine, and Oli, seven, says it’s sad his opa has never met his greatgrandchildren.
“It’s really unfortunate because he was such an important person in my life,” says Ben, who lived with his grandparents in Brisbane for a few years during high school.
John has tried to reconnect with Ben, but the Masterchef star hasn’t been able to forgive him.
“He was my best friend up until the day he left us. What he did destroyed my oma,” says the 32-year-old.
Next month, 74-year-old Elizabeth will travel to Holland to see John for the first time since he left.
“Oma wants closure and I think it’s important she does it for herself,” says Ben.
Elizabeth – a WWII survivor who’s also beaten breast cancer – is hoping for some answers. “John never explained why he did what he did… it was out of the blue,” she says sadly.
MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA
The grand finale airs Monday, 7.30pm, Ten