Masterchef’s Josh MY LIFE WAS ON A KNIFE’S EDGE

He’s lucky to be alive after a robbery gone wrong. Now he has a second chance at fame

It was the eve of the judges’ audition round for Masterchef in 2015 and Josh was so close to his chance at fame and fortune he could almost taste it. He and his girlfriend Erin clinked glasses in a Port Melbourne restaurant to mark the occasion – but then a cruel twist of fate snatched it away.

“My audition couldn’t have come at a better time because I was stuck in a job I wasn’t passionate about,” says Josh, 32, who was then working as an IT administrator.

“Getting as far as the judges’ audition was the best thing that had happened in my life.”

His dream, however, came crashing down when he noticed a teenager attempting to steal his car, and he almost lost his life in a drug-fuelled robbery gone horribly wrong. “My natural instincts kicked in and I ran after him, and it’s a regret I’ve had to live with,” Josh says.

As the car reversed, Josh was knocked unconscious and suffered a serious brain injury when his head hit a pole. “I was in an induced duced coma for four days andnd spent nine weeks in the ICU.” U.”

He suffered memory ry loss and lost his sense of smell. Enduring ring an agonisingago onising recovery, which included uded brain surgery, Josh admits it’s a miracle acle he’s stillsti ill alive.

“I I was luckyy to have family, mily, friends s and my girlfriendlfriend Erinn behind me e to help me,”me e,” he says.

He had to re relearn some me skills afteraft ter the accident, cident, explaining,expl laining, “I still struggle e with attention ention and memory – but I haven’t lost my ability to cook!”

Now he’s getting a second chancecha ance at Masterchef fame, with th insiders alreadya already tipping he could takee out the co competition.

“The accident changed nged my life life. e. I don’t take things for granteded anymoree because I know how lucky I amm to be given a second chance at pursuing my dream.” dream.”

‘My instincts kicked in and I ran after him… that’s a regret I’ve had to live with’