MasterChef winner was abused as a kid
TV chef’s suicide attempt
MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin has revealed that she was sexually abused as a child, and how she attempted suicide as a teenager.
The accomplished TV chef has penned a memoir titled Your Time Starts Now where she recounts how the long-buried memory resurfaced when she was 16.
“Nothing triggered it, it was just like the memory was always there, like a dusty book on a library shelf,” she told The Australian Women’s Weekly. “And one day I took it down and looked at it and went, ‘Holy crap, how have I not thought about that for nine years?’”
Goodwin did not tell anyone about the abuse.
She was a model student, becoming school captain and excelling in her studies.
A year later, at 17, she said she attempted suicide.
Goodwin was hospitalised, returning to school a few days after as though nothing had happened.
The suicide attempt profoundly changed her. While she had previously dreamt of becoming a journalist or criminal lawyer, Goodwin lost her drive to succeed.
The popular cook credits her husband, Mick, with providing the love and support she needed.
“I can’t even think about where I would be if I hadn’t had [him] for all these years,” she told the publication. “Because it wouldn’t be good.”
In 1995, after welcoming her first son Joe – she and Mick would go on to have two more sons – she suffered from depression and turned to alcohol to ease the pain.
“It let go of me sometimes and I could carry on and do all the things that I needed to do,” she said.
After winning the first season of MasterChef in 2009, Goodwin’s career went from strength to strength as she became a best-selling cookbook author and beloved media personality.
No-one could have guessed that she was actually suffering from depression, anxiety and alcoholism. During lockdown in 2020, suicidal thoughts began to rear their head once more, and Goodwin was admitted to a psychiatric ward.
Fans have praised her for openly speaking about this period of her life and shedding the stigma of mental illness.
“I am living my second life,” she told The Weekly. “I am lucky to be here.”
Your Time Starts Now goes on sale on April 23.